Most Popular
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North Korean troops killed, wounded in Ukraine war: Seoul defense minister
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S. Korea, Singapore seal supply chain agreement
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Korean language teaching expert says demand has outstripped supply
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Conscripting women to lead to 'more babies,' claims military think tank
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[KH Explains] Samsung chief says he is still ‘hungry’ for foundry growth
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Korea added to key bond index
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Who is pollster roiling politics with claims of government string-pulling?
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Taking away phones during school hours not a human rights violation: watchdog
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Kim Jong-un vows to thwart S. Korea-US 'nuclear alliance'
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Korea launches antidumping probe into Chinese steel
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SK Innovation wins patent lawsuit over LG Chem
SK Innovation, a key affiliate of SK Group, won the second round of its patent lawsuit against LG Chem over a key material used for electric car batteries, according to the company in a press release.On Thursday, the Patent Court of Korea dismissed the appeal that LG Chem filed at the end of 2012 to challenge the Korean Intellectual Property Tribunal’s decision to uphold SK Innovation.“The successive wins of SK Innovation in a legal battle with LG Chem testifies to SK Innovation’s technological
April 11, 2013
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Lee heading off to Europe: source
Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee may have yet another trip abroad soon, this time to Paris, a source said Thursday. The source said the visit is scheduled for next week, and it comes just a week after he returned from a three-month trip to Hawaii and Japan. However, a Samsung spokeswoman denied his trip schedule to Europe next week. The source said Lee may take a look around the Milan Furniture Fair in Italy, then head to Paris. Samsung Electronics is taking part in the 52nd Salone Inter
April 11, 2013
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FDI in Q1 hits record high amid security concerns
The amount of foreign direct investment into Korea hit a record high of $3.39 billion in the first quarter of this year, a 44.7 percent increase from a year ago, despite rising security concerns on the Korean Peninsula, according to data released Thursday by the Ministry Trade, Industry and Energy. “The data showed that the impact of geopolitical risks created by North Korea on investment decisions of foreigners were limited for the first three months of the year,” a ministry official said. The
April 11, 2013
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Korean Air becomes No. 2 shareholder of Czech Airlines
Korean Air said Thursday that it signed a takeover deal for a 44 percent stake in Czech Airlines, becoming the first Korean air carrier to secure shares in a foreign counterpart.The Korean flag carrier now has become the second-largest shareholder of the European airliner, next to Czech Aeroholding, the state-controlled parent company of the airline which owns 51.7 percent of shares. “We expect a synergy effect with the new alliance between the two airlines, which have extensive experience and f
April 11, 2013
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LG Uplus offers free calls to LTE subscribers
LG Uplus said on Thursday that it will introduce a new monthly mobile plan that offers unlimited voice calls for its LTE smartphone subscribers.Lee Sang-chul, vice chairman of the telecommunications company, said that its subscribers will be able to freely call mobile phones with their smartphones running on the fourth-generation LTE networks for as much as 69,000 won ($61) per month.While introducing eight new monthly mobile plans that offer free voice calling options, the plans range from 34,0
April 11, 2013
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Shinsegae bullish on suburban outlets
PAJU, Gyeonggi Province ― Shinsegae Simon plans to increase the number of its suburban outlets to eight by 2020 including the existing two in Paju and Yeoju, and the one scheduled to open near Busan in September.“We plan to open our fourth premium outlet in Daejeon and the fifth one in the southwestern outskirts of Seoul,” Shinsegae Simon chief executive Kang Myung-koo said in a press conference Thursday.“We will review various locations around the other metropolises (Gwangju, Daegu, Ulsan and I
April 11, 2013
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KBS website goes offline for unknown reason
The Website of South Korea's public broadcaster KBS suffered a series of malfunctions on Wednesday for an unidentified reason, officials said.The broadcaster's Website went off line from 8:00 p.m. to 8:18 p.m. for a third time on Wednesday, following two malfunctions reported earlier in the evening, according to company officials.The broadcaster said it is currently trying to find out the cause of the failures, adding that it is unlikely that hackers were behind it. KBS added that there have bee
April 10, 2013
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Viagra loses top spot in Korean market
Viagra gave up its top position in Korea to its competitor Cialis for the first time.According to industry data, sales of Cialis totaled 26.9 billion won ($23.6 million) last year, topping Viagra’s 25.6 billion won.This is the first time that Viagra did not take the No. 1 spot in the local pharmaceutical industry since its release here in October 1999.“With the massive release of generic products of Viagra, the product positioning has seen changes,” an official of a firm selling erectile dysfunc
April 10, 2013
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[Graphic News] Koreans own 8.8 luxury items on average
Purchasing luxury goods was nothing unusual for more than 45 percent of Korean customers, a survey showed on Wednesday.According to the poll conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency, spending on premium designer brands ― such as Hermes, Cartier and Bvlgari ― accounted for 5 percent of household income on average, compared to 4 percent in Japan.Amid the recent surge in consumption of French and Italian premium brands, Korean adults have an average of 8.81 luxury items in their closet, said the poll
April 10, 2013
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Hyundai suppliers call for resumption of overtime work
Representatives of Hyundai Motor’s auto parts suppliers on Wednesday called for the resumption of weekend overtime work at the carmaker’s Ulsan factory which has been suspended since March due to labor-management disputes on overtime pay.“Following the suspension of overtime work at the carmaker, suppliers are facing escalating damage to their profits. We are also not paying our employees properly as normal,” the group said in a statement on Wednesday.The Hyundai Motor union has refused to work
April 10, 2013
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Lotte probed for bullying suppliers
The Fair Trade Commission began looking into whether Lotte Group pushed suppliers of Lotte Confectionery to cut costs, laying a possible touchstone for the Park Geun-hye administration’s much-played-up initiative to help out small and medium-sized firms.Lotte Group recently sent its auditing staff to suppliers of Lotte Confectionery and demanded they submit materials on management. After reviewing the submitted data, Lotte concluded that the suppliers collected about 1 billion won ($880,000) in
April 10, 2013
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Hyundai, Kia recall over 160,000 cars in S. Korea
The country's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. have been ordered to recall over 160,000 cars for problems with brake light switches, the transportation ministry said Wednesday.The faulty light switch could stop the brake lights from illuminating even when drivers step on the brake pedal, but it can also cause the cruise control not to work properly, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.It may also cause the push-to-start button to fail
April 10, 2013
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[Newsmaker] SMEs in Gaeseong fall victim to tensions
Small and mid-sized South Korean companies running factories in the sole inter-Korean industrial complex in the North’s border city of Gaeseong are being hit hardest by the stoppage of their production lines in the industrial park.About 53,000 North Korean factory workers did not come to the complex Monday following the North’s announcement that it temporarily suspended Gaeseong’s operations. The move added pressure on SMEs doing business in the Gaeseong complex, together with a weeklong ban on
April 9, 2013
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Wages for Gaeseong workers to be delayed
More than 120 South Korean companies operating in Gaeseong industrial park are unlikely to be able to pay their North Korean workers as Pyongyang continues to block entry of vehicles from the South.The 123 South Korean firms have paid North Korean employees’ salaries in cash on the 10th of each month.They usually withdraw money from Woori Bank, which operates in Gaeseong, to transfer it to the North’s Central Special Direct General Bureau, which manages the industrial park.“(South Korean) firms
April 9, 2013
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[Photo News] Italian premium brand launch
April 9, 2013
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LG chairman calls for law-abiding efforts
LG chairman Koo Bon-moo on Tuesday asked its affiliates’ chief executives to pay closer attention to abiding by the law and to toughen environment safety management following a number of toxic gas leak accidents.In a meeting attended by about 30 of the group’s CEOs and key executives, Koo stressed that the only meaningful performance was one achieved as a result of law-abiding efforts, which also secured environmental safety.“The problem itself cannot be solved when the CEO looks over it himself
April 9, 2013
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China runs task force to study Samsung: Lee
Samsung heir apparent Lee Jay-yong said Tuesday that China had a task force within its research institute that focused studies on Samsung.“The most surprising factor was how much Chinese leader Xi Jinping knows about Korea and Samsung,” he told reporters upon his arrival at Gimpo Airport in Seoul early in the morning. “We must perform better.”He also said that he felt a lot of responsibility following his two meetings with the new Chinese leader.Lee met with Xi twice during his trip to China for
April 9, 2013
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German chamber names new president
The Korean-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Tuesday that it recently named Thomas Geyer, president of Vector Korea IT Inc., as its new chief. Geyer, born in Germany 1969, is the local head of Vector, a German company that supplies tools, software components and engineering products related to the automotive industry. He has stayed in Korea since September 2007 and received permanent residency from the Korean government in 2011. In his speech at the members’ meeting, Geyer pointed out
April 9, 2013
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Celltrion Holdings fined W270m for heavy debt
The Fair Trade Commission said Tuesday that it has levied Celltrion Holdings fines of 270 million won ($236,000) for breaching the law on holding firms that own subsidiaries.Celltrion Holdings ― whose flagship unit is biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion Inc. ― violated the law which bans a holding company from reaching a debt-to-equity ratio above 200 percent, said the FTC.According to the antitrust regulator, Celltrion Holdings posted a 217.7 percent ratio of debt to equity at the end of 2011.The
April 9, 2013
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Korean-made beer dominates in Hong Kong
HONG KONG ― Hong Kong, with its gourmandise culture and international population, is a fierce battlefield where most of the world’s leading premium beer brands compete for market dominance. To the surprise of many, the undisputable champion there is a Korean-manufactured brand.Blue Girl, a premium pilsner lager manufactured by Korea’s Oriental Brewery and marketed by Hong Kong’s Jebsen Group, has kept its lead in the local market for six consecutive years since 2007.As of September 2012, its mar
April 9, 2013