Most Popular
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Korea added to key bond index
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Taking away phones during school hours not a human rights violation: watchdog
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North Korea notifies UN Command of plans to fortify border with South
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Will Apple quit smart ring race with Samsung?
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[KH explains] Will CATL’s Korean push reshape battery alliance with Hyundai, Kia?
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Jay Park returns with quintessential R&B album after 8 years
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More deaths in ICU following doctors' mass walkout: lawmaker
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Security issues to take center stage at ASEAN summit
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Netflix's latest runaway hit is a Korean reality cooking show
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[Herald Interview] Byun Yo-han embraced voice of powerless in ‘Snow White Must Die – Black Out’
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Export-oriented firms suffer as won rises
South Korea’s export-oriented firms are suffering as the won continues to strengthen. The won-dollar exchange rate dipped below 1,100 won last month and has not risen above that value since. For some industries, the exchange rate has already fallen below the minimum needed to secure profit, which averaged 1,086.2 won per dollar, according to a survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on about 500 companies. About 57 percent of the surveyed companies said that their profits
Nov. 8, 2012
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HHI to make construction equipment engines
Hyundai Heavy Industries held a ground-breaking ceremony to build a production line for its joint venture with Cummins, a U.S.-based construction equipment engine maker, in an industrial complex in Daegu on Thursday.Hyundai-Cummins Engine, the 50-50 joint venture between the two companies, will complete the diesel engine production site by May 2014 by investing 87 billion won ($80 million), Hyundai Heavy said in a press release. It added that once the plant is completed, the joint venture firm w
Nov. 8, 2012
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LG Hausys offers on-site tour for clients from Europe
LG Hausys, the building material arm of LG Group, has invited about 50 key clients from European countries, including Russia and Turkey, to Korea and offered them a field trip to its headquarters and shops. “The field trip, which lasted from Nov. 5 to Nov. 9 in the company’s Cheongju factory, was designed to offer European clients a hands-on experience of our competitiveness in product design and technology,’’ a company official said. High-ranking officials invited work for construction and buil
Nov. 8, 2012
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Hyundai allowed to bid for Brazil rail project: report
SAO PAULO (AFP) ― Brazil has cleared the way for South Korean industrial giant Hyundai to put in a construction bid for a bullet train to link Rio with Sao Paulo and Campinas, according to a report Wednesday.Economic daily Valor said the federal government has agreed to lower a requirement for prospective bidders: instead of requiring a ten year record of operating high-speed trains without accident, bidders would only need five.Hyundai, which has only eight-and-a-half years of high-speed train
Nov. 8, 2012
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Hyundai’s HB20 named Brazil car of the year
Hyundai Motor’s new Brazil-only hatchback, HB20, has recently won the Car of the Year award in the Latin country, just one month since its official debut there, company officials said Thursday. Brazil’s auto magazine Auto Esporte, which has named the best car of the year since 1966, gave the top honor to Hyundai’s HB20 among the five finalists, including Chevrolet’s Sonic, Citroen’s C3, Pugeot’s 308 and Toyota’s Etios. The flex-fuel model HB20 was exclusively developed for the Brazilian market a
Nov. 8, 2012
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Overseas investors threat or opportunity?
A company’s national identity has become more complex now that the majority of the country’s top 30 enterprises are replete in foreign investment. Overseas investors hold more than a 50 percent stake in some of the largest companies here. Well-known names such as Samsung Electronics, KB Kookmin Bank, KT Corp., Hyundai Motor, LG Electronics and POSCO are now better identified as “global firms” due to the significant percentage of foreign shareholders.“Foreign shareholders are now almost a part of
Nov. 8, 2012
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Slowdown sees surge in young economically inactive people
The ratio of people in their 20s not working and unwilling to find a job has jumped, data showed Wednesday, suggesting that tough employment conditions are hitting younger people harder than other age groups.According to the data by Statistics Korea, “economically inactive” people in their 20s accounted for 38.4 percent of the age group in September, up 0.7 percentage points from a year earlier. The figure is the highest since June.Economically inactive people refer to those who are not working
Nov. 7, 2012
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[Newsmaker] 4 retail chiefs shirk assembly hearing
Four chiefs of major retail giants were ordered to attend a parliamentary hearing Tuesday. But none of them showed up, citing overseas business trips.Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin was visiting Indonesia for business talks with government officials there, while Chung Ji-sun, Hyundai Department Store Group chairman, was in China to discuss establishing a joint venture home shopping channel, according to company officials.Shinsegae Group vice chairman Chung Yong-jin also was said to have left
Nov. 7, 2012
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House prices drop 1.4 percent in October
Actual transaction prices of houses in South Korea declined last month, a state-run think tank said Wednesday, indicating that the country’s property market slump continues.According to a report by the Korea Development Institute, the actual transaction prices of houses in capital Seoul dropped 4.6 percent on-year in October, while those in its surrounding Gyeonggi Province and Incheon fell 4.5 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively.Transaction prices of houses outside the metropolitan area, mean
Nov. 7, 2012
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Builders’ domestic orders 16% in Sept.
Domestic orders won by South Korean construction companies fell 16.3 percent in September from a year earlier, industry data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign of a prolonged slump in the local construction sector.Local builders bagged a combined 7.26 trillion won ($6.6 billion) worth of new orders in September, according to data released by the Construction Association of Korea.Orders from the public sector plunged 37.9 percent on-year to 2.31 trillion won in September while those from the pr
Nov. 7, 2012
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Seoul shares up 0.49% following Obama’s win
South Korean stocks ended 0.49 percent higher on Wednesday as U.S. President Barack Obama’s re-election helped erase policy uncertainties, analysts said. The local currency climbed against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 9.38 points to 1,937.55. Trading volume was moderate at 548.6 million shares worth 4.5 trillion won ($4.1 billion), with gainers outnumbering decliners 401 to 396.“Investor jitters over U.S. fiscal issues had lingered ahead of the presidentia
Nov. 7, 2012
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Reactor closures fuel power shortage worries
Worries over possible power shortages during winter flared up Wednesday as Korea was pressured to suspend the operation of two nuclear reactors for at least two months to replace substandard parts.The Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Monday it was temporarily shutting down two reactors at Yeonggwang Nuclear Power Plant on Monday due to the extensive use of substandard parts in the reactors.The cold season does not usually see as great an increase in electricity consumption as during the summer
Nov. 7, 2012
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TIDE showcases business ideas at Silicon Valley
Non-profit organization the TIDE Institute is holding its “2012 Startup Springboard” in Silicon Valley in the U.S., and in Shanghai, China, this month to support young South Koreans who wish to start up a business. Founded by Go San, a former astronaut trainee, the TIDE Institute has been hosting many events for the ambitious youth who wish to start technology-based businesses. The event for start-ups has been held in nine cities over the past two years including Boston, London and Tokyo. Engine
Nov. 7, 2012
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IT exports surge to 2-year high in Oct.
South Korea’s exports of information technology products rose to a 24-month high last month on a spike in shipments of mobile phones and semiconductors, the government said Wednesday.Exports of IT products in October grew 6.1 percent from the same period last year to US$14.55 billion, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.Imports surged 10.9 percent on-year to $7.45 billion with the country’s trade surplus in the IT sector coming to $7.1 billion.The ministry attributed the surge in expo
Nov. 7, 2012
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Apple claims Galaxy Note, new Android infringe patent
Apple Inc. told a judge that Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy Note 10.1 device infringes its patents, and sought to add the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system to an existing lawsuit against Samsung in California.Apple made the arguments Wednesday to U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal in federal court in San Jose. Apple’s bid to expand the lawsuit follows Samsung’s Oct. 1 move to add patent- infringement claims against the iPhone 5 in the same case. Apple won a $1.05 billion jury verdict a
Nov. 7, 2012
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Income gap between men and women remains huge
Women with high-paying jobs earn significantly less than their male counterparts and are more likely to be laid off, according to a report by a British institution.Chartered Management Institute conducted research on the gender pay gap based on experiences of around 39,000 executives, and found out that female executives receive about half a million British pounds ($800,000) less that men. In addition to lower salaries, they are less likely to get a bonus. It was also revealed in the study that
Nov. 7, 2012
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SK Telecom Q3 sales up 2 percent on-year
SK Telecom Co., South Korea’s top mobile carrier, on Tuesday said its net profit more than halved in the third quarter on increased spending to promote the faster long-term evolution network.Net profit came to 175.6 billion won ($160.8 million) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 383.9 billion won a year earlier, SK Telecom said in a regulatory filing.Revenue gained 2 percent on-year to 4.1 trillion won in the cited period, while operating profit tumbled 46.4 percent on-year
Nov. 6, 2012
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Asiana Airlines swings to profit in Q3
Asiana Airlines Inc, South Korea’s No. 2 flag carrier, said Tuesday it swung to a net profit in the third quarter of this year due to favorable foreign exchange rates.Consolidated net profit reached 80.2 billion won ($73 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, a dramatic turnaround from a net loss of 34.7 billion won profit a year earlier, the carrier said in a regulatory filing.Sales also gained 5.2 percent on-year to 1.5 trillion won. However, the company’s operating profit dropped 39.6 o
Nov. 6, 2012
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Banks’ foreign-currency deposits hit fresh high
Foreign currency deposits at South Korean banks rose to a fresh high in October largely due to a gain in the country’s trade surplus, the central bank said Tuesday. Outstanding foreign currency-denominated deposits held by local residents reached a record $39.39 billion as of the end of October, up $130 million from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. Residents in this case include individual citizens and firms but not foreign nationals with residency status. The data also exclud
Nov. 6, 2012
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Malaysian property firm to go ‘Gangnam style’ on Jeju Island
Jeju Island is the next stop where Berjaya Land Berhad hopes to implant the company’s version of the “Malaysian Dream” involving a high-end healing resort. “We’re confident that we chose the right place,” said Dato Francis Ng Sooi Lin, chief executive of Berjaya Land Berhad, in an interview with The Korea Herald.The company ― an affiliate of Malaysian conglomerate Berjaya Group ― plans to build facilities worth $2.4 billion on the Korean tropical island based on a business partnership with Jeju
Nov. 6, 2012