Most Popular
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Korea added to key bond index
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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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Patients opting to die with dignity on steady rise
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YF Sonata forecast to hit record sales in U.S.
Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s leading automaker, said Monday that sales of its leading midsize sedan, YF Sonata, are expected to reach a record high in the United States this year on the back of its good performance and design.In the first nine months of the year, a total of 175,436 YF Sonata sedans were sold in the U.S., up 0.3 percent from a year earlier, according to Hyundai Motor.Hyundai Motor sold 225,961 YF Sonata sedans in 2011 following sales of 170,224 units in 2010. “Demand for the
Oct. 22, 2012
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Hana-SK issues record number of mobile cards
Hana-SK Card, the smallest player among local credit card companies, is not so little when it comes to mobile cards, as proven by its recent record-breaking card issuance numbers. Hana-SK became the first in the industry to issue more than 500,000 mobile cards as of September this year, industry sources said on Monday. The figure is also a record-breaker in the global credit card industry, they said.Hana-SK’s feat comes as existing plastic credit cards are expected to be largely replaced by mobi
Oct. 22, 2012
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Discount chains to restrict business to support small biz
Presidents of large discount store chains such as E-Mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus agreed to refrain from opening new stores and to voluntarily close on Sundays in a bid to support small retailers and mom-and-pop shops.Chiefs of the retail giants also agreed with associations of merchants and small supermarkets during a meeting on Monday to organize a consultative body to discuss the current law that requires large outlets to close every other Sunday and measures to support small and medium-sized
Oct. 22, 2012
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LG Chem denies halt at Holland battery plant
LG Chem on Monday denied news reports that operations have stopped at its overseas battery plant in Holland, Michigan, stating that it was never officially activated.The plant, designed to produce batteries for electric vehicles, has curtailed its operations to 75 percent and has deferred the date to put the factory in full operation mode as the firm is waiting until the market condition turns favorable for electric cars, according to company officials. It now employs about 200 workers.“Some for
Oct. 22, 2012
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Korea plans to allow duty-free SMEs
Sour consumer sentiment has been taking its toll on Korea’s department stores and discount chains for months, but the duty-free retail industry has been a shining exception.Duty-free shops run by chaebol conglomerates such as Lotte, Shilla and SK posted some 4.4 trillion won ($3.9 billion) in combined sales last year, nearly double their combined revenue of 2.2 trillion won three years before in 2008. The two-story Lotte Duty Free Shop above Lotte Department Store in central Seoul alone generate
Oct. 22, 2012
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Renault Samsung appoints new PR expert
Renault Samsung Motors has scouted a new PR expert. The South Korean unit of French automaker Renault announced last week that it appointed Hwang Eun-young as a new executive in the company’s PR division. Hwang began her post on Monday. After studying at Ewha Womans University’s Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation, Hwang worked at Korea Employers Federation, law firm Kim & Chang, and Fleishman-Hillard Korea, one of the units of the global advertising and communication group Omnicom
Oct. 22, 2012
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Kang appointed as new Lenovo Korea chief
Lenovo Korea appointed a former HP Korea executive as the company’s new country general manager last week. Kang Yong-nam, who became the new chief of Lenovo Korea, specialized in the personal computer, software, server, storage and IT consulting fields over the past 20 years at Dell and HP. He contributed to the expansion of HP’s market share in South Korea and $100 million sales in PCs while he served as an executive at the company’s Printing Personal System Group. At Lenovo, Kang will be in c
Oct. 22, 2012
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Korean consumers begin to demand fair deal on imports
When it comes to makeup, 28-year-old office worker Lee Yu-na prefers foreign brands like SK-II, Dior or La Mer instead of Korean brands, especially cheap ones. “Foreign cosmetic brands have a longer history compared to most Korean brands and have been appreciated by women all over the world. It is the company, not the separate brands, that I consider before my purchase, and small companies like those that make cheap local brands seem unreliable,” she said. “I would go for the more expensive one
Oct. 22, 2012
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LG Chem denies reports on U.S. plant operation delay
LG Chem Ltd., the world's largest battery maker, on Monday denied reports by U.S. media outlets that it has delayed starting commercial operation of its American lithium-ion battery plant, thus failing to create jobs and leaving about 200 workers idle. U.S. media outlets including Fox News and Wood TV have reported the factory built using US$150 million of taxpayer funds is putting workers on furlough before a single battery has been produced. "The report is not true," LG Chem said in a statemen
Oct. 22, 2012
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Demo at S. Korea embassy in Tehran after Daewoo deal sours
Around 1,000 workers from Iran's Entekhab group staged a demonstration at the South Korean embassy in Tehran on Sunday after an acquisition deal with Daewoo Electronics went sour due to sanctions.The demonstration by workers from the private Iranian company was aimed at retrieving a down payment of $70 million (53 million euros) Entekhab had paid in 2011 to Daewoo, company spokesman Hamid Ghaznavi told AFP.In November 2010, Entekhab Industrial Group signed a contract sealing its acquisition of S
Oct. 22, 2012
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Korea becomes black hole for some global IT firms
Yahoo! Korea is to become the latest globally well-known IT firm to close its Seoul office, with the Internet venture expected to leave the country by the year-end.Considering that Korea is the home turf of leading IT companies like Samsung and LG Electronics, multinational companies have been experiencing difficulty in sales and business here.Yahoo! Korea, established in 1997, had been the nation’s top online portal, taking over 80 percent of the online search market in early 2000.However, its
Oct. 21, 2012
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IP experts celebrate opening of AIPPI’s Seoul Congress
Global experts in intellectual property celebrated the opening of the 43rd AIPPI World Intellectual Property Congress in Seoul on Saturday. The dynamic performance of a keunbuk (large Korean drum) sounded the opening of the congress to the estimated 1,800 participants from about 80 countries around the world. AIPPI President Kim Yoon-bae greeted the members and prominent guests first in Korean and then in the four official AIPPI languages of English, French, German and Spanish. With 115 years o
Oct. 21, 2012
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Vegetable prices soar on kimchi-making season
The prices of vegetables, including radishes, has skyrocketed recently due to increasing demands ahead of the kimchi-making season, government data showed Sunday.The season, which lasts for about two months through December, is when Koreans prepare kimchi for the winter, a major event in traditional Korean households as families prepare for the long, cold season when vegetables are scarce.“Kimchi” is a spicy fermented side dish made from cabbage, radish and various seasonings such as garlic, chi
Oct. 21, 2012
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Korea, Qatar ink MOU to expand joint investment
South Korea and Qatar have reached a preliminary agreement to expand cooperation for joint investment in third countries.The memorandum of understanding, signed in Seoul between the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs and Qatar Holding LLC, outlines the creation of a joint infrastructure cooperation taskforce for such purposes.The joint taskforce will arrange consultative meetings twice a year, help concerned parties share information on prospective investment projects and carry out
Oct. 21, 2012
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Japan court rejects iPhone sales ban
A Japanese court has dismissed an injunction filed by South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. against U.S. smartphone manufacturer Apple Inc., finding no patent infringement as claimed by Samsung, a Japanese newspaper reported Saturday.According to the local daily, the Asahi Shimbun, a Tokyo district court rejected Samsung’s injunction on Sept. 14 and then again on Oct. 11. The South Korean company, the world’s largest supplier of smartphones, claimed Apple’s iPhone had violated its patents on tec
Oct. 21, 2012
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Fast-expanding Japanese stores face backlash from small retailers
Large foreign marts are facing a backlash from South Korean merchants for being excluded from government sanctions to protect small retailers. The Korea Merchant Association announced on Sunday an investigation into Japanese “super supermarkets” within the week. Large Japanese supermarket chains in Korea include Trial and Valor, which have both been rapidly expanding in Korea since their launch here in 2005 and 2011, respectively. Both mark over 3 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in total sales per y
Oct. 21, 2012
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LG’s LTE phone sales top 3m units
LG Electronics said Sunday that its LTE smartphone sales in Korea topped 3 million units since the firm released its first model in the market in October 2011.Company officials said its variety in the LTE handset lineup, creative user experience, good quality after service and strong LTE patent portfolio contributed to improved sales on its home ground.Starting with the Optimus LTE a year earlier, LG has been rolling out models like the 5-inch Optimus Vu and the Optimus LTE 2, which was equipped
Oct. 21, 2012
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Green fund a boon to economy, globalization
Hosting GCF secretariat would generate 380 billion won worth economic effect per year, analysts sayBusinesses welcomed the nation’s luring of the headquarters of the U.N.’s Green Climate Fund to Songdo, a newly developed international town in Incheon Metropolitan City, expecting the move to put life into an array of service industries ranging from conventions to tourism. The Korea Development Institute, a state-run think tank, on Sunday estimated the economic effect created by the GCF setting up
Oct. 21, 2012
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Kolon vows fight against U.S. trade secret charge
Kolon Industries Inc., a leading South Korean textile maker, said Friday that it will fight U.S. Justice Department charges that it stole trade secrets, expressing deep regret over the legal action.The prosecutor of the Eastern District of Virginia on Thursday charged Kolon and five company executives for theft of trade secrets regarding aramid fiber products of DuPont Co. and Japan’s Teijin Ltd. Aramid is a class of heat-resistant, strong synthetic fiber.The Department of Justice’s allegations
Oct. 19, 2012
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GM Korea hopes to acquire KDB stake
Carmaker reportedly wants to strengthen Korean operations but skeptics suspect plan to ‘cut and run’Industry rumors of GM Korea accosting state-run Korea Development Bank to sell its stake in the carmaker is bringing back old nightmares of what is referred to as a “cut-and-run” scheme. GM Korea is reportedly hoping to buy back its 17.02 percent stake from KDB, which is said to be hemming and hawing over the implications of the sale.Three years ago, Ssangyong Motor Co. ― the nation’s smallest aut
Oct. 19, 2012