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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United Pharm first Korean firm to export anti-cancer drugs to Europe
Korea United Pharm Inc. will export two kinds of cancer-treating medicine to Poland, becoming the first Korean firm to ship such drugs to Europe, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency said Thursday. KOTRA officials said the Korean pharmaceutical firm and Polish buyers had signed a contract to export the drugs it developed to treat lymphoma and prostate cancer. The first drug export deal will pave the way for more medical exports to the European market, the officials said.The deal involves
Oct. 18, 2012
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SK chairman to focus on Southeast Asia
Chey in week-long visit to Thailand, Singapore, MalaysiaSK Group’s chairman Chey Tae-won flew to Thailand on Thursday to kick off his week-long business cooperation expansion effort with Southeast Asian countries.Beginning his trip by taking part in the two-day Asia Business Council Forum in Bangkok, Chey will stop by countries including Singapore and Malaysia and return to Seoul next Wednesday, according to SK officials. Chey, who is the head of the nation’s third-largest conglomerate, is expec
Oct. 18, 2012
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Cheapest BMW to hit Korean market
BMW Korea launched Thursday the new 1 Series hatchback, which the German luxury carmaker says will reenergize competition in the nation’s premium compact car market. A total of six rear-wheel models, consisting of the five-door Urban Line and the more dynamic Sports Line, were unveiled for the Korean launch. The new 1 Series is the only compact model equipped with 8-speed automatic transmission, which lowers background noise and reduces fuel consumption, according to the carmaker. Fuel efficienc
Oct. 18, 2012
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Strong won worsens profitability worries
Korean currency gains value against dollar rapidly compared to other foreign currenciesConcerns are rising that companies’ global competitiveness may be weakened as the U.S. dollar recently lost ground against the Korean won, amid the eurozone woes.The possibility that the Korean currency will rise in value up to nearly 1,000 won against the dollar is growing with the recent strenghtened position of the won after quantitative easing by the U.S. government.The dollar slid again to 1,104.3 won on
Oct. 18, 2012
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Refiners bet on batteries to recharge business
Oil refiners seek transformation into energy companies for growth potential“New growth engine” has been one of the most bandied about phrases in the local corporate world over the past few years.With the global economic downturn being prolonged, companies have had no choice but to step up efforts to find new revenue sources within or beyond their core businesses. The nation’s top two oil refiners have bet on the rechargeable battery market to find a stable revenue source as their core oil refini
Oct. 18, 2012
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Samsung wins patent battle with Apple in U.K.
Samsung Electronics won another victory in its global patent battle with Apple Inc. as a court in London upheld an earlier decision that Galaxy tablet PCs did not copy the iPad’s design.The ruling in the United Kingdom is likely to deal a blow to Apple, especially considering that it is a matter involving what the U.S. company values most ― its design.The ruling reaffirmed an earlier order that Apple publicly declare that Samsung had not copied its design.Apple has been labeling Samsung as a “co
Oct. 18, 2012
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Many firms undergoing full-fledged restructuring
Moves include scaling down payrolls, scrapping unprofitable businessesMore domestic companies are eager to set up contingency plans or conduct voluntary redundancy programs as economists raised the possibility of a long-term economic downturn from the eurozone woes.Their movement has been further accelerated after Woongjin Holdings and Kukdong Engineering & Construction shocked the market last month by filing for court receivership from their insolvent financial status.According to a poll by the
Oct. 17, 2012
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Yeouido finance center troubled by low occupancy
The International Finance Center opened last year in Yeouido, the financial nerve center of Seoul, with an ambitious goal of becoming a Northeast Asian financial hub. But a sluggish real estate market is pulling down the occupancy rate. The center also is failing to attract international financial firms, contrary to its initial expectations. The Seoul City government, under a memorandum of agreement with the operator AIG Real Estate Development, started the IFC complex project in 2006. Construct
Oct. 17, 2012
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LG goes global with Optimus G
Firm to release new smartphone through Japan’s NTT DoCoMoLG Electronics is going global with its new flagship smartphone Optimus G as it announced plans Wednesday to begin selling the gadget in the U.S. and Japan next month.The 4.7-inch smartphone, which was the first to be equipped with Qualcomm’s next-generation Snapdragon S4 processor, is seen by industry observers as the handset to decide the fate of LG.Equipped with the True High Definition IPS Plus display and a 13-megapixel camera on the
Oct. 17, 2012
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LG Display unveils 84-inch panel for electronic chalkboard
LG Display Co., the world‘s No. 2 display maker, introduced an 84-inch ultra definition (UD) panel for an electronic chalkboard on Wednesday as part of its moves to jump-start growth in the burgeoning market.The market for electronic chalkboards, which enable schools and businesses to share and utilize multimedia contents in addition to existing analog features, is expected to grow to 1.05 million units next year.LG’s 84-inch UD panel, which the company claimed is the largest in the world, is 3.
Oct. 17, 2012
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Carmakers see exports worsen amid eurozone woes
Sales of foreign-made autos offset fall in exports for Hyundai-KiaFollowing the prolonged slump in car sales at home, five major automakers here saw their exports continue to decline over the past few months on a year-on-year basis.According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, exports of these five companies ― Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, GM Korea, Renault Samsung Motors and Ssangyong Motor ― collectively stood at 232,025 units in September, down 7.2 percent from a year earlier.Thei
Oct. 16, 2012
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No. of Samsung Electronics’ foreign workers tops 1,000
Foreign employees at Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s biggest maker of smartphones, memory chips and flat-panel televisions, totaled more than 1,000, industry watchers said Tuesday.The figure is almost twice the roughly 600 foreign headcount from early 2009, mirroring the company’s growing presence in the global job market, they said.The increase is also in line with Samsung’s heightened brand value. The company is ranked the world’s ninth best global brand with its brand value coming to $32
Oct. 16, 2012
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Inter-affiliate trading grows among conglomerates
Transactions among affiliates of large business groups in South Korea have increased over the past year with one in five firms making over 70 percent of their sales with sister firms, a report showed Tuesday.According to the report by Chaebol.com, which tracks the country’s conglomerates, 211 or 18.1 percent of 1,165 firms affiliated with the country’s top 30 business groups had over 70 percent of their sales with their sister companies last year.The figure is up from 190 and 11.1 percent a year
Oct. 16, 2012
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Shinsegae buys Central City in Gangnam
Shinsegae Group said Tuesday that it will acquire a controlling stake in Central City, the landlord of its department store’s outlet in Gangnam, southern Seoul, in a bid to fend off competition from rival retailers.Shinsegae, which recently sold off its Incheon outlet to Lotte Department Store, said it will buy a 60-percent stake worth over 1 trillion won ($903 billion) in Central City from four Malaysia-based investment companies owned by a foundation of the Unification Church.Spanning over 59,
Oct. 16, 2012
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Korean food hits Tesco shelves in U.K.
Twelve Tesco outlets in Britain will begin regular sales of Korean-made food products such as bulgogi sauce, a pomegranate-flavored health drink that contains vinegar, chocolate-dipped snacks called Pepero, soy sauce, ramyeon and soju on Thursday. Forty-nine food items from 19 Korean companies, chosen from a wider range of products that were temporarily displayed at a Tesco store in London, have earned regular spots on the shelves of 11 more stores thanks to the excellent consumer response, Home
Oct. 16, 2012
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Ex-officials head 30% of public firms
Only 17.5 percent hired from within companyThree out of 10 heads of institutions run by government agencies were found to be former officials of those same agencies.Among 286 public companies run by some 30 ministries and other state-run agencies, 82 executives were found to have, at one point, worked for one of the ministries or agencies, according to Alio, a website compiling management information on publicly run firms on Tuesday. These former officials accounted for almost 30 percent of the
Oct. 16, 2012
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GM Korea celebrates 10 years as fastest-growing automaker
Celebrating its 10th anniversary on Wednesday, GM Korea, the local unit of the U.S.-based General Motors Co., claims itself as the world’s fastest growing carmaker. Over the past 10 years, the company’s car sales have surged more than five times from some 280,000 units in 2002 to 2.05 million last year, the nation’s third-largest carmaker said Tuesday. Its accumulative car sales have surpassed 15 million vehicles. During the same period, its revenue has also seen a four-fold growth to reach 15
Oct. 16, 2012
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Experts call for more support for seed industry
The seed industry, which deals with total science technologies integrating genetic information and scientific expertise, is the link that connects various sectors including the food industry, preventive medicine industry and life science industry, said Kim Byung-dong, honorary professor at Seoul National University. “We should not be satisfied with domestic consumption (in the seed industry) but seek for a bigger development in the sector by grafting life-science technologies to it and making it
Oct. 16, 2012
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U.S. retailer sues Seoul gov't over Sunday closure
Costco Wholesale Korea, an affiliate of U.S. retail giant Costco Wholesale Corp., has filed a lawsuit against three of Seoul's autonomous districts, claiming that their ordinance for mandatory Sunday closure and restrictions on operating hours are invalid, judicial officials said Monday.In the lawsuit filed with the Seoul Administrative Court against heads of Seocho-gu, Jungnang-gu and Yeongdeungp
Oct. 16, 2012
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AMCHAM launches new innovation council
The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea announced on Monday the launch of a new council, which will focus on promoting innovation in both U.S and Korean companies, ahead of its 60th anniversary next year. The AMCHAM Council on Innovation for the Future was established to strengthen the already-strong economic ties by encouraging sharing of innovation expertise and expanding strategic partnerships between U.S. and Korean companies, said AMCHAM officials. “Both U.S. and Korea are leaders in inno
Oct. 15, 2012