Most Popular
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Ex-presidential official’s leaked phone call rattles conservative bloc
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Man escapes DUI charges by downing bottle of soju while pulled over
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Pay debate plagues foreign nanny pilot
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K-pop star lip-syncing controversy flares up again
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35% of S. Koreans view unification 'unnecessary'
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Slew of top K-pop stars ready to return from military
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S. Korea, US clinch 2026-30 defense cost-sharing deal in pre-election push
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[Reporter’s Notebook] Was Netflix film opening BIFF really a bad thing?
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N. Korean leader's sister derides Seoul's Hyunmoo-5 missile as 'useless'
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Controversial cult leader’s sentence reduced to 17 years
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Korea’s electronics industry suffering labor shortage: report
The supply of labor in the country’s electronics industry, in particular the booming semiconductor industry, has become stagnant, raising concerns that the trend will heavily undermine global competitiveness, according to a report released by the Korea Electronics Association on Tuesday. The report stated that the current shortage of labor means Korea’s chip industry, which is on pace for 16 percent growth this year, will struggle in the future to meet rising global demand amid the “fourth indus
Aug. 15, 2017
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Korean insurers' combined net profit rises 28.3% in H1
South Korea's life and nonlife insurance firms saw their combined net profit rise 28.3 percent in the first six months of this year, thanks to robust gain in dividend income and a decline in the loss ratio, the country's financial regulator said Tuesday. Life insurance firms operating in South Korea reported a combined net profit of a preliminary 2.97 trillion won ($2.6 billion) for the January-June period, up 31.1 percent on year, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement. (Yonhap)
Aug. 15, 2017
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[Newsmaker] Korean retailers stop egg sales after fipronil found in some eggs
Major Korean retailers, convenience store chains and online retailers decided Tuesday to immediately halt sales of eggs at their branches nationwide after the government warned of pesticide-tainted eggs earlier in the day. It is unprecedented for all of the country’s major retailers to stop selling eggs simultaneously. The companies include the nation’s three largest retail firms, E-mart, Homeplus and Lotte Mart, as well as leading convenience store chains CU, GS25 and 7-Eleven. (Yonhap)E-mart’
Aug. 15, 2017
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Server chip revenue of top 3 suppliers rises 30 pct in Q2
The world's top three manufacturers of memory chips saw their combined revenue from server chips gain about 30 percent for the second quarter of this year, helped by a surging demand for high-end servers, according to industry data on Tuesday. The combined server DRAM revenue of three suppliers -- Samsung Electronics Co., SK hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. -- stood at US$4.43 billion for the second quarter, up 30.1 percent from a quarter ago, the data by industry tracker DRAMeXchange showe
Aug. 15, 2017
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Air Busan launches charter flights to Vientiane, Hanoi
Air Busan Co. said Friday it will launch charter flights to Vientiane later in the day.The budget carrier, which is an affiliate of Asiana Airlines Inc., will fly flights to the Laotian capital from Gimhae International Airport at 10:05 p.m. every Friday and Monday until Aug. 29.(Yonhap)The Busan-based low-cost carrier also began flying charter flights to Hanoi from Daegu on Thursday.The charter flights to the Vietnamese capital will be flown at 10:20 p.m. every Thursday and Sunday until Aug. 28
Aug. 14, 2017
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Daewoo Shipbuilding logs profit for 2nd straight quarter
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., a troubled shipbuilder here, said Monday that it posted a profit for the second straight quarter in the second quarter, largely thanks to cost-cutting measures and increased delivery of offshore facilities.Net profit reached 1.26 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in the April-June period, following a profit of 234 billion won the previous quarter, it said in a regulatory filing.The shipbuilder logged an operating income of 665 billion won in the second qua
Aug. 14, 2017
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Samsung executive gets fattest paycheck in 1st half
Kwon Oh-hyun, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., was the country's highest-paid corporate executive, receiving some 14 billion won ($12.3 million) in the first half of the year, and is once again to become the top wage-earner this year, data showed on Monday.According to the semi-annual business report compiled by Samsung, Kwon received a paycheck totaling 13.9 billion won in the first six months of the year, a whopping increase from 2.9 billion won a year earlier.Kwon, who is in charge o
Aug. 14, 2017
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Kumho Tire suffers operating loss for 2nd quarter
Kumho Tire Co., South Korea's second-biggest tiremaker by sales, said Monday that it continued to suffer an operating loss in the second quarter of the year, due to sluggish sales in overseas markets.The tiremaker logged an operating loss of 23 billion won ($20 million) in the April-June period following an operating loss of 28 billion won the previous quarter.Sales increased 6.4 percent on-year to reach 712 billion won in the second quarter, it added. (Yonhap)The company also suffered a net los
Aug. 14, 2017
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Hyundai Motor unionists start 2nd partial strike
ULSAN -- Union members of Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's No. 1 automaker, will go on their second partial strike Monday after failed labor talks with the management over wage hikes and job security.Union leaders said workers on the early shift will stage a strike for two hours beginning at 1:30 p.m. Workers of the following shift will walk out for two hours at 10:30 p.m. The unionists already staged a two-hour strike on Thursday.The unionists also refused weekend work shifts last week. This is
Aug. 14, 2017
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'FTA may not be cause of trade imbalance'
The Korea-US free trade agreement may not be the cause of the increasing trade imbalance between the two countries, according to a report from the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade Sunday.In the report, researcher Kim Ba-woo claimed that there was no statistically significant correlation between the rise of Korean exports to the US and the Korea-US free trade agreement going into effect.“Although it is true that the trade imbalance after the FTA was led by an increase in Korean ma
Aug. 13, 2017
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US drugmaker Biogen establishes Korean branch
US biopharmaceutical company Biogen has officially established a new South Korean branch to take charge of the firm’s business here, according to news reports Sunday.Biogen Korea LLC was registered as a new company in Korea on July 14, according to state-issued corporate registration documents open to the public.Its purpose of establishment includes the development, production, manufacturing, import and export of finished drugs and pharmaceutical products, similar to other global pharmaceutical
Aug. 13, 2017
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Lotte Department Store sets up prayer room for Muslim tourists
Lotte Department Store, the country's leading retailer, said Sunday it will open prayer rooms for Muslims at its store in Seoul this week as it steps up efforts to attract more tourists from the Middle East and Southeast Asian countries.The department store operator said they will open a 49.6 square meter room, separated for men and women, at its store in Jamsil, west of Seoul, on Wednesday. The room will have copies of the Koran, the religious text of Islam, and foot baths.Lotte said it is the
Aug. 13, 2017
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Sales of ice cream on decline in Korea
Sales of ice cream products in South Korea fell sharply over the past years, industry data showed Sunday, apparently as a rising number of consumers opted for other desserts, including coffee.According to the data compiled by Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp., the South Korean market for ice cream was estimated at 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion) in 2016, down 39.2 percent from 1.9 trillion won posted in 2012.Industry watchers said the decline came as more consumers are choosing alternate pro
Aug. 13, 2017
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Budget air carriers post robust earnings for H1
South Korea's low-cost carriers enjoyed improved earnings over the first half of 2017, data showed Sunday, as the firms successfully diversified routes amid the diplomatic row with China.The country's six LCCs saw their sales reach 1.6 trillion won ($1.39 billion) in the January-June period, up 39 percent from a year earlier, industry data showed. The combined operating profit also doubled to reach 117.3 billion won.While the latest diplomatic tension with Beijing dealt a harsh blow to local fli
Aug. 13, 2017
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Brokerages cut earnings forecasts for key listed firms
South Korean securities companies have cut their estimates of third-quarter earnings for major listed companies amid investor sentiment battered by growing geopolitical risks on the Korean Peninsula, a market tracker said Sunday.The market consensus of the combined operating profit of 207 listed companies stands at 48.56 trillion won ($42.4 billion) for the July-September period, down 486 trillion won from a month earlier, according to FnGuide.Hit by the government push for eco-friendly energy p
Aug. 13, 2017
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Korean firms fairing well in China's excavator market
South Korean companies, led by Doosan Infracore Co., are witnessing better-than-expected sales in China's excavator market as the world's No. 2 economy increased spending on infrastructure, industry sources said Sunday.According to the data provided by Daishin Securities Co., a total of 6,997 excavators were sold in China in July, more than doubling from a year earlier.In the case of Doosan Infracore, South Korea's top construction equipment maker, the company saw its excavator sales more than d
Aug. 13, 2017
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Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee resigns from International Olympic Committee
Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee has rescinded his membership in the International Olympic Committee. The IOC's Executive Board announced Friday that Lee's family has asked the IOC "not to consider Mr. Lee for re-election as an IOC member." Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee (Yonhap)The 75-year-old has been an IOC member since 1996. But he has remained hospitalized since May 2014 when he suffered a heart attack.Lee's resignation leaves South Korea with one IOC member, Ryu Seung-min. The former
Aug. 11, 2017
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KFC Korea to double number of branches
Kentucky Fried Chicken Korea is set to regain its market footing by doubling its number of local branches and strengthening online-to-offline services, the company said Friday.KFC Korea held a conference in Seoul to share its new vision and future business goals after the takeover of the company by Korea’s KG Group earlier this year. (KFC Korea)Along with KG Group’s investment, KFC Korea said it hopes to recover earnings that have been on a downward spiral since 2013. The company’s operating pr
Aug. 11, 2017
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Netmarble H1 sales surpasses 1 tln won
Netmarble Games, South Korea's No. 1 mobile game developer and publisher, said Friday its sales for the first half of this year topped 1 trillion won ($980 million) on the back of the global popularity of its latest game "Lineage 2 Revolution."Sales for the January-June period came to 1.22 trillion won, up from 1.05 trillion won logged a year earlier, the company said.The on-year sales growth came heavily from overseas, the company said. Lineage 2 Revolution (Netmarble)Revenue from overseas mark
Aug. 11, 2017
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US trade commission starts antidumping probe on Korean fiber product
The US International Trade Commission said Thursday it will launch an antidumping duty investigation into low melt polyester staple fiber imported from South Korea and Taiwan.The commission determined there was "a reasonable indication" that the products from the two countries are being sold in the US at less than their fair value, according to a press release. (Screen grab of US Commerce Department's website)A preliminary decision is due on or around Dec. 4, it said.The US Commerce Department w
Aug. 11, 2017