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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Pianist Lim Yunchan double winner at Gramophone Awards
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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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[Photo News] Line Friends marks grand opening of first US store in New York City
FIRST LINE FRIENDS STORE IN US -- Line Friends, the character merchandising unit of Naver-owned mobile messenger Line, marked the grand opening of its first store in the US on Tuesday. Located at Times Square in New York City, the store features rooms that introduce the stories of Line Friends characters. It also sells character goods including those exclusive to New York. More than 300,000 people have visited the store since its preopening on July 21, the firm said. (Line Friends) FIRST LINE FR
Aug. 1, 2017
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Samsung reshuffles Chinese arm amid sluggish business
Samsung Electronics reshuffled its Chinese arm Tuesday with the aim of turning around its sluggish business in the world’s largest smartphone market, but the Korean tech giant denied speculations of job cuts resulting from the reshuffle.“We have reshuffled our Chinese unit today in the hope of reversing declining sales. Seven sales points have been closed and replaced by more segmented 22 bases to be more closely supervised by the Beijing headquarters,” a Samsung Electronics’ official told The K
Aug. 1, 2017
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Builder sentiment drops on weaker orders in July
Business sentiment for South Korea's construction industry fell in July from the previous month due mainly to a decrease in new orders, a poll showed Tuesday.The construction business survey index came to 85.4 last month, down five points from a month earlier and snapping a three-month gaining streak, according to the survey by the Construction and Economy Research Institute of Korea.A reading hovering below 100 indicates that builders pessimistic about the current state of the construction indu
Aug. 1, 2017
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Celltrion's Truxima has 30% market share in Britain
An affiliate of South Korean biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion Inc. said Tuesday that its biosimilar drug Truxima accounts for 30 percent of the Britain market.Truxima, a reference to Roche's Mabthera, also known as Rituxan, has become a presence in the European country since its launch in April, Celltrion Healthcare said.Celltrion`s headquarters in Songdo, Incheon (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)In February, the European Medicines Agency accepted Celltrion's application to sell the antibody bios
Aug. 1, 2017
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Korea venture investment in H1 nears W1tr
Venture capitalists continued to pour money into South Korean startup companies in the first half of this year on hopes of lucrative returns, government data showed Tuesday. The investment in startups was tallied at 992.6 billion won ($887 million) in the January-June period, up 1.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.The ministry said 369.8 billion won, or 37.3 percent of the total, went to companies set up within the last three years, while
Aug. 1, 2017
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Nine firms added to antitrust watch list in July
The number of South Korean business groups' affiliates under tight restrictions on mutual investment and loan guarantees rose in July from a month earlier, the corporate watchdog said Tuesday.The Fair Trade Commission said 1,277 firms were on its monthly watch list as of end-July, up nine from the previous month. (Yonhap)They are owned by the country's 31 largest business groups, including Samsung Group and Hyundai Motor Group, with assets of 10 trillion won ($8.5 billion) or more.Eight groups,
Aug. 1, 2017
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Home appliances with movie themes appeal to kidults
Home appliance makers are releasing new devices with superhero and movie themes to stand out in the increasingly saturated market and appeal to a growing number of “kidults,” adults with interests similar to children. Local firm Dongbu Daewoo Electronics said Monday it had launched limited edition Marvel Comics-themed refrigerators in partnership with the US entertainment firm The Walt Disney Co. The small refrigerators feature the characters Iron Man, Spider-Man and Captain America, fictional s
July 31, 2017
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[Monitor] Online sales surge while offline sales sluggish
The distribution market is undergoing a rapid shift from offline to online, with major offline retailers suffering sales declines while offline sellers enjoy a rise, data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed.In the first half of this year, large retailers and department stores saw no increase in their sales while convenience stores and online retailers saw two digit surges in sales.Convenience stores also showed a12.8 percent increase in the number of branches.Online sellers part
July 31, 2017
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Banned items at Incheon Airport to be separately shipped
Incheon Airport (Yonhap)Travelers using Incheon Airport will be able to keep prohibited items by storing them at the airport or sending them to an address of their choice, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation said Monday. Products that can be kept at the airport starting Tuesday are daily supplies, including food, cosmetics and knives. The service is not offered for guns and swords, the ministry said.Travelers can fill out a form to store or send the belongings from 6 a.m. to
July 31, 2017
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Korail to simplify ticket system for foreign travelers
(Yonhap)Korail, the state-run railway operator, will simplify its rail pass for foreign customers to improve their convenience, the company said Monday.The Korail Pass is a voucher designed for use on all trains operated by Korail.A total of six rail passes with the same price and validity period will be offered from Tuesday, the company said. Previously, foreign customers had to pay a different price for the rail pass depending on when they entered the country.Foreign customers will also be abl
July 31, 2017
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Celltrion’s Herceptin biosimilar accepted for review by US FDA
South Korean biopharma company Celltrion said Monday that the US Food and Drug Administration has accepted for review the firm’s biologics license application for Herzuma, its cheaper biosimilar copy of Roche’s blockbuster anticancer drug Herceptin.Celltrion submitted Herzuma to the US FDA in May. The US regulator is slated to announce its approval decision in the first half of 2018, according to the Korean drugmaker.Developed by Roche-owned Genentech, Herceptin is a monoclonal antibody drug pri
July 31, 2017
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Budget carriers face high complaints last year
The number of consumer complaints lodged against South Korea's budget carriers was nearly twice as high as complaints leveled on full-service airlines last year, a consumer rights agency said Monday. In 2016, low-cost carriers received a total of 417 consumer complaints, while Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc. received a combined 213, according to the Korea Consumer Agency. (Yonhap)By company, Jeju Air Co., the country's biggest budget carrier by sales, reported the highest number of
July 31, 2017
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Conglomerates increasing cash holdings
South Korea's leading conglomerates had some 116 trillion won ($103.29 billion) in cash or cashable assets as of the end of March this year, an increase of 54 percent from five years ago, data showed Monday, a sign that the companies remain hesitant about investing.Seventy-two companies were analyzed by the Korea Exchange after 28 of the top 100 market cap firms were excluded because their assets could not be measured on an annual basis. The results showed that the firms held an aggregate 115.7
July 31, 2017
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Korea launches anti-dumping probe on Chinese steel product
South Korea's trade commission said Monday that it has decided to launch an official investigation into the alleged dumping of a steel product imported from China that has been cited for disrupting fair competition.The decision follows a formal complaint from four South Korean manufacturers, according to the Korea Trade Commission. (Yonhap)"The petitioners claim there has been actual damage to the local industry, such as a drop in domestic sales of products made here, due to unfair undercutting
July 31, 2017
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Korea Gas, POSCO Daewoo jointly bid for LNG terminal in Bangladesh
South Korea's state-run Korea Gas Corp. has jointly submitted a preliminary bid with POSCO Daewoo Corp. construction for a terminal for importing liquefied natural gas in Bangladesh, according to Korea Gas officials on Sunday. A consortium formed by Korea Gas and POSCO Daewoo recently submitted its expression of interest to the Bangladesh government for the terminal with an annual capacity of 7.5 million tons of LNG. (Yonhap)SK E&S Co., an energy affiliate of South Korea's SK Group, is also bel
July 30, 2017
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Chaebol heads qualified for financial firm ownership, questions remain
The heads of South Korean conglomerates including Samsung, Hyundai Motor and Hanwha appear to have passed a qualification screening by financial authorities, which tested whether they are eligible to run or own financial arms of the group they lead. However, questions are being raised over the effectiveness of the screening, as it allows those who have been indicted on charges of malpractice and embezzlement. The Financial Services Commission said Sunday, “We found no distinct problems while scr
July 30, 2017
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Celltrion founder becomes Korea’s No. 10 stock rich
Seo Jung-jin, the founding chairman of South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion, has officially taken the 10th spot in the country’s list of stock rich billionaires, following Celltrion Healthcare’s initial public offering last Friday.Celltrion Healthcare, the sales and marketing subsidiary of Celltrion, went public on the Kosdaq on Friday. Its shares soared 15.23 percent from its initial offering price to close at 53,000 won ($47.30), with its market capitalization at 6.88 trillion won,
July 30, 2017
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Korea's air traffic jumps 6.6% in H1
Air traffic in South Korea jumped 6.6 percent in the first half helped by increased demand on non-Chinese routes, government data showed Sunday. The number of passengers on Korean and international routes run by domestic airline carriers rose to 53.08 million in the January-June period from 49.80 million a year earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. "An increase in travel demand on routes to Europe, Japan and Southeast Asian countries helped offset sharp
July 30, 2017
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Refiners pin hopes on earnings recovery in Q3
South Korean oil refiners, led by SK Innovation Co., are pinning high hopes on a rebound in their earnings under the current quarter after reporting a worse -than-expected bottom line for the April-June period, industry sources said Sunday.Local refiners saw their second-quarter earnings almost halve from a year earlier due to low oil prices, a rise in inventory losses and weaker-than-expected margins on key chemical products. Global oil prices dropped by more than 10 percent during the second q
July 30, 2017
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Creditors of Kumho Tire OK Kumho Asiana's proposal in brand dispute
Creditors of Kumho Tire Co. have decided to accept the offer by the tiremaker's parent group in a brand dispute with the Chinese buyer, clearing the final hurdle in the sale of South Korea's No. 2 tiremaker, an official the main creditor said Friday.In March, China's Qingdao Doublestar Co. signed a 955 billion won ($852 million) deal to acquire a 42 percent stake in Kumho Tire, but the process of acquisition hit a snag over how much Kumho Tire should pay for the use of the Kumho brand name.Kumho
July 28, 2017