Most Popular
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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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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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Concerns raised over chronic labor shortage at state-run center for digital sex crime victims
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Military aircraft evacuating S. Koreans in Lebanon returns home
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BTS-themed moon jar to be unveiled on Hangeul Day
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Samsung, Hyundai chiefs to accompany Yoon on Singapore trip
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1,430 minors investigated for drug offenses from 2018 to 2023: police
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[Robert Fouser] Why the US election looks so close
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[Moon in Office] Moon Jae-in to push for renewable energy policies
South Korea’s freshly inaugurated President Moon Jae-in is expected to push forward renewable energy policies to tackle concerns over pollution and the safety of nuclear energy.On Moon’s campaign website, titled “Moon’s 1st Street,” his pledges related to energy have garnered 284,080 likes to date, topping many other promises by the camp.Moon is likely to scale down coal and nuclear power dependency as pledged during his campaign. His camp had said the government would no longer build nuclear re
May 10, 2017
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Asiana Q1 net more than doubles on FX gains
Asiana Airlines Inc. said Wednesday its net profit more than doubled in the first quarter from a year earlier on currency gains. Net profit for the three months ended March 31 jumped to 96 billion won ($85 million) from 44 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement. (Yonhap)"The won's strength against the dollar sharply reduced the value of dollar-denominated debts in the first quarter, giving a boost to the quarterly bottom line," a company spokesman said. But rising oil price
May 10, 2017
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[Moon in Office] Chaebol reform drive to bolster FTC
The election of Moon Jae-in as president of South Korea comes amid intensified calls to reform an economic landscape centered on family-run chaebol or conglomerates. In light of such calls, Moon is likely to strengthen the scope and authority of the Fair Trade Commission, as he has repeatedly vowed to protect small businesses and root out unfair corporate practices. (Yonhap)“I will take the lead in reforming chaebol. The phrase ‘collusive ties of politics and business’ will completely vanish und
May 10, 2017
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[Moon in Office] ICT Ministry expected to remain intact
South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-in is expected to keep intact the current Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, a unit symbolic of ousted President Park Geun-hye’s administration. In 2013, the ICT Ministry was set up with much fanfare by Park, emphasizing the creative economy, although the drive was criticized as lacking progress. A tech seminar is held by ICT Minister Choi Yang-hee at the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning in January.(Ministry of Science, ICT and Future
May 10, 2017
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[Moon in Office] Biopharma sector to grow under new administration
South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-in is expected to boost the country’s biopharmaceutical and health-related industries, which have continuously called for more government support and attention.There are high expectations that Moon, who assumed office Wednesday, will establish a new government body dedicated to centralized policymaking for the biopharma and health care sectors.South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)On the campaign trail, Moon pledged to create a “fourth industrial re
May 10, 2017
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[Moon in Office] Cigarette taxes to remain at current level under Moon
Korea’s new president will not consider lowering the excise tax on cigarettes, according to a spokesman for the administration Wednesday.“Instead of lowering the tax, we are looking into the possibility of creating tax-free cigarettes for low income consumers,” Moon Jae-in’s spokesman Hong Ik-pyo told The Korea Herald on Wednesday. No timeframe has been set for the introduction of the lower-priced cigarettes, according to Hong. Cigarettes for sale at a convenience store (Yonhap)The excise tax on
May 10, 2017
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[Moon in Office] Business groups urge Moon to revive economy, cut regulations
Business groups in South Korea sent congratulatory messages to President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday, urging the new leader to rejuvenate the nation’s economy by eradicating unnecessary regulations and normalizing the government’s role in the face of rising protectionism.The foreign business community in Korea urged for continued close ties and economic partnerships in the import and export sectors, expressing the hope that the new administration would boost efforts to establish more transparent po
May 10, 2017
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Korea's manufacturing domestic supply hit record high in Q1
South Korea's total supply of manufacturing goods both locally produced and imported gained ground at the fastest-ever pace in the first three months of the year on the back of brisk chips industry and a sharp rise in imports, government data showed Wednesday.The manufacturing domestic supply index advanced a record 7.1 percent to stand at 112.4 from a year earlier during the January-March period, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. (Yonhap)That of South Korean-made goods added
May 10, 2017
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Corporate watchdog imposes W803.8b in fines last year
South Korea's corporate watchdog said Wednesday it imposed a total of 803.6 billion won $707.8 million) in fines last year to punish unfair trade practices such as price rigging.The Fair Trade Commission said it handled 3,885 cases in 2016, down 11 percent from 4,367 a year earlier, with 3,802 new cases reported to the agency. (Yonhap)Out of the total, 111 cases were slapped with financial penalties, nearly halving from the previous year's 202 cases, with the amount of fines jumping 36.5 percent
May 10, 2017
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Lotte Chemical to invest W370b in facility expansion
Lotte Chemical Corp., a major chemicals firm here, said Wednesday that it plans to spend 370 billion won ($326 million) in expanding facilities in the country, to better meet demand and strengthen its product portfolio.Lotte Chemical decided to expand the output at its domestic plant that produces meta xylene, a material for purified isophthalic acid, which is a substance that stiffens PET in the production of bottles.(Yonhap)Lotte Chemical, the No. 1 PIA producer in the world, has been sufferin
May 10, 2017
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Hancom's quarterly sales hits record-high in Q1
Hancom Inc., a South Korean software maker, said Wednesday that its sales for the first quarter came to a record-high of 26.7 billion won ($23.5 million).The homegrown software firm said its quarterly sales jumped 5.9 percent on-year during the January-March period. Operating profit also surged 22.7 percent on-year to 9.4 billion won.(Yonhap)Hancom, well-known among South Koreans for its mainstay word processing software based on the Korean language, has steadily improved its operating performan
May 10, 2017
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Korean shipyards outpace Chinese rivals in April new orders: data
South Korean shipyards came in first in terms of new orders secured in April, with their order backlog continuing to slip, industry data showed on Wednesday.According to the data compiled by global research firm Clarkson Research Institute, Korean shipyards clinched new orders worth a combined 340,000 compensated gross tons last month to build 12 ships, trailed by Chinese rivals with 260,000 CGTs or 13 ships.(Yonhap)Japanese shipyards' orders came to nil.In April alone, a total of 750,000 CGTs w
May 10, 2017
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Workers spending less on lunches, going more often to convenience stores
Salaried workers are spending less on their lunches, as a growing number of them are grabbing a quick bite at convenience stores instead of restaurants, a recent survey said Wednesday. (Yonhap)The survey by Job Korea, a leading job portal site, on 899 office workers showed that their daily average lunch money was 6,100 won ($5.38), down from 6,370 won in the same poll last year. As for places where they eat, 44.8 percent answered they eat at a restaurant near their office, while another 33.6 per
May 10, 2017
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What will be South Korea’s next presidential limo?
The presidential limousine to be used by South Korea’s new president, who takes office Wednesday, was the talk of the auto industry here on Election Day on Tuesday.Former presidents mostly rode vehicles made by foreign automakers with the exception of impeached former President Park Geun-hye. Park, who rode Hyundai Motor’s luxury Equus Stretch edition, was the first president to choose a limousine made by a local maker. There is a possibility that Park’s presidential motor may be handed over to
May 9, 2017
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Unique promotional events mark Election Day
Various promotional events are taking place in Korea to encourage the public to vote in the presidential election on Tuesday. The biggest event being carried out is a campaign called “Vote for Korea,” a website created by a local software developer. When a voter uploads a photo confirming that they voted, they will randomly be selected to get monetary prizes of up to 5 million won ($4,400). As of 4:40 p.m. more than 480,000 people participated in the event.Local companies, regardless of their si
May 9, 2017
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Election-related words dominate search engines in Korea on Tuesday
Online searches related to Korea’s presidential election topped two search engines here Tuesday, when the country’s citizens went to the polls. The top seven most popular keywords in Korean on Google Trends -- which tracks the popularity of search terms -- were all related to the election, except for one search term: “A Silent Voice,” a Japanese movie released Tuesday. (Google)The most popular was “presidential election,” which saw at least 200,000 searches on the day. It was followed by “electi
May 9, 2017
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Naver, Kakao entering devices market
South Korea’s online portal giants Naver and Kakao are set to enter the devices market, following a path similar to Google that went into the mobile device and speaker markets. The two companies will launch their first hardware products within this year, according to industry sources.Naver plans to release an artificial intelligence embedded speaker, named the WAVE, this summer. In a joint project with its Japanese affiliate LINE Corp., the speaker will be operated by CLOud Virtual Assistant or
May 9, 2017
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Samsung Display’s plant on fire
Samsung Display’s plant on fireA fire broke out at Samsung Display’s plant located in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, on Tuesday morning but there were no casualties, according to local news reports. At around 9:20 a.m., a fire broke out at a cooling tower, which is located at the top of the three-story building providing power and chemicals to assembly lines. The fire authority in Chungcheong Province said the fire was extinguished around 10:15 a.m. and there are no casualties reported so
May 9, 2017
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Sales of air purifiers, masks rise along with fine dust levels
Sales of masks and air purifiers recently skyrocketed by five to eight times upon fine dust alerts and yellow dust from China last weekend, retailers said Tuesday.Nose mask sales at CU convenience stores surged by 446 percent on-year between Saturday and Sunday, when the National Institute of Environmental Research issued fine dust warnings nationwide, according to the retailer. The company saw an 84 percent on-year increase in nose mask sales between April 1 and May 7. Retail chain E-mart also
May 9, 2017
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Samsung’s smartphone sales drop by half in China in Q1
Samsung Electronics’ smartphone sales dropped by more than half in China in the first quarter of this year, according to a Hong Kong-based research firm. The Korean tech giant is losing its market share to Chinese brands, including Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, in the world’s largest smartphone market. Samsung Galaxy S8 (right) and Galaxy S8 Plus (Yonhap)According to the latest report published by Counterpoint Technology Market Research, shipments of Samsung Electronics smartphones fell around 60 perc
May 9, 2017