Articles by 정주원
정주원
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KT&G’s exports exceed sales at home
KT&G Corp., the country’s largest tobacco-maker by market share, said Monday that its annual overseas cigarette sales surpassed its domestic sales for the first time last year, largely owing to strong sales in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.Packs of ESSE, KT&G’s best-selling cigarette brand in the Middle East, are displayed in a shop in Iran. (KT&G) According to KT&G’s annual sales report for 2015, the Korean manufacturer sold 46.5 billion sticks of cigarettes outside Korea, either manufac
Industry Jan. 18, 2016
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Seoul seeks influence, opportunities from AIIB
The recently launched Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will provide Korea with business opportunities in the regional infrastructure sector, the South Korean government said Sunday, pinning high hopes for the China-led agency to elect a Korean vice secretary-general next month. “Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho’s presence (at the AIIB’s meeting in China on Saturday) will contribute to strengthening Korea’s global ties with China and the developing members of the AIIB,” the South Korean Ministry of
Jan. 17, 2016
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BOK cuts growth outlook, freezes key rate
South Korea’s central bank lowered its economic growth forecast for 2016 and kept the base rate unchanged Thursday, citing rising global uncertainties, household debt and slumping oil prices. The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy board lowered the growth outlook for Asia’s fourth-largest economy to 3 percent from 3.2 percent three months earlier. “(Korea’s) domestic demand and consumption are showing signs of improvement, yet the pace is slowing down due to the delayed recovery in global demand,”
Jan. 14, 2016
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BOK keeps key rate at record-low of 1.50%
The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy board on Thursday froze the base interest rate at a record-low of 1.5 percent, citing soaring household debt, volatility in China market and low crude prices. The central bank said it decided to keep the key rate unchanged largely due to the nation’s skyrocketing household debt. As of Sept. 30, South Korea’s total household debt soared to 1,166 trillion won ($962.8 billion), growing at an accelerated pace of 10.4 percent in 2015 from 8.7 percent in 2011. Ban
Jan. 14, 2016
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Finance minister resigns, gears up for April election
Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan resigned from his post on Tuesday, in preparation for running in the April general elections. “I am returning to the political field to change the economy, just as I did 12 years ago for my political debut,” Choi said in his good-bye address at Sejong Government Complex. Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan delivers a good-bye address at Sejong Government Complex on Tuesday. (Ministry of Strategy and Finance)Choi, who doubled as deputy prime minister, showed confiden
Jan. 12, 2016
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Nonghyup elects local chapter head as chairman
Kim Byung-won (NACF)The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, or Nonghyup, announced the appointment of Kim Byung-won as its new chairman Tuesday. Kim, the 62-year-old head of the Nampyeong operations of Nonghyup in Naju, North Jeolla Province, will take helm of the nation’s largest agricultural association with 400 trillion won ($330 billion) in assets, 31 subsidiaries and affiliates, and 8,800 executives. He will represent the 2.35 million members of the farmers’ association. Kim was
Industry Jan. 12, 2016
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First foot-and-mouth disease contracted in 8 months
The animal quarantine authorities of the Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday confirmed the first breakout of foot-and-mouth disease in eight months, vowing stronger watch on the spread of the livestock disease. The Agriculture Ministry dispatched specialists to a farm in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, where 700 pigs were tested positive for foot-and-mouth disease on Tuesday. (Yonhap)The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, or QIA, said the 700 pigs at a farm in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, tested pos
Social Affairs Jan. 12, 2016
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Car insurance premiums likely to rise
(123RF)Insurers are moving to raise motor insurance premiums as the government has vowed to relax its tight control on prices. Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co. is slated to raise motor insurance prices for individual, corporate and business users by 2 percent within January, the latest in a chain of price hikes for small and medium-sized car insurance companies. Hyundai Marine & Fire had been suffering from a high loss rate in the auto insurance sector, undermining the company’s overall perf
Jan. 11, 2016
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KOSPI bounces back on China gains
The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index managed to close in gain on strong institutional buying Friday, after moving either side of the 1900-point mark in the wake of a stock crash in China. Korean traders gave a sigh of relief after the KOSPI rose 13.29 points to 1,917.62, despite pessimistic expectations throughout morning trading. Trading volume was at 400.6 million shares worth 5.00 trillion won ($4.2 billion), with 454 firms falling and 360 gaining. (123RF) The KOSPI opened at a fou
Jan. 8, 2016
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Incheon Bridge CEO wins industrial merit
Incheon Bridge Corp. CEO Kim Soo-hong poses after being presented the Order of Industrial Service Merit at the awarding ceremony office of the Public Procurement Service in Banpo-dong, Seoul, on Dec. 29. (Incheon Bridge Corp.)Incheon Bridge Corp. CEO Kim Soo-hong received the Order of Industrial Service Merit, also known as “Gold Tower,” the country’s highest decoration for a businessperson, the company said Tuesday. Kim was awarded the Gold Tower on Dec. 29 in recognition of his contribution t
Jan. 5, 2016
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Sales ban on cigarettes in Jeju Duty Free faces opposition
The government‘s attempt to ban the sales of cigarettes in the duty-free shop of Jeju International Airport faces mounting opposition from smokers, industry sources said. “The (Finance Ministry’s) move to ban duty-free cigarettes in Jeju International Airport, while leaving out Incheon International Airport, is clearly a sneaky way of raising more tax,” said an official of I Love Smoking, the country’s largest online community of smokers. Travelers purchase duty free products at a duty free sho
Industry Jan. 5, 2016
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Financial chiefs proclaim New Year‘s messages
With lessons from 2015 and aspirations for 2016, leaders of financial institutions in Korea came under spotlight on Monday, the first working day of 2016, as they unraveled different strategies and interests in their New Year messages. The rising call for risk management was the common ground that all CEOs and group chairmen emphasized, despite difference in characters and management philosophies that are revealed in the messages. KB without ‘accidents’ KB Financial Group chairman Yoon Jong-
Business Jan. 4, 2016
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Delayed bill hampers efforts for financial firms’ restructuring
Financial companies are finding it difficult to push for restructuring as the National Assembly failed to pass a relevant bill last year. The 1-year-old law governing restructuring procedures, agreements between firms and creditors and other matters, expired last year, but political parties stopped short of dealing with an alternative bill. Industrial experts said the old law provided legal grounds for companies to voluntarily seek restructuring with the help of creditors to normalize their busi
Jan. 3, 2016
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Expelled French journalist warns of dark days for media in China
A French reporter forced to leave Beijing after she criticized government policy in violence-racked Xinjiang arrived home Friday after warning of dark days ahead for journalists working in China. Beijing accused Ursula Gauthier, the China correspondent for France's L'Obs news magazine, of supporting terrorism after she wrote an article questioning official comparisons between global Islamist violence and unrest in the homeland of the mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority. It then refused to
World News Jan. 1, 2016
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First batch of Chinese tourists visit new tour zone in N. Korea
About 300 Chinese tourists have visited a new tourism zone in North Korea's border city of Sinuiju this week for the first time, according to Chinese media reports on Friday, in another push by Pyongyang to boost its tourism sector. North Korea's border city of Sinuiju (Yonhap) The new North Korean tourism zone, jointly developed by the North's Korea Myohyangsan Travel Company and the Dandong International Travel Agency of China, was officially opened for visitors on Dec. 20 last year. Nor
North Korea Jan. 1, 2016
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