Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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S. Korea lowers COVID-19 warning level, lifts last-remaining antivirus mandates
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Shares close almost flat on U.S. fiscal cliff woes
South Korean stocks closed almost flat Monday as investors took to the sidelines amid the prolonged concerns about the U.S. fiscal cliff, analysts said. The local currency inched up against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index edged up 0.07 percent, or 1.40 points, to finish at 1,981.82. Trading volume was low at 343 million shares worth 3.2 trillion won ($2.98 billion) with gainers outstripping losers 398 to 391. “Local shares traded almost flat as the rising uncertai
Dec. 24, 2012
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Jin Air launches Incheon-Okinawa route
Jin Air Co., an affiliate of South Korea’s largest airline Korean Air Lines Co., said Monday it has launched a regular flight to the southern Japanese city of Okinawa.The debut service departed from Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at 10:35 a.m. on Monday and landed in Okinawa at 12:45 p.m.The carrier said it will offer daily morning flights connecting the two cities with the 180-seat B737-800 passenger jet.The latest move raised the number of routes operated by Jin Air to 12 destin
Dec. 24, 2012
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Hollys Coffee to open 100 shops in China by 2014
Hollys Coffee Co., a South Korean coffee shop chain, said Monday it will open 100 shops in China within the next two years as part of its efforts to expand its overseas business.Hollys Coffee said it has signed a franchise rights contract with Dongling Group to open a coffee shop in Shenzhen, southern China, in May next year. It is the third Hollys coffee shop in China and the first in collaboration with the Chinese firm.“We seek to open 100 shops in China in cooperation with Dongling Group by 2
Dec. 24, 2012
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Hyundai Rotem wins $855m in orders from Egypt, H.K.
Hyundai Rotem Co., a South Korean tank and train maker, said Monday that it has clinched a US$353 million order to supply railcars to Egypt.The order was placed by the National Authority for Tunnels, which is responsible for building metro systems and road tunnels in Egypt. The railcars will be delivered, beginning in early 2015, Hyundai Rotem said.The South Korean company also said it secured a separate $502 million deal to supply railcars to the government-owned Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway
Dec. 24, 2012
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Government debt nears W470tr under new accounting rules
South Korea’s government debt neared 470 trillion won ($437.2 billion) in 2011 under new accounting rules adopted to reflect international norms, government data showed Monday.According to the data offered by the finance ministry, South Korea’s ordinary government debt came to 468.6 trillion won last year. The ratio of the debt to the country’s gross domestic product stood at 37.9 percent.The figures were calculated on an accrual basis, different from the existing cash basis accounting rules und
Dec. 24, 2012
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Park to reorganize financial supervisory system
Following is the third in a series of articles on President-elect Park Geun-hye’s key policies. ― Ed.The nation’s top financial regulator and its decision-making panel are likely to undergo systematic reorganization under the incoming administration which emphasizes financial governance.President-elect Park Geun-hye has not directly commented on financial policies, but is known to be planning to split the Financial Supervisory Service into two separate units while adding more functions to the Fi
Dec. 24, 2012
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Newborns on rise as more tie the knot
The number of newborns in October has risen for the sixth straight month on the back of more marriages in the year of the Golden Pig, according to government figures on Monday. Statistics Korea said that in that month, the birth of newborns rose by 9.1 percent from the same period last year to reach 41,900 babies born. The clip was the largest since January 2011, when the number grew by 10.8 percent on-year.“The so-called ‘Echo Boom Generation,’ indicating the generation born to the baby boomers
Dec. 24, 2012
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Hyundai-Kia on road to world’s No. 4
Hyundai Motor, including its affiliate Kia Motors, is closely vying with Renault Group for fourth place in yearly global auto sales.While Hyundai-Kia ranked fifth in 2010 and 2011 in global vehicle sales, auto industry insiders raised the possibility on Monday that the Korean automotive group would overtake Renault-Nissan Alliance, the long-standing No. 4 player, this year.Their prediction is based on the sluggish sales of Paris-based Renault, which suffered a drop of about 20 percent in the wak
IndustryDec. 24, 2012
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Foreign banks cut benefits for credit cards
Credit cards issued by foreign banks are expected to lose many benefits they used to offer customers, industry sources and banks said this week. Standard Chartered Korea and Citibank, two of the top foreign banks in Korea, said they would be reducing credit card benefits by up to 50 percent starting next year. The reduced benefits will be mostly in the form of exempting fewer customers from membership fees and offering fewer discounts or card points. The move comes on the heels of the local cred
IndustryDec. 24, 2012
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ING Life Korea workers to end strike
Unionized workers of ING Life Korea were to put an end to their near five-month strike later on Monday as KB Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s No. 2 banking group, withdrew its plan to acquire the local unit of ING Group, sources said.ING Life Korea workers started an indefinite strike in July, calling for better working conditions, which include job guarantees after a possible acquisition.The end came as the board of KB Financial Group turned down a company plan to take over the local life in
Dec. 24, 2012
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KOGAS sees best share gains of 2012: Daeshin Securities
Korea Gas Corp., the state-run natural gas importer and supplier, had the best-performing stock of the year, according to a report by Daeshin Securities on Monday. In a survey of stock gains between Jan. 2 and Dec. 18 on the top 100 stocks by market value, shares of KOGAS, the world’s largest liquefied natural gas importer, gained the most, rising 82.3 percent. Shares of Amore Pacific, the nation’s largest cosmetics brand, and Orion, the second-largest confectionery company in Korea, followed, u
IndustryDec. 24, 2012
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Gyeonggi service helps foreign capital find its niche
The following is the third article in a series featuring support and networking systems for foreign-owned businesses in Korea. ― Ed.When Gyeonggi Province opened up its first industrial complexes in the early 1990s for production centers owned by foreign companies, it looked forward to a boom in employment opportunities for local residents, an inflow of foreign investment and a boost to the provincial economy’s growth.What it didn’t anticipate, however, was the myriad of unique logistical, labor
Dec. 24, 2012
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Study: Hawaiian island slowly dissolving
The mountains on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands are dissolving from within under the slow but inexorable onslaught of groundwater, researchers say.Sometime in the distant future the mountainous tropical island will be reduced to a flat, low-lying island similar to Midway, scientists at Brigham Young University reported Friday.While external erosion is the primary force that wears down mountains, that's not the case on Oahu, they said."We tried to figure out how fast the island is going away and wh
TechnologyDec. 24, 2012
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Chinese manufacturers sell Apple knockoff cables at bargain price
Chinese companies are competitively releasing cheap replicas of the Lightning Cable, which is exclusively designed for Apple’s new devices including the iPhone 5 and iPad mini.The Korea Herald confirmed on Monday that multiple Chinese online shopping malls are offering duplicated 8-pin Lightning Cables for about only $2 each, compared to Apple’s original Lightning Cables at $19 per unit.The discount is steeper if the cables are bought by wholesale outlets. Through Alibaba, one of the biggest onl
TechnologyDec. 24, 2012
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Expanding waistlines may be due to alcohol
Those who can‘t lose weight despite exercising and cutting back on high-calorie food may be drinking too many calories from beverages, a U.S. dietitian says.Kari Kooi, a registered dietitian at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, said the empty calories from alcohol can add up fast, and alcohol lowers inhibitions, meaning resistance to high-calorie foods becomes futile.“Reduce or cut out alcohol consumption,” Kooi said in a statement. “Increased alcohol consumption will lead to unwanted pounds an
TechnologyDec. 24, 2012
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S. Korea's gov't debt nears 470 trillion won under new accounting rules
South Korea's government debt neared 470 trillion won (US$437.2 billion) in 2011 under new accounting rules adopted to reflect international norms, government data showed Monday.According to the data offered by the finance ministry, South Korea's ordinary government debt came to 468.6 trillion won last year. The ratio of the debt to the country's gross domestic product stood at 37.9 percent.The figures were calculated on an accrual basis, different from the existing cash basis accounting rules u
Dec. 24, 2012
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Revealed: The mystery of Rudolph‘s nose
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer‘s snout has been immortalised in movies, books and song. But until now, no-one has offered a scientific explanation for the glow that allows the world’s most famous antlered herbivore to guide Santa‘s sleigh through the night before Christmas.In a study released Monday, researchers in the Netherlands and Norway used a hand-held microscope to examine the nasal lining of five healthy humans, two reindeer and a sixth person with a non-cancerous nasal growth.Reindeer n
TechnologyDec. 24, 2012
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Park opting against radical chaebol reform
Following is the second in a series of articles on President-elect Park Geun-hye’s key policies ― Ed.Revamping the conglomerate sector was one of main campaign issues among presidential hopefuls amid the widening profit gap among industries and irregularities by their mammoth business groups.Most candidates designated their proposed reform of chaebol ― Korea’s family-owned conglomerates ― “economic democratization.” While liberal candidates had pledged to overhaul family-owned ownership structur
IndustryDec. 23, 2012
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Kakao Talk use triples in 5 months
Kakao, the developer of mobile messenger app “Kakao Talk,” said Sunday that its now 70 million users spend almost triple the time using the app on average as they did five months ago. The average weekly use of Kakao Talk reached 302 minutes, nearly triple the 107 minutes of the first week of July. In other words, Kakao Talk users run the app for about 43 minutes every day on average. The phenomenon indicates that existing Kakao Talk users rely heavily on the app to send mobile messages, Kakao sa
TechnologyDec. 23, 2012
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Ecuador volcano blasts more hot rock from crater
The Tungurahua volcano in central Ecuador keeps spewing gas, ash and red-hot rock, forcing hundreds to evacuate from their homes.The country’s Geophysical Institute says incandescent rock shot from the crater of the 5,023-meter high mountain fell about half (a kilometer) down its flanks. Explosions early Wednesday rattled windows 14 kilometers away, while rain-borne ash has been falling to the southwest of the crater.Regional emergency director Lourdes Mayorga says that about 100 families are st
TechnologyDec. 23, 2012