Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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Foreign investment banks warn of higher bank loan default
Foreign investment banks have warned that domestic banks could see their loan delinquency rates rise this year due to the increased possibility of household defaults on their debts, data showed Sunday.Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and other major global IBs expect the uptrend in South Korean banks’ loan delinquency rate, which started during the second half of last year, to gain further ground this year, according to data by the Korea Center for International Finance.The overall delinquency rat
Jan. 15, 2012
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Ford Europe wants to brave weak market with new models
Ford of Europe wants to defy tough market conditions created by the euro zone crisis. The carmaker plans to introduce a series of new models in Europe this year, German Ford head Bernhard Mattes told the German Press Agency dpa.The models will include a new Mondeo, an electric Focus, a new Transit and the next generation of Cougars, Mattes said in an interview at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.“We are optimistic that this series of impulses will give us strong competitive
MobilityJan. 15, 2012
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Luxury saloons heat up Korea’s import market
Last year may have been all about fuel efficiency and hybrids, but sleek, executive sedans from Germany are taking over the hype this year. Hot new cars are to come from Porsche, BMW and Volkswagen, which plans more new launches than ever in 2012.Volkswagen will introduce the Scirocco R-Line in Korea next month, a long awaited sports coupe with looks to match Hyundai Motor’s Veloster. The three-door coupe is a third-generation model and will come with a six-speed manual transmission and up to 17
MobilityJan. 15, 2012
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BMW recalls Mini Coopers in U.S.
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is recalling 88,911 Mini Cooper cars because of a defect that has caused fires, the U.S. auto-safety regulator said.The circuit board on the electric auxiliary water pumps that cool the cars’ turbochargers can malfunction, overheat and cause fires, BMW said today in a posting on the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.In October, the agency opened an investigation into Minis after reports of 12 engine fires, including five that destroyed the
MobilityJan. 15, 2012
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Finance Ministry official to go AMRO, Asia’s IMF
Lee Jae-young, head of Finance Ministry’s foreign exchange market division, has been tapped for second-in-command position at the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, a Singapore-based financial surveillance apparatus for Asian countries, the ministry said Sunday. Lee is to become a senior economist at AMRO, whose job is to run a multi-billion-dollar currency swap scheme in the region set aside to ward off future financial crises. Its main functions include monitoring economic developments in
Jan. 15, 2012
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Korean economy faces rough going in Q1
South Korea's economic growth rate is feared to stagnate or lapse into negative territory in the first half of 2012 on escalating global economic uncertainties that could make a significant dent in the export-focused economy, analysts warned Sunday.The warning came a day after global credit ratings
Jan. 15, 2012
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Apple to ready IPad 3 with sharper screen, LTE access
Apple Inc.’s next iPad, expected to go on sale in March, will sport a high-definition screen, run a faster processor and work with next-generation wireless networks, according to three people familiar with the product.The company’s manufacturing partners in Asia started ramping up production of the
TechnologyJan. 15, 2012
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Doomed Russia Mars probe eyes fiery crash
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia's space agency on Sunday called off all predictions of the likely crash site of its ill-fated Mars probe only hours before the 13.5-tonne spacecraft was due to begin its fatal descent.Roscosmos said on its website that fragments of the stranded Phobos-Grunt voyager would probab
TechnologyJan. 15, 2012
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Gov’t says impact from European credit downgrade will be limited
The Seoul government on Saturday said the impact from the credit downgrade of European countries will likely be limited, saying the country and its markets have long prepared for the worst."The credit downgrades have long been anticipated, and both the markets and the government have been preparing
Jan. 14, 2012
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S&P cuts credit ratings for France, Italy, Spain
PARIS (AP) _ Standard & Poor's swept the debt-ridden European continent with punishing credit downgrades Friday, stripping France of its coveted AAA status and dropping Italy even lower. Germany retained its top-notch rating, but Portugal's debt was consigned to junk.In all, S&P, which took away the
Jan. 14, 2012
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Hyundai Motor eyes domestic sales of 700,000 cars
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest carmaker, said Friday that it is targeting to sell 700,000 vehicles in the domestic market this year, up 2.4 percent from 2011.Hyundai Motor, which sold 683,570 units locally last year, said competition in the domestic market is exp
IndustryJan. 13, 2012
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China OKs KIC’s investment plan
Korea’s sovereign wealth fund has received qualified investor status from China, opening the door for investment in its stock markets, the Finance Ministry said Friday.Korea Investment Corp. received the status of “qualified foreign institutional investor” from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, according to the ministry.Under the Chinese law, a foreign investor should obtain the QFII status to directly invest in its mainland stock markets. The approval comes more than a year after KIC
Jan. 13, 2012
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NCsoft expects China gains
HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― NCsoft Corp., a leading online game developer in Korea, will likely see progress in its China business this year thanks to the expected relaunch of its two best-selling online games in China, JP Morgan said Friday.NCsoft is an online gaming company with a focus on the massively multiplayer online role-playing game genre. Its three key MMORPG games, Lineage, Lineage II and Aion account for more than 90 percent of the company’s total revenue. The likely relaunch of Lineag
IndustryJan. 13, 2012
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BOK freezes key rate, citing continuing risks
The Bank of Korea froze the benchmark rate at 3.25 percent on Friday for the seventh straight month as widely expected, citing risks to the global and local economy. One refreshing change, though subtle, is that Gov. Kim Choong-soo stressed the central bank would monitor closely the still-high “inflation expectations” instead of focusing on inflation growth. Kim said inflation expectations among the public remain at about 4 percent, while expert groups forecast 3.4 percent growth for 2012. “The
Jan. 13, 2012
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GM Korea CEO quits
Automaker denies report on Chevrolet plant moving to EuropeGM Korea announced Friday that its CEO Mike Arcamone has resigned with his term not yet expired and that GM International Operations vice president John Buttermore will assume the interim chief position. GM Korea said Arcamone “would leave the auto industry and return to his homeland of Canada” without elaborating. Arcamone’s departure came as the Korean unit of the U.S. automaker is seeing a surge in sales on the domestic market after i
MobilityJan. 13, 2012
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Samsung, LG flex muscles with high technologies
LAS VEGAS ― The 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show showcased a wide array of gadgets over four days here from 3-D and smart televisions to tablet PCs and ultrabooks to the new Organic Light-Emitting Diodes TV.The event, organized by U.S.-based Consumer Electronics Association, was joined by 2,700 exhibitors and 140,000 people from 140 different countries from Jan. 10-13.“At CES, we’re in the world’s epicenter for the most innovative consumer electronics technology, devices and services
TechnologyJan. 13, 2012
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Korean Air picked in top 10 by Chinese
Korean Air Lines Co. said Friday that it has been picked as one of the best foreign carriers in a poll of Chinese consumers by an international travel magazine.The monthly Wue Lu, the Chinese edition of New York-based Travel and Leisure magazine, included South Korea’s largest flag carrier among foreign airlines “welcomed” by Chinese travelers.The announcement was made at the China Travel Award event held in Shanghai, with the airlines being picked based on reviews by ordinary consumers, travel
Jan. 13, 2012
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Finance minister warns of optimism over inflation
Korea should not stay optimistic about inflation situations for this year, the nation‘s finance minister said Friday, urging all government agencies to do their best to stabilize prices. “Though the central bank and many private think tanks predict that things will improve this year from last year, we cannot remain optimistic given inflation conditions at home and abroad early this year,” Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan told a price stabilization meeting. Korea’s consumer prices jumped 4 percent l
Jan. 13, 2012
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Per-capita income to fall
Korea’s per-capita income for last year is expected to be lower than the government’s earlier estimate due to faster population growth, a senior Finance Ministry official said Friday.The government earlier predicted that the per-capita gross national income would range from $23,500 to $24,000 at the end of last year. It was based on the nation’s economic growth and inflation, which was projected to grow 3.8 percent and 4 percent last year.“The per-capita GNI is expected to decline to $22,500-$24
Jan. 13, 2012
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Korea eyes more petrochemical exports in 2012
Korea‘s petrochemical companies hope to further increase their exports after they climbed to a record high last year, a local industry group said Friday.The country’s exports of petrochemical products, such as plastic and fertilizers, reached US$45.5 billion in 2011, up 27.5 percent from $35.7 billion worth of products shipped a year earlier, according to the Korea Petrochemical Industry Association.The association, however, said the growth rate this year will likely slow down significantly to a
IndustryJan. 13, 2012