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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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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‘Korea-U.S. FTA will take economic ties to higher level’
A top U.S. Chamber of Commerce official said the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement, which is set to take effect soon, will further enhance economic relations between the two allies. “In this Korea-U.S. FTA, it’s a gold standard agreement, we already have a strong economic relationship, we got a great security relationship, a strong political friendship, but it takes the economic relationship to the next level,” said Tami Overby, vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It is projected that
Jan. 11, 2012
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Sonata named car of the year in China
Hyundai Motor Co.’s Sonata has been named the best car of the year by two Chinese car publications, industry sources here said Wednesday.The Sonata, Hyundai Motor’s flagship mid-size sedan, was selected as 2011 car of the year by Auto Sohu, one of the most influential automobile Web sites in China with 70 million daily visitors, according to the sources.Based on Internet polls and expert advice, the Chinese media picked the Sonata as last year’s best car, citing the sedan’s stylish exterior desi
MobilityJan. 11, 2012
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Korean sovereign fund suffers loss
Losses blamed on KIC’s purchase of Merrill Lynch stakeKorea Investment Corporation, Korea’s sovereign wealth fund, suffered a net loss of 3.3 percent in terms of average yield last year, hurt by the turmoil in the global financial market and a massive loss linked to its investment in Merrill Lynch, industry sources said Wednesday. The main culprit for the deeper loss is KIC’s poor stock investment, particularly concerning its holdings in Merrill Lynch. In early 2008, KIC bought $2 billion worth
Jan. 11, 2012
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Tablets, ultrabooks hot items at CES
LAS VEGAS ― The chief of the Consumer Electronics Association said Wednesday that tablet PCs are becoming a tremendously competitive field in the industry, since the device has turned into an office item for many firms. “Tablets are transformational products and something that has developed really quickly,” said Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive of CEA, a U.S. trade association that has over 2,000 members in the consumer electronics industry. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show in La
TechnologyJan. 11, 2012
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More Koreans retiring to farms
The number of South Koreans retiring to farming surged to a new annual high in 2011 thanks to local governments’ efforts to attract retiring baby boomers, a report showed Wednesday.According to the report by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the number of households returning to the countryside came to an estimated 6,500 in 2011, up 59.8 percent from 4,067 a year earlier.The number had steadily increased since 2002 when only 769 people retired to a life of farming. The n
Jan. 11, 2012
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Exports of steel products hit record high in 2011
Korea’s exports of steel products rose to a record high last year, buoyed by rising overseas demand and increased production capacity, a local steel association said Wednesday. Local steelmakers, led by leader POSCO, exported 28.48 million tons last year, up 9.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Iron and Steel Association.Exports accounted for 39.7 percent of total steel output. On the other hand, domestic firms imported some 22.96 million tons of steel products last year, fall
Jan. 11, 2012
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SK Group doles out executive promotions
SK Group on Tuesday announced that it has promoted 125 managerial employees, including 69 to new executive posts, as part of its regular reshuffle.Korea’s third-largest conglomerate by assets appointed new presidents for three affiliates. The appointees include Moon Jong-hoon at SK Marketing & Company, Kim Se-dae at Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel and Lee Moon-seok at SK Chemical’s green chemical business unit. The executive shake-up was aimed at accelerating the group’s overseas operations and making
IndustryJan. 11, 2012
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Standard Chartered Korea aims to be top global bank
Lender changes its name to boost group’s brand imageStandard Chartered First Bank renamed itself Standard Chartered Bank on Wednesday, putting a stronger emphasis on the British group’s corporate image. “Today, SC First Bank becomes Standard Chartered Bank. This marks the start of an exciting new journey for us, as we aim to become Korea’s best international bank,” Richard Hill, chief of the Korean unit of Europe’s third-largest bank, told reporters at a news conference. “2011 was the year of tu
Jan. 11, 2012
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Life insurance firms post poor stock investment return
Life insurance companies reported poor performances in their stock investments through equity-linked insurance products.Equity-linked insurance products, also known as variable insurance, invest part of customers’ premiums in the stock market.According to the Korea Life Insurance Association, life insurance firms posted -12.87 percent in combined rate of return in their stock investments through the variable insurance products last year.The figure is lower than the KOSPI’s year-on-year drop of 1
Jan. 11, 2012
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Korean sovereign fund suffers loss
Losses blamed on KIC’s purchase of Merrill Lynch stakeKorea Investment Corporation, Korea’s sovereign wealth fund, suffered a net loss of 3.3 percent in terms of average yield last year, hurt by the turmoil in the global financial market and a massive loss linked to its investment in Merrill Lynch,
Jan. 11, 2012
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S. Korea's jobless rate drops to 3.4 pct in 2011
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's jobless rate fell last year from a year earlier, but its labor markets remain tough amid worries over a slowing economic recovery, a report showed Wednesday.The jobless rate stood at 3.4 percent in 2011, down 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier, accordi
Jan. 11, 2012
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El Gordo: A 'fat' distant galaxy cluster
An extremely hot, massive young galaxy cluster -- the largest ever seen in the distant Universe -- has been studied by an international team using ESO's Very Large Telescope in the Atacama Desert in Chile along with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The new
TechnologyJan. 11, 2012
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SK Group conducts partial reshuffle of management
SK Group carried out a reshuffle and promotions on Tuesday that affected about 120 officials at the corporation’s affiliates. Group officials said it minimized the scope of the personnel change to ensure the stability of its organizations.In the top management reshuffle, Sheraton Walkerhill hotel pr
IndustryJan. 10, 2012
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Samsung Electronics’ 2011 sales rank first in world
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of memory chips and No. 2 handset maker, posted the largest revenue among global tech firms last year on the back of strong sales of smartphones, a financial information provider said Tuesday.Samsung Electronics’ 2011 sales reached $148.6 billion when its yearly revenue was converted into the dollar, according to data compiled by FnGuide Inc. The company estimated on Friday that it posted a record operating profit of 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billi
TechnologyJan. 10, 2012
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Seoul seeks to start beef exports: minister
Korea will seek to begin exporting beef within a few years as part of its efforts to help stabilize prices, the agriculture minister said Tuesday.“Considering wagyu (Japanese beef) is 1.5 times more expensive than Korean beef but that Japan still exports beef, I believe we, too, can export Korean beef,” Suh Kyu-yong, the minister of food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, told a press briefing.Suh, however, noted it will take some time before the country can begin shipping its beef overseas.“
Jan. 10, 2012
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Korea overtakes China as world’s top shipbuilder
South Korea regained its status as the world’s leading shipbuilding nation in 2011 by beating its archrival China and securing deals for large, value-added vessels, data showed Tuesday.According to London-based market researcher Clarkson Research Services, South Korean shipbuilders won a combined 13.55 million compensated gross tons in new orders last year, while Chinese shipbuilders clinched a total of 9.2 million CTGs.Last year, South Korea accounted for 48.2 percent of a total of 28.11 millio
Jan. 10, 2012
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Samsung Electronics aims to exceed half of group’s total sales this year
LAS VEGAS ― Samsung Electronics, the world’s top television maker, will make greater investments this year compared to last year, taking over half of the Samsung Group and its affiliates sales for 2012, said its chief executive on Tuesday.Choi Gee-sung, vice chairman of the group’s flagship electronics arm, said the investment sum, including the sum given to software development, is likely to go over the amount listed on its 2012 business scheme by the year’s end, considering that the firm must
IndustryJan. 10, 2012
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Prices of daily necessities rise in December: report
Prices of most daily necessities in South Korea increased in December despite government efforts to fight rising inflation, a report by the state-run consumer protection watchdog showed Tuesday.The report by the Korea Consumer Agency showed that of the 102 everyday consumer necessities monitored such as sugar, cereals and detergents, prices of 70 products, or 68 percent, went up in December from a month earlier. Prices for 28 products fell or remained unchanged over the cited period, it showed.T
Jan. 10, 2012
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LG Display targets expansion into OLED displays for small devices
LAS VEGAS ― LG Display, a major player in the international flat-screen panel market, said it intends to inject more investment into mobile organic light-emitting diode displays, according to its chief executive on Tuesday.Han Sang-beom, LG Display’s chief executive officer, said the firm has already produced a plastic OLED prototype for mobile phones which is deemed to be thinner, lighter and unbreakable, in a meeting with the Korean press held on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show.
IndustryJan. 10, 2012
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Asian woes may pose risks to Korean economy
China and other Asian economies are saddled with a raft of downside risks, adding to fears they may hurt the South Korean economy along with lingering eurozone debt woes, a report showed Tuesday.The report by the Korea Center for International Finance said that such risks could further undermine the global economy already buffeted by the impact from the long-standing eurozone debt crisis.According to the report, China is likely to see its economic growth rate fall by up to 1.5 percentage points
Jan. 10, 2012