Most Popular
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Korean labor force to shrink by 10 million by 2044: report
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[AtoZ Korean Mind] Does your job define who you are? Should it?
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Allegations surrounding BTS resurface, enraged fans demand apology
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Students with history of violence will be barred from becoming teachers
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Top prosecutor pledges 'speedy, strict' probe into first lady's luxury bag allegations
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Medical feud leaves hospitals in financial crisis
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Samsung mocks Apple over iPhone alarm glitch
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'Queen of Tears' riding high on Netflix chart
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Chip up cycle won’t stay long: SK chief
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'Super Rich in Korea' will leave viewers appreciating Korea more: producers
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Is BMW invincible?
The nation’s import car market is rushing into a fierce sales war. With Korean carmakers planning only five launches this year, foreign brands are hinting at intensified offensives, with around 50 new models.For import brands, their main goal, among others, is taking even a tiny bite out of the growing sales pie of German carmakers, especially BMW, the best-selling foreign brand here for three consecutive years. German brands ― BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Volkswagen ― topped import car sales la
MobilityJan. 6, 2013
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Porsche 911 triggers my racer instinct
The Korea Herald, in cooperation with carmakers, offers a test-driving experience to executive officials at multinational companies or ranking diplomats here. The opinion below is the author’s own. For any inquiry into this column, please contact jylee@heraldcorp.com. ― Ed. By Kim Byung-chul, Director of Philip Morris KoreaI sat ― no, drove ― in the lap of luxury when I had the opportunity to take the new Porsche 911 Carrera S for an outing on a recent weekend. The car is one of the fastest cars
MobilityJan. 6, 2013
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Hyundai-Kia top midsize car sales in U.S.
Hyundai and Kia topped U.S. car sales in the midsize segment for the second consecutive month in December, industry data showed Sunday. Hyundai Motor Group, which owns Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, sold 32,834 midsize sedans in the U.S. market last month, slightly outpacing Japan’s Toyota that sold some 31,000 units. The Korean auto giant grabbed the top position in the segment in November for the first time since its entry into the U.S. market, largely driven by Hyundai’s Sonata and Kia’s K5 se
MobilityJan. 6, 2013
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Sales of iPhone 5 miss market expectations
Sales of Apple Inc.‘s iPhone 5 in South Korea have fallen short of market expectations largely because of its belated debut in the country, industry sources said Sunday.As of Friday, about 400,000 units of Apple’s latest gadget were sold in the South Korean market, well below an earlier estimate of up to 2 million, according to the sources.On Dec. 7, SK Telcom Co. and KT Corp., the country‘s two biggest mobile carriers, kicked off the release of the first iPhone that runs on the fourth-generatio
IndustryJan. 6, 2013
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Credit card firms suspend interest-free installment purchases
Local credit card firms have suspended interest-free installment purchases for card-accepting businesses with annual sales over 100 billion won (US$93.9 million) following a revised financial act, market sources said Saturday.According to the sources, South Korean credit card firms stopped their interest-free installment purchase services for businesses, including large discount stores, airliners, and mobile carriers.The suspension came as local credit card member stores refused to follow the re
BusinessJan. 5, 2013
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Lock & Lock unlocks Chinese market
South Korean cookware maker Lock & Lock Co. said Friday that its glass container sales in China are estimated to have grown about 60 percent last year on its efforts to tap deeper into the world’s most populous country.Lock & Lock’s glass container business is estimated to have logged 70 billion won ($65.8 million) in sales in China in 2012, up nearly 63 percent on-year from 43 billion won in 2011, company officials said.With China’s disposable income rising and Chinese people’s eating habits be
IndustryJan. 4, 2013
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Listed firms’ quarterly earnings to miss expectations
Fourth-quarter earnings of South Korea’s major listed companies are expected to hover below earlier forecasts due to a protracted global economic slump, data showed Friday.The combined operating profit of 116 listed firms is estimated at 26.5 trillion won ($24.9 billion) for the October-December period, according to the data based on predictions made by local brokerage houses and compiled by local financial information provider FnGuide.The estimate is down 1.13 percent from the 26.8 trillion won
IndustryJan. 4, 2013
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Gucci to raise prices of bags and wallets
Italian luxury brand Gucci has decided to raise the prices of some of its main products, to the ire of designer brand lovers here. The price for the popular Soho tote bags and other leather goods will be increased by up to 11 percent, starting from Jan. 14, Gucci Korea officials were quoted as saying Friday.The price hike, the first since April 2011, was decided by the company’s head office in Florence, Italy, and will be applied to all Gucci stores around the world. Once the change is made, the
IndustryJan. 4, 2013
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Woori eager to spin off card unit
Woori Financial Group is struggling to follow in the footsteps of KB Financial and Hana Financial by spinning off a credit card business from Woori Bank.In 2011, KB Financial Group launched a stand-alone credit card firm after the money-spinning unit was merged with the bank in 2003. In 2010, Hana Financial Group spun off Hana SK Card and began marketing cooperation with several SK Group subsidiaries.An official in the Financial Supervisory Service said Friday that the regulator was making inqui
Jan. 4, 2013
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Hanjin Group children get promotions
Hanjin Group Cho Yang-ho’s three children ― Hyun-ah, Won-tae and Hyun-min ― were all promoted in the company’s recent personnel reshuffle. The eldest, Hyun-ah, 39, was promoted to vice president of Korean Air, along with her younger brother Won-tae, 38. They were given the promotions just three years after they were made executive vice presidents in 2009. Cho Hyun-min, born in 1983, was made a managing vice president of the company. She had been a rank immediately below just two years earlier. K
IndustryJan. 4, 2013
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Samsung, LG fined for LCD price-fixing in China
LG Display agreed to pay damages ordered by the Chinese government for fixing the price of its panels, while Samsung Display said it would need more time to look into the issue.On Friday, the world’s two top makers of liquid-crystal display panels ― Samsung and LG Display ― were ordered to pay $35 million in damages by China’s National Development and Reform Commission for price-rigging its panels.The commission said it fined Samsung 101 million yuan ($16.2 million) and LG 118 million yuan, for
IndustryJan. 4, 2013
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Foreigners’ securities holdings hit record
Foreign shareholdings in Korean stocks and bonds have hit a record-high due to monetary easing overseas that led to the inflow of funds investing in higher yielding and riskier assetsEquity and debt investments by foreign investors reached 502.6 trillion won in total as of the end of 2012, mainly driven by funds from Europe and the U.S. where central banks had been printing and pumping money to stimulate their economies, according to Financial Supervisory Service data. It showed that the U.S. wa
Jan. 4, 2013
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Milky Way may have 100 billion planets
U.S. astronomers say a study suggests planets are in fact the cosmic norm and estimate the Milky Way galaxy contains at least 100 billion planets.A team of astronomers at the California Institute of Technology made the estimate while analyzing planets orbiting a star called Kepler-32, worlds they say are representative of the vast majority in the galaxy and are a perfect case study for understanding how most planets form.Kepler-32's planets were detected by the Kepler space telescope, and the re
TechnologyJan. 4, 2013
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Samsung, LG fined for LCD price-fixing in China
LG Display agreed to pay damages ordered by the Chinese government for fixing the price of its panels, while Samsung Display said it would need more time to look into the issue.On Friday, the world’s two top makers of liquid-crystal display panels ― Samsung and LG Display ― were ordered to pay $35 million in damages by China’s National Development and Reform Commission for price-rigging its panels.The commission said it fined Samsung 101 million yuan ($16.2 million) and LG 118 million yuan, for
TechnologyJan. 4, 2013
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'Korean customers are too picky'
An online article pointing out difficulties in the Korean market sparked fresh debate over the cause of recent withdrawal-spree of foreign companies. A blogger familiar with the matter posted Wednesday an article titled “Foreign companies leaving Korea: Have the locals successfully kicked the invaders out?” on his blog.A series of foreign enterprises recently decided to leave Korea in various industries. Global IT companies Yahoo Korea, Motorola, HTC, and RIM, as well as financial companies Gold
IndustryJan. 4, 2013
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‘Actually’ unemployed population nears 4 million in Nov.: data
The number of “actually” unemployed people in South Korea has reached nearly 4 million as job seekers tend to give up on finding work amid prolonged weak labor market conditions, data showed Friday.According to the data by Statistics Korea, the country’s actually unemployed totaled about 3.89 million as of November last year, slightly down from 3.94 million tallied a year earlier.Actual unemployed people refer to those who give up looking for work, temporarily quit seeking employment to prepare
IndustryJan. 4, 2013
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Seoul shares open lower on U.S. losses
South Korean stocks started lower Friday following overnight losses on Wall Street, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 4.73 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,014.68 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market bellwether Samsung Electronics slid 1.04 percent and LG Electronics, South Korea's second-largest home appliances maker, dipped 0.13 percent.Carmakers were also sluggish, with industry leader Hyundai Motor retreating 0.97 percent and its smaller affiliate K
Jan. 4, 2013
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S. Korea's foreign reserves reaches new high in Dec.
South Korea's foreign exchange reserves reached a new record high in December on the back of an increase in investment profits and higher conversion value of non-dollar assets, the central bank said Friday.The country's foreign reserves reached $326.97 billion in December, up $880 million from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).Foreign reserves consist of securities and deposits denominated in overseas currencies, along with International Monetary Fund reserve positions, sp
Jan. 4, 2013
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Corporate regulator removes 11 firms from watch list
South Korea's antitrust watchdog said Friday that it has taken 11 companies off the list that limits mutual investments and loan guarantees.The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said the number of corporate affiliates on the list stood at 1,791 as of end-December, down from1,802 tallied in the previous month.Eighteen companies were newly added to the list, while 29 affiliates were taken off over the past month, the FTC said.The net decline comes as the political community is pushing for a fairer busin
IndustryJan. 3, 2013
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Zodiac may look to buy STX Pan Ocean
Zodiac Maritime Agencies, a global ship owner and manager, could be interested in acquiring STX Pan Ocean, Korea’s leading operator of bulk carriers, industry sources said.The London-based ship management company, owned by the Ofer family, is believed to have emerged as one of the potential overseas candidates to purchase a controlling 36.8 percent stake in the Korean shipping company, the sources claimed.The 36.8 percent is held by STX, the parent holding company, STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, S
IndustryJan. 3, 2013