Most Popular
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K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Why is Apple Pay struggling to get purchase in Korea?
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Will tug-of-war between doctors, government end soon?
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Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth
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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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[Today’s K-pop] BTS pop-up event to come to Seoul
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[Graphic News] More Koreans say they plan long-distance trips this year
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Fed: Elevated inflation will likely delay rate cuts this year
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Liquidity crises push groups to sell core units
Unlike Samsung and Hyundai Motor, other major Korean business groups, pressed by the prolonged global economic downturn and falling domestic demand, are facing a stark winter. Some of them are even preparing to sell their core assets to improve liquidity. STX Group, the nation’s 17th-largest conglomerate by revenue, on Wednesday officially announced it will auction off STX PanOcean, the nation’s third-largest shipping and logistics company, and focus on its shipbuilding and plant business. STX P
IndustryDec. 13, 2012
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Shipbuilders tilt toward offshore plants
The nation’s top three shipbuilders ― Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and Samsung Heavy Industries ― are stepping up efforts to boost competitiveness in their offshore plant and engineering business, considering it a future growth engine. The three ship manufacturers have suffered from a lack of orders in their core shipbuilding business for the past few years, affected by the prolonged global economic downturn, especially in Europe. But global demand for offs
IndustryDec. 13, 2012
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Eurozone finally releases rescue funds for Greece
BRUSSELS, (AFP) --Much-needed rescue funds for Athens "will be flowing to Greece as early as next week," the head of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday.Juncker spoke at a news conference after finance ministers of the 17-nation eurozone agreed to release a first 34.3 billion euros of aid to Greece, part of a rescue package held up for months due to worries over economic reform delays.
Dec. 13, 2012
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S-Oil awards eight heroic firefighters for 2012
S-Oil, one of the nation’s top three oil refineries, awarded the achievements of eight firefighters through its support program on Thursday. Kim Young-gi, a firefighter from the National 119 Service, won this year’s best hero award. Kim has been at the forefront of the fire service in saving lives and protecting possessions over the past 15 years, S-Oil said.In particular, he led other colleagues when a toxic chemical leak occurred in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, in October. The company’s fi
Dec. 13, 2012
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Female Atlantic mollies find flirty males more attractive: study
Flirting helps in the fish world, even if it is with another fish of the same sex, a new study by German scientists indicated.Researchers from the University of Frankfurt found some male Poecilia Mexicana -- a tropical fish otherwise known as Atlantic Molly -- are able to attract female partners by demonstrating homosexual tendencies.According to the findings they published in the journal Royal Society Biology Letters, the female tropical fishes evaluate a potential partner’s virility by his ten
TechnologyDec. 13, 2012
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Russian mobile phone to offer two screens
A Russian company says it is launching a smartphone with two screens, an LCD color display and a monochrome e-ink display, both 4.3 inches in size.The company, Yota Devices, says the YotaPhone offers two screens that can be used for different functions and purposes, Slash Gear reported Wednesday.Phone users can use the LCS screen for normal phone functions and apps as well as watching videos or playing games, then flip the phone over to the e-ink screen to turn the phone into an e-reader for boo
TechnologyDec. 13, 2012
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BOK freezes key rate for 2nd month in Dec.
South Korea‘s central bank froze the key interest rate for the second straight month on Thursday, opting to preserve policy room in the face of global economic uncertainty and the presidential election slated for next week.Bank of Korea (BOK) Gov. Kim Choong-soo and his six fellow policymakers left the benchmark 7-day repo rate unchanged at 2.75 percent for December. The central bank cut the rate in July and October.The decision was widely anticipated as 15 out of 16 analysts forecast the rate f
Dec. 13, 2012
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Advertising overdrive taints television
David Ogilvy, often cited as the 20th century’s most inspiring advertising guru, once said, “Advertising is only evil when it advertises evil things.”Ogilvy apparently was not thinking of other vices, such as constant, in-your-face advertisements that can be just as damaging as unethical ads. A week ago, on an episode of top-rated KBS weekend soap opera “My Daughter Seo-young,” Samsung’s Galaxy phones were exposed up to 10 times during the 50-minute program.Sang-woo, one of the main protagonists
IndustryDec. 12, 2012
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Prudential Life Insurance honors CSR legacy
Heart-warming stories about Prudential Life Insurance Co.’s community service tradition trace back to 19th century America. Prudential’s history began with John Fairfield Dryden who created “The Prudential Friendly Society” in 1875 in order to help poorer people. The first U.S. company to make life insurance affordable to the working class, Prudential has supported people shunned by the old social security system ever since.For more active and systematic CSR activities, Prudential Life Insurance
IndustryDec. 12, 2012
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Korean exporters see worse conditions in 2013: poll
Six out of 10 South Korean exporters expect their export conditions to worsen in 2013 due to a prolonged economic slump in advanced countries and the local currency’s ascent against the U.S. dollar, a poll showed Wednesday.The survey of 204 major exporters, taken by the Federation of Korean Industries last month, found that 57.2 percent of the respondents said the export situation will aggravate in 2013. Only 12.3 percent said the export situation would get better next year.The 204 companies exp
IndustryDec. 12, 2012
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STX mulls sale of stake in shipping unit
South Korean shipbuilding and shipping conglomerate STX said Wednesday that it is considering selling a stake in its key affiliate STX Pan Ocean Co. as part of efforts to improve its financial health.“We are working to improve the group’s overall financial standing through sales of stakes in affiliates,” said an official at the group. Selling a stake in STX Pan Ocean “is one of our options now under consideration.”STX Group has been seeking to sell units or list them on the local stock market as
Dec. 12, 2012
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Nonlife insurers’ overseas operations swing to loss
South Korea’s nonlife insurers saw their overseas operations swing to a net loss in the first half of the fiscal 2012 from a year earlier on increased insurance payouts, the financial regulator said Wednesday.The combined net loss of 23 overseas units managed by six local nonlife insurers reached $6.36 million in the April-September period, compared with a net profit of $7.73 million the previous year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.The loss came as their insurance payouts increa
Dec. 12, 2012
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KT may bid to take over Moroccan mobile carrier
Korean mobile carrier KT is considering taking part in bidding for Moroccan mobile carrier Maroc Telecom, according to news reports on Tuesday. Reuters reported that KT may jump into bidding for the 53-percent stake in Maroc Telecom currently held by French conglomerate Vivendi. Citing two people familiar with the situation, the agency reported that the seller, Vivendi, hopes to make about $7.15 billion. But KT officials neither confirmed nor denied the news. “They (decision makers) said ‘no com
TechnologyDec. 12, 2012
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OB sees exports top $100m
The Korea International Trade Association awarded Oriental Brewery Co. for the company’s record-breaking export performance this year.OB’s yearly exports surpassed $100 million for the first time in history among beer producers in Korea.OB said it posted exports totaling $106.6 million per annum between July 2011 and June 2012. It sold about 15.7 million boxes, with 20 0.5-liter bottles, in the overseas market during the period.While the liquor industry calculates a fiscal year from July to June
IndustryDec. 12, 2012
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China expected to tighten monetary policy: SC Bank
China will have to tighten its monetary policy toward the end of next year to curb inflation and clean up mounting local government debts, Standard Chartered Bank’s head of research for Korea said Wednesday.Inflation in China, which is currently in the 2-percent range, is expected to rise to an average of 4 percent, or even to 5 percent on a monthly basis, next year, SC Bank economist Oh Suk-tae told reporters.“Beijing will have to do something about the local governments’ sour loans, and will s
Dec. 12, 2012
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Audi Korea aims to sell 16,000 cars in 2013
Audi Korea, which saw car sales almost double this year, aims to sell 16,000 vehicles next year, its recently-appointed managing director Johannes Thammer said at a press meeting on Tuesday. The new Korean chief of Audi said the carmaker launched 14 new models this year into the market, with its car sales increasing 43.6 percent to 14,046 units in the first 11 months from a year ago. He predicted a further 6 to 8 percent growth in sales next year, citing the market outlook that was recently anno
IndustryDec. 12, 2012
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Financial markets immune to N.K. rocket launches
South Korean financial markets barely reacted to the North Korean rocket launch on Wednesday, indicating investors’ indifference to any expected moves by Pyongyang.The KOSPI, which opened at 1,972.33 points, up 0.39 percent from Tuesday’s market close, continued to rally despite news of the missile launch shortly before 10 a.m. It closed at 1,975.44 points Wednesday, up 0.55 percent from the previous day. The Korean won pared gains, ending at 1,075 won per dollar.“The missile launch had been exp
Dec. 12, 2012
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Samsung reorganized into three units
Samsung Electronics on Wednesday carried out a sweeping reorganization on Wednesday, splitting the tech giant into three individual business divisions: consumer electronics, IT and mobile, and device solutions.The world’s top smartphone maker had run the company under two different divisions: finished goods and device solutions. The finished products division included consumer electronics and home appliance units run by its head and president Yoon Boo-keun, and handset and IT device unit headed
IndustryDec. 12, 2012
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Koreans lead mobile TV trend: report
Before the advent of TV delivered by Internet broadband, old-fashioned, a-la-carte television was king. In those days, viewers could only choose from limited content, in a limited time and space, on a limited device. But beyond the TVs sitting in living rooms and bedrooms, people now have access to TV content through desktop computers and laptops and even smart devices, such as smartphones and tablet PCs.According to ConsumerLab’s annual research in 2012 on TV consumption that was compiled by Er
TechnologyDec. 12, 2012
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LG Electronics to launch new LTE phone in Japan
South Korean handset maker LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday it plans to roll out a new long-term evolution smartphone in Japan as it moves to strengthen its foothold in the neighboring country.LG Electronics plans to start receiving pre-orders for the “Optimus Life” phone via Japan’s top mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc. on Friday and release the LTE device on Dec. 21, the company said in a press release.The 4.5-inch smartphone, available in three colors, is designed for Japanese consumers with l
Dec. 12, 2012