Most Popular
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Yoon sorry for shortcomings but insists policies were right
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1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse
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S. Korea ‘strongly’ protests Japan’s claim over Dokdo in diplomatic bluebook
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US 'incredibly concerned' about suspected NK-Iran military ties
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Korean won weakens amid heightened uncertainty
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Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility
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Seoul says will cut power to porn festival planned on Han River
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Sewol victims commemorated on tragedy's 10th anniversary
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Chanel, Louis Vuitton see muted growth in Korea
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K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
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[Newsmaker] Chung leads Hyundai’s transformation toward software-powered mobility
For decades, Hyundai Motor and Kia, two brands under South Korean automotive empire Hyundai Motor Group, had long been perceived as manufacturers of low-end, entry-level vehicles. The global awareness of the Korean car brands, however, has changed in recent years with many projecting them today as mobility innovators and a reliable sources of quality. At the center of such significant change is Chung Euisun, third-generation chaebol scion and the son of former chairman Chung Mong-koo, who begin
Oct. 12, 2022
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Renault CEO vows investments to make Korea export hub
Renault Group will be investing hundreds of millions of euros in South Korea for the next six years to turn the country into an export hub for its mid to large-size vehicles, its CEO said Tuesday in Seoul. “We want to make Korea the key export hub for large (-vehicle) segments. Being in Korea is also a fantastic way for us to keep the group partnered to one of the most innovative tech ecosystems in the world. We have a lot to learn here,” said Luca de Meo during a press conference he
Oct. 12, 2022
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KITA chief urges US to delay EV tax breaks
Christopher Koo, chairman of the Korea International Trade Association, has called for the US to allow at least a three-year delay in implementing a US bill on tax benefits for electric vehicles that is highly disadvantageous for Korean carmakers exporting EVs there. Koo met with US Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia on Tuesday (US time) to deliver KITA's position on the matter. KITA, one of the largest trade lobbies in Korea, represents some 2,000 firms. “Koo asked the senator to consider dela
Oct. 12, 2022
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SKT, UAE’s e& Group join hands to launch meterverse service in Middle East
South Korean wireless telecommunications operator SK Telecom, which operates its own metaverse platform called ifland, said Wednesday it signed a deal with United Arab Emirates’ top telecommunications carrier e& Group to provide its metaverse service to Middle Eastern countries. Under the memorandum of understanding, South Korea’s leading telecommunications carrier will be developing an optimal metaverse service tailored to Middle Eastern users’ tastes, based on the data e&
Oct. 12, 2022
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SK On to acquire 10% stake in Lake Resources
South Korean lithium-ion battery maker SK On has signed a conditional framework agreement to buy a 10 percent stake in Australian lithium developer Lake Resources in its new rights offering, a filing showed Wednesday. SK On will buy the stake in June 2023 on the condition that the high-purity lithium extraction from brine water in Lake Resources' flagship projects, including Kachi Project in Argentina, yields a "positive result," according to the filing with the Financial Supervisory S
Oct. 12, 2022
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Korean chipmakers given 1-year grace period on US chip export curb on China
South Korean chipmakers will be given a one-year grace period that would allow for their China-based chip plants to continue to import critical chipmaking tools from the United States, without the licensing requirements announced the previous week by the Joe Biden administration. Memory chip maker SK hynix revealed that the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security has assured SK hynix that the company, its suppliers and business partners are still authorized to engage in
Oct. 12, 2022
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LG Energy Solution, Honda to build $4.4b battery plant in Ohio
South Korean lithium-ion battery maker LG Energy Solution and Japanese automaker Honda have selected Fayette County, Ohio as the location to commit to a combined $4.4 billion to build an electric vehicle battery plant beginning 2023, the companies said Wednesday. The construction was initially estimated to cost $3.5 billion. Once the construction is complete by the end of 2024, the new plant will start to mass produce pouch-type lithium-ion batteries beginning 2025 with the annual production cap
Oct. 12, 2022
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KT&G, Mirae Asset launch W40b matching fund
KT&G Corp. and Mirae Asset Financial Group launched a strategic matching fund to invest in startups and find new growth engines. The two contributed 20 billion won ($13.9 million) each into the new fund which will invest mainly in health care and companies with good environmental, social and corporate governance. Mirae Asset Capital will manage the fund, KT&G said in a press release. KT&G said it will work together with Mirae Asset Capital in reviewing new areas of business, discove
Oct. 12, 2022
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Seoul shares open lower ahead of BOK rate decision
South Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as investors awaited the Bank of Korea (BOK)'s decision on the policy rate later in the day amid woes over a global economic recession. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 7.74 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,184.33 in the first 15 minutes of trading. South Korea's central bank will decide on whether to deliver another outsized rate hike to combat inflation. The BOK has been lifting its policy rate since August last year
Oct. 12, 2022
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[Korea Quiz] (24) The Samsung brand
Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed. Find the answer at the bottom of this page. You may know of Samsung just as a TV or phone brand. But on its home turf of South Korea, it is a household name for many more things -- almost too many. Here, a person can be living in a Samsung apartment, wear Samsung suits to work, eat lunch at a Samsung-run cafeteria at work, check stock prices via Samsung’s securities app, get
Oct. 12, 2022
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S. Korea's trade lobby group chief calls for reprieve of US law on EV credits
The chief of South Korea's trade lobby group has called for the United States to allow at least a three-year delay in the implementation of a new US law on tax credits for electric vehicle buyers seen as a disadvantage to Korean automakers. Koo Ja-yeol, chair of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), delivered the message when he met with US Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Pat Wilson, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development in the southeastern US state,
Oct. 12, 2022
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SK Innovation's trading unit invests in US clean fuel company
SK Trading International Co., a subsidiary of South Korean refiner SK Innovation Co., said Wednesday it has invested in a U.S. clean fuel company to bolster its green energy drive. The company did not disclose the amount of the investment in Infinium, a California-based startup that engages in the production of electrofuels, an ultra-low carbon fuel as an alternative to fossil-based fuels. Infinium's electrofuels use carbon dioxide waste and renewable power from wind, solar and hydroelectri
Oct. 12, 2022
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IMF predicts gloomy outlook for Korea, urges monetary tightening
SEJONG -- The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday suggested a gloomy prediction for the 2023 economy of the world as well as South Korea, citing protracted downside risks such as high inflation and cheap currencies against the US dollar. In its World Economic Outlook, the US-based organization revised its forecast on the 2023 gross domestic product growth of global economy down to 2.7 percent, from its earlier suggestion of 2.9 percent. It also slashed its outlook on Korea by 0.1 percentage
Oct. 11, 2022
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LS Cable & System makes W25.2b equity investment in KT Submarine
LS Cable & System, LS Group’s cable manufacturing unit, said Tuesday it would make a 25.2 billion won ($17.58 million) equity investment in KT Submarine to foster its undersea cables business. The company will acquire 4.04 million stocks, 16 percent of KT Submarine’s share, becoming the second-largest shareholder of KT Submarine. The cable manufacturer has been expanding investment in undersea cables amid a rapidly growing demand for offshore wind power generation, which requires
Oct. 11, 2022
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Seoul shares tumble 1.83% amid tightening woes, geopolitical risks
South Korean stocks tumbled nearly 2 percent on Tuesday as investors sold off tech, auto and other stocks amid concerns that monetary tightening and geopolitical risks could tip the global economy into a recession. The Korean won also ended sharply lower against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 40.77 points, or 1.83 percent, to end at 2,192.07. Trading volume was moderate at 846.31 million shares worth 7.75 trillion won ($5.42 billion), with losers far
Oct. 11, 2022
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BAT says Glo contains less toxicants
A study has found that heated tobacco product Glo contained less toxicants than traditional cigarettes, and could help reduce potential harm of smoking-related diseases, the Seoul branch of its manufacturer BAT Group said Tuesday. “Our recent one-year clinical trial found that our flagship heated tobacco product Glo showed 90-95 percent less toxicants contained in aerosol compared to cigarette smoke,” said Sharon Goodall, head of Regulatory Science at BAT Group, during a press conf
Oct. 11, 2022
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Watchdog vows to complete inspection of troubled funds by next year
The head of South Korea’s financial watchdog pledged Tuesday that he will complete an inspection into the troubled funds and products that led to investors suffering hefty losses in recent years. The vow follows public criticism that the Financial Supervisory Service failed to screen and prevent fiascos including Ponzi schemes carried out by hedge funds and local financial institutions in recent years. The FSS has yet to decide on the reimbursement plans regarding the troubled 2019 German
Oct. 11, 2022
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LS Group discusses business with Gulf Cooperation Council ambassadors
LS Group said its Chairman Koo Ja-eun discussed business cooperation on Tuesday with the ambassadors of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- five of the six member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The GCC is a regional, intergovernmental, political and economic union of the above countries plus Bahrain, which does not have an embassy in South Korea. Set up in 1981 for economic and security cooperation, the GCC is seeking to expand business beyond crude oil
Oct. 11, 2022
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Posco unveils W1.5tr plan to speed up lithium production
Posco Holdings, the holding firm of steelmaking conglomerate Posco Group, on Tuesday announced a 1.5 trillion won ($1 billion) investment plan to speed up its lithium production both in Argentina and South Korea. The company said it had planned to make the investment next year but decided to advance the timeline in order to meet the growing demand for lithium, a key material for electric vehicle batteries. With the new investment, the company plans to break ground for a lithium carbonate plant i
Oct. 11, 2022
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SK Siltron, UK-based IQE to develop semiconductor wafers for 5G, auto chips
South Korean semiconductor wafer maker SK Siltron and Britain-based chip material firm IQE has inked a strategic collaboration agreement to develop next-generation compound semiconductor products targeting the Asian market, SK Siltron said Tuesday. Under the agreement signed Thursday, the two companies will work to develop epitaxial wafers based on gallium nitride using IQE's technology, with wafer substrates made of silicon and silicon carbide supplied by SK Siltron. Gallium nitride can he
Oct. 11, 2022