Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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[News Focus] Will Korea have authority of independent financial sanctions?
SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is considering revising the law on foreign exchange transactions for the first time since it was legislated 23 years ago, officials said Monday, drawing market eyes to whether the government would be granted the authority to impose financial sanctions on overseas traders “independently.” Under the current law, the Korean government is only entitled to apply sanctions in accordance with the international community’s joint moves toward
July 4, 2022
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Kospi tumbles to new low for the year
South Korea’s key stock index plummeted to a fresh low for the year in morning trade on Monday as recession fears grew ahead of the Bank of Korea’s rate-setting meeting scheduled next week. The benchmark Kospi opened 0.23 percent higher from the previous closing at 2,310.73, but soon fell below the 2,300-mark to hit a new low of 2,288.92 in morning trade. Kospi has plummeted some 22 percent since end-2021 -- when the index stood at 2,977.65 – as of end-June, weighed down by
July 4, 2022
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[Photo News] Frozen Assets
A worker moves a large block of ice at an ice making company in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. There is growing demand for ice as the nation suffers from a heat wave that came early this year.
July 4, 2022
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[Newsmaker] 'Monkeypox test kits may not reap big rewards'
South Korean companies are dashing to develop diagnostic kits for monkeypox as the country confirmed the first case of the rare infectious disease last month. A number of firms that had success with the development of COVID-19 diagnostic kits in the earlier days of the pandemic, including Bioneer, Boditech Med, Genes Laboratories, Seasun Biomaterials, Seegene and Wells Bio, have already developed testing kits for monkeypox. According to companies, most Korean-made diagnostic kits can show th
July 4, 2022
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Korea, Japan business leaders echo urgent need for summit
The Federation of Korean Industries held a meeting with its Japanese counterpart Keidanren, or the Japan Business Federation, in Seoul on Monday after a three-year hiatus spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. The two business lobbies have held an annual meeting, known as the Korea-Japan Business Council, since 1982. However, the last two gatherings were postponed due to the protracted pandemic. Monday’s meeting saw more than 20 business leaders from the two countries coming together to dis
July 4, 2022
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Policymakers to check for signs of recession ahead of rate hike
The Finance Ministry said Monday that the government would respond to any signs of economic weakness before it turns into a crisis by closely tracking indicators pointing to a worsening outlook, like inflation or recession, ahead of the Bank of Korea’s rate hike next week. The country’s five economic chiefs -- the finance minister, President Yoon Suk-yeol’s economic adviser and three separate chiefs from the central bank, top financial policymaker and financial watchdog -
July 4, 2022
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Korean Police prepare for dystopian future with plans for power armor, robot dogs
South Korea’s National Police Agency appears to be preparing for the worst, as recent plans indicate the deployment of robot patrol dogs and body strengthening power armor within 30 years. The plans were part of a police policy outline obtained by Yonhap News Agency on police use of robotics, artificial intelligence and advanced mobility technologies, and extending operations to the metaverse. According to the policy outline, the national police force plans to deploy self-piloting robots
July 4, 2022
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Hyundai’s hydrogen drive faces dilemma
Despite Hyundai Motor Group’s aggressive push for green cars, there has been no clear sign of a breakthrough in its hydrogen drive in the past four years, with seemingly indefinite delays in new model launches. According to industry sources, the carmaker has suspended plans to produce the next-generation Nexo, a hydrogen fuel cell SUV, which had been planned to be launched in the second quarter next year. Nexo, succeeding the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell model Hyun
July 4, 2022
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S. Korean icebreaker begins 13th Arctic mission
South Korea's sole icebreaker kicked off its 13th Arctic mission Monday to conduct research on clues about climate change in the North Pole, a local polar research institute said. The Araon left the western port of Incheon for a 92-day mission to study the causes of abnormal weather conditions there and the impact of global warming on its ecosystem, the Korea Polar Research Institute said. It is the Araon's first Arctic mission in three years, which had been delayed in the wake of the
July 4, 2022
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‘SK Innovation’s green transformation has high potential for success’
SK Innovation’s green transformation strategy, announced a year ago, has “a very high potential for eventual success,” said one US scholar who cited its “clarity of purpose of vision,” “well-reasoned plan of execution” and an “intangible advantage of culture and management systems.” In a column published in SK Innovation’s SKinno News on Friday, Kannan Ramaswamy, chair professor of global strategy at Arizona State University’s Th
July 4, 2022
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S. Korea's power demand hits new high in June amid hot weather
South Korea's electricity demand touched a fresh all-time high in June as the country was struck by an early heat wave, data showed Monday. The country's maximum power demand averaged 71,805 megawatts (MW) last month, up 4.3 percent from a year earlier and marking the highest tally for any June, according to the data from the Korea Power Exchange. June also represented the first time the figure has surpassed the 70,000-MW level for the month. The power exchange said unusually hot weath
July 4, 2022
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Seoul shares open higher amid inflation woes
South Korean stocks opened marginally higher Monday, tracking a US rebound last week as investors closely watch the US Federal Reserve's next move to curb inflation. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 9.92 points, or 0.43 percent, to 2,315.34 in the first 15 minutes of choppy trading. Major US indexes on Friday (US time) reversed their earlier losses to end higher, as investors speculated whether weaker-than-expected economic indicators would prod the Fed to slow down on its
July 4, 2022
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Seoul-Tokyo summit needed to restore ties, resolve pending issues: biz leaders
Business leaders of South Korea and Japan called Monday for the leaders of the two countries to hold a summit at an early date to address pending bilateral issues and help restore economic ties. The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) and the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren -- major business lobbies in the two countries -- made the joint call during their annual meeting that was resumed after a nearly three-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. "We must upgrade the declara
July 4, 2022
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Preemptive measures in store to tackle risks from rising rates: chief policymakers
South Korea's finance minister, the central bank chief and financial regulators said Monday they will step up policy coordination to minimize fallout from rising interest rates at home and abroad. In a meeting presided over by Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, they discussed economic and financial situations amid heightened external economic uncertainty from the prolonged war between Russia and Ukraine, and the Federal Reserve's aggressive monetary policy tightening. The meeting brought
July 4, 2022
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Fiscal chief vows extra W40tr to help exporters
Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said Sunday that he would help Korean companies sell more goods overseas by offering more loans at a time when Korea’s exports snapped 15 months of double-digit growth in June, stocking recession worries. The trade deficit in January-June this year reached $10.3 billion, the highest level ever recorded in the first six months of a year, despite record-high exports in the same period, as soaring energy prices offset the export gains. “I am not quite su
July 3, 2022
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Retail inflows at 2-year low as recession worries mount
The average daily trading volume of retail investors on the main board Kospi in June dropped to its lowest level since February 2020, data from the Korea Exchange showed Sunday. The fall comes as investors are bracing for a growth slowdown from the US Federal Reserve’s rate hikes. The value of shares investors bought and sold in a day on average on the benchmark index reached 4.3 trillion won ($3.3 billion) last month. That is a little more than 3.7 trillion won recorded in February 2020
July 3, 2022
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No. overseas travelers surpasses 1 million mark in June
The number of international travelers spiked to 1.28 million last month, surging 420 percent on-year, despite surging airfares and insufficient flight schedules, the Transport Ministry said Sunday. This was the first time that the number of monthly international travelers surpassed 1 million since the outbreak of COVID-19. The increase in international travel demand is likely to help the Transport Ministry achieve its goal of restoring the number of inbound and outbound flights to 50 percent o
July 3, 2022
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Wagon, hatchback make a comeback as more drivers seek practicality
The long, swoopy, not-so-pretty design of wagon and hatchback has definitely not been popular in South Korea, a country where SUVs and luxury sedans make up most of the market share. But targeting drivers who seek compact car with sedan-like driving comfort and spacious cargo space like SUVs, automakers are launching wagons and hatchbacks to lure consumers amid shifting trends. According to the country’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Group, its luxury brand Genesis will start selling a
July 3, 2022
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[Exclusive] SK Pharmteco to invest extra $30m for Irish plant expansion
SK Pharmteco, a global contract development and manufacturing organization under South Korean conglomerate SK Group, will invest an additional $30 million (39 billion won) for the second phase expansion of its subsidiary SK Biotek’s Irish pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, an executive told The Korea Herald. “The total funding over the two phases is expected to be $65 million -- $35 million for phase one and an additional $30 million planned for the second phase expansion,” s
July 3, 2022
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Calls grow over legislation of digital data inheritance
When a person dies, a will provides instructions on where and to whom their property, possessions and asset go. But what happens to the things they leave behind that only exist online? A local platform operator said Sunday that it had been working with law firms on a bill that would define the type of digital assets subject to inheritance, the range of disclosure and eligibility. Demand for people to be able to keep photos and texts left behind by deceased loved ones has been growing, but the
July 3, 2022