Most Popular
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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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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[KH Explains] Hyundai's full hybrid edge to pay off amid slow transition to pure EVs
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North Korea removes streetlights along cross-border roads with South
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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Farming households dip below 1m for first time in 2023
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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SK ecoplant to break ground on Norway’s biggest road project
SK ecoplant, the construction arm under SK Group, will kick off a $2.2 billion road construction project in Norway this year, becoming the first South Korean builder to enter the Nordic market. The company said Thursday it has recently signed a financial close and a concession agreement with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration for building the Rv555 Sotra Connection, a four-lane road that connects Bergen and Oygarden. The Public Private Partnership (PPP) deal marks the largest single con
March 24, 2022
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SPC opens two more Paris Baguette stores in Indonesia
SPC Group said on Thursday it has opened its third Paris Baguette store in Jakarta, Indonesia, and will open a fourth one in nearby Bekasi later this month. The latest bakery cafe opening comes just four months after the South Korean bakery giant opened its first Paris Baguette store in Indonesia in November last year in Jakarta’s Ashta District 8 shopping mall. The third store is located in the center of the ground floor of Pondok Indah Mall, one of Jakarta’s five largest premium
March 24, 2022
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LG Energy Solution commits $2b for North America expansion
South Korea’s battery maker LG Energy Solution on Thursday announced plans to build a 4.8 trillion-won ($4.1 billion) lithium-ion battery plant in Ontario, Canada with carmaker Stellantis and a 1.7 trillion-won cylindrical battery plant in Arizona, a first of its kind in the United States. To support the plan, LG Energy Solution approved a combined capital commitment of $2 billion over the course of the construction, which gained board approval Wednesday, showed filings with the Financial
March 24, 2022
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Samsung chief’s mother sells stakes to pay taxes
Hong Ra-hee, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s mother, reportedly sold her shares in the company worth 1.3 trillion won ($1.06 billion) in a block trade Wednesday, the latest stake sale by the Samsung family being carried out apparently to pay inheritance taxes. According to industry sources on Thursday, Hong entrusted the sale of her 0.33 percent stake in Samsung Electronics to KB Bank in September last year and the stake was sold in a block deal through Morgan Stanley an
March 24, 2022
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Court temporarily suspends punishment imposed on Hana chairman-nominee
The Seoul High Court on Thursday temporarily suspended the punishment imposed by financial authorities on Hana Financial Group Chairman-nominee Ham Young-joo for improper sales of derivatives-linked products. The decision follows Ham’s move last week to file an appeal against a lower court’s ruling that found him guilty of the charges. The Seoul High Court accepted an injunction to delay the implementation of the Financial Services Commission’s punishment, imposed in 2020,
March 24, 2022
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FSS chief urges insurers to beef up loss reserves amid growing uncertainty
South Korea's financial regulator called Thursday for local insurers to increase their loan loss reserves as part of efforts to better cope with potential risks facing the industry amid increasing financial market uncertainty. Jeong Eun-bo, head of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), made the call in a meeting with top officials of insurance firms in Seoul and voiced worries that there are signs for a "perfect storm," citing the US's move to tighten monetary policy and the fallout
March 24, 2022
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Hyundai Motor chairman reelected as executive director
Shareholders of Hyundai Motor Co. have reelected Chairman Euisun Chung as executive director for another three years, the company said Thursday. Chung will begin his extended director role on April 1 to lead the South Korean automotive group's transition into the provider of future mobility solutions, such as autonomous driving and electric vehicles, Hyundai said. The chairman's three-year directorship at Hyundai Mobis Co. ends in February 2023. He is expected to be reelected as executive direct
March 24, 2022
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Posco breaks ground on lithium plant in Argentina
South Korean steel giant Posco said Thursday it has broken ground on a lithium hydroxide plant in Argentina. The $830 million project calls for the establishment of the plant near the Salar del Hombre Muerto salt lake in northern Argentina, with an annual production capacity of 25,000 tons of lithium hydroxide. The plant is expected to be completed in the first half of 2024, and the capacity is enough to meet demand from 600,000 electric vehicles, according to Posco. The annual output will be ex
March 24, 2022
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S. Korea's snack exports hit record high last year
South Korea's exports of snacks hit a record high last year on the back of demand by stay-at-home consumers amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the popularity of the Korean pop culture, customs data showed Thursday. Exports of snacks came to an all-time high of $466 million last year, up 13.1 percent from a year earlier and extending their gains to the second straight year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Snack shipments also rose 16.6 percent to $75 million in the first tw
March 24, 2022
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[Graphic News] Grain import prices soar 47% over 2 years
South Korea’s import prices of grain has jumped nearly 50 percent over the past two years to a near nine-year high amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, data showed. Prices of imported grains came to $386 per ton in February, up 26 percent from a year earlier and 47.4 percent from two years earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service and industry sources. The February per-ton import price represented the highest level since it reached $388 in May 2013. Last mon
March 24, 2022
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IMF director calls new BOK chief nominee an outstanding institutional leader
The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday hailed the nomination of a South Korean IMF official, Rhee Chang-yong, to be the head of South Korea's central bank, calling him an outstanding leader and champion of analytical rigor. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Rhee will step down as director of the Asia and Pacific Department (APD) early next month to be considered for his new role as governor of the Bank of Korea. "Since joining the Fund in February 2014,
March 24, 2022
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SK E&S acquires US EV charging platform operator
SK E&S Co., the natural gas provider under South Korean conglomerate SK Group, said Thursday it has acquired a US electric vehicle (EV) charging platform operator as part of its push for green energy business. The acquisition of EverCharge Inc., a California-based startup, also included the takeover of its management, the company said in a release, without disclosing the details of the transaction. SK E&S said in a regulatory filing that it is investing $400 million in its US subsidiary
March 24, 2022
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Seoul stocks open lower on Wall Street tumbles, inflation woes
South Korean shares opened lower Thursday, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, led by declines in big-cap tech and auto shares, amid rising woes over inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had shed 18.15 points, or 0.66 percent, to reach 2,716.90 as of 9:15 a.m. Overnight, the US stock market tumbled amid renewed concerns over rising energy prices and inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.29 percent, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 1.23 percent. On
March 24, 2022
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Nat'l brand positively impacts foreign buyers' purchases of Korean goods: poll
Nearly 7 in 10 foreign buyers think that South Korea's national brand is having a positive impact on their purchases of products from Asia's fourth-largest economy, a poll showed Thursday. According to the survey of 213 foreign buyers, 72.9 percent of the respondents replied that their imports of South Korean goods have been affected positively by the country's national brand. Slightly over 25.4 percent said South Korean products remind them of high quality, followed by reasonable prices with 16
March 24, 2022
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Corporate direct financing tumbles 44% in Feb.
Corporate direct financing in South Korea plunged nearly 44 percent in February from the previous month due mainly to a base effect, data showed Thursday. Local companies raised a combined 15.5 trillion won ($12.7 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last month, down 43.7 percent from January, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Direct financing refers to raising funds directly from the stock and bond markets without borrowing from banks and other financial institutions
March 24, 2022
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Ahn stocks hit record high on bets he could be PM
Ahnlab founder Ahn Cheol-soo, the leader of the transition committee for President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, saw his shares shoot up to a record high in 10 years on Wednesday on market expectations that he could be the prime minister when Yoon is sworn in on May 10. The stocks closed at 175,800 won ($144.76) Wednesday, breaking the previous intraday high of 167,200 won in January 2012. The net worth of the software mogul-turned-politician soared to 327 billion won. Ahn has a
March 23, 2022
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[UP IN THE AIR] ‘Only few will succeed in air taxi commercialization’
The race to come out on top in the future mobility sector is reaching a fever pitch. Market estimates show there are at least 200 global carmakers, aircraft manufacturers, telecommunication firms and startups working on developing urban air mobility (UAM) or flying cars. And Korean companies are no exception. Hanwha Systems, the country’s major defense electronics and related smart technologies and infrastructure service provider, is seeking to pivot its airspace business to target the g
March 23, 2022
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Seoul shares up for 2nd day on big-cap tech, steel gains
South Korean stocks extended their winning streak to a second session Wednesday as institutional investors picked up large-cap steel and tech shares. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 25.05 points, or 0.92 percent, to close at 2,735.05 points. Trading volume was moderate at 870.73 million shares worth some 11.7 trillion won ($9.64 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 529 to 300. Institutional investors bought a net 233.0
March 23, 2022
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Outgoing BOK chief concerned over high inflationary pressure
South Korea’s central bank chief Lee Ju-yeol on Wednesday expressed concerns of the lingering woes stemming from COVID-19, including the high inflationary pressure, as he prepares to wrap-up eight successful years as the Bank of Korea governor. “Looking back, my past eight years as BOK governor were full of unexpected events starting with the Sewol Ferry disaster -- which happened only 15 days after I took office -- MERS, Brexit, US-China trade war, Japan’s export restri
March 23, 2022
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Dongnae raises W25b in Series A funding
Dongnae, Korea’s real estate startup platform, said Wednesday it has raised 25 billion won ($21 million) in Series A funding from US and Korean investors. Key investors include NFX, Daol Investment, Hana-Magna, Hana Financial Group, MetaProp, Fursys, Han River Partners, Flybridge, Maple, and WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey. “We plan to expand Dongnae branches in Seoul and in the Seoul metropolitan area, like the Pangyo office in Gyeonggi Province,” a Dongnae official said.
March 23, 2022