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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[Graphic News] More Koreans say they plan long-distance trips this year
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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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Online gift-giving catches on amid COVID-19 woes
As giving gifts in person is harder to do this year amid calls to reduce human contact to stop the spread of the coronavirus, online gift-giving is enjoying a surge in popularity, industry sources indicated Sunday. SSG.com, retail giant Shinsegae Group’s online shopping platform, said sales generated from its gift service saw a 64.6 percent year-on-year increase between January and November this year, citing internal data. Among the brands available on the website, it was coffeehouse cha
Dec. 13, 2020
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[Time to Play] Despite its pay-to-win system, WeMade’s Mir 4 is irresistible
When it comes to pricing, luxury fashion and games may not be so different. As long as there are consumers willing to pay extra for a premium experience, it is that perceived value that could determine the price of a product. WeMade’s Mir 4, despite its notorious pay-to-win system, may prove just that in the local gaming industry. With an intricate storyline and superb graphics, the game is simply irresistible to avid players. Launched on Nov. 25 in South Korea by local game developer
Dec. 13, 2020
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Posco to step up hydrogen production capacity by 2050
South Korean steelmaker Posco said Sunday it will expand hydrogen production capacity in the next three decades to meet growing demand for the clean energy source and foster new growth drivers. Posco, the world's fifth-largest steelmaker by output, said it will produce up to 5 million tons of hydrogen by 2050 to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy sources. The company plans to launch a hydrogen business unit next month and collaborate with research agencies
Dec. 13, 2020
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Starbucks has over 1,500 stores in S. Korea
Starbucks has opened seven new stores in South Korea, bringing the total number of outlets that the US coffee giant has launched since its debut here 21 years ago to 1,503 amid a coffee craze among locals, industry sources said Sunday. Five of the seven new outlets opened Tuesday are drive-thru stores, the sources said. As social distancing guidelines for COVID-19 require coffee shops to adopt tougher virus measures, Starbucks has increased drive-thru outlets to allow customers to buy coffee w
Dec. 13, 2020
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S. Korea's trade minister meets with USTR nominee
South Korea's Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee has met with US President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for US trade representative, the trade ministry said Saturday. Yoo discussed pending trade issues with Katherine Tai, the chief trade counsel for the US House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, during her four-day trip that ended on Friday, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, without elaborating. The meeting came before media reports that Biden nominated Tai, a China trade exp
Dec. 12, 2020
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Seoul shares likely to further advance next week; vaccinations in focus
South Korean stocks are likely to further rise next week despite some correction, as investors pin high hopes on a quick economic recovery from the pandemic's fallout. Despite a surge in new daily COVID-19 cases, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index closed at an all-time high of 2,770.06 points Friday, up 1.41 percent from a week ago. The KOSPI moved like roller coaster on vaccination reports, rising more than 2 percent Wednesday on the world's first mass COVID-19 vaccination in Britain. The
Dec. 12, 2020
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Posco chief tapped for second term
Posco CEO Choi Jeong-woo has been chosen for a second term, the company said Friday. The steelmaker’s board of directors unanimously decided to reappoint Choi, whose term expires in March. The appointment is subject to final approval at the company's shareholders’ meeting, slated for March. Choi took office as the company’s ninth CEO in July 2018. It is customary for Posco CEOs to serve consecutive terms. By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)
Dec. 11, 2020
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Hyundai Motor to acquire 80-pct stake of Boston Dynamics from SoftBank
South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group said Friday its affiliates and its chairman will buy an 80-percent stake, worth up to 900 billion won ($828 million), in US robotics firm Boston Dynamics Inc. in the latest move to propel its future mobility business. The board of directors at Hyundai Motor and its two affiliates, Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Glovis, approved the plan to acquire the controlling stake in Boston Dynamics from Japanese investment firm SoftBank Group, Hyundai Motor said in a regulator
Dec. 11, 2020
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Mirae Asset's Korean New Deal-themed ETFs top W700b in NAV
Mirae Asset Global Investments said Friday its five exchange-traded funds investing in stocks dedicated to batteries, biotechnology, internet and gaming sectors have topped 700 billion won ($642 million) in their combined net asset value as of Thursday, two months after their listing. The ETFs are its signature Tiger suite of products -- Tiger KRX BBIG K-New Deal ETF, Tiger KRX Bio K-New Deal ETF, Tiger KRX Secondary Battery K-New Deal ETF, Tiger KRX Internet K-New Deal ETF and Tiger KRX Game
Dec. 11, 2020
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Fidelity unloads W111b Hyundai Marine & Fire stocks since Oct.
US-based investor Fidelity Management & Research has offloaded common shares of Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance worth 111.6 billion won ($102.2 million) on the local stock exchange since October, filings showed Friday. Before the transactions, Fidelity was the third-largest shareholder of Hyundai Marine & Fire, listed on South Korea‘s main stock bourse Kospi, holding 11 percent of its voting rights. That followed Chairman Chung Mong-yoon’s 24.65 percent and the National
Dec. 11, 2020
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Disney+ to heat up video streaming competition in S. Korea
Walt Disney Co. has said it will launch its flagship streaming service Disney+ in South Korea next year, a move that could intensify competition between local and global streaming giants in the country. Disney said in a tweet for its investor day presentation on Thursday that South Korea is among the major markets, including Eastern Europe and Hong Kong, in which Disney+ will roll out next year. Disney+ has seen rapid growth since its launch in November last year, and the latest announcement f
Dec. 11, 2020
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Celltrion Healthcare's adalimumab biosimilar in last step before EC approval
Celltrion announced Friday that the company’s adalimumab biosimilar candidate CT-P17 has received a positive opinion for marketing authorization from the Committee for the Medicinal Products for Human Use under the European Medicines Agency. Celltrion’s CT-P17 is a biosimilar of Humira, a treatment for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and psoriasis. The CHMP’s positive assessment will be soon reviewed by the European Commi
Dec. 11, 2020
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Seoul stocks jump almost 1% to another record high on vaccine hopes
South Korean stocks gained nearly 1 percent to a fresh all-time high Friday, as hopes for new coronavirus vaccinations boosted investor sentiment. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 23.6 points, or 0.86 percent, to close at 2,770.06. Trading volume was high at about 1.1 billion shares worth some 18 trillion won ($16.5 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 659 to 192. Foreigners bought a net 163 billion won, while retail
Dec. 11, 2020
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ICT Ministry to commit W16b to digital media startups
The Ministry of Science and ICT said Friday it plans to commit 16 billion won ($14.7 million) to Seoul-based venture capital house K & Investment Partners as part of the government-led initiative to foster the domestic digital media ecosystem. The commitment from its fund-of-funds, managed by Korea Venture Investment Corp., will be used to create a 26 billion-won fund by March next year. K & has been selected as the ICT Ministry’s only external partner to manage the fund out of 1
Dec. 11, 2020
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Woori Financial chief buys back group shares to show confidence in future business
Woori Financial Group said Friday its Chairman Sohn Tae-seung recently bought back 5,000 company shares to show his confidence in the banking group’s future growth. Sohn’s stock buyback marks the fifth time this year, following his earlier buying in January, March, April and August. He now holds 88,127 shares in Woori Financial. “By purchasing the firm’s shares in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, he aimed to build market confidence in the group’s corporate f
Dec. 11, 2020
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Audi Volkswagen Korea to launch 8 EV models over 3 years
Audi Volkswagen Group has unveiled its electrification strategy and business plans in the Korean market over the next years. The group said in a digital press conference Friday its four affiliated brands -- Audi, Volkswagen, Lamborghini and Bentley -- will release more than 20 new models next year and eight electric car models within three years in the Korean market. The German automaker plans to increase the proportion of electric vehicle sales in Korea to 11 percent of the total sales b
Dec. 11, 2020
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S. Korean govt. to forge W26b fund to help digital content market
The South Korean government will create a fund worth 26 billion won ($23.9 million) by March next year to invest in local startups and small firms producing over-the-top solutions and digital content, the Ministry of Science and ICT‘s announced Friday. The government will inject around 16 billion won into the fund, while the remaining 10 billion won will be raised from private investors. About 60 percent of the fund will be spent to support media productions by local companies and hel
Dec. 11, 2020
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HHI Group chosen as preferred bidder for Doosan Infracore takeover
Hyundai Heavy Industries Group has been selected as the preferred bidder to acquire a controlling stake in Doosan Infracore, Doosan Group’s engineering unit, HHI Group confirmed Friday. A consortium of Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings, HHI Group‘s holdings company, and private equity firm KDB Investment beat out local construction materials firm Eugene Corp. in the takeover race. It offered about 800 billion won ($735 million) for a 35.41 percent stake in the firm. The equity
Dec. 11, 2020
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[Herald Interview] Wizbiosolutions thrives in pandemic
Wizbiosolutions started in 2010 as a one-man company. A decade of research and development down the road, it has encountered the ultimate stressor that has catapulted its growth -- the global COVID-19 pandemic. Wizbiosolutions’ portable diagnostics system, which enables field diagnostic test at airports and harbors, as well as room temperature storable reagent for polymerase chain reaction, have been key to the company’s successful Series A funding amounting to $10 million in Octobe
Dec. 11, 2020
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Samsung's share in wireless earphone phone market down in Q3: report
Samsung Electronics Co.'s share in the global wireless earphone market dropped slightly in the third quarter of the year, a report showed Friday, as more consumers lean toward cheaper products amid the pandemic. Samsung accounted for 5 percent of the global truly wireless stereo (TWS) product shipments in the July-September period, down 1 percentage point from the previous three months, according to market tracer Counterpoint Research. Apple Inc. remained the top wireless earphone vendor in
Dec. 11, 2020