Most Popular
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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Shinsegae faces showdown with investors over SSG.com's delayed IPO
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Hopes rise for possible Gaza truce deal
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Ex-pro baseball player who killed debtor appeals sentence
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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IMF lowers global economic growth forecast to lowest since financial crisis
The International Monetary Fund has forecast this year’s global economic growth rate at 3 percent, the lowest since the 2008 financial crisis, Seoul’s Ministry of Economy and Finance said Tuesday.It also lowered the outlook for South Korea to 2 percent, slashing 0.6 percentage point from its earlier outlook, data showed.In its World Economic Outlook Update, the IMF said that the world economy will grow 3 percent in 2019 and 3.4 percent in 2020.Its latest estimate is down 0.3 percenta
Oct. 15, 2019
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S. Korea to lift regulations to boost exporters: Deputy PM
The government plans to eliminate various regulations that hinder the development of new technologies and overseas expansion of local firms amid the recent economic uncertainties, South Korea’s top financial policymaker said Monday.It is proposed to allow overseas affiliates of securities companies to take loans from Korean lenders, simplify the screening procedures for chemical facilities, and alleviate the authentication of certified industrial robots. “(The government) will lead t
Oct. 14, 2019
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Biz sentiment worsens for Q4
South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment for the fourth quarter of the year worsened due to external uncertainties, a survey showed Monday.The business sentiment index, compiled by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stood at 72 for the October-December period, slightly down from 73 the previous quarter, KCCI said in a statement. The BSI figure has stayed below the break-even threshold of 100 for the past 14 consecutive quarters. The last time the BSI was above 100 was in the third
Oct. 14, 2019
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[News Focus] Korean stocks lag behind foreign rivals
SEJONG – It’s still too early to call it confidence, but optimism is growing among some capital-market participants and analysts in South Korea over the possibility that stock prices will rebound. They cite favorable external factors involving eased concerns about the trade dispute between the US and China as the prospects of a bilateral compromise grow.The benchmark Kospi has been swayed by external factors like global financial crisis over the past few years or decades. However, li
Oct. 13, 2019
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Korea, Japan end 1st round of talks on trade row, agree to meet again
Korea and Japan on Friday ended their first round of talks on a bilateral trade dispute with an agreement to meet again for further consultations. The two sides met in Geneva to discuss South Korea's complaint with the World Trade Organization over Japan's export controls against the South. "We agreed that further consultations are necessary, and decided to schedule a second round of bilateral talks through diplomatic channels," Chung Hae-kwan, the c
Oct. 12, 2019
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Seoul, Tokyo begin consultations over WTO dispute
South Korea and Japan launched their bilateral talks on Friday in Switzerland to discuss the ongoing trade row between the two Asian neighbors, the first step toward resolving the dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The meeting, held in Geneva, came after Japan implemented regulations on the export to South Korea of three industrial materials vital for the production of chips and displays. Last month, South Korea formally filed a complain
Oct. 11, 2019
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S. Korea to provide full support to boost industrial competitiveness
South Korea will provide support worth more than 2 trillion won ($1.6 billion) each year to strengthen industrial competitiveness, the finance minister said Friday, amid an ongoing trade row with Japan. Hong Nam-ki also said South Korea will push for a stable supply of key industrial materials, parts and equipment. The move is the latest in a series of South Korea's efforts to reduce South Korea's heavy reliance on Japan in the key industrial sector amid Jap
Oct. 11, 2019
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S. Korea voices hope for replenishment of Green Climate Fund
South Korea's finance minister expressed hope Thursday that Seoul's increased contribution to the U.N. Green Climate Fund could help with its successful replenishment. Hong Nam-ki made the comment in a meeting with Yannick Glemarec, executive director of the Green Climate Fund, at the government complex building in central Seoul.Last month, Asia's fourth-largest economy announced that it would double its contribution to US$200 million for this first round of the replenishment of the fund. Seoul
Oct. 10, 2019
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Consumers overseas lust after Korean beauty products most: survey
Online consumers outside of South Korea are mostly interested in buying Korean brand beauty products like cosmetics and perfumes, a survey from the Korea International Trade Association showed Wednesday. The survey of 460 consumers in the US, China and Europe conducted by online shopping platform Kmall24 showed that 26 percent of them picked K-beauty as the most desired shopping category. Following that were K-pop-related products such as music albums and DVDs at 24 percent and food and beverage
Oct. 9, 2019
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2.78 pieces of sushi sold a second at E-mart: data
Riding on word-of-mouth through social media, E-mart is seeing a whopping increase in its sales of sushi products, the retail chain said Wednesday.With 65 million pieces of sushi having been sold within the January to September period this year, E-mart said it expects sales to reach 100 million by the year’s end. An official explained the sales amount translates to 2.78 pieces of sushi being sold each second over that period.E-mart has been targeting the sushi market by using fresh fish in
Oct. 9, 2019
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[New Economic Non-Order: 4] APEC becomes battleground for US, China
The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles to look into the weakening of the global economic framework in light of fading liberalism and the rise of trade protectionism and nationalism. This is the fourth installment. -- Ed.After last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the headlines announced a first in the forum’s 25-year history: Its 21 members had failed to reach a consensus on a joint communique, one repercussion from the ongoing US-China trade war. In rece
Oct. 9, 2019
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BOK chief says economic slump may last but depends on US-China dispute
The ongoing slump facing South Korea and the rest of the world is widely expected to continue for some time, but the duration and degree of its impact will largely depend on how the trade conflict between the world's two largest economies will end, the chief of South Korea's central bank said Tuesday."The growth of the global economy is slowing down," Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol told the parliamentary finance committee at the start of its annual audit. "Such a slowdown is expec
Oct. 8, 2019
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More than 1 in 10 S. Korean companies remain marginal in 2018: BOK
The number of companies unable to service their debts with earnings rose from a year earlier in 2018, posing a threat to the country's financial and economic stability, central bank data showed Tuesday.According to a report submitted by the Bank of Korea for parliamentary audit, the number of the so-called marginal companies came to 3,236 last year, up from 3,112 a year earlier.The number represents 14.2 percent of 22,869 companies here that are subject to external audit. Marginal firms refer to
Oct. 8, 2019
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Korea's current account surplus narrows in Aug.
South Korea's current account remained in the black for the fourth consecutive month in August, but its surplus narrowed sharply from a year earlier amid a steady decline in exports, central bank data showed Tuesday.The country's current account surplus came to $5.27 billion in the month, compared with a $8.55 billion surplus in the same month last year and a $6.95 billion surplus a month earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.The goods account surplus has been more than h
Oct. 8, 2019
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Prices of apartments in redeveloped Seoul areas soar 53% in 4 years
The average sale price of real estate in redeveloped apartment complexes in Seoul has soared more than 50 percent over the past four years, data showed Monday.According to data submitted by the state-run Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation to the parliamentary land committee, the average sale price per pyeong for reconstructed apartments stood at 31.5 million won ($26,345) as of this year. A pyeong is a unit of area used in real estate measuring, equivalent to 3.3 square meters. This
Oct. 7, 2019
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[Monitor] Rosy prospects for Samsung Electronics’ Q3 earnings
South Korea’s tech giant Samsung Electronics is expected to see its third quarter earnings come in well over market consensus, according to forecast by Korea Investment & Securities. Next year’s operating profit will be even greater, the securities firm predicted in its report.The revenue of Samsung in the latest quarter will be around 65.8 trillion won and its operating profit sime 7.4 trillion, each exceeding earlier predictions by 5 percent and 9 percent, respectively, the rep
Oct. 6, 2019
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[News Focus] Portion of optimists over economy stays at 13%: poll
SEJONG -- A variety of polls show that the public disapproval rating for President Moon Jae-in now outstrips his approval rating.According to a survey from Gallup Korea, the portion of respondents who expressed negative opinion toward the president, exceeded the supporters for him for the sixth consecutive week since August.In the pollster’s latest survey, conducted on Oct. 1-2, 51 percent of the 1,000 citizens polled expressed disapproval of Moon’s performance, while the approval ra
Oct. 6, 2019
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S. Korea sees steepest drop in exports among key economies
South Korea marked the steepest drop in export volume so far this year among the world’s top 10 exporters, data showed.Korea’s export slowdown was especially noticeable in July, due partly to the slowdown in overall world trade volume and the drop in prices of semiconductors and petroleum products. Exports to China, in particular, dropped significantly by 16.6 percent from the previous month. The month coincides with when Japan started to impose export curbs on key materials cr
Oct. 6, 2019
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China-Taiwan dispute may further undermine S. Korean exports: report
China's political dispute with Taiwan may add to regional risks created by protest rallies in Hong Kong that could further undermine South Korea's exports to its neighbors, a central bank report suggested Sunday.South Korean exports have dipped for 10 consecutive months since December amid the prolonged trade dispute between the United States and China, the world's largest importers of South Korean goods."Considering the country's close financial and trade relations with the countries, a ch
Oct. 6, 2019
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Seniors main income earners for poorest households: data
Seniors are the chief breadwinners for South Korea's poorest households, with such family units generally having less than one member holding a steady job, data showed Saturday.According to the data from Statistics Korea, the average age of the chief breadwinners for households making up the bottom 20 percent of the income tier stood at 63.8 years between 2003 and 2019. Asia's fourth-largest economy became an aged society -- one in which 14 percent of the population is over 65 -- in 2017,
Oct. 5, 2019