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What is Hybe’s next move?
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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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 to issue travel ban on Haiti amid intensifying gang violence
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Seventeen shows who is the ‘Maestro’ of K-pop in greatest hits album
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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Around 50% of people with disabilities aged 65 or above: report
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Korea, US to strengthen policy coordination: finance ministry
Economic chiefs of South Korea and the United States agreed to strengthen their policy coordination at a time when inter-Korean relations are facing a dramatic turn, Seoul's finance ministry said Sunday.South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon held a meeting with his US counterpart Steven Mnuchin in Washington on Saturday on the sidelines of the G-20 finance ministers and central governors meeting.They shared the view that it is a critical time for the two countries to engage in close policy
April 22, 2018
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SMEs should lead growth on Korean Peninsula: think tank
Small and medium enterprises should take center stage in fueling future growth in the two Koreas once cross-border tensions recede, a local think tank said Sunday.According to a report by the Korea Small Business Institute, the Moon Jae-in administration needs to give priority to SMEs in its new economic roadmap for the Korean Peninsula.It added that Seoul should get ready to restart bilateral economic cooperation, which has been halted in the face of North Korea's nuclear ambitions."This i
April 22, 2018
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S. Korean finance minister warns against protectionism
South Korea's chief economic policymaker warned Friday that rising trade protectionism by major countries poses risks to global economic growth, calling for concerted efforts to promote free trade.Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon made the remarks during a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from Group of 20 advanced economies in Washington. They gathered for the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank."Protectionism will worsen the existing trade disputes
April 21, 2018
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S. Korea, China hold economic cooperation meeting after 2-year hiatus
BEIJING -- South Korea and China on Friday held their first high-level economic cooperation meeting in two years following an improvement of bilateral ties damaged by a diplomatic feud over a US missile defense system deployed in the South.The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to closer economic and trade cooperation at the 22nd joint South Korea-China economic committee meeting in Beijing."I have high hopes for this meeting, since it is being held at this critical time for the two coun
April 20, 2018
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S. Korea expects slower export growth in April
South Korea will take proactive measures to boost exports to maintain growth momentum despite rising protectionist policies by major trading partners and uncertainties in the global financial market, the government said Friday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expected export growth to slow this month due to sluggish demand for ships, vehicle and auto parts. "The export outlook is not favorable for April due to protectionist measures in major trading partners, the strengthening loc
April 20, 2018
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S. Korea, IMF discuss ways of revealing currency market intervention
South Korea's chief economic policymaker discussed currency market-related issues, such as how to reveal records of its market interventions, with the International Monetary Fund, the finance ministry here said Friday.Seoul said earlier that the country is considering the detailed disclosure of its interventions in the foreign exchange market as part of a broader move to boost transparency and clear itself of suspicion of exercising undue influence on exchange rates.South Korea's financial autho
April 20, 2018
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Bank loans for rent jump this year as govt. tightens mortgages
Bank loans for rent payments in March increased 40 percent from the same period a year ago, data showed Friday, likely a side effect from the tightening of mortgages.Rent loans by the country's five leading commercial banks measured 50.77 trillion won ($47.8 billion) at end-March, up 3.61 percent from the previous month. The total is a jump of 40.99 percent from the same month last year. Comparatively, loans for rent came to 25.66 trillion won in March 2016 and rose to 30 trillion won in August
April 20, 2018
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Prime minister calls for passage of supplementary budget
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon urged opposition parties Thursday to normalize the National Assembly and approve a supplementary budget the government proposed earlier this month in an effort to create more jobs for young people.The National Assembly has been idling despite the opening of an extraordinary session on April 2 as opposition parties have boycotted the session, demanding the ruling Democratic Party agree to pass a Broadcasting Act revision aimed at increasing opposition oversight of publi
April 19, 2018
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Analysts watch for end of 'Korea discount' on prospects of peace treaty
A peace treaty that would finally end the 1950-53 Korean War, one of the growing prospects for the upcoming cross-border summit next week, may also end the chronic "Korea discount" in the stock market, analysts said Thursday.South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet North Korea's top leader Kim Jong-un on the southern side of the truce village Panmunjom on April 27. It will be the third such inter-Korean summit, and Seoul and Washington have indicated that a peace treaty could be an
April 19, 2018
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Calls grow for slower minimum wage hike
This year’s sharp increase in the minimum wage applied to all workplaces around the country is pushing many small companies to cut their payrolls to cope with labor costs.The number of people receiving unemployment benefits reached a record high of 628,433 in the first quarter of the year, according to recent data from the state-run Korea Employment Information Service.The figure marks a 6.9 percent rise from a year earlier. Government officials claim the increasing number of unemployment
April 18, 2018
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Long-term unemployment hits highest level in 18 years
SEJONG -- The number of long-term unemployed jobseekers, those unable to find work for over six months, exceeded 150,000 in the first quarter of this year, the highest tallied in 18 years, Statistics Korea said Wednesday.The latest data showed a total of 1.181 million people did not have a job in the three month period.The latest figure for people out of work for more than half a year represents an 18.8 percent increase from the same quarter of 2017. The jobless number is the highest since 159,0
April 18, 2018
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Korea, China to resume consultations on fisheries cooperation amid recovering ties
South Korea and China will hold a meeting on fisheries cooperation next week, resuming the regular consultations that have been suspended for nearly two years over the neighbors' diplomatic feud, sources said Tuesday.The two countries are currently discussing details of the 10th South Korea-China meeting on fisheries cooperation to be held in China sometime next week, the diplomatic sources said.The meeting will bring together officials from the countries' foreign ministries as well as governmen
April 17, 2018
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Questions raised about 3 percent growth target
Policymakers and private economists remain different in their forecasts on how fast the Korean economy will grow this year, following last year’s expansion of 3.1 percent.Most private research institutes here expect the 2018 growth rate to hover below the government-set target of 3 percent.A monthly report released by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance last week said Korea’s economy is maintaining a recovery momentum on the back of brisk exports and increased facility investment an
April 16, 2018
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Govt. to keep growth of household debt to below 8.2% in 2018
The government plans to keep the growth rate of household debt to below 8.2 percent this year by taking a set of steps to curb excessive lending, the nation's top financial regulator said Monday.Outstanding household debt stood at 1,450.9 trillion won ($1.35 trillion) in the fourth-quarter of last year, up 8.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. It marked the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2015.Financial Services Commission Chairman Choi Jong-ku told
April 16, 2018
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Finance minister urges quick passage of extra budget bill
South Korea's chief economic policymaker on Monday urged the National Assembly to quickly approve a proposed extra budget bill that is urgently needed to tackle the country's chronic youth unemployment problem.Early this month, the government unveiled a set of measures, including bolder financial and tax incentives and the use of a 3.9 trillion-won ($3.64 billion) extra budget, to respond to the high jobless rate among young people. The government submitted the supplementary budget proposal to t
April 16, 2018
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[Feature] More Korean workers economically dependent on parents
South Korean college graduates in their mid-and late 20s are finding it increasingly difficult to land a job. Despite several government-led measures to increase youth employment over the past decade, a high proportion of young job seekers are still getting rejection slips from enterprises.As a result, those who have no regular income often rely their parents even after they turn 30.Latest polls show that more and more Koreans in their 20s and 30s are scrapping plans for marriage.More serious is
April 15, 2018
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Exports of Korean cigarettes drop on tax hike in key markets
Exports of cigarettes, which rank top on the list of export items tracked by South Korea’s Agriculture Ministry, plunged during the first quarter of this year. Cigarette exports totaled $210.6 million from January to March, marking a 28.3 percent drop from the same period last year, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Sunday. The exports were hit hard by the United Arab Emirates’ imposition of a 100 percent special consumption ta
April 15, 2018
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S. Korea discusses post-sanctions economic cooperation with Sudan
South Korea and Sudan held a high-level policy consultation meeting on Thursday to discuss strengthening economic cooperation in the wake of the lifting of American sanctions on Sudan last year, the foreign ministry here said.Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Yun Kang-hyeon welcomed the lifting of 20-year-old sanctions and discussed cooperation with Sudan's Undersecretary Abdel-ghani Elnaim, according to the ministry.In October 2017, the U.S. government dropped the economic sanctions,
April 12, 2018
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Finance minister tells US Seoul irrelevant to currency manipulation
South Korea’s chief economic policymaker on Thursday underlined to his US counterpart that the country does not fall under the currency manipulator list, while vowing to keep control over its own foreign currency policies, according to officials.In a 15-minute phone conversation with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin earlier in the day, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon contended that given the trade and account balance figures, Seoul does not qualify for a curren
April 12, 2018
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Public institutions to buy W43b worth of products from SMEs
South Korean public institutions signed a deal to buy some 43 billion won ($40 million) worth of products made by small and medium-sized enterprises this year as part of Seoul's efforts to encourage the growth of smaller companies, the government said. Six public organizations, including the Korea Land & Housing Corp. and the Korea Electric Power Co., signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to buy new products made by SMEs, the ministry said.If companies a
April 12, 2018