Most Popular
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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[Graphic News] Number of coffee franchises in S. Korea rises 13%
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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[Robert J. Fouser] AI changes rationale for learning languages
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Ador CEO's request for exclusive right to terminate NewJeans' contract with Hybe refused in February
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Woman dangling from power lines rescued by residents holding blanket
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NPS vows to beef up overseas investment through reshuffle
South Korea‘s public pension scheme, the National Pension Service, pledged Wednesday to add resilience to its capital deployment to overseas assets through a structural reorganization. Through the reshuffle, the NPS Investment Management will split its global public market division in two -- with one part dedicated to investing in foreign stocks and another in foreign fixed-income products. The move will allow the NPSIM to increase the in-house investment of foreign listed stocks and its
Jan. 13, 2021
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S. Korea to inject W30tr into green energy exports
Seeking to boost a green-led economic recovery in the post-pandemic era, South Korea’s government vowed Wednesday to spend 30 trillion won ($27.39 billion) to support local exports of renewable energy and other clean technologies. “South Korea should take a lead in the global market for green and digital businesses by embracing the ongoing paradigm shift to a green and digital economy triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki s
Jan. 13, 2021
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Value of newly listed bonds soars 24% in 2020
The value of listed bonds in South Korea jumped nearly 24 percent on-year to a new record high in 2020 due to a spike in government debt sale to tackle the coronavirus impact, data showed Wednesday. State, corporate and other bonds worth 769 trillion won ($702 billion) were newly listed on the local bourse last year, up 23.7 percent from the previous year and the largest ever, according to the data from the Korea Exchange. The jump came as the government sharply increased debt sales to finance
Jan. 13, 2021
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Demographic shifts urge Korean insurers to adapt: Moody’s
The looming demographic shifts in South Korea are forcing domestic insurers to turn to new growth drivers, as the companies are likely to face flagging sales of their mainstream products and underwriting risks of their new products that lead to inadequate pricing, a report showed Wednesday. The report by Moody’s Investors Service cited Korea‘s fast aging population as a key attribute, adding that the working-age population is being met with a heavy financial burden to support the c
Jan. 13, 2021
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S. Korea's money supply growth quickens in November
South Korea's money supply continued to grow quickly in November last year, as loans to households and firms increased amid the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's M2 stood at 3,178.4 trillion won ($2.9 trillion) as of end-November, up 0.9 percent, or 27.9 trillion won, from October, according to preliminary data by the Bank of Korea (BOK). From a year earlier, M2 surged 9.7 percent, the BOK said. A key economic indicator closely monitored by authorities, M
Jan. 13, 2021
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Banks expected to tighten grip on loans in Q1 amid pandemic: poll
Banks in South Korea are expected to tighten their lending to households and the small business sector in the first quarter of this year, as credit risks will remain high amid the pandemic, a central bank poll showed Wednesday. The Bank of Korea's index measuring the banks' attitude toward fresh loans came to minus 8 for the first quarter. The lower the reading, the more likely banks will tighten their restrictions on lending. A reading below zero means that the number of lenders that will res
Jan. 13, 2021
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Samsung to unveil another batch of shareholder-friendly measures this month
Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to unveil another batch of shareholder-friendly measures, including big dividend payments, later this month, industry sources said Wednesday, in a move to smooth out the group leadership succession. Samsung, the world's largest memory chip and smartphone maker, is expected to announce its new shareholder return initiative for the 2021-2023 period on Jan. 28, along with its fourth-quarter earnings report. Local analysts widely expect that Samsung's new measur
Jan. 13, 2021
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S. Korea's agricultural exports up 7.7% to record high in 2020 amid pandemic
South Korea's exports of agricultural and livestock products advanced 7.7 percent on-year in 2020 on the back of growing demand for healthier foodstuffs amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of such goods reached a record high of $7.5 billion last year, compared with $7 billion posted in 2019, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Exports of ginseng jumped 9.3 percent to reach $229.8 million over the period
Jan. 13, 2021
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[Graphic News] S. Korea’s farm goods exports hit record high in 2020
South Korea’s exports of agriculture products reached an all-time high of $7.57 billion last year on the back of strong demand for kimchi and processed foods, data showed. The record amount represents a 7.7 percent rise from the previous year, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Outbound shipments of fresh products rose 3.4 percent on-year to $1.43 billion. Those of processed goods increased 8.8 percent to hit $6.14 billion. (Yonhap)
Jan. 13, 2021
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Mercedes-Benz model 1st to be exchanged under lemon law in S. Korea
South Korea's transport ministry said Wednesday that a Mercedes-Benz S Series model became the first model that will be exchanged for malfunctions under a local lemon law. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it held an experts' review committee meeting last month to decide whether the Mercedes-Benz S 350d 4MATIC sedan should be exchanged or refunded. The committee found the S 350d model's Idle Stop and Go (ISG) start-stop system is malfunctioning and ordered the German carm
Jan. 13, 2021
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Seoul stocks open higher on investors' bottom-fishing
South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday, as investors went bottom-fishing for certain large caps that suffered large losses during the key index's two-day slump from an institutional selling spree. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 15.32 points, or 0.49 percent, to 3,141.27 in the first 20 minutes of trading. The gain was largely led by chemical and tech top caps, as institutions and individuals bought on expectations of improved performance. Investor sentiment also imp
Jan. 13, 2021
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S. Korea to invest over W380b in smart farm tech through 2027
South Korea's ICT ministry said Wednesday it will invest 386.7 billion won ($353.3 million) to develop smart farms over the next seven years as part of the country's efforts to introduce new technology to the agriculture sector. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it launched a foundation to research and test next-generation smart farm technology, such as big data and artificial intelligence, to develop automated farms with improved productivity and produce quality. The foundation, jointly op
Jan. 13, 2021
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Hyundai Steel workers stage strike over wages
Thousands of unionized workers of Hyundai Steel Co. began a walkout Wednesday to demand higher wages and bonuses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the union said. The workers will go on strike for two days through Thursday, affecting production at five domestic plants of South Korea's second-largest steelmaker, the union said. Still, some 2,000 essential workers did not join the strike as they need to work at three blast furnaces in Dangjin, about 120 kilometers south of Seoul. The strike by the 8,
Jan. 13, 2021
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Exports of OLED displays forecast to hit new high this year
South Korea's exports of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays are expected to jump nearly 20 percent on-year to an all-time high in 2021 on growing global demand, sources said Wednesday. Overseas shipments of OLED panels are projected to soar 19.6 percent on-year to $13 billion this year, accounting for more than 70 percent of overall display exports, according to the industry ministry and the Korea Display Industry Association. Bolstered by the sharp increase, South Korea's overall di
Jan. 13, 2021
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Dec. job loss largest in over 2 decades amid pandemic
South Korea reported the largest job loss in December since 1999 as a resurgence in new coronavirus cases dealt a blow to jobs in the service sector, data showed Wednesday. For the whole of 2020, the country also shed the largest number of jobs since 1998, when the country was in the midst of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, according to Statistics Korea. The number of employed people reached 26.5 million last month, 628,000 fewer than a year earlier and marking the 10th straight month of j
Jan. 13, 2021
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Samsung unveils Exynos 2100 ahead of Galaxy S21 Unpacked
Samsung Electronics on Tuesday unveiled its new mobile application processor Exynos 2100 through an online event ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Unpacked event this week. The Exynos 2100, which is expected to power the upcoming Galaxy S21 series, is Samsung’s first mobile application processor integrated with a 5G modem. Manufactured on Samsung’s 5-nanometer extreme ultra-violet process node, the new processor comes with the most cutting-edge central processing unit and graphic
Jan. 13, 2021
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[Herald Interview] Korea’s COVID-19 response overlooks patients’ well-being
This interview is the first installment in a three-part series in conversations with the former directors of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- now the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency -- as the country looks back on a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. -- Ed. Good health care should not be sidelined in efforts to find and isolate people with COVID-19 and their contacts, says respiratory disease specialist Dr. Jung Ki-suck. Jung is the immediate predecessor o
Jan. 12, 2021
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‘No assistance to SsangYong Motor if labor dispute unresolved’
Policy lender Korea Development Bank Chairman Lee Dong-gull said Tuesday that SsangYong Motor’s fate on getting financial assistance depends on its promise of stopping labor disputes until the cash-strapped company marks a turnaround. “We’ve seen many debt-ridden companies face strikes every year during annual negotiations between the labor union and management. To get rid of internal discord, the one-year group agreement needs to be extended to 3 years,” he said at the
Jan. 12, 2021
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[News Analysis] Is Korea prepared for vaccine rollout?
The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines may arrive here in the coming weeks, as President Moon Jae-in on Monday announced the launch in February of the nationwide vaccination campaign. When it comes to the jab itself, South Korea says it has secured more than enough vaccine to inoculate its 51.6 million population. The question now is whether the country can handle all the logistical challenges required to take vaccines from the factory floor to patients’ arms. To administer the shots as q
Jan. 12, 2021
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Retail investors unnerved by plan to lift ban on short-selling
Concerns over the government‘s announcement that it would end a temporary ban on short-selling rose among retail investors Tuesday, as they claim that the reactivation of such trading practice could create market disruptions. The Financial Services Commissions said it would end the prohibition on the trading strategy that makes a negative bets on stocks on March 15, as planned. The ban was imposed to prevent market volatility in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic in March last year for
Jan. 12, 2021