Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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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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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
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Bond issuance soars in Feb.
Bond issuance in South Korea rose by more than 11 trillion won in February from the previous month due mainly to increased state and corporate debt sales, industry data showed Tuesday. The value of bonds sold in Asia's fourth-largest economy stood at 75.2 trillion won ($65.9 billion) last month, up 11.3 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association. Sales of government bonds increased by 5.5 trillion won, and the issuance of corporate
March 9, 2021
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Sluggish job market weighs on S. Korea's economic recovery: KDI
South Korea's economic activity remains stagnant as the country has continued to suffer heavy job losses despite improving consumption and robust exports, a state-run think tank said Tuesday. Revived consumption of durable goods and solid exports have provided some defense against the economic slowdown, according to a monthly economic assessment report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI). "The Korean economy continues to be sluggish with rapidly contracting employment due to COVID-19
March 9, 2021
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S. Korea to revitalize agricultural segment by lifting set of regulations
South Korea said Tuesday it plans to lift a set of regulations in the agricultural sector to harness more state-of-the-art technologies and foster new growth engines for the industry. Under the blueprint, South Korea will establish new smart farming clusters for a wider scope of areas covering livestock, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The country previously focused on adopting the solution for greenhouses. The concept of smart farming centers on the applicat
March 9, 2021
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Samsung Heavy bags w794b order for 5 container ships
Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Tuesday that it has obtained a 794 billion-won ($695 million) order from an Asian company. Under the deal to build five 15,000-twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU) container carriers, Samsung Heavy Industries will deliver the vessels by January 2024, the shipbuilder said. The company said the five vessels will be propelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG). With the latest deal, Samsung Heavy Industries has won orders worth $2.4 billion to build 19 ships in tota
March 9, 2021
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Korea Shipbuilding wins w835b orders for 8 ships
Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Tuesday that it has signed a combined 835 billion won ($731 million) worth of orders from Liberia, Oceania and Europe to build eight ships. The orders include four container carriers and three liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, Korea Shipbuilding said. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a unit of Korea Shipbuilding, will build four 15,900-twenty foot equivalent unit (TEU) container carriers and deliver them to buyers from the second half
March 9, 2021
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Samsung expands customizable home appliance lineup
Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday said it will expand its lineup of customizable home appliances that allow consumers to better reflect their lifestyles as the South Korean tech giant aims to boost sales amid the pandemic-driven stay-at-home trend. Samsung said its concept of BESPOKE will be applied to all of its home appliance products as it introduced BESPOKE HOME solutions designed to help consumers decorate their entire home space with various customizable products. BESPOKE is a concept
March 9, 2021
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January tax revenue up w2.4tr
South Korea's tax revenue rose 2.4 trillion won ($2.1 billion) in January from a year earlier due largely to an increase in the collection of capital gains taxes, the finance ministry said Tuesday. The country collected 38.8 trillion won in taxes in January, compared with 36.5 trillion won the previous year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The rise in tax revenue was mainly attributable to an increase in capital gains tax income from housing transactions and fund investments.
March 9, 2021
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[Graphic News] Carmakers’ Feb. sales rise 4.8% on SUVs
South Korean carmakers’ sales rose 4.8 percent last month from a year earlier helped by strong demand for SUVs amid the COVID-19 pandemic, industry data showed Tuesday. The five carmakers in South Korea – Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. – sold a combined 544,823 vehicles in February, up from 520,095 units a year ago, according to data from the companies. Their domestic sales jumped 24 percent to 101,356 u
March 9, 2021
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Kia teases 1st EV platform-based EV6
Kia Corp. on Tuesday released a teaser for the EV6, its first dedicated all-electric model built on Hyundai Motor Group's EV platform, ahead of its global unveiling later this month. Kia plans to launch seven all-electric models by 2027, and the EV6 is the first model of the planned EV-only lineup, the company said in a statement. The EV6 is based on the group's own Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) and developed under Kia's new design philosophy that embodies its shifting focus towar
March 9, 2021
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SK Bioscience begins 2-day IPO subscription
South Korean vaccine maker SK Bioscience Co. on Tuesday kicked off a two-day public subscription for its initial public offering (IPO), seen as a high-profile share sale during the first half. SK Bioscience, a unit of South Korea's No. 2 family-controlled conglomerate SK Group, has allowed individual investors to subscribe to up to 2.29 million new common shares to be sold under the planned IPO. SK Bioscience has set the IPO price at 65,000 won ($57) per share, which puts its corporate value a
March 9, 2021
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Market volatility may increase amid rising bond yields: official
South Korea's financial markets are likely to undergo further volatility as bond yields and inflation risks are rising amid hopes for an economic recovery, a vice finance minister said Tuesday. First Vice Finance Minister Kim Yong-beom warned that if US bond rates continue to rise, asset prices may suffer a decline, after their bull run caused by ample liquidity. "If US bond yields continue to rise, investors could turn risk-averse, which could spark a fall in asset prices and capital out
March 9, 2021
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Seoul stocks open lower on inflation concerns
South Korean stocks opened lower Tuesday, tracking overnight tech losses on Wall Street that stemmed from concerns over post-pandemic inflation. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 3.7 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,992.41 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dipped 2.41 percent, as yields of the US benchmark 10-year Treasury rebounded and finished just shy of 1.6 percent. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics lost 0.61 percent,
March 9, 2021
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Rising oil prices, margins raise hopes of recovery in refiners' earnings
A recent jump in international oil prices and recovering refining margins are raising expectations for a rebound in South Korean oil refiners' earnings down the road, industry sources said Tuesday. Industry leader SK Innovation Co. and three other players registered their worst performances ever last year, stung by slumping crude prices, weak refining margins and tumbling demand due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a boon to local refiners, however, international oil prices have been rising rap
March 9, 2021
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Foreign IBs up S. Korea's 2021 growth outlook to 3.6%
Major global investment banks (IBs) have revised up their forecasts for South Korea's 2021 economic growth for the third consecutive month amid growing expectations for a recovery, a report showed Tuesday. As of end-February, nine major global IBs, including Barclays, BoA-Merrill Lynch and Citi, forecast Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow 3.6 percent this year, up 0.1 percentage point from their median outlook a month earlier, according to the report by the Korea Center for International Fin
March 9, 2021
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Current account surplus sharply narrows in January
South Korea's current account surplus narrowed sharply in January due to higher oil prices, the central bank said Tuesday. The current account surplus reached $7.06 billion last month, narrowing from a surplus of $11.51 billion the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade. Since the country logged a deficit of $3.33 billion in April last year, the largest in almost a decade, on faltering exports amid the COVID-19 p
March 9, 2021
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Competition heats up over SK Bioscience’s book building
As COVID-19 vaccination campaigns have picked up pace around the globe, South Korean drugmaker SK Bioscience has garnered keen attention from investors at home and abroad ahead of its market debut. The vaccines unit of the nation’s No. 3 conglomerate SK Group wrapped up its two-day book building Friday. While institutional investors placed bids to obtain new shares for the initial public offering, a total of 1,464 domestic and foreign institutions participated, according to investment ba
March 8, 2021
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LG Electronics streamlines overseas auto parts plants to boost efficiency
LG Electronics Inc. has revamped its overseas auto parts production bases, industry insiders said Monday, in a move to beef up its automotive solutions business for future growth. LG recently completed closure of its plant in Kunshan, southeastern China, which had been producing vehicle infotainment components, such as audio, video and navigation (AVN), according to industry sources. The move was part of the company's plan to enhance manufacturing efficiency in its automotive business, accordi
March 8, 2021
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[News Focus] Can record metal prices dent global EV drive?
Battery metal prices are going through the roof due to explosive global demand for electric vehicles, threatening to undermine their price competitiveness against internal combustion vehicles. According to Swedish market tracker EV Volumes, global electric vehicle sales in 2020 spiked to 3.24 million units, up 43 percent from 2.26 million on-year, triggering a surge in the price of raw materials for lithium-ion batteries. Nickel and cobalt registered prices at 17-month and 24-month highs, res
March 8, 2021
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Samsung Heavy to appeal arbitration ruling over drill rig deal dispute
Samsung Heavy Industries said Monday that it will lodge an appeal at a British arbitration court over the recent ruling that it has to refund the money received from a Swedish client for a delayed shipbuilding deal. The London Court of International Arbitration ruled Friday that the South Korean shipbuilder should return the prepaid money and the interest -- worth 463.2 billion won ($408.89 million) to Swedish shipping line company Stena. The court said that Stena’s cancellation of a de
March 8, 2021
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Conglomerates hasten to add women to boards
South Korea’s top-tier businesses are making hurried moves to secure female figures for their boards of directors, aiming to finalize the appointments for their forthcoming annual shareholders’ meetings later this month. The key driving factor is the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business Act, which applies enhanced standards for companies’ gender equity and major shareholders’ voting rights. Under the new rules, which are to take effect in August 2022, lis
March 8, 2021