SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – All newly-built houses in South Korea will be equipped with earthquake-resistant structures starting in the second half of next year under the government’s comprehensive measures against the natural disaster, a related ministry announced Friday. The government has also decided to pour 2.8 trillion won (US$2.3 billion) by 2020 to [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – “Running Man,” a South Korean variety show enjoying pan-Asia popularity, hit a snag this week following revelations its producers failed to properly communicate their plans with the cast. On Wednesday, SBS TV announced that Kang Ho-dong, a popular show host and former traditional Korean wrestling champion, would join the [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – POSCO Co., South Korea’s leading steelmaker, and local rivals are moving to raise steel prices in tandem with a rise in the prices of raw materials, industry sources said Friday. According to the sources, POSCO plans to raise hot-rolled steel plates by 120,000 won (US$102) per ton next month, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean market for security services is expected to grow by 40 percent to 7 trillion won (US$5.9 billion) by 2020, the government said Friday. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy presented the outlook at a conference on how to better protect the country’s key infrastructure facilities. [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s major conglomerates are most worried about growing protectionism around the globe and an economic policy vacuum following the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye, a survey showed Friday. In the survey, conducted by Yonhap News Agency on 32 affiliates of the nation’s 30 conglomerates, 16 firms, or 45.7 [...]
GWANGMYEONG, South Korea, Dec. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – December 18 will mark the second anniversary of IKEA’s launch in the Korean market. According to the company, its Korean operations have been a success so far. Annual turnover for the 2016 fiscal year (September 2015 – August 2016) was 345 billion won ($292.3 million), while this [...]
INJE, South Korea, Dec. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – Serving at the very eastern frontline of the South Korean military are a father and his son, guarding the barbed-wire fence that dissects the Korean Peninsula, just an inch outside of the infamous Demilitarized Zone. Lee In-wook, a 51-year-old sergeant major, serves in the 12th Infantry Division, [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of Koreans treated for thyroid cancer soared in the 2000s, increasing by an annual average rate of 23.7 percent from 1999 to 2011. In 2011, 44,234 patients underwent thyroid cancer surgery, that is about 81 people in every 100,000 – a rate that is more than ten [...]
SUWON, South Korea, Dec. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – Will “domestic plants” become a growth industry of the future? In Korea, an increasing number of households have come to adopt domestic plants, like succulents or cactus plants, as their choice of home companion, flora that serve various purposes from simple home decoration to freshening the atmosphere [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – An experimental nuclear fusion reactor in South Korea has achieved a world record of 70 seconds in high-performance plasma operation, taking a step forward in commercializing a nuclear fusion reaction to produce electricity, researchers said Thursday. Unlike light and heavy water nuclear reactors, which are widely used for now, [...]