• Business

    Alcohol, tobacco and wealth

    Income gap hardly affects consumption of ‘sin products’ The conventional wisdom holds that if you earn more, you will spend more on alcohol and cigarettes as economists rationalize they are non-essential goods. But this often turns out to not be the case. According to the latest report on household consumption…

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  • Business

    Smooth transition?

    Doodan leader-designate unproven in management skills Korea’s mighty family-owned conglomerates will always talk about who is next in line to lead what they continue to see as family businesses. Doosan Group, which is continuing its transformation from a company reliant on consumer goods to a power in heavy industry and…

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  • Korea’s household credit dips in first quarter

    Korea’s household credit dipped in the first quarter due to a drop in demand for fresh loans and people cutting back on spending, the central bank said Thursday. Household credit totaled 911.4 trillion won ($774.5 billion) as of the end of March, down 500 billion won from a record high…

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  • Business

    CEOs pick favorite wines to give, receive and drink

    For some businessmen, wine is much more than just fermented grapes. Doubling as a drink and status symbol, it tends to go hand in hand with doing business, providing a delightfully disarming charm to conversations between corporate suits and bringing out the best in the “three-fork” dinner in front of…

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  • Business

    Shilla, Lotte in expansion mode

    Hotels rush to build biz hotels for surging foreign tourists Lotte, Shilla and other hotel operators affiliated with large business groups have gone into expansion mode in recent years due to the surging number of Japanese, Chinese and other foreign tourists. They have renovated existing hotels to create more rooms…

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  • Business

    BMW aims to lead electric car market

    Drivers who watched last year’s Hollywood blockbuster “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol” probably dreamt of owning a BMW i8, with its sleek, futuristic appearance. Alternatively, an increasing number of people concerned about their budget want electric cars as gas prices continue to rise. Soon, a combination of the two ideals will…

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  • Business

    Alibaba Group to become Yahoo’s major shareholder

    In this Aug. 11, 2005, file photo, a man walks past a screen displaying the Yahoo and Ali Baba.com logos before a joint news conference by the companies at the China World hotel in Beijing. (File Photo=AP/NEWSis) HANGZHOU, May 21 (Xinhua) — The Alibaba Group, a leading Chinese e-commerce company,…

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  • Business

    China to import more makgeoli, kimchi from Korea

    Japanese and other Asians have become fond of makgeoli, or rice wine, and kimchi, spicy pickled cabbage, in recent years in line with the growing popularity of “hallyu,’’ or the Korean wave. This has provided local makgeoli and kimchi producers with lucrative business opportunities to go beyond the national border…

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  • Business

    SK Telecom showcases LTE technology at expo

    YEOSU __ SK Telecom, the country’s largest mobile carrier, is looking to use the Yeosu Expo to showcase its advancements in fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks and technology. The company’s “We _ Cloud’’ exhibition, which highlights the ubiquity of the Internet moving toward mobile devices, is already one of the…

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  • Business

    Shaky financial market

    KOSPI dips below 1800 on Europe worries This week was a nightmare for Korea’s financial markets, which fell sharply due to renewed fears over another economic downturn fueled by the Greek crisis. In the coming weeks, investors are expected to go through a roller coaster ride. The Korea Composite Stock…

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