Most Popular
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Koreans, Americans differ on prestigious jobs: lawmakers vs. firefighters
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Only half of S. Koreans willing to marry: data
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Disgraced ex-minister rises as major threat to ruling party
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Yoon calls for dialogue, trust from medical community
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Summit for Democracy opens in Seoul in mega-election year
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Jungkook of BTS updates life in Army
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Med professors to resign starting March 25
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Dyson founder visits Seoul for global debut of new hair dryer
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Leaders call for action against threats to democracy posed by AI
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Ryu Joon-yeol, Han So-hee confirm dating since early 2024
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Former President Kim Young-sam's widow dies
Son Myung-soon, the widow of former President Kim Young-sam, died Thursday at the age of 96, medical sources said. The ex-first lady died of a chronic ailment late in the afternoon while under treatment at Seoul National University Hospital, according to the sources. Son was a widow to Kim, who served as South Korea's 14th president from 1993-1998. Kim died at the age of 88 in 2015. Son was married to Kim in 1951 and was known to have assisted her husband as the supportive wife of the long-
PoliticsMarch 7, 2024
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Abortion in S. Korea: neither illegal nor legal
Kim, a 33-year-old woman living in Seoul, was taken by surprise when she found out she was pregnant late last year. With no intention of getting married or having a child of her own, she began searching for hospitals that would terminate the pregnancy for her. While searching online, Kim encountered numerous advertisements and blogs listing prices for abortions by vacuum aspiration. The prices varied according to the stage of pregnancy: 600,000 won ($450) before week 7 and 900,000 won before wee
PoliticsMarch 7, 2024
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Yoon urged to retract appointment of ex-defense chief as envoy to Australia
South Korea’s main opposition party on Thursday asked President Yoon Suk Yeol to walk back the appointment of his former Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup as ambassador to Australia. According to the Democratic Party of Korea, Lee has been banned from leaving the country by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials since the beginning of this year over an investigation into the death of a Marine. The Marine died during a search and rescue operation in July last
PoliticsMarch 7, 2024
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Products recalled overseas being sold in S. Korea: report
South Korea's consumer rights watchdog said Thursday that it found 473 faulty products which had been recalled from overseas markets were being sold here in 2023. The Korea Consumer Agency, affiliate of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, said it has pulled the faulty products from the distribution. Nearly a quarter of the products, 113, were food and beverages, 106 were electronic devices, 70 were products for children, while 61 were sports-related items. Some 69.9 percent of the recalls for
Social AffairsMarch 7, 2024
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Korea saw historically wet winter: weather agency
South Korea dealt with the wettest winter in about half a century, seeing a historic amount of 236.7 millimeters of rain drenching the nation in recent months, the weather agency said Thursday. From Dec. 1 through the end of February, up to 236.7 mm of rain was observed here, marking the highest amount of precipitation to be recorded in the cited period since 1973, when the Korea Meteorological Administration started collecting the related data. The latest precipitation level was 2.7 times highe
Social AffairsMarch 7, 2024
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GTX-B breaks ground for 30-min Seoul-Incheon commute
Construction work for the GTX Line B suburban rail network broke ground in Incheon on Thursday, as the 6.84-trillion-won ($5.14 billion) project aims to connect the port city to Seoul and Gyeonggi Province via express train services. President Yoon Suk Yeol said the combined population of 13 million people in Incheon and Seoul will enjoy 30-minute commutes once construction of the 82-kilometer railway is complete as planned by 2030. "The transportation revolution in Incheon has just begun t
PoliticsMarch 7, 2024
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S. Korea to inject W188b to fill in medical void amid doctors’ protest
The South Korean government announced Thursday that it would spend 188.2 billion won ($141 million) from the state health insurance fund for a month to address the medical care gap left by trainee doctors’ collective walkouts that started three weeks ago. The provision of the funds will start Monday, and the same amount will be spent in the following month if the medical crisis continues. Jun Byung-wang, a policy chief at the Health Ministry, said during Thursday’s briefing that the
Social AffairsMarch 7, 2024
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Myeong-dong dethroned as Korea's priciest retail destination: Meet new leader
Long recognized as South Korea's most expensive retail area, Myeong-dong in central Seoul has lost its crown. Recent surveys show that last year, this tourist-favored shopping district was surpassed by an unexpected contender in terms of store rent: Bukchang-dong. Bukchang-dong’s commercial strip is located between the Bank of Korea building, City Hall Station and Hoehyeon Station, and it topped the annual retail market analysis conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government with an
Social AffairsMarch 7, 2024
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Seoul to build, refurbish over 1,000 gardens by 2026
The Seoul Metropolitan Government will build up to 1,007 gardens across the city by 2026, starting with 150 new gardens by the first half of 2024, the city government said Thursday. The city government will spend 265.9 billion won ($199.8 million) to install gardens and green areas in various places around the city, specifically for groups such as children, older citizens and people with disabilities. The installation of the new gardens aims to lessen the stress and anxiety levels felt by Seoul
Social AffairsMarch 7, 2024
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Prison term sought for former day care center chief
South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday asked the court to hand down a one-year prison term to the former head of a state-run day care center who is accused of illegally acquiring the content of conversations among teachers at the center last year. The defendant, surnamed Kim, formerly head of the day care center in Sejong City, became the subject of nationwide criticism last year when the center's teachers resigned en mass after raising corruption allegations over textbooks and meals. This i
Social AffairsMarch 7, 2024
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Government begins research on legalizing nonmedical tattooists
The government has set in motion a plan to legalize tattooing by nonmedical practitioners. Currently, only medical professionals are authorized to administer tattoos in Korea. According to the Health Ministry on Thursday, it commissioned research earlier this month to develop a national qualification exam for tattoo practitioners. The result of that study, set to be published in November this year, will likely serve as a reference for formulating details of the licensing exam for tattooists and
Social AffairsMarch 7, 2024
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S. Korean adults' financial literacy higher than OECD average: survey
South Korean adults' financial literacy is higher than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average, a report showed Thursday. According to the survey by the Bank of Korea and the Financial Supervisory Service, the financial literacy of South Koreans aged between 18 and 79 came to 67 points out of 100 in 2022, higher than the OECD's average of 63. South Korea's financial literacy level in 2022 was also higher than the 65 points earned in 2020 and ranked fifth
Social AffairsMarch 7, 2024
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Govt. begins to form committee to allocate additional med school seats to universities
The government has begun forming a committee responsible for allocating 2,000 additional medical school admission seats to universities, officials said Thursday, amid continuing protests from doctors against the plan. The move came as the government is forging ahead with the medical quota hike to address a chronic shortage of doctors in rural areas and essential but unpopular medical fields, despite a weekslong walkout by trainee doctors nationwide. Earlier this week, the government announced th
Social AffairsMarch 7, 2024
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NK leader calls for intensifying war drills
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for intensifying "practical actual war drills" during a visit to a military training base, state media said Thursday, as a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States was under way. During the visit to the base in the country's western region Wednesday, Kim inspected training facilities and guided the actual maneuvers of military units, the official Korean Central News Agency said. The visit came two days after South Kor
North KoreaMarch 7, 2024
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US focus on 'interim' steps with N. Korea raises questions about policy direction
US officials' recent focus on the idea of "interim steps" for a path towards North Korea's ultimate denuclearization is raising a flurry of questions about their intentions and the direction of America's policy on the recalcitrant regime. The idea has come into the spotlight in South Korea as some observers see it as a potential sign of Washington's greater desire for dialogue with Pyongyang amid little progress in its diplomacy to the North and security concerns he
Foreign AffairsMarch 7, 2024
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S. Korea seeking to establish ground-based military rocket launch site
South Korea's arms procurement agency said Wednesday it is seeking to establish a ground-based military rocket launch site to accommodate future satellite launches. The Defense Acquisition Program Administration unveiled the plan in a policy report to President Yoon Suk Yeol, as the military plans to launch dozens of small-sized reconnaissance satellites by 2030 in addition to its first spy satellite launched last year. While the military currently operates a maritime launch site, there h
DefenseMarch 6, 2024
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Yoon refuses to bend to doctors' protest
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday refused to concede to some 9,000 trainee doctors' walkout, defining their collective action as "illegal" and insisting it must be met with stern actions guided by law and principle. Yoon denied the accusations that the government's measures against defiant doctors, such as its decision to suspend the medical licenses of some 7,000 trainees, were meant to suppress doctors' freedom and rights. Instead, these should be construed as actions "to mee
PoliticsMarch 6, 2024
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Korea, Uzbekistan implement customs protocol
A mutual protocol that requires South Korea and Uzbekistan to provide administrative assistance in customs matters to each other was put into effect as of Feb. 24. The protocol, signed in September by top customs officials of the two countries, facilitates the exchange of mutual information on goods and vehicles transported across customs borders and enables cooperation in law enforcement to simplify the flow of goods between the two countries. The protocol also aims to bolster bilateral coopera
Foreign AffairsMarch 6, 2024
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Kazakhstan, S. Korea to increase direct flights
Kazakhstan and South Korea have agreed to introduce new air routes and increase the number of flights between the two countries, the Kazakh Embassy in Seoul said in a press statement. According to the embassy, Kazakh Vice Minister of Transport Talgat Lastayev met with South Korean Deputy Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Lee Yoon-sang in Sejong and discussed increasing the frequency of flights between Kazakhstan and Korea and adding new destinations. Lastayev and Lee agreed to eleva
Foreign AffairsMarch 6, 2024
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Korea, India agree to deepen defense ties, upgrade trade pact
South Korea and India, in a joint commission convened for the first time since 2018, concurred on further bolstering defense ties, defense industrial cooperation and working toward upgrading their bilateral free trade agreement, according to South Korea's Foreign Ministry. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar held the 10th South Korea-India Joint Commission Meeting on Wednesday at the premises of the Foreign Ministry in Seoul
Foreign AffairsMarch 6, 2024