Most Popular
-
1
Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
-
2
Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
-
3
Will tug-of-war between doctors, government end soon?
-
4
Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth
-
5
Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
-
6
[KH Explains] Hyundai's full hybrid edge to pay off amid slow transition to pure EVs
-
7
North Korea removes streetlights along cross-border roads with South
-
8
Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
-
9
S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
-
10
Farming households dip below 1m for first time in 2023
-
Military won't reprimand Marines who mistakenly fired at civilian airliner
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's military said Sunday it will not reprimand two Marines who fired rifles last week at a civilian jetliner after mistaking it for a North Korean military aircraft. The two Marines guarding an island near the tense Yellow Sea border with the North fired their K-2 rifles at the Asiana Airlines plane flying in sea fog in a pre-dawn incident on Friday. The plane
DefenseJune 19, 2011
-
U.N. to reelect Ban Ki-moon as chief this week
South Korea hailed the reelection of Ban Ki-moon as the U.N. Secretary-General over the weekend, as the Security Council cleared the South Korean diplomat of his last barricade in heading the international body for another five years. Following the council’s approval, the 192-member General Assembly will hold a definitive vote this week. The 67-year-old diplomat is certain to win a second term as
Foreign AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
Prosecution, police clash over reform plan
Prosecutors defy plan to empower policeThe prosecution and the police have locked horns with each other over whether to share the rights to launch investigations, which is now exclusive for prosecutors. While prosecutors are concerned that empowering police could lead to redundant and abusive investigations causing various problems, police are determined to demand certain level of independence, wh
Social AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
North Korea replaces ambassador to Germany
North Korea replaced its top envoy to Germany, the country’s official news agency said Saturday.Ri Si-hong was appointed the new ambassador to the European nation under a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, the North’s legislature, according to a one-sentence dispatch of the Korean Central News Agency.It provided no further details.Little is known about Ri, except that he acc
North KoreaJune 19, 2011
-
‘N. Korea has nothing to gain from provocations’
North Korea has nothing to gain from provocations against South Korea, Seoul’s Cabinet minister handling inter-Korean relations said Saturday, urging the communist nation to carry out reform and open up to the outside world.Unification Minister Hyun In-taek accused Pyongyang of launching “reckless political provocations after militaryprovocations,” referring to the North’s unilateral disclosure of
North KoreaJune 19, 2011
-
Ministry mulls earlier hours for public sector
The government will consider changing the working hours of public sector employees and splitting up the long school winter vacation into several breaks in an effort to spur domestic demand, officials said Saturday.The measures were among a package of proposals discussed at a meeting of Cabinet and other top government officials that President Lee Myung-bak presided over to brainstorm ideas on how
PoliticsJune 19, 2011
-
Seoul says lack of apology no longer 6-way talks dealbreaker
South Korea is easing its previous stance that it will not resume any kind of dialogue with North Korea until Pyongyang apologizes for last year’s deadly attacks, Seoul officials said Sunday. The two Koreas, still technically at war, have had their frostiest ties in decades since the North conducted two naval attacks that killed 50 South Koreans.Since the last attack in November, Seoul has suspend
Foreign AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
Reformists dominate GNP race
Hong Joon-pyo puts self forward as anti-factional candidateThe race to become the new chief of the governing Grand National Party is shaping up to be a competition among young, reform-minded members from the capital area, with no clear frontrunner, political observers said Sunday. With about two weeks to go before the July 4 party convention, three lawmakers threw their hat in the ring on the day,
PoliticsJune 19, 2011
-
Asiana flight ‘did not go off route’
The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs confirmed Sunday that an Asiana jetliner was “following a normal route” when Marine Corps mistook it as a North Korean military plane and shot at it late Friday. “The Asiana flight was flying normally. In fact, another plane had taken that route just 20 minutes before,” a ministry official said. It backed the claim by Asiana Airlines that the fl
Social AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
U.S. bill would suspend plan to move troops’ families here
WASHINGTON (AP) ― A Senate committee is looking to block the reorganization of U.S. forces in east Asia, which it sees as too costly and impractical, the panel’s chairman said Friday.Legislation backed by the Senate Armed Services Committee would prohibit funding to relocate the U.S. Marine base in the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. It also would suspend plans to relocate thousands of famili
DefenseJune 19, 2011
-
Hand-foot-and-mouth alert issued
The government issued an alert against the rapidly spreading hand-foot-and-mouth disease on Saturday, asking nurseries, kindergartens and medical facilities to take extra care to prevent the infection of children. According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the HFMD diagnosis rate marked 21.1 per every 1,000 outpatients last week, marking a sharp increase from 9.8 per 1,000
Social AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
Oh to end Seoul council boycott
After six-month standoff, mayor vows to oppose DP through direct negotiationsJEJU ISLAND ― Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Saturday he would attend the opposition-dominated city council this week, after refusing to attend for more than six months.“I think now is a time to seek reconciliation and dialogue under a new political atmosphere. I will attend the plenary meeting of the city council to persuad
Social AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
UNESCO cultural center opens in Daejeon
The Intangible Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific in Korea under UNESCO is open.The center represents more than five years of work on the part of the Cultural Heritage Administration, beginning with the task force under the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation in October 2006. It is the first UNESCO-related organization dealing in cultural heritages to open in Korea.“Today, cultural d
Foreign AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
Time for Finnish student visas
Students going to study in Finland should note that the summer season is the Finnish Immigration Service’s peak period for receiving student applications for residence permits, said the Finnish Embassy.In 2010, some 3,500 applications, 70 percent of the total number of student applications during the year, were submitted during that period.Applicants are advised to submit their first residence per
Foreign AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
Portuguese novel ‘Jerusalem’ translated
The first Korean translation of a work by Portuguese writer Goncalo M. Tavares was released last week, announced the Portuguese Embassy.“Jerusalem,” was translated by Eom Ji-young and will be published by Open Books, a Korean publisher devoted to the promotion of Western authors. The publication also benefits from the support of the Portuguese ministries of foreign affairs and culture.Originally p
Foreign AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
Swedish Embassy takes Midsummer holiday
The Embassy of Sweden will be closed on June 24 for Midsummer’s Eve. In Sweden, the Midsummer holiday refers to the celebrations that accompany the summer solstice and the preceding evening. Midsummer’s Eve and Midsummer’s Day (Midsommarafton and Midsommardagen) is one of the most important holidays of the year in Sweden, and probably the most uniquely Swedish in the way it is celebrated. The main
Foreign AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
Creative idea promotes beauty of Norway’s fjords
The Norwegian Embassy is running one of the most creative tourism promotions ever seen on these shores. On June 17, a ship sailed out of Bergen Harbor in Norway heading for the very north of the country on a five-day journey.Along with the regular passengers, a camera crew is filming every second of the journey and broadcasting it live directly to Samgakji Station in Seoul.“This means 134 hours of
Foreign AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
Italy-Korea workshops examine climate change
Two important workshops that team up scientists from Italy and Korea examine the possible paths to take in curbing the effects of pollution.The first Science and Technology Office of the Italian Embassy workshop took place last week under the umbrella of the ‘International Year of Chemistry’ proclaimed by the United Nations.The Italian Council of National Research and Hanyang University hosted a w
Foreign AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
Out of Africa, into Korea
Kenya envoy out to expand coffee exports, tourism and tradeThe Korean coffee market continues to expand by leaps and bounds and behind the growth are countries offering some of the finest beans and blends.The latest estimate of the market pegs coffee consumption at 2 kilograms per person per year, compared to an average per capita consumption of 0.2 kg in the Asia-Pacific region. Widespread penetr
Foreign AffairsJune 19, 2011
-
Punishment for corrupt officials soars over five-fold
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- The number of government officials punished for bribery has jumped more than five-fold over the last five years due to a tighter crackdown on bureaucratic corruption, the home ministry said Sunday.Civil servants who were dismissed or disciplined for accepting kickbacks numbered 624 last year, 5.5 times more than the figure in 2006, according to the Ministry of Public Adm
PoliticsJune 19, 2011