Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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African musicians arrive in Korea amid Ebola scare
Dozens of African choral musicians have arrived in South Korea to participate in an international choir festival, organizers said Tuesday, amid concerns over an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.The virus, which is spreading quickly in West African countries such as Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria, has claimed more than 880 lives since February, according to the World Health Organization. It has no known cure and the deadliest kind can kill up to 90 percent of those infected.The 41 pa
Aug. 5, 2014
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NPAD to finalize interim leadership by August 20
The main opposition’s interim chief Rep. Park Young-sun on Tuesday said she hoped to finalize the roster of the party’s top decision-making committee by Aug. 20, before initiating major in-house reforms later this month.Main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy officials agreed to form an emergency committee and named Park its chief at a party caucus on Monday. The committee will be the party’s executive branch until early next year.Political analysts expect Park to kick-start a series
Aug. 5, 2014
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Pope to meet ferry victims’ families
Pope Francis plans to meet with the families of those victimized in April’s ferry disaster and student survivors during his upcoming visit to South Korea, organizers said Tuesday.The pope is scheduled to visit South Korea on Aug. 14-18 to celebrate a gathering of Catholic youths in Asia and for a ceremony to beatify 124 Korean Catholic martyrs.“The pope will meet face-to-face with families of the Sewol ferry victims and students who survived the incident when they come to attend a Mass to mark t
Aug. 5, 2014
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Army chief offers resignation over soldier's death
South Korea's Army chief offered to resign Tuesday over the death of a conscript who allegedly suffered physical, sexual and mental abuse by his comrades, the defense ministry said Tuesday. The 23-year-old Army private first class died in April after allegedly being hit in the chest by his senior colleagues at their barracks in Yeoncheon, just south of the inter-Korean border. An initial investigation found that the deceased recruit had suffered severe physical abuse as well as sexual harass
Aug. 5, 2014
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[Newsmaker] NPAD interim leader headed for choppy waters
Rep. Park Young-sun’s role within the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy is growing in the vacuum left by its moderate leaders. In the wake of NPAD co-chairmen Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Han-gil’s resignations, Park was made the party’s acting chair. She will also head the NPAD’s emergency committee. With the majority of the lawmakers in agreement, the committee will be tasked with reforming the party until new leadership is elected early next year. Park, a three-term lawmaker
Aug. 4, 2014
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NPAD to form ad-hoc leadership
Main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy on Monday picked floor leader and acting chair Rep. Park Young-sun as the chief of its emergency committee until the new leadership is selected early next year. The three-term lawmaker has served as the NPAD’s acting chair since last week when cochairmen Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Han-gil resigned. She was already serving as the NPAD floor leader, usually considered the party’s No. 2 position.The committee will function as the NPAD’s executive
Aug. 4, 2014
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Korea cancels designations for 10 dormant free economic districts
South Korea will cancel designations of free economic districts that have been dormant over the past three years, allowing the areas to be developed for other purposes, the government said Monday.The move follows a revision of the law in 2011 on free economic zones that allows for cancellations of free economic districts that fail to attract foreign investment over a certain period of time.Ten districts in eight FEZs throughout the country will be undesignated as of Tuesday while four other dis
Aug. 4, 2014
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Korea holds emergency meeting on Ebola virus
The government convened an emergency meeting Monday to discuss ways to deal with the deadly Ebola virus that is fast spreading in the West African region.Hundreds of people have died after being infected with Ebola hemorrhagic fever mainly in the West African region since the first reported outbreak in March. Officials from the foreign ministry, the health ministry and the nation disease control agency plan to discuss ways to prevent the entry of the virus into the country, according to the Prim
Aug. 4, 2014
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Presidential office to ask parliament to hold hearing on culture minister nominee
The presidential office plans to ask the parliament Monday to hold a confirmation hearing on President Park Geun-hye's choice to be the new culture minister, an official said.The move came a day after Park nominated Kim Jong-deok, a professor of visual design at Seoul's Hongik University, as the culture minister, the last post of her new Cabinet.Park conducted a major Cabinet shake-up in June to try to regain public confidence in her administration rocked by April's deadly ferry disaster.The pre
Aug. 4, 2014
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Art professor tapped as culture minister
President Park Geun-hye nominated Kim Jong-deok, a visual design professor at Hongik University, as the new culture minister, officials said Sunday.Along with Kim, Park appointed Kim Young-seok, presidential secretary for maritime and fisheries, vice maritime minister. The announcement was made nearly three weeks after Chung Sung-keun, a former TV news anchor, withdrew his nomination for the culture minister post. He was accused of having a drunk driving record and other ethical misdeeds. Kim Jo
Aug. 3, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Park back to work on economy, unification
President Park Geun-hye returns to office on Monday after her much-debated five-day summer vacation. As many expected, the president ended up staying in Cheong Wa Dae the whole time, saying she had no room left in her mind to go on a trip. On a rare occasion, Park expressed her thoughts on her Facebook account last Tuesday, describing the past months as “a difficult and a long period of time.” She went on to say that she was not able to leave the presidential office thinking that she may have “a
Aug. 3, 2014
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Parties face calls for reform after elections
The country’s two largest political parties are calling for reform and innovation in the wake of Wednesday’s parliamentary by-elections. The circumstances behind the developments, however, differ greatly for the two parties. The ruling Saenuri Party’s reform drive is being spearheaded by triumphant chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung, whose hold on the party is set to tighten following the landslide victory in the July 30 parliamentary by-elections. For the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democ
Aug. 1, 2014
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Park to return to work next week after low-key vacation
President Park Geun-hye is set to return to work next week after a short vacation inside the presidential compound, an official said Friday.Park spent her time receiving briefings by her aides on domestic and foreign affairs while resting in her official residence during a five-day summer vacation that started on Monday, according to the official.She took a low-key vacation, apparently mindful of April's deadly ferry sinking that left more than 300 people dead or missing, mostly high school stud
Aug. 1, 2014
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Opposition leaders quit over election defeat
The two leaders of the main opposition party offered to resign Thursday, taking responsibility for its crushing defeat in the parliamentary by-elections. Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Han-gil, cochairmen of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, said they would step down from the top posts after the ruling Saenuri party staged a landslide victory by snatching 11 seats in the 15 constituencies up for grabs on Wednesday.“I humbly accept the people’s will. We lost in an election we needed to have w
July 31, 2014
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Conservative sweeps liberal home turf
Saenuri Party candidate Lee Jung-hyun defeated his liberal opponent in Wednesday’s by-elections at a constituency in South Jeolla Province, a region long considered to be a progressive stronghold.Lee’s victory in the Suncheon-Goksung constituency marks the first time since 1996 a conservative has won a parliamentary seat from the Jeolla provinces.The conservative ruling Saenuri Party won 11 of the 15 contested parliamentary seats in the July 30 by-elections, in a landslide victory over oppositio
July 31, 2014
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Elections raise rookies, bring down big guns
Wednesday’s parliamentary by-elections have produced a number of results as unexpected as the ruling Saenuri Party’s overwhelming victory. The elections have left New Politics Alliance for Democracy heavyweights floundering, while launching the political careers of others. In Seoul’s Dongjak-B former judge and conservative lawmaker Na Kyung-won beat progressive bigwig Roh Hoe-chan of the minor opposition Justice Party. The constituency was linked to a long list of conservative and opposition hea
July 31, 2014
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Defeated Sohn Hak-kyu retires from politics
Former opposition leader Sohn Hak-kyu announced Thursday that he will retire from politics following his by-election defeat. New Politics Alliance for Democracy’s senior advisor Sohn had run for Gyeonggi Province’s Suwon-C constituency in Wednesday’s parliamentary by-elections. Although he far outweighed Saenuri Party opponent Kim Yong-nam in terms of political experience, he was defeated by a margin of more than 7 percentage points. “I was not chosen by the voters in the July 30 by-elections. I
July 31, 2014
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Saenuri’s landslide win strengthens Park mandate
The ruling party clinched a parliamentary majority with victories Wednesday in the July by-elections, shooing away fears that the opposition could dismember President Park Geun-hye’s policy initiatives 18 months into her term.The governing Saenuri Party now holds 158 seats in the 300-seat National Assembly after winning 11 in the July 30 by-elections.The parliamentary upper hand will smoothen the process of legislating policies sponsored by the Saenuri Party and President Park.Park has been emph
July 31, 2014
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U.S. envoy named honorary Seoul citizen
Sung Kim, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to South Korea, received honorary citizenship to Seoul on Thursday for his contribution to the nation’s capital.Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon awarded Kim an honorary citizenship certificate in a ceremony and asked him for his continued interest in the city and cooperation.“Time flies so quickly. I must say I’m sad you have to return to your country,” Park said in his congratulatory remarks. “Even after you leave Korea for your next post, I ask of you that, as a
July 31, 2014
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Big-name opposition politician retires from politics
A former opposition leader often mentioned as a potential presidential candidate announced his retirement from politics Thursday after suffering a humiliating defeat in parliamentary by-elections a day earlier.Sohn Hak-kyu, a former four-term lawmaker and ex-leader of what is now the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), lost to Kim Yong-nam, a political novice of the ruling Saenuri Party, in Wednesday's by-elections seen as a midterm referendum on President Park Geun-hye's
July 31, 2014