Most Popular
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1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse
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Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility
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US 'incredibly concerned' about suspected NK-Iran military ties
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K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
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K-pop singer lost consciousness after being hit by foul ball, cancels show
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Korean Muslim YouTuber's plan to build mosque in Incheon goes viral
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[Kim Seong-kon] Democracy and the future of South Korea
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Yoon's office denies considering liberal figures for key posts
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Why is Apple Pay struggling to get purchase in Korea?
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Seoul says Fu Bao loan 'not going to happen'
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China's Xi to meet S. Korea's parliament delegation this week
A large-scale South Korean parliamentary delegation will visit Beijing this week for talks with Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, a Seoul diplomat said Tuesday.A total of 42 South Korean lawmakers, led by Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party, will arrive in Beijing on Thursday for a four-day visit expected to focus on further improving relations between the two nations.The diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the scale of the South Korean parliament
Feb. 18, 2014
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Left-wing lawmaker sentenced to 12-year prison term in treason case
Opposition lawmaker Lee Seok-ki was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Monday on conviction of plotting and instigating an armed rebellion against the South Korean government. Lee, the first to face treason charges in 34 years, was also found guilty of violating the National Security Law.In addition to the prison term, the 52-year-old lawmaker, affiliated with the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party, received a 10-year suspension of his civil rights after release.“It has been acknowledged
Feb. 17, 2014
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DP urges probe into prosecution over alleged spy case fabrication
Political controversy escalated on Monday over allegations the prosecution fabricated evidence in a high-profile espionage case, as the main opposition Democratic Party called for a special-counsel probe into it.The ruling Saenuri Party berated the DP for politically exploiting the case concerning national security to attack the state investigators and undermine public trust toward the government.The parties’ clash came after the Chinese Embassy in Seoul said last week that evidence the prosecut
Feb. 17, 2014
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Ahn begins mission to expand political base
Independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s new political party held its first meeting with its founding members in Seoul, Monday, as part of efforts to expand its political support base and lay the ground for its planned establishment in March.A total of 374 members from various fields of society officially adopted “New Political Party” as the party’s name and unanimously approved Ahn as the chairman of the central organizing committee of the envisioned party. “To make a just society that has no privilege
Feb. 17, 2014
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Park cautions against monopolies in broadcasting industry
President Park Geun-hye ordered broadcasting regulators Monday to ensure that the industry won't fall into the hands of a handful of conglomerates, saying diversity and fairness are key to revitalizing the broadcasting sector.Park issued the instruction during a joint policy briefing by the ministry of science and the Korea Communications Commission. She said the broadcasting industry strongly influences the economy and is directly related to people's everyday lives."Conglomerates, which have go
Feb. 17, 2014
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Rival parties spar over claims prosecution faked evidence
Rival political parties clashed Monday over allegations that the prosecution fabricated evidence to press charges against a former civil servant accused of spying for North Korea.The Chinese-born suspect, Yoo Woo-seong, was indicted last year on charges of handing over the personal information of more than 200 North Korean defectors to Pyongyang after disguising himself as a defector in order to enter South Korea.After a local court acquitted Yoo of espionage, prosecutors appealed the verdict an
Feb. 17, 2014
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Telling politicians what to do
After years of hard work, Lee Kang-won, a 31-year-old Korean who graduated from a U.S. law school, could have easily taken up a lucrative job in the legal industry. But he has foregone the security and wealth that comes with law to enter the political world, with advisory firm Min Consulting.The turning point came in 2010 when Lee, then a junior volunteer for the political consulting firm Government Insight Group, served as a telephone marketer seeking donations for Martha Coakley.Coakley, then
Feb. 16, 2014
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Ahn’s party named ‘New Political Party’
Independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s new party was named the New Political Party, his new political committee announced Sunday.“The name includes the meaning of the ‘new politics,’ which is well known to the people, and also the meaning of embracing the rational conservatives and introspective progressives,” said Keum Tae-sup, spokesman of the new party’s preparatory committee. The name will be officially adopted on Monday during a meeting planned to lay the groundwork for the launch of the new part
Feb. 16, 2014
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Ahn picks name for his new political party
Maverick lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo on Sunday announced that his political party to be launched next month will be named "New Political Party."The name will be officially adopted at a meeting on Monday when some 320 members joining him meet for the first time to initiate groundwork for the party's launch."The name contains the meaning of 'new politics,' that is well known among the people, as well as the meaning of embracing the rational conservatives and introspective progressives," said Keum Tae-s
Feb. 16, 2014
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S. Korea not discussing talks with Japan: official
South Korea's presidential office on Sunday reiterated that no communication is under way with Japan on holding a summit, denying a press report from Tokyo.Japanese daily Nihon Keizai reported on Saturday that Tokyo plans to propose holding a summit in March when South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe both attend the Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands."Tokyo is willing to take steps toward repairing relations with South Korea," the article, posted on
Feb. 16, 2014
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Park expresses shock at ‘salt farm slavery’
President Park Geun-hye expressed shock Friday after two handicapped people were rescued last week from a salt farm after years of slavery-like labor, saying she can’t believe such an incident happened in the 21st century.The two in their 40s, one of them mentally handicapped and the other visually handicapped, were coaxed with job promises into the salt farm on an island off the southwest coast in 2008 and 2012, respectively, and were forced to work like slaves with little sleep and no pay. Att
Feb. 14, 2014
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Park expresses shock at 'salt farm slavery'
President Park Geun-hye expressed shock Friday after two handicapped people were rescued last week from a salt farm after years of slavery-like labor, saying she can't believe such an incident happened in the 21st century.The two in their 40s, one of them mentally handicapped and the other visually handicapped, were coaxed with job promises into the salt farm on an island off the southwest coast in 2008 and 2012, respectively, and were forced to work like slaves with little sleep and no pay. Att
Feb. 14, 2014
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Barack Obama to visit Korea in April
U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Seoul in April to bolster the bilateral alliance and talk about North Korea’s nuclear program with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, the White House said Wednesday.Obama “will meet with President Park to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to a strong alliance, review recent developments in North Korea and our combined efforts to promote denuclearization, and discuss our ongoing implementation of the Korea-United States FTA,” the White House said in
Feb. 13, 2014
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Inexperienced minister nominee faces tough confirmation hearing
Controversy is enshrouding President Park Geun-hye’s latest decision to nominate ruling Saenuri Party Rep. Lee Ju-young as the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, with skeptics saying the new designee lacks expertise in marine affairs.The opposition warned they would “thoroughly” examine the four-time lawmaker in his parliamentary confirmation hearing before agreeing to Park’s latest cabinet decision.Park appointed Lee as her new fisheries minister on Wednesday after firing Yoon Jin-sook, who made
Feb. 13, 2014
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Ministry to revamp civil servants’ ID cards
The government said Thursday that it will remove the financial transaction feature from civil servants’ ID cards to prevent possible personal data leaks amid rising concerns over the safety of information contained on the cards. The Ministry of Security and Public Administration said that civil servants would no longer be able to make payments and cash withdrawals using their smart cards. They do not function as credit cards. The electronic ID cards for public servants, introduced in 2008, have
Feb. 13, 2014
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Left-wing party members to stand trial for impeding lawmaker’s arrest
A total of 23 left-wing political party members have been indicted on charges of impeding the nation’s intelligence agency from detaining a lawmaker accused of plotting to overthrow the government, prosecutors said Thursday.The suspects allegedly blocked and physically assaulted National Intelligence Service agents who came to arrest Rep. Lee Seok-ki of the Unified Progressive Party at the National Assembly building on Sept. 4, they said.The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office said that i
Feb. 13, 2014
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'Korean Dreyfus' acquitted in retrial
A former South Korean student activist at the centre of a notorious miscarriage of justice in the era of military rule was acquitted Thursday in a retrial of abetting a fellow activist's suicide.Kang Ki-Hoon was convicted in 1992 of aiding activist Kim Ki-Sul to set himself on fire and leap to his death from a university building in protest at the military-backed administration of then president Roh Tae-Woo.He was also found guilty of forging Kim's will and was sentenced to three years in prison
Feb. 13, 2014
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Snow-hit areas to get special funds
The Ministry of Security and Public Administration said on Wednesday it will provide a total of 4.5 billion won to help municipal offices in regions hard-hit by record-high snowfall.The announcement came hours after the government and the ruling Saenuri Party agreed to provide special grants to Gangwon and North Gyeongsang provinces, which have suffered seriously from days of heavy snowfall.The ministry said it has allocated 3 billion won for Gangwon Province, 1.2 billion for North Gyeongsang Pr
Feb. 12, 2014
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Lawmaker named maritime minister
President Park Geun-hye has nominated Lee Ju-young, a ranking lawmaker at the ruling Saenuri Party, as new minister of ocean and fisheries, officials said on Wednesday.Rep. Lee replaces Yoon Jin-sook, who was fired by the president last week for making inappropriate remarks and gestures regarding a massive oil spill in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province.“The president has tried to minimize the vacuum in the post and to stabilize the organization shortly after it became vacant,” presidential spokesman
Feb. 12, 2014
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‘Tokyo must resolve sex slavery dispute’
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will honor the “Murayama statement,” former Japanese leader Tomiichi Murayama said Wednesday.Speaking at Seoul’s National Assembly, Murayama said that his 1995 statement was of crucial importance to Korea-Japan relations, and would be upheld despite concerns over an increasingly right-wing Japanese government. “Abe has stated that the Murayama statement will be upheld in the parliament. I respect (Abe’s) statement and believe that he will act accordingly,” Mura
Feb. 12, 2014