Most Popular
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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[Graphic News] Number of coffee franchises in S. Korea rises 13%
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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Ador CEO's request for exclusive right to terminate NewJeans' contract with Hybe refused in February
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Woman dangling from power lines rescued by residents holding blanket
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Naver will consider company benefits in deciding on selling Line shares: CEO
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Maverick lawmaker Ahn to form new party in March
Popular independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo said Tuesday he will launch a new political party in March to field candidates in the nationwide local elections in June.The new party is widely expected to pose a serious challenge to the ruling and main opposition parties amid growing public disenchantment with the political establishment."I am informing you of my decision to create a new party after confirming once again that I was right about my conclusion that a new political force must come forth,
Jan. 21, 2014
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Korea, Switzerland sign trade, tech deals
President Park Geun-hye applauds while watching “Korea Fantasy,” a performance on traditional Korean culture held at Paul Klee Center in Bern on Sunday.(Yonhap News)The leaders of South Korea and Switzerland on Monday agreed to promote bilateral cooperation on trade, science, technology and industrial innovation.Presidents Park Geun-hye and Didier Burkhalter held a summit in Bern exploring ways to boost trade exchanges and strengthen cooperation in vocational education, technology and global sec
Jan. 21, 2014
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Kim Hwang-sik denies reports, leaves ruling party with few options
The outlook for the ruling Saenuri Party in the Seoul mayoral race was clouded further Monday, with former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik denying reports that he had accepted the party’s call to run for candidacy. On Monday, a local newspaper reported that Kim met a high-level Saenuri Party official last week, and accepted the ruling party’s call to run in the party’s primary. Kim, who had denied having any intention to run in the election until last year, was also shown making similar comments in
Jan. 20, 2014
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Gov't vows stern steps against bank data leaks
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won instructed the financial watchdog chief Monday to sternly punish those responsible for a recent massive leak of personal information of credit card users, calling for fundamental measures to prevent recurrence. According to the prosecution, sensitive personal information, including resident registration numbers, bank account numbers and credit ratings, of as many as 104 million customers were leaked altogether from the country's major credit card firms of KB Koo
Jan. 20, 2014
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KOTRA regional chief kidnapped in Tripoli
A South Korean trade agency employee in his late 30s was kidnapped in Libya, but the identities of his kidnappers are not known, the Foreign Ministry here said Monday. "The kidnapping took place early Monday morning Korean time," the ministry official said. The kidnapped person is known to be Han Seok-woo, the head of the Libya unit of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), according to the ministry and KOTRA. He was returning home after his work at the trade office in Tripo
Jan. 20, 2014
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Ahn calls for ban on party nomination of candidates
Popular independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo slammed the ruling party Sunday for backtracking from its pledge to ban parties from nominating candidates for local elections.The star lawmaker, who is setting up his own party, made his pitch amid heated debate on whether to deprive parties of the right to nominate candidates for municipal mayor and councils in the run-up to local elections in June. The ban is intended to eliminate corrupt links between those wanting nomination and the party, often th
Jan. 19, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Honda’s historical justice gains momentum
U.S. lawmaker Mike Honda’s push for historical justice gained greater momentum last week with the passage of a spending bill that included a provision pressuring Japan to apologize for its wartime sexual enslavement of Asian women.Albeit nonbinding, the provision brought fresh international attention to the women whose human dignity was trampled as they were forced to serve at frontline brothels by Japan’s Imperial Army during World War II.President Barack Obama signed the bill for the fiscal ye
Jan. 19, 2014
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S. Korea to set up foundation for victims of colonial Japan
South Korea plans to establish a foundation in March to support victims of colonial Japan's forced labor and their bereaved families, a commission handling the issue said Sunday.Historians say millions of Koreans were forcibly drafted into the Japanese workforce during its colonial rule in 1910-45, and more than 200,000 women from Korea and other Asian nations were sexually enslaved to serve Japanese soldiers.Seoul's forced labor investigation commission under the Prime Minister's Secretariat sa
Jan. 19, 2014
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By-election dates may change
Two by-elections slated for July and October this year are likely to be rescheduled as rival parties on Friday agreed on the need to cut the number of elections, citing social costs and election fatigue among voters.The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party are expected to discuss the matter at a special parliamentary committee on politics reform to be held Tuesday. Although both sides have agreed to the idea of scaling down the number of elections, a partisan clash is ex
Jan. 17, 2014
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S. Korean councilors urge Abe to resign over rightward moves
The South Korean association of councilors urged the Japanese prime minister Friday to resign to take responsibility for his rightward moves and failure to apologize for past wrongdoings.Some 50 former and current councilors of municipal and provincial governments nationwide gathered in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul and held a protest, demanding a halt to Japan's distortion of history and an apology for its brutal colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula."Stopping its regression toward the
Jan. 17, 2014
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Rival parties welcome U.S. 'comfort women' bill
South Korea's rival political parties welcomed Friday the U.S. Congress' approval of a spending bill that calls on Japan to apologize for its sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women during World War II.The Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2014, which passed through the U.S. Senate on Thursday, is attached with a nonbinding clause calling on the secretary of state to step up efforts to get Japan to apologize for forcing as many as 200,000 women to provide sexual services
Jan. 17, 2014
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Rival parties show mixed reactions to N.K. proposal
South Korea's rival political parties showed mixed reactions Friday to North Korea's proposal for a halt to all cross-border provocations.The North's proposal, announced through the official Korean Central News Agency late Thursday, calls on South Korea to halt "all acts provoking and slandering the other side from Jan. 30, a day before the Lunar New Year's Day."Specifically, it calls on Seoul to cancel the annual joint military exercises with the United States, which are scheduled to begin next
Jan. 17, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Feud rages over local election rules
The political arena is swamped by talk of June 4 local elections, but the political parties continue to bicker over one of its most basic rules. Abolishing party nominations for candidates for provincial governments and councils was central to President Park Geun-hye’s political reform pledge. The system was introduced in 2006 as part of political reform measures. However, it has since been abused leading to numerous cases of corruption and other irregularities. The ruling Saenuri Party, however
Jan. 16, 2014
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[Graphic News] Korea lags behind major Asian economies in growth rate
The South Korean economy is likely to have grown 2.8 percent in 2013 to rank ninth in Asia, according to data provided by major investment banks including Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs and the Korean Finance Ministry.
Jan. 16, 2014
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New Democratic Party officials call for change
Newly appointed Democratic Party officials called for change Thursday as the party geared up for the June 4 provincial elections.“If we do not change now, if (the party) does not innovate politics, the Democratic Party cannot survive,” Rep. Noh Woong-rae, who was appointed the DP’s secretary general Wednesday, said at a press conference. Noh was echoed by Rep. Choi Jae-cheon, who took charge of the party’s public relations, and DP chairman Rep. Kim Han-gil’s new chief secretary Rep. Kim Kwan-you
Jan. 16, 2014
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Ruling party slams NYT editorial accusing Park of whitewashing history
The ruling Saenuri Party on Thursday slammed a New York Times editorial accusing South Korean President Park Geun-hye of trying to whitewash history.On Monday, the NYT ran an editorial addressing the recent controversies surrounding high school history textbooks in South Korea and Japan."Both Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and President Park Geun-hye of South Korea are pushing to have high school history textbooks in their countries rewritten to reflect their political views," the NYT said i
Jan. 16, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Sunshine Policy DP’s bone of contention
The main opposition Democratic Party’s North Korean policy is under the spotlight following party chairman Rep. Kim Han-gil’s mention of a new policy on relations with Pyongyang. On Monday, Kim said that his party would draw up a North Korean policy centered on “national unity,” saying that the issue should no longer divide the nation. The progressive bloc has preferred engaging North Korea, while conservatives have criticized such policies as pandering to the communist state. His comments promp
Jan. 15, 2014
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Saenuri warns DP against election alliances
Ruling Saenuri Party chairman Rep. Hwang Woo-yea on Tuesday warned the opposition parties of forming alliances for the upcoming elections, calling such moves “forbidden fruit.” “An alliance formed solely for an election is forbidden fruit. It is the public that feels the aftereffects of an election alliance,” Hwang said while voicing his concerns over the rise of independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s new party. Although Ahn’s plans are still in the works, opinion polls place the still-immaterial part
Jan. 14, 2014
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Korean-American community honored in U.S. Congress
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― Senior U.S. congressmen on Monday appreciated contributions by Korean-Americans to the development of the U.S. society and Seoul-Washington ties, marking “Korean American Day.”In 2005, U.S. Congress designated Jan. 13 as the anniversary to commemorate the arrival of 102 pioneer Korean immigrants to the U.S. in 1903.“In recognizing this special anniversary, we honor the rich cultural history and the wonderful contributions that Korean-Americans have made to the U.S.,” R
Jan. 14, 2014
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Park urges Japan to honor past apologies
South Korean President Park Geun-hye urged Japanese leaders to make clear they honor the country's past apologies for its colonial rule of Korea and not to engage in any acts that put their intentions into question.Park made the remarks during an interview Monday with CNN, saying the past apologies, known as the "Kono statement" and the "Murayama statement" named after former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono and former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, have been the basis of relations between
Jan. 14, 2014