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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[Robert J. Fouser] AI changes rationale for learning languages
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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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Man dies after setting himself on fire
A 40-year-old man died Wednesday, a day after setting himself on fire following a protest demanding the resignation of President Park Geun-hye, police said. The man, identified only by his surname Lee, set himself ablaze on an overpass in front of Seoul Station around 5:35 p.m. Tuesday after staging a brief protest where he hung placards demanding Park's resignation and an independent counsel probe into the election meddling scandal. Lee was immediately taken to the hospital but died aroun
Jan. 1, 2014
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[Graphic News] Projections for Seoul mayoral race
Current Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon commands a solid lead over potential contenders for his post as the political parties gear up for the June 4 provincial elections, surveys show.According to surveys conducted by local media outlets, Park outpaces Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party by as much as 10.2 percentage points. When pitted against former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, another figure the ruling party may call on to dislodge the progressive Seoul mayor, Park’s lead was extended
Jan. 1, 2014
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NIS reform: Unfinished business
Still more work awaits parliament’s special committee on National Intelligence Service reform in the New Year, despite lawmakers successfully legislating related landmark bills on Tuesday.Major amendments inserted into the NIS Act included explicit prohibitions against state spies from “participating in political campaigns through information telecommunications,” and increased penalties against those found guilty of illegal electioneering. The hard won amendments, attained in response to accusat
Jan. 1, 2014
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Politics to get tougher for Park in 2014
President Park Geun-hye began the new year reiterating her economic and social targets and calling on the nation to come together, but the outlook for the political arena appears anything but harmonious. “My administration will channel the national capabilities into reinforcing the hard-won gains of economic recovery, so as to invigorate the economy and stabilize the day-to-day lives of the people,” Park said in her New Year speech, calling on the public to “join forces to prepare for an economi
Jan. 1, 2014
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Presidential spokeswoman resigns for rest
President Park Geun-hye’s spokeswoman Kim Haeng resigned Tuesday, saying that she needs “rest” after working tirelessly for the past year.“By quitting the spokesperson position for the one-year-old Park government, I plan to take some time off to get recharged,”Kim said in a press statement. “I have been honored and happy to serve for President Park Geun-hye who works night and day with unwavering principles and trust.”Kim’s offer has been reportedly accepted by Kim Ki-choon, presidential chief
Jan. 1, 2014
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Parliament belatedly approves budget, foreign investment bills
The National Assembly on Wednesday approved the government budget and a host of tightly contested bills including the revised Foreign Investment Promotion Act and the National Intelligence Service Act.The revised Foreign Investment Promotion Act was fiercely resisted to the last minute by the main opposition Democratic Party, which claims it was designed to benefit chaebol, or family-owned conglomerates. The revised act will allow subsidiaries of Korean holding companies to own a smaller stake i
Jan. 1, 2014
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President pledges unwavering efforts for economic recovery, national security in new year
President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday her government will continue to work harder in the new year to revitalize the economy, ensure national security and fix abnormal practices deeply rooted in society. "We will focus our national capabilities on keeping the hard-won embers of economic recovery alive so as to revitalize the economy and stabilize the people's livelihoods," Park said in a new year's message. "I hope all of you will unite strength in laying the groundwork for an economic leap."
Dec. 31, 2013
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Rival parties agree on spy agency reform package
The ruling and opposition parties reached an agreement Tuesday on a package of measures to reform South Korea's main intelligence agency, including a tougher punishment for agents involved in meddling in domestic politics under the pretext of psychological warfare against North Korea. The ranking members of the rival parties on the special parliamentary committee on reforming the National Intelligence Service (NIS) worked out the revision to the NIS Act and other related laws in one-on-one neg
Dec. 31, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Park begins second year with old problems
President Park Geun-hye enters her second year in office with a mass of tricky domestic issues unresolved and increasingly volatile dynamics in Northeast Asia. Disputes over the National Intelligence Service’s alleged election meddling still haunt her government despite the political parties spending much of 2013 on the matter at the cost of state affairs being delayed. With key elections slated for June and July, political wrangling is expected to further escalate in the New Year hampering her
Dec. 30, 2013
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Railway talks face rough ride
Despite a dramatic end to the strike, a difficult set of tasks is ahead before differences are resolved over the state-run railway operator’s spin-off plan and the damage from the longest-ever train workers’ walkout is repaired.The union of the Korea Railroad Corp. on Monday decided to end its protracted strike after agreeing with political parties to form a parliamentary committee to address the dispute.The union began the strike on Dec. 9 in opposition to the government’s plan to set up a subs
Dec. 30, 2013
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Park criticizes Abe’s Yasukuni visit
President Park Geun-hye on Monday criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent visit to a controversial war shrine, warning against any future moves that would undermine bilateral trust.“I hope we will not see any action in the New Year that would hurt mutual trust and worsen public sentiment by reopening the wounds of the past,” Park said during a meeting of her senior secretaries.“If a country continues to repeat actions that run counter to universal values and standards of the inter
Dec. 30, 2013
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S. Korea, U.S. to resume talks on renewing nuclear accord
South Korea will resume negotiations with the United States next week to rewrite a decades-old nuclear accord under which it is forbidden from enriching uranium or reprocessing spent fuel for peaceful purposes, the foreign ministry said Monday.The two-day meeting, the ninth of its kind, will begin on Jan. 7 in the central city of Daejeon, home to South Korea's major nuclear power research facilities, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."In the upcoming talks, the heads of the two partie
Dec. 30, 2013
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Park slams Japan for 'digging up past wounds' after Abe's shrine visit
South Korean President Park Geun-hye slammed Japan Monday for "digging up wounds of the past" after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid his respects at a war shrine last week in a move seen as an attempt to glorify the country's militaristic past.Abe made the visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday, sparking angry protests from South Korea and China. The shrine honors Japan's war dead, including class A criminals. Abe was the first Japanese prime minister to visit the shrine in more than seven y
Dec. 30, 2013
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Rail union agrees to end strike
Leaders of unionized rail workers agreed to end their prolonged strike after the ruling and opposition parties promised to form a parliamentary subcommittee aimed at ensuring no privatization of rail services, lawmakers said Monday.The breakthrough came three weeks after some 8,700 workers of the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) walked off their jobs on Dec. 9 in protest of a government plan to establish a KORAIL subsidiary to run part of the high-speed train services. The union suspects the move i
Dec. 30, 2013
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Park: N. Korea's execution makes inter-Korean ties harder to predict
The execution of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's once-powerful uncle has made relations between the two Koreas harder to predict, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said, pledging to maintain airtight security against possible provocations.In an article contributed to the Project Syndicate, Park also said she will stick to her trademark trust-building policy toward the communist nation to lay the groundwork for unification on the divided Korean Peninsula."The recent North Korean political si
Dec. 30, 2013
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S. Korea to permanently keep records of former sex slaves
Records related to South Korean women forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II will be permanently kept as state-designated records, the government said Monday.The National Archives of Korea said it will designate some 3,060 documents related to the former sex slaves being kept at "House of Sharing" as state records. The home is for the living former sex slaves and is located in Gwangju, just south of Seoul.The records to be kept include the women's voice recordings, drawings, bel
Dec. 30, 2013
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Korea-Japan relations head to lowest ebb
The relations between Korea and Japan are heading toward their lowest ebb as Seoul hardens its stance following Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to a controversial war shrine last week.Fresh momentum for bilateral security cooperation following Beijing’s unilateral demarcation of an air defense zone in November dissipated after Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors war criminals, in Tokyo on Thursday.The prospect of improvement in the bilateral ties next year remains bleak as Tokyo i
Dec. 29, 2013
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Parties bicker over NIS reform, budget
Rival parties on Sunday failed to narrow their differences over next year’s budget, and proposed reforms of the state intelligence agency one day before the deadline they had set to pass related bills. Senior members of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party had agreed on Dec. 25 to pass key budget bills and amendments to the National Intelligence Service Act on the coming Monday.But as Monday’s deadline neared, senior officials of the Saenuri Party and the DP expresse
Dec. 29, 2013
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S. Korea to release new video promoting ownership of Dokdo
South Korea plans to release another video this week to publicize its sovereignty over the country's easternmost islets of Dokdo, to which Japan has laid claim, a government official said Sunday.The video, which includes historical evidence showing that the East Sea islets are Korean territory, will be posted on the foreign ministry's website on Dokdo (http://dokdo.mofa.go.kr) and will also be uploaded on YouTube, the official said.The ministry is conducting a final review of multiple clips to c
Dec. 29, 2013
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Opposition party chief rejects tentative deal on spy agency reform
The leader of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) rejected a tentative agreement on how to reform the intelligence agency, saying he cannot accept a deal that lacks a complete ban on spy agents from visiting government agencies for intelligence-gathering.Kim Han-gil called for a renegotiation to include the ban, saying it was part of a set of principles the DP and the ruling Saenuri Party established before launching negotiations on reforming the National Intelligence Service (NIS).Kim als
Dec. 29, 2013