Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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S. Korea calls on Japan to confront history amid Yasukuni Shrine visit
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Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
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Hybe and Min Hee-jin, CEO of Hybe sublabel Ador, lock horns
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North Korea fires several short-range ballistic missiles into sea: JCS
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[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
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Samsung, SK hynix investors dump shares on Nvidia crash
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Yoo Jae-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok team up in 'Whenever Possible'
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Opposition lawmaker proposes carbon-tax bill
An opposition lawmaker on Wednesday proposed a bill calling for taxes on the use of carbons such as coal to help raise funds for the development of renewable energy sources.The so-called carbon tax bill, proposed by Rep. Sim Sang-jung of the left-leaning minor opposition Progressive Justice Party, calls for taxes on anthracite and bituminous coal as well as on electricity.The taxes would come in addition to the current taxes on seven different types of fuel, including gasoline, diesel and kerose
July 10, 2013
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Park sends message to Obama over jet crash
President Park Geun-hye has sent a message to U.S. President Barack Obama over the recent Asiana Airlines jet crash in San Francisco, expressing sympathy to the victims and promising to do whatever it takes to normalize the situation, her spokeswoman said Wednesday.In the message sent Tuesday evening, Park said she thinks of the crash as truly regrettable, offers sympathy to the victims, and expresses gratitude for U.S. efforts to cope with its aftermath, including a joint probe to determine wha
July 10, 2013
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NIS says to launch reform task force to ensure no political intervention
The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Wednesday it will launch a task force to reform itself amid growing calls for overhauling South Korea's top spy agency at the center of accusations of meddling in domestic politics. The envisioned reform will be carried out in a way that strengthens the agency's original duties, such as anti-espionage and counter-terrorism activities, while ensuring that there will be no problems of political intervention, the NIS said in a statement. "Since the i
July 10, 2013
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Parties wrangle over NIS probe format
Political conflict escalated between the rival political parties over the format of the special parliamentary probe into the nation’s spy agency Tuesday, following the withdrawal of two ruling party members from the team.Saenuri Reps. Chung Moon-hun and Lee Cheol-woo said they were leaving the special committee due to the main opposition Democratic Party’s claim that their participation was inappropriate, and called on controversial DP members to follow suit.The two parties had agreed last week
July 9, 2013
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Gov't ministries, agencies request 6.6 percent hike in 2014 budget
South Korea's government ministries and agencies have requested a 6.6 percent hike in their budgets for next year as they want to spend more on welfare, education, and research and development (R&D), the finance ministry said Tuesday.A total of 52 ministries and agencies asked for the central government to set aside a combined 364.7 trillion won for next year, compared with this year's 342 trillion won, according to the ministry.The hike is mostly attributed to an 11.3 percent budget increase re
July 9, 2013
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Korea to pump W92.4tr over 5 years into science and technology research
South Korea will sharply increase its investment in science and technology setting a 92.4 trillion won ($80 billion) budget to finance research and development projects in new growth sectors by 2017, the government announced on Monday.The plan represents a more-than 30 percent increase from the previous Lee Myung-bak administration’s five-year budget of 68 trillion won.As part of the five-year science and technology development project, the budget will be allocated to enhancing agricultural and
July 8, 2013
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Park urges intense reform of intelligence agency
President Park Geun-hye on Monday ordered sweeping reform of the nation’s top spy agency amid intensifying political wrangling over its alleged election interference and the dispute over the 2007 inter-Korean summit.“The National Intelligence Service has been subject to many disputes since the past governments. It is high time that the agency self-reform,” Park said in a meeting with senior secretaries.The National Assembly has begun investigating the agency over its alleged interference in last
July 8, 2013
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Lawmakers to view 2.56 million items on summit
Lawmakers may view about 2.56 million presidential record items of the 2007 inter-Korean summit following their request to access them, a ruling party official said Friday.Earlier this week, the National Assembly approved and delivered a request to look into the original transcript of the inter-Korean summit talks in a growing political controversy over former President Roh Moo-hyun’s remarks on the western sea border with the North. Of the records, 340,000 items are classified as top secret, an
July 5, 2013
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Parliament advises review of Taurus, Global Hawk acquisition plan
The National Assembly has advised the government to re-examine its plan to buy European long-range air-to-ground missiles and high-altitude surveillance aircraft from the United States, citing too high price tags, a parliamentary report showed Friday.The defense acquisition plan to buy Taurus missiles and Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles should be "reviewed again in a (future) parliamentary budget deliberation process ... as the plan is likely to stir up controversies over the expenses," the
July 5, 2013
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S. Korea, Australia press Pyongyang on nukes
South Korea and Australia on Thursday ratcheted up pressure on North Korea to renounce its nuclear ambitions, urging the communist state to abide by international commitments on its denuclearization.South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and their respective Australian counterparts Bob Carr and Stephen Smith agreed to strengthen cooperation to tackle regional and global security challenges during their inaugural “two-plus-two” meeting in Seoul.“The ministers ca
July 4, 2013
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Lawmaker to invest in film on Yeonpyeongdo skirmish
Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the Saenuri Party said that he will personally invest 100 million won ($87,400) in a film production about a tragic inter-Korean naval skirmish that killed six seamen 11 years ago.“I always felt indebted to the naval soldiers killed a day before the final match of (Korea-Japan) World Cup while safeguarding (Korean) territorial waters during the second Yeonpyeong Battle,” Chung said in a statement Wednesday. “I expect the film to portray their spirits of sacrifice,” he add
July 4, 2013
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Summit transcript disclosure set to ignite more controversy
After weeks of bickering, rival parties have agreed to view and disclose the original version of the 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript. But the deal marks only the start of more partisan fighting, surrounding the legality of the unprecedented process and differing interpretations of the legacy of former liberal leader Roh Moo-hyun. Procedural steps began Wednesday as the National Assembly delivered the request to the National Archives of Korea to access the classified document. The parliament
July 3, 2013
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Korea to put to feasibility test campaign pledges to provincial gov'ts
South Korea plans to conduct a feasibility test on newly-planned social infrastructure projects promised in President Park Geun-hye's campaign pledges on high financing costs, officials said Wednesday.President Park proposed a total of 105 promises to regional governments including 90 new social infrastructure projects in her key campaign pledges when she was a candidate for the December presidential election.They include the construction of bridges, railways and other large-scale infrastructure
July 3, 2013
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Parliament passes series of economic bills
The National Assembly passed nearly 100 bills on Tuesday, the final day of an extraordinary session, including one calling for restrictions on transactions between subsidiaries of conglomerates, or chaebol.The revision to the anti-monopoly and fair trade act, one of the 98 bills approved, bans chaebol from unfairly favoring their subsidiaries in awarding contracts. It is part of an "economic democratization" campaign being pushed by President Park Geun-hye's government to curb conglomerates' abu
July 2, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Beijing blames Syrians for Xinjiang carnage
Uneasy calm settled on the streets of the provincial capital city of Urumqi in the western Chinese territory of Xinjiang as paramilitary police and dozens of armored vehicles entered the region Saturday. Chinese President Xi Jinping ramped up rhetoric against separatists among Xinjiang’s Muslim Uighur minority and ordered tighter security, following at least two outbreaks of violence that claimed the lives of 35 people.Perpetrated by knife-wielding motorcycle gangs, several bloody incidents occu
July 2, 2013
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NIS, NLL fiasco eclipses Park’s policy drive
As President Park Geun-hye approaches six months in office, the high drama over the National Intelligence Service’s political interference and the Roh Moo-hyun administration’s controversial stance on the sea border with North Korea threatens to overshadow her economic policy drive.Fierce political rough-and-tumble is expected this month with the launch of a special probe into the NIS’ online smear campaign, and the disclosure of the original transcript of the 2007 inter-Korean summit talks.Whil
July 2, 2013
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Parties agree to disclose full original summit transcript
The National Assembly decided Tuesday to request the perusal and disclosure of the original version of a 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript containing late President Roh Moo-hyun’s controversial remarks on the West Sea boundary with North Korea.The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party agreed they will request the National Archives of Korea to let them access the minutes, original transcript, voice recording and all other relevant documents to get to the bottom of the sp
July 2, 2013
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Controversy deepens over summit transcript disclosure
Tensions between the ruling and main opposition parties escalated Monday as the two sides argued over whether to disclose the original version of a summit transcript containing late South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's controversial remarks on the disputed Yellow Sea border with North Korea.Last week, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) disclosed its copy of the transcript amid the ruling Saenuri Party's claims that Roh had tried to scrap the western sea border, called the Northern Limit Li
July 1, 2013
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Park calls for expansion in China
BEIJING ― President Park Geun-hye returned from her four-day state visit to China on Sunday, bringing home a stronger partnership forged with Chinese President Xi Jinping, with reaffirmed security and political cooperation on North Korea and the region.Park also earned China’s support for two key initiatives ― the trust-building process for the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia’s peace cooperative mechanism ― as well as for a stronger push to conclude the Korea-China free trade agreement.Winni
June 30, 2013
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Pro-Roh lawmaker stakes political life on truth of NLL remarks
Moon Jae-in, an opposition party lawmaker and former chief secretary to late President Roh Moo-hyun, vowed Sunday to leave politics if Roh’s controversial remark on the inter-Korean sea border during the 2007 inter-Korean summit is proven to be true.“The confusion and the division in the public opinion should be ended through disclosing the records (kept) in the National Archives of Korea,” Rep. Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic Party said in a statement. “If (the claim over) the rem
June 30, 2013