Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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Ruling, opposition parties fail to agree on gov't reorganization
Talks between the country's ruling and main opposition parties on the envisioned government restructuring ended without an agreement Sunday, possibly causing difficulties for the new Park Geun-hye administration that is set to come into office later this month. "We were unable to reach an agreement today," Chin Young, deputy chief of Park's transition team, told reporters following his meeting with officials from the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP). The meeting between the DUP
Feb. 17, 2013
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Park rocked by delayed Cabinet launch
Park Geun-hye’s presidential campaign posters once portrayed her as a “prepared” leader, owing to her experience as an acting first lady, her leadership in resuscitating the conservative Grand National Party in 2004, and later leading a series of crucial election victories for the party. But with less than eight days remaining until inauguration, the president-elect’s Cabinet appears likely to be the first in recent memory to come into power half-empty, as allegations of misdeeds and backroom de
Feb. 17, 2013
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Parties at odds over confirmation hearings
Political parties are clashing over the parliamentary confirmation system for high-level government officials with only a week to go until the launch of the Park Geun-hye administration. The parliamentary confirmation hearing process rose as a major sticking point for the political parties after the president-elect raised the issue at a meeting with Saenuri Party lawmakers.At the meeting on Jan. 30, Park criticized that the current system could discourage good candidates from taking public posts
Feb. 17, 2013
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Tougher, systematic vetting key to efficient appointments
The parliamentary confirmation hearing and vetting process for high-level government officials should be strengthened with legal means to ensure truthful responses, says Rep. Shin Kyung-min of the Democratic United Party. “Of course there are problems, but strengthening and expanding the system while fixing the problems is the right direction. That is what history points to,” Shin said. He said that in the 13 years since the introduction of the system, there are people who were treated unfairly.
Feb. 17, 2013
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Integrity and privacy of nominees need protecting
A two-track parliamentary confirmation system will protect the rights of ministerial nominees and ensure thorough vetting, says Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the ruling Saenuri Party. “In many cases a candidate never takes office. Disclosing such people’s personal details is an invasion of privacy,” Kweon said.“As the issues concerning ethicality are linked to privacy, these matters should remain undisclosed (to the public). And the vetting process should be made more thorough and the results shared
Feb. 17, 2013
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KDI chief Hyun Oh-seok named deputy P.M.
President-elect Park Geun-hye on Sunday named seasoned technocrat Hyun Oh-seok as finance chief and Korean-American technology entrepreneur Kim Jeong-hoon as science minister. The presidential transition committee announced the nominees for the remaining 11 ministerial positions including unification, industry and welfare, rounding out the roster for the 18 highest positions in her government.Hyun, president of the state-run Korea Development Institute, was nominated to head the Ministry of Fina
Feb. 17, 2013
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Park completes Cabinet nominations
The presidential transition team announced the nominees for the remaining 11 ministerial positions Sunday.Korea Development Institute president Hyun Oh-seok was nominated as deputy prime minister of economy and chief of the Ministry of Finance and Strategy, while Kim Jeong-hoon, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s Bell Labs and Corporate Strategy, was named minister of future, creation and science.The transition team said that the announcement was brought forward as the schedule to launch the new gove
Feb. 17, 2013
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Park names KDI chief as deputy premier for economic affairs
President-elect Park Geun-hye named the chief of the state-run Korean Development Institute Huyn Oh-seok as the deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs, Park's transition team said Sunday. Park also named North Korean expert Ryoo Kihl-jae as unification minister in a series of nominations that also included nine other Cabinet posts, transition team chief Kim Yong-joon said. In her organizational shakeup of the incoming government, Park decided to elevate the status of the finance
Feb. 17, 2013
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Park Geun-hye to announce additional Cabinet nominations Sunday
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- President-elect Park Geun-hyu will announce additional nominations for her incoming government on Sunday, the transition team's spokesman said.The third round of nominations will be unveiled at 11 a.m. Sunday, spokesman Yoon Chang-jung said in a brief text message sent to reporters on Saturday. He didn't offer further details.On Wednesday, Park named nominees for six Cabinet ministerial positions, including the foreign and defense ministers. She's expected to appoint more nomin
Feb. 16, 2013
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Caution voiced over calls for South Korea’s nuclear armament
Voices of caution came from the outgoing and incoming governments over escalating calls from conservative political circles for nuclear armament following the North’s nuclear test Tuesday.Kim Jang-soo, designated to lead the incoming government’s security control tower, expressed his opposition to the idea of nuclear armament Friday, saying it was a sensitive issue that should not be taken lightly.Following North Korea’s third nuclear test, talk of whether Seoul should develop its own atomic wea
Feb. 15, 2013
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Cabinet nominees dogged by allegations of past misdeeds
Allegations of ethical lapses of some of President-elect Park Geun-hye’s ministers-designate are expected to turn the confirmation hearings that were initially thought to be smooth into a long and difficult battle, dimming prospects of the Park administration from operating at full capacity upon the Feb. 25 inauguration.“As allegations snowballed, expectations turned into worries,” Park Ki-choon, the floor leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party, said in a party meeting Friday. “We
Feb. 15, 2013
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Park entreats opposition party to help launch new gov't on time
Incoming President Park Geun-hye appealed to the opposition party Friday, asking them to accept her government reorganization proposal and help launch her administration on time.With Park's inauguration only 10 days away, the National Assembly has yet to approve the reorganization plan that centers on transferring the foreign ministry's trade negotiating functions to the commerce ministry. Talks between the ruling Saenuri Party and main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) have been deadlock
Feb. 15, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Death begets death in Tibet
The cause to “free Tibet” reached a macabre milestone on Wednesday when a Tibetan exile became the 100th person since 2009 to attempt self-immolation in protest against Chinese rule.According to witnesses, the man in his 20s covered himself in petrol before setting himself alight in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu. He was taken to hospital where he remains in a critical condition.Supporters of the Tibetan independence movement say that China’s intolerance of protest forces Tibetans to resort t
Feb. 14, 2013
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2 lawmakers lose seats on convictions
Rep. Lee Jae-gyun of the Saenuri Party and Rep. Roh Hoe-chan of the Progressive Justice Party both lost their seats in the National Assembly on Thursday following separate court convictions. The Supreme Court found the campaign deputy of Lee guilty of handing gifts to reporters, citizens, and campaign officials prior to last year’s parliamentary elections. According to elections law, if the campaign deputy or the head of campaign accounts sentenced to prison or faces a penalty exceeding 3 millio
Feb. 14, 2013
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Rights watchdog urges Japan to apologize for wartime sexual slavery
The National Human Rights Commission on Thursday urged the Japanese government to apologize for forcing Korean women into sexual slavery during World War II.“The Japanese government should admit the truth in a binding way and officially apologize as the International Criminal Court recommended,” the rights body said in its statement.It is the first time the state-run rights watchdog has officially issued a statement concerning the victims of sexual slavery.The watchdog’s move came after the Japa
Feb. 14, 2013
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Progressive lawmaker loses seat as top court confirms suspended
The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a suspended prison term for Rep. Roh Hoe-chan for violating the Communications Privacy Act, stripping the minor opposition party's co-chairman of his parliamentary seat.Roh of the Progressive Justice Party was found guilty of releasing a list in 2005 of seven former and sitting senior prosecutors who allegedly received bribes from Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-owned conglomerate.Roh made the list public through a press release and on his priv
Feb. 14, 2013
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Obama warns N.K. of isolation
U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday North Korea would only achieve the security and prosperity it seeks by meeting its international obligations, not by conducting nuclear tests.Obama called its nuclear test a “provocation” and said it would only serve to further isolate North Korea from the rest of the world.Addressing the issue in his State of the Union speech, Obama said the U.S. would stand by its allies in the region, strengthen its own missile defenses and lead the world in taking “fi
Feb. 13, 2013
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U.S., China face N.K. policy dilemmas
The U.S. and China are expected to recalibrate their approaches toward North Korea and seek more effective denuclearization measures following its third nuclear test on Tuesday, experts said Wednesday.But the two powers apparently face policy dilemmas over Pyongyang.Severe punishment could bring it to the brink of a collapse that could destabilize the region, but tougher sanctions for the provocation are inevitable, they said.China, the major ally and patron of the impoverished state, could star
Feb. 13, 2013
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Profiles of minister-nominees: Hwang Kyo-an, Justice
Hwang, 56, is former head of Busan High Prosecutors’ Office and well known for his firm commitment to public safety.A native of Seoul, Hwang, 56, passed the state-run bar exam in 1981 and built his career in the prosecution service on improving public security. The nominee is also known as a man of principle and has been praised of his rational work style and leadership. Hwang is the author of a guidebook to the National Security Law and a devout Christian who attended a seminary to fulfill his
Feb. 13, 2013
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Profiles of minister-nominees: Kim Byung-kwan, Defense
Kim, 65, is former deputy commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and an expert on the Korea-U.S. military alliance.He established a firm relationship with Burwell Bell, then the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, and continued smooth military cooperation between the two countries despite the difference in diplomatic stance toward North Korea and difficulties in the process of signing the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.A native of Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Kim entered Se
Feb. 13, 2013