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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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Park reaches out to her own party
President-elect Park Geun-hye on Wednesday met Saenuri Party members amid growing grievances in the ruling party ranks over what some call a secretive and dogmatic style that led to her first appointment ending in fiasco. She urged party members to cooperate for a smooth launch of her government, expressing concern about parliament’s harsh scrutiny of her would-be Cabinet members. Senior officials from the governing party and members of the presidential committee participated in the meeting to p
Feb. 6, 2013
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Incheon mayor heads to Moscow for meeting with Putin
Incheon Mayor Song Young-gil left for Moscow on Wednesday for a five-day visit, during which he is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit comes at the invitation of Putin, and Song's meeting with the Russian president is scheduled for Friday, city officials said.They said Putin gave no clear reason for inviting the mayor.Incheon city officials said, however, that Putin is expected to award a state medal to Song to recognize the mayor's role in promoting ties between th
Feb. 6, 2013
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Transition team member accused of misusing car
The presidential transition team is once again under fire over the ethicality of its members following the revelation that team member Chang Soon-heung used a vehicle belonging to the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety. Chang, a professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, is a member of the education and science subcommittee. “Chang used a vehicle designated for the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety’s official use for about two weeks starting on Jan. 10 to attend lunches and
Feb. 5, 2013
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Retail giants face trials for rejecting summons
Credited with building South Korea’s economy from the ashes of war, chaebol owners lived above the law for much of the past half-century. But that immunity appears to be fading as the ethos of economic democratization and the demand for fair justice increasingly take hold. Four top-level executives at several retail giants, all heirs to the family-owned conglomerates, who refused to show up at parliamentary hearings late last year will face trials, prosecutors announced on Tuesday.Those to be tr
Feb. 5, 2013
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Park, Foreign Ministry clash over plan to transfer trade office
The presidential transition team and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade clashed on Monday as the plans to remove trade-related functions from the Foreign Ministry surfaced as the main sticking point for the National Assembly. Under President-elect Park Geun-hye’s government reorganization plans, trade functions will be transferred to the new Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy, which will be formed from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.The plan, which the Foreign Ministry had opposed
Feb. 4, 2013
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Government reform on Assembly’s main agenda
The National Assembly convened a one-month extraordinary session on Monday to deal with President-elect Park Geun-hye’s government overhaul plan and key Cabinet appointments ahead of her swearing in on Feb. 25. Park has called for the revival of two new central government ministries in charge of science and technology, and maritime affairs and fisheries. Both ministries were split apart and their functions merged with other ministries in 2008 as part of government reorganization by incumbent Pre
Feb. 4, 2013
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Delayed appointments of Cabinet stir concern
With less than three weeks remaining until her inauguration, President-elect Park Geun-hye has yet to make a single Cabinet member or Cheong Wa Dae aide appointment, prompting concerns of a teetering start for the new government.Reports widely anticipated the designation of Park’s presidential chief-of-staff and the prime minister to be imminent over the weekend, but Park was reportedly still reviewing her final options on Monday morning.Park’s initial appointment of Kim Yong-joon, her transitio
Feb. 4, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Allegations fly despite Ssangyong compromise
A compromise has been reached between the ruling Saenuri Party and main opposition Democratic United Party on the issue of a parliamentary investigation into Ssangyong Motor Co., allowing the extraordinary session of the National Assembly to convene on Monday.Despite the tentative peace between the two main political parties, the issue continues to divide the country’s political arena. Under Thursday’s agreement, the DUP and the Saenuri Party formed a six-member negotiation group that will opera
Feb. 3, 2013
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Park’s inauguration to highlight patriotism, common touch
President-elect Park Geun-hye’s inauguration ceremony on Feb. 25 will highlight her priority agenda of national unity and a more inclusive economy, her aides said.The presidential inauguration preparation committee has picked “Opening the New Era of Hope” as the slogan and “Unity, Progress and Into the Lives of the People” as the theme of the ceremony to be held in the square in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul.The event will likely be recorded as the largest presidential inaugur
Feb. 3, 2013
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Park likely to name new P.M. early this week
President-elect Park Geun-hye is expected to announce early this week the new prime ministerial nominee after her first pick withdrew himself amid controversy over his real estate purchases and his sons’ exemptions from military service. With transition committee chief Kim Yong-joon being pushed to resign last week as the prime ministerial nominee despite the initial view that he was “generally acceptable,” Park is reported to be leaning toward individuals who have undergone official vetting in
Feb. 3, 2013
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U.S. House panel leader vows to upgrade alliance with S. Korea
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- In meetings with South Korea's outgoing and incoming leaders this week, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), head of a key U.S. House panel, pledged to redouble his efforts to bring the relations between the two nations to a new level, according to his office. Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led a bipartisan delegation to South Korea on Friday and Saturday. His group met separately with President-elect Park Geun-hye and President Lee Myung-bak as they prepa
Feb. 2, 2013
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DUP slams Park’s move on confirmation hearing
The main opposition Democratic United Party slammed President-elect Park Geun-hye and the ruling Saenuri Party’s move to change the National Assembly’s confirmation hearing process following the prime minister-nominee debacle.The Saenuri Party formed a task force on Thursday to seek ways to improve the current parliamentary hearing so that it becomes a “place to verify one’s capacity rather than digging into one’s personal background,” Saenuri Party floor spokesman Lee Cheol-woo said.The announc
Feb. 1, 2013
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Park concerned by vetting system’s focus on ethics
Concerns are rising that the vetting process for nominees for high-level government posts may be veering off course without agreed upon ethical standards and procedures.President-elect Park Geun-hye’s pick of the prime minister, Kim Yong-joon, withdrew from the nomination Tuesday in the face of allegations about his real estate investments and his two sons’ exemption of military service. While the developments initially led to criticism of the president-elect’s secretive vetting process, the ske
Jan. 31, 2013
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Parties agree to open Assembly session
The two main political parties on Thursday agreed to open the extraordinary session of the National Assembly next Monday, after they resolved differences on a labor dispute at Ssangyong Motor Co.The agreement came after a meeting between the floor leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party. The DUP has backed down from its demand for a parliamentary investigation into the carmaker. As an alternative, the DUP suggested a multi-party negotiation group inclu
Jan. 31, 2013
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Park in hot water for criticizing confirmation hearing process
President-elect Park Geun-hye’s criticism of the confirmation hearing process following her prime minister-nominee’s resignation stirred controversy Thursday, with opponents slamming Park for bypassing the calls to sharpen her personnel vetting style.With time running out until Park’s Feb. 25 inauguration, prominent figures with verified backgrounds were being discussed as the likely candidate to be named prime minister.A day after Kim Yong-joon, Parks’ transition committee chairman, withdrew fr
Jan. 31, 2013
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NIS official wrote posts related to presidential poll: police
A National Intelligence Service official who is suspected of meddling in last year’s presidential poll had posted related writings during the election period, police said Thursday.The 29-year-old official -- identified only by her surname Kim -- allegedly posted at least 120 writings from Aug. 28 to Dec. 11 about politically sensitive issues, including on presidential candidates, according to Suseo Police Station in southern Seoul.Most of the postings were favorable to the government and the rul
Jan. 31, 2013
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Park stung by nomination blunder
President-elect Park Geun-hye is pressed for time in filling her Cabinet lineup following an unprecedented nomination withdrawal by the prime minister-designate Tuesday, which dealt a blow to her leadership already suffering a decline in public approval.With her secluded decision-making style drawing fire for being off-target, Park faces growing pressure to adopt a systematic personnel screening process to verify her choices. Park must now start from scratch in naming an alternative figure to be
Jan. 30, 2013
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Parties seek to curtail presidential pardon power
The governing party and opposition are rushing to curtail the power of the president to grant pardons following President Lee Myung-bak’s controversial amnesty on Tuesday of 55 convicted criminals including close allies and former Cabinet members serving time for corruption. “President Lee Myung-bak’s special pardoning stomps on law and order and represents a shameless, dumbfounding act that utterly ignores the public opinion,” said Moon Hee-sang, the Democratic United Party’s interim leader, du
Jan. 30, 2013
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Lee hails Naro's success as first step toward era of space science
President Lee Myung-bak hailed South Korea's first successful launch of a space rocket on Wednesday as the first step toward opening an "era of space science" for the country, his spokesman said. The launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, better known as "Naro," marked Seoul's third attempt to join the global space club after its two earlier attempts in 2009 and 2010 ended in failures.The rocket blasted off at 4 p.m., reached its target altitude and put a science satellite into orbit. "
Jan. 30, 2013
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Gwangju uprising foundation decries distortion attempts
The May 18 Memorial Foundation -- which commemorates the Gwangju uprising otherwise known as the May 18 Democratization Movement -- vowed Tuesday to take actions against attempts to distort the historical facts about the movement.“We are mulling legal action in light of grave defamation and degrading of the Gwangju Democratization Movement by some netizens,” said Kim Chan-ho, secretary-general of the foundation. “We will take appropriate action to protect the dignity of the Gwangju uprising.”The
Jan. 30, 2013