Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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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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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Generations divided on presidential poll
Wednesday’s presidential election is likely to see the biggest-ever clash of generations as the younger and older voters are split almost evenly behind Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in, with 40-somethings holding the casting vote. The election is one of the most tightly contested ever, according to the survey conducted Wednesday by the pollster Realmeter for Herald Corp. The poll showed the Saenuri Party’s Park’s lead over the Democratic United Party’s Moon had narrowed to 0.1 percent. Although not
Dec. 16, 2012
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Ahn to leave for U.S. on election day
Former independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo is reported to be planning to leave for the U.S. immediately after voting on Wednesday.According to reports citing multiple sources within Ahn’s former election camp, the 50-year-old former academic plans to stay in the U.S. for one or two months.Although Ahn has not revealed details for his stay in the U.S., he is speculated to be planning to dedicate the time to drawing up plans for his political career. “Detailed plans for new politics n
Dec. 16, 2012
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UPP's Lee drops out of election
Bringing a last-minute change to the election dynamics, Lee Jung-hee of the minor Unified Progressive Party quit the race Sunday, vowing to help the opposition forces win Wednesday’s presidential election.“I withdraw my presidential candidacy in order to gather together progressive, pro-democracy and reform forces in order to realize the people’s desire for an administration change,” Lee said at a press conference at the National Assembly, flanked by her party members.“Administration of the Saen
Dec. 16, 2012
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Left-leaning presidential candidate Lee Jung-hee quits race
With South Korea's presidential election only three days away, Lee Jung-hee, a left-leaning candidate from a minor party, decided to quit the race on Sunday.Lee from the Unified Progressive Party made the decision in an emergency camp meeting earlier on Sunday and she will not attend the televised debate scheduled for 8:00 p.m., her aides said."I step down as a presidential candidate in accordance with the people's hope for integrating (opposition) progressive, democratic and reform-minded force
Dec. 16, 2012
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UPP’s Lee quits presidential race
Lee Jung-hee of the minor opposition United Progressive Party quit the presidential race on Sunday.It has been speculated for sometime that the minor candidate with less than 1 percent approval rating would forfeit before the ballots are cast on Wednesday so as not to spilt the liberal and progressive vote.During televised presidential debates, Lee had implied that she was concerned with putting the Saenuri Party’s Park Geun-hye down than she was with promoting her own presidential bid. With Lee
Dec. 16, 2012
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Spy agency official grilled over slander against Moon
A female national intelligence agent appeared for questioning by police Saturday over allegations that she repeatedly made negative comments online about main opposition presidential candidate Moon Jae-in.The 28-year-old official from the National Intelligence Service (NIS), surnamed Kim, is suspected of having put anti-Moon comments online over the past three months from an office in southern Seoul to influence the race.With the presidential election only four days away, the allegation has emer
Dec. 16, 2012
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Moon all out to pull off last-minute upset
Moon Jae-in of the liberal opposition Democratic United Party on Friday strived to carry, into the election day, his “upward momentum” against rival Park Geun-hye, canvassing in the conservative hotbed of Busan. The DUP, meanwhile, revved up its assault on Park and her ruling Saenuri Party over illicit campaigning, accusing the conservative camp of attempting to sway voter sentiment through illegal methods. “It turned out that the Saenuri Party established an illegal office and manipulated publi
Dec. 14, 2012
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Park accuses DUP of smear campaign
Park Geun-hye, the candidate for the ruling conservative Saenuri Party, harshly criticized her liberal rival Moon Jae-in on Friday for mudslinging, as the race for the Dec. 19 presidential election became tighter. “I hereby announce an all-out war against false propaganda,” she said in a press conference. “In case any of the accusations against me turn out to be false, candidate Moon (of the Democratic United Party) should take responsibility.”Her words came in response to a series of personal a
Dec. 14, 2012
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Opinion polls show race tightening
The opinion polls of presidential candidates conducted on Dec. 12, the last day that they can be publicly announced, show that Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic United Party has significantly caught up with Park Geun-hye of the conservative Saenuri Party.Park and Moon are just 0.1 to 3.7 percentage points apart, according to the polls commissioned by nine newspapers, including The Korea Herald. In one of the nine, commissioned by the Hankook Ilbo, Moon surpassed Park by 0.4 percentage points
Dec. 14, 2012
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Park blasts opposition camp over snowballing accusations
South Korea's ruling party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye blasted the opposition camp Friday for accusing her of cheating and meddling in the race, saying the claims amounted to nothing but false propaganda."From this moment, I am declaring an all-out war on false propaganda," the 60-year-old contender of the Saenuri Party told a news conference at party headquarters. "I will firmly crush the political maneuvering, false accusations and slander that have taken over this land so that they m
Dec. 14, 2012
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Presidential race down to the wire
The last survey released ahead of next week’s presidential election showed the race too close to call as Moon Jae-in gained on frontrunner Park Geun-hye. According to a poll conducted Wednesday by Real Meter and commissioned by Herald Corp., Park of the Saenuri Party was seen losing her edge against her Democratic United Party challenger, with 47.8 percent against 47.7 percent, respectively.The surge in support for Moon was most apparent among respondents in their 30s and 40s who have been consi
Dec. 13, 2012
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New 8th U.S. Army commander nominated
U.S. President Barack Obama has nominated Army Maj. Gen. Bernard S. Champoux for appointment as commanding general of the 8th U.S. Army stationed in South Korea, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Once his duty assignment is confirmed, Champoux will be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and succeed current commander Lieut. Gen. John D. Johnson. He currently serves as deputy commanding general of the EUSA.The nomination for the top army post based in South Korea comes at a cruci
Dec. 13, 2012
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Some election pledges short on substance
With the presidential campaign entering the home stretch, two main candidates are pouring out promises to win an upper hand in the neck-and-neck race.Many proposals in their manifestos, however, failed to suggest detailed means of implementation or collecting the necessary financial resources, giving rise to concerns that they may end up as empty words.Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party, in her recent televised speech, pledged to double the monthly pension for all elderly citizens and the
Dec. 13, 2012
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Concern rises as N. Korea seen turning to bolder hardline policy
As North Korea inches toward its goal of de-facto nuclear power status, its fledgling leadership is expected to pursue a more aggressive, bolder external policy, experts warned Thursday.To cope with this, Seoul needs to map out a smart strategy through multilateral diplomacy, they said. It should also remain mindful that Pyongyang will continue to shun Seoul as a negotiating partner and seek greater-scale deals only with nuclear-power states such as the U.S. and China.“The North will be in a psy
Dec. 13, 2012
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Saenuri's Park holds narrow lead over DUP hopeful in last polls before election
Ruling Saenuri Party's presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye maintained a narrow lead over main opposition rival Moon Jae-in in the last nationwide polls that can be made public ahead of this year's presidential election, political watchers said Thursday.The five surveys taken from Monday through Wednesday showed Park's approval rating between 42.8 percent and 48.9 percent, compared to 41.4 percent to 47.5 percent for the Democratic United Party (DUP) candidate.Among the surveys released by broadca
Dec. 13, 2012
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Experts split on rocket’s impact on election
North Korea’s successful long-range rocket launch on Wednesday thrust the issue of peninsula security into the center of next week’s presidential election in Seoul.The surprise provocation could tilt the electoral balance in either direction, analysts say. Rival candidates engaged in a blame game, with the Saenuri Party citing liberals’ leniency toward the nuclear-armed North Korea and the Democratic United Party trying to highlight the conservative incumbents’ intelligence and security inabilit
Dec. 12, 2012
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Gap narrows in polls
With a week remaining until the election day, Democratic United Party presidential candidate Moon Jae-in further narrowed the gap with his Saenuri Party rival Park Geun-hye, some of the last polls to be released showed Wednesday.The survey by Munhwa Ilbo and Korea Research conducted on 1,000 respondents on Tuesday showed that Park was leading Moon by 0.9 percentage point, at 42.8 percent to 41.9 percent. Of the respondents, 13.9 percent said they either had no specific preference or did not give
Dec. 12, 2012
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Political dogfight moving onto SNS
Social networking services have emerged as a valuable campaign machine, arousing interest in politics among young people and rallying them to polling stations. But amid raging negative campaigning, Facebook and Twitter are now becoming another platform for political dogfights, rumor-mongering and slander.On Tuesday, the Internet was abuzz with rumors that Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Park Geun-hye had cheated during the presidential debate the night before by peeking at an iPad. The ru
Dec. 12, 2012
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Ahn stays low-key in campaign
Former candidate Ahn Cheol-soo joined Democratic United Party nominee Moon Jae-in’s campaign late last week, boosting hopes of an opposition victory in the Dec. 19 presidential election. But the former software entrepreneur remained low-key on the campaign trail, disappointing many of their supporters and prompting speculation that he may be eyeing his chances in the next presidential election. On Tuesday, the two canvassed in Seoul and its surrounding metropolitan area, Moon mainly in Gyeonggi
Dec. 12, 2012
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Welfare pledges lack consistency, viability
Welfare has emerged as a key issue on the campaign agenda of main presidential candidates Park Geun-hye and Moon Jae-in, but experts have criticized their pledges for lacking consistency and financial viability.According to Herald Corp.’s manifesto review panel, comprised of leading academics, candidates have painted rosy pictures of Korea becoming a welfare state, but they have listed only fragments of pledges in an attempt to woo voters without presenting realistic ways to implement their plan
Dec. 12, 2012