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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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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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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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Moon cornered by alleged ties to troubled savings bank
The prosecution has launched an investigation into presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party following accusations of lobbying on behalf of a scandal-ridden savings bank. A group of people who lost money from the scandal involving Busan Savings Bank, which was found last year to have pocketed customers’ savings by making illegal loans worth trillions of won, had registered a complaint with the prosecution accusing Moon of dereliction of duty as presidential chief of staff
Nov. 15, 2012
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China’s incoming leadership may not be ready for change
This is the fourth in the series of articles on the growing rivalry between the U.S. and China and its implications for the two Koreas and East Asia. ― Ed.China’s new leadership should be the driving force for much-needed changes to tackle its social, political, economic and demographical challenges. But it may fall short of having the mandate required to carry out reforms the emerging global power is badly in need of, a leading historian and peace researcher cautioned.On top of it, for incoming
Nov. 15, 2012
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Liberal candidates square off over single candidacy merger talks suspension
Liberal presidential candidates and their campaign staff squared off Thursday over how to resume negotiations to pick a single candidate to compete against the ruling conservative hopeful in the December election.Independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo, who suspended ongoing talks the day before and accused the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) of trying to manipulate the selection process by spreading unfounded rumors, expressed deep disappointment over recent developments.In a meeting
Nov. 15, 2012
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Suspected N.K. missile parts seized en route to Syria
UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON ― A shipment of graphite cylinders usable in a missile program and suspected to have come from North Korea was found in May aboard a Chinese ship en route to Syria in what appears to have been a violation of U.N. sanctions, diplomats said Tuesday.South Korean officials seized the shipment of 445 graphite cylinders, which had been declared as lead piping, from a Chinese vessel called the Xin Yan Tai, U.N. Security Council diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Nov. 14, 2012
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Ahn halts talks on unified candidate selection method
Independent presidential hopeful Ahn Cheol-soo’s side suspended talks Wednesday on unifying candidacy with Democratic United Party nominee Moon Jae-in, alleging mudslinging, intimidation and breach of rules of negotiation by DUP officials.The two sides began negotiations Monday to merge their campaigns before the candidate registration, which ends on Nov. 26, to compete against Saenuri Party’s Park Geun-hye.“Moon’s people are different in what they say and what they do. We doubt whether they are
Nov. 14, 2012
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Free college tuition for third child: Park
Saenuri Party presidential candidate Rep. Park Geun-hye on Wednesday promised that the third child in a family would not have to pay for college education.Park unveiled her policy platform catering to women in a press conference on Wednesday at the party’s headquarters in Yeouido in Seoul.“The knowledge-based society of 21st century is an era in which how women’s potential is utilized will determine the competitive edge of the nation,” Park told reporters. “I will create a society where women ar
Nov. 14, 2012
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Lee's son faces tax probe, three officials indicted over land deal
The independent counsel investigating alleged irregularities in the purchase of land for President Lee Myung-bak’s retirement home on Wednesday referred his son Si-hyung to tax authorities on suspicion of evading the gift tax. Wrapping up its one-month investigation, the team also indicted without detention Kim In-jong, the former chief of the Presidential Security Service, and presidential security official Kim Tae-hwan on charges of misappropriation, and another security official Shim Hyeong-b
Nov. 14, 2012
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Political reform takes center stage in election
The protagonist of this year’s presidential election has undoubtedly been “political reform,” with each of the three major candidates pledging to reduce lawmakers’ privileges, balance out the powers of the president and tighten watch on high-level irregularities.All three tout “new politics” in unison and many measures coincide. But there are also visible differences, namely in resetting the political structure such as by abolishing or weakening the central party system or reducing the number of
Nov. 13, 2012
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Rivals brand Ahn’s campaign costs call ‘naive’
Independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo’s appeal to halve campaign costs was met with less than enthusiasm from his liberal ally and was derided by conservative adversaries as naive.The man without a party has called for the costs of presidential campaigns to be cut by up to 50 percent. But it is being met with skepticism from both main parties.Ahn pledged on Sunday to keep the price tag of his presidential campaign at half the maximum allowed by law as part of his political reform prog
Nov. 13, 2012
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‘China’s leadership securer than thought’
People tend to judge others through the lens of their own social, cultural and political fabrics, often making rash, uninformed conclusions. This is particularly risky when talking about a vast, complex society like China, said a leading China expert. It is undeniable that China’s incoming leader Xi Jinping will face people’s deepening grievances about social inequality, which some argue could precipitate a crisis of the central government’s legitimacy.But Kim Heung-kyu, a politics and diplomacy
Nov. 13, 2012
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Ahn-Moon merger talks on bumpy ride
The process of selecting the unified presidential candidate to represent the progressive bloc in the Dec. 19 election is facing delays as the two sides differed over political reform.In announcing the plans to merge their campaigns on Nov. 6, Democratic United Party presidential candidates Moon Jae-in and independent Ahn Cheol-soo said that the process would begin with drawing up joint political reform measures.The joint declaration, which DUP officials had projected to be completed within three
Nov. 13, 2012
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Gov't secures testimony on Japan's massacre of Sakhalin Koreans
Two people have come forward to reveal that Japanese soldiers during World War II slaughtered Koreans who were forced into overseas labor under Japanese colonialism, the first testimony to give details of a massacre that has been vague until now, a government agency said Tuesday.According to the National Archives of Korea (NAK), an agency charged with preserving government records, two Koreans living in Sakhalin, off Russia's east coast, have testified they heard accounts from eyewitnesses at th
Nov. 13, 2012
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Moon, Ahn kick off talks on merger rules
The talks for a single opposition candidacy got off to a rough start Monday with the campaigns trumpeting their own advantages in the December presidential race.The main opposition Democratic United Party’s Moon Jae-in and independent Ahn Cheol-soo named the members of their negotiating teams which would set the rules for their competition to become the preferred candidate.As the negotiations began, Moon’s camp stressed that his approval ratings have been on the rise since they announced an agre
Nov. 12, 2012
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Cheong Wa Dae squares up to special counsel on Lee’s home
President Lee Myung-bak on Monday refused an independent counsel team’s request to extend the period of its inquiry into his retirement home scandal.Cheong Wa Dae also refused to let the team search the Presidential Security Office.“We believe the probe team has already investigated the case enough to reach their conclusion,” Choe Geum-nak, Lee’s chief public relations secretary, told reporters.A prolonged investigation would impede Lee’s management of state affairs, undermine national prestige,
Nov. 12, 2012
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Past candidate mergers leave lessons for Moon, Ahn
Since Korea ended the military-backed dictatorship and restored a direct presidential vote in 1987, a candidacy merger ― or the lack thereof ― has been the biggest electoral game changer. A failure of alliance between two pro-democracy leaders, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung, that year split the liberal vote and resulted in rule by general-turned-politicians being extended. The two magnates separately joined forces with conservatives and gained power in 1992 and 1997, respectively. In 2002, anot
Nov. 12, 2012
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Ex-President Kim Dae-jung’s son joins Moon campaign
Former President Kim Dae-jung’s third son Kim Hong-gul joined the campaign for Democratic United Party presidential candidate Moon Jae-in on Monday, vowing to help uphold his late father’s legacy.“I come forward to help the DUP confront the forces that threaten the peace on the Korean peninsula and democracy by upholding the wishes of my late father,” Kim said at the election committee meeting.Kim’s participation is expected to strengthen Moon’s campaign in the politically crucial Jeolla Provinc
Nov. 12, 2012
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Court OKs special counsel’s search of presidential office
The independent counsel probing President Lee Myung-bak’s retirement home scandal has reportedly secured a court warrant to search the presidential security office. The special inquiry team, led by counsel Lee Kwang-bum, is said to be coordinating with the presidential office over the method and the time for what will be the first raid of a Cheong Wa Dae office.It remains to be seen whether the action can actually performed as the team, in principle, must secure approval from high-level governme
Nov. 11, 2012
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Moon, Ahn to start merger talks
Two opposition candidates agreed Sunday to broaden their joint policy manifesto to security and economic issues and accelerate negotiations to merge their candidacy.Independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo made the proposal while announcing his key campaign pledges. Later in the day his Democratic United Party counterpart Moon Jae-in accepted the suggestion.The agreement was reached as representatives of the two campaigns neared a conclusion in their ongoing talks on political reform, the foremost pr
Nov. 11, 2012
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Liberal candidates release wide-ranging policy platforms
Independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo pledged Sunday to reconsider a set of high-profile government projects to privatize state corporations such as Incheon International Airport.Democratic United Party candidate Rep. Moon Jae-in also promised to review whether to push for ongoing state construction programs including President Lee Myung-bak’s four-river refurbishment project.Amid talks to unify their candidacy, Ahn and Moon unveiled comprehensive policy pledges on a wide range of iss
Nov. 11, 2012
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Ad hoc inspection team launches probe into senior prosecutor on bribery
An ad hoc inspection team of prosecutors on Saturday began its investigation into their disgraced colleague who has been under a police probe for allegedly taking tens of millions of won in bribes from a notorious swindler and a mid-sized conglomerate, which renewed tension between police and the prosecution.The senior prosecutor, identified only by his surname Kim, has been under police investigation on suspicion of taking 200 million won (US$183,908) in 2008 from the side of Cho Hee-pal, the c
Nov. 10, 2012