Most Popular
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Bae Doo-na shares portraying Korean identity in Hollywood's 'Rebel Moon'
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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[From the Scene] Monks, Buddhists hail return of remains of Buddhas
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Medical schools granted enrollment quota flexibility for next year
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Yoon offers first one-on-one meeting with opposition leader next week
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France rejects opening Paris flight routes to T'way Air, deals blow to Korean Air merger
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Chinese man behind drug scam targeting teens nabbed in Cambodia
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[Graphic News] French bulldog most popular breed in US, Maltese most popular in Korea
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Iran fires air defense batteries in provinces as sound of explosions heard near Isfahan
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Key April battles take shape in Seoul, Busan
Pro-Park veteran to clash ex-DP leader; Saenuri novice to rival DUP big wigThe key battles of the upcoming April 11 general elections are taking shape as parties announced most of their candidates on Monday.The inter-party competition is expected to be fiercest in key Seoul districts and in the southeastern region of Yeongnam, including Busan and the Gyeongsang provinces.Jongno race to decide the drift of the gameThe main opposition Democratic United Party confirmed former Democratic Party leade
March 5, 2012
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Parties cut incumbents, face outcry
Saenuri picks 27-year-old Sohn to fight Moon Jae-in; DUP denies former ministers candidacy By Lee Sun-youngMajor political parties Monday moved to cut a significant number of incumbent lawmakers in their selection of candidates for the April legislative election in a bid to solicit more support. The moves, widely expected as polls show deep disillusionment and anti-incumbent mood among voters, led to strong outcries from the politicians who were denied candidacy of their affiliated parties. Many
March 5, 2012
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S. Korea set to discuss reactor issue on progress in denuclearization talks
South Korea is set to discuss North Korea's long-running demand for light-water nuclear reactors if the North makes good on denuclearization pledges, a Seoul official said Sunday."If North Korea makes good progress on denuclearization, we can discuss the (light-water nuclear reactor) issue as the ne
March 4, 2012
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DUP nominations conflict deepens
Eliminated candidates stage protest, calling for primariesWith fewer than 40 days until the elections for the 19th Assembly, conflicts are deepening within the main opposition Democratic United Party over its candidate selection, especially in strategic areas.Former Democratic Party members claimed that they were deliberately eliminated from the nomination while others protested that the party gave too many candidate posts to former judges and prosecutors.“The party is expected to unveil another
March 4, 2012
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Dropouts threaten major parties in polls
Members who fail to win party ticket mull running as independents, creating new partyThe forthcoming general elections are expected to see a heated multiple-party competition as those who have failed to secure candidacy with their parties are moving to join a nascent party, forge an alliance of independents or create a new party.The parliamentary elections, slated for April 11, were largely expected to be a battle between the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party.B
March 2, 2012
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Lee names special counsel for cyber attack probe
President Lee Myung-bak picked veteran prosecutor-turned-lawyer Park Tae-sok as the independent counsel to look into allegations surrounding October’s hacking attack on South Korea’s election watchdog Web site, the presidential office said Friday.Park, 55, was one of the two candidates that Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae recommended for the special investigation into the hacking attack on the Web site of the National Election Commission during the Oct. 26 regional by-elections. In ear
March 2, 2012
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Korea hunger striker collapses at anti-China rally
A South Korean legislator who has staged a 10-day hunger strike outside China's embassy collapsed on Friday during a rally denouncing Beijing's repatriation of North Korean refugees.Park Sun-Young, from the conservative opposition Liberty Forward party, fainted while leading the rally by about 100 r
March 2, 2012
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Saenuri’s Lee calls investigation into Roh daughter ill-timed
A top figure in the Saenuri Party said Friday that it would not be right for public prosecutors to investigate allegations of corruption involving the family of late President Roh Moo-hyun in the run-up to a major election.“If the prosecution intends to look into those allegations, it is within reason to start it after the parliamentary election,” Lee Sang-don, a member of the ruling party’s emergency leadership council, said on a radio program. State prosecutors are said to have started looking
March 2, 2012
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DUP hit by candidate selection feuds
Mobile voting irregularity scandal snowballs; former DP members denounce nominationThe main opposition Democratic United Party continues to feud over its nomination processes with just weeks left until candidate registration for the April general elections.The party was recently shaken by suspicions that its members attempted to collect voters inappropriately to cast ballots by smartphone in the nomination primaries.This struck a heavy blow to the left-wing party as it pushed ahead with what it
March 1, 2012
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Lee renews appeal to Japan to resolve ‘comfort women’ issue
President Lee Myung-bak renewed his appeal to Japan Thursday to redress long-running grievances over the country’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women, saying the issue is an urgent humanitarian matter.Lee made the remarks during a speech at a ceremony commemorating Korea’s 1919 nationwide uprising, known as the March 1st Independence Movement, against Japan’s 1910 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. The colonial rule ended in 1945 at the end of World War II.The harsh governance left de
March 1, 2012
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DUP mired in candidate nomination feuds
Mobile voting irregularities escalate; Ex-DP figures denounce nominationsThe main opposition Democratic United Party continues to grapple with internal and external feuds over its nomination processes with just weeks left until candidate registration for the April general elections.The party was rec
March 1, 2012
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Lee taps ex-Gyeongsang official as vice special affairs minister
President Lee Myung-bak tapped Cho Yoon-myoung, former vice administrative governor of South Gyeongsang Province, as vice special affairs minister, Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday.The 56-year-old Cho, who is currently a senior adviser for the ruling Saenuri Party, was picked for his rich experience in government and communication ability, the presidential office said. Lee also named Lim Ki-chul, presidential secretary for science and technology, as permanent member of the National Science & Technol
Feb. 29, 2012
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‘Save My Friend’ campaign seeks global support
Activist group hopes to collect 1 million online signaturesAlong the cold, rough streets of Seoul, some 40 solemn-looking people marched barefoot for an hour-and-a-half this week, chanting their desperate plea ― “Save my friends! Don’t send them back to North Korea.”Their march that ended at the Chinese Embassy after having passed the Japanese Embassy and Seoul’s Foreign Ministry came amid mounting public criticism here of Beijing for forcibly repatriating North Korean refugees.“Our friends cau
Feb. 29, 2012
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President Lee's elder brother denies suspicion of bribery
Prosecutors said Wednesday they have found evidence of bribe taking by an elder brother of President Lee Myung-bak or associates of the brother, and plan to launch an investigation into allegations he took money in exchange for helping salvage a troubled savings bank.Rep. Lee Sang-deuk, 77, who is a
Feb. 29, 2012
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Lee’s private home to be rebuilt for use as retirement residence
President Lee Myung-bak plans to have his private house reconstructed to strengthen security features of the building so that it can be used as his residence after he leaves office early next year, an official said Wednesday.Lee has said he will use his Nonhyun-dong home in southern Seoul as his retirement residence, after a project to build a new house on the outskirts of the city fell apart last year following revelations of irregularities, including the use of Lee’s son’s name to purchase the
Feb. 29, 2012
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Gerrymandering charges mar mobile ballot
The mobile balloting method the main opposition Democratic United Party has employed to pick its candidates for the April general elections has been marred by allegations that campaigners have solicited mobile votes through unlawful means.Amid heated competition among campaigners, some have allegedly hired local residents or minor part-timers to register more voters favoring their would-be candidates as part of the “mobile electoral college” that will cast ballots via cellular phones in the nomi
Feb. 28, 2012
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Assembly blasted over extra seat
Lawmakers under fire for acting quickly on their own interests while idling on other billsPublic criticism mounted Tuesday against lawmakers after they voted through a deal to increase the number of parliamentary seats to 300 from the current 299. On Monday, the National Assembly passed a revision of electoral district plans that called for creating three new constituencies while eliminating an existing two only for the next parliament. With the one-seat increase, the number of lawmakers to be s
Feb. 28, 2012
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Park expresses hope for improved inter-Korean ties
Rep. Park Geun-hye, the leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, on Tuesday expressed her hopes for improved inter-Korean ties, stressing that her party is willing to support efforts for a change in the North for peace and co-development on the Korean Peninsula.During a security forum in Seoul, she also underscored that a nuclear-armed North Korea is not acceptable, saying that the vision of a “nuclear-free” world should begin here.Her remarks came on the day the North issued an unusual criticism aga
Feb. 28, 2012
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Kim hints at resignation in Saenuri row
A key member of Saenuri Party’s leadership council Tuesday hinted at his resignation in a row over the party’s selection of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary election. “This will be the last (party) meeting I attend,” Kim Jong-in said during a meeting on party reforms. He had joined the ruling party’s emergency leadership council late last year, handpicked by party leader Park Geun-hye. The former minister, while expressing frustration at the party’s reluctance to change, also criticized
Feb. 28, 2012
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Time to redress economic imbalance
Politicians’ renewed focus on curbing chaebol yet to be tested foreffectiveness, sincerityA heavy silence hung over the meeting of board members of the Federation of Korean Industries, the country’s main business lobby, early this month.There was no objection or applause when FKI chairman Huh Chang-soo proposed to adopt a resolution pledging to add stability to people’s livelihoods.After the adoption of the resolution, an FKI official said it reflected an “opinion shared by large corporations th
Feb. 28, 2012