Most Popular
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Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
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[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
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Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
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Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency
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SK hynix pledges W20tr to ramp up DRAM production at home
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SNU profs to suspend treatment for one day
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Hybe's multilabel system tested amid conflict with Ador
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Over-50s, men, single-person households take up majority of those filing for bankruptcy
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Man sentenced for exposing wife's naked buttock
A man was sentenced to four months in prison with one year of probation, Monday, for invading the sexual freedom of his wife. He was additionally given 40 hours of education on recovery from sexual violence. (123RF)The 40-year-old was charged for uploading a photo of his sleeping wife’s exposed buttocks on social media in September 2014. The couple separated the following March. The man is also accused of trespassing in his ex-wife’s residence five times in October 2015.The judge who presided ov
April 11, 2016
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Korea unsure whether stolen Buddhist statue was previously plundered: broadcaster
South Korea finds it difficult to determine conclusively that an ancient Buddhist statue stolen from a Japanese temple was illegally brought to Japan, although it is highly likely for the statue to have been previously plundered by Japanese pirate raiders, a Japanese broadcaster reported Monday.Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the Korean Cultural Heritage Administration made the judgment in a report on the statue of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, which was one of two Buddhist statues stolen
April 11, 2016
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[Graphic News] Number of asylum seekers on the rise
The number of asylum seekers in South Korea has steadily increased in recent years since it began accepting refugee applications in 1994, government statistics showed. With millions of people fleeing conflicts in war zones across the world, South Korea saw a surge in the number of asylum seekers from 1,574 in 2013 to 2,896 in 2014 and 4,265 last year. The number of those who were granted asylum, too, rose from 57 to 94 and on to 106 during the same period.Since 1994, the country has accepted 576
April 10, 2016
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Sex assault stepfather claims 5-year sentence too long
The Seoul High Court turned down a sexually abusive stepfather’s appeal for a lighter sentence Sunday. The convicted, 48, was charged for abusing his sleeping stepdaughter, 25, and later threatening her with physical violence in an attempt to prevent her from alerting authorities. The woman in this photograph is not the victim mentioned in the article. (123RF)In the original trial he received five years in prison for incestuous sexual assault, but later appealed, saying his sentence was too heav
April 10, 2016
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Gangnam academies caught running illegal classes
Approximately 30 private education institutes were found to be running illegal late-night classes, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Sunday. SMOE ordinance regulates classes for teenagers to be provided only between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. (Yonhap)However, when the government body ran a check on 487 institutes in the Gangnam district on Thursday, 30 were found to be running classes outside of the designated hours.The identified institutes will have demerits imposed on them and
April 10, 2016
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Insurance fraud increasing by the year
Insurance fraud by those exaggerating illness or injury to be hospitalized is increasing each year, the prosecutors’ office revealed Sunday. According to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, a typical false patient stayed in the hospital for over 144 days for noncommittal illnesses such as gonarthritis within six months of signing 10 different insurance contracts. (123RF)The number of false hospitalization and over-the-top treatments were found to have cost the insurance companies 99 billion won (
April 10, 2016
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Court upholds penalty on official for faulty maritime guidelines
A Seoul court on Sunday upheld the government’s decision to punish a public official who failed to draw up a manual for maritime crisis management ahead of the Sewol ferry sinking. The Seoul Administrative Court ruled against the public official, surnamed Choi, for neglecting his duty to complete the manual on preventing maritime disasters and resolving crises afterward.A high-ranking official at the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Choi headed his team in assisting navigation and man
April 10, 2016
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Court jails right-wing activist for breaking into Cheong Wa Dae
A Seoul court said Sunday that the head of a conservative organization had been sentenced to 10 months in prison for driving a car into the presidential office premises without permission. The Seoul Central District Court jailed the 58-year-old, identified only by his surname Oh, on charges of obstruction of government affairs after he ignored a guard’s request to stop the car and rushed the car into Cheong Wa Dae on March 10. Before he attempted to drive into the presidential office, Oh was sto
April 10, 2016
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Sexual slavery victim in China moved to Seoul for medical treatment
A Korean victim of sexual slavery by Japanese troops during World War II residing in China was moved to Seoul for medical treatment, officials said Sunday. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said 88-year-old Ha Sang-sook, the only Korean sexual slavery victim living in Wuhan, China, arrived at Chung-Ang University Medical Center in Seoul to treat her injured lungs.In early February, she broke a rib after she fell down the stairs from the second floor, leading to lung inflammation and ren
April 10, 2016
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Ministry under fire for alleged lax security cover-up
The Central Government Complex in downtown Seoul, which recently came under fire for allowing a civilian break-in due to lax security, is facing further backlash as the government allegedly destroyed related evidence and covered up the disgraceful incident.According to police authorities, passwords written on a wall -- which a 26-year-old civil servant aspirant used to sneak into the office -- were apparently erased by an official from the Ministry of Personnel Management after the police launch
April 10, 2016
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Fine dust hits capital area for 3rd day
The Seoul metropolitan area is under a fine dust advisory for the third consecutive day on Sunday.The city government issued the advisory for the city at noon as its 25 ward offices recorded an average fine dust concentration of 159 micrograms per cubic meter.The advisory is issued when the fine dust (PM-10) level exceeds 150 micrograms per cubic meter for more than two hours.The city recommended adults with respiratory or cardiovascular problems, the weak and old and children to stay inside and
April 10, 2016
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Man arrested for robbing drunk people
A man was arrested for stealing credit cards from intoxicated people and spending tens of millions of won on gambling, Seoul police said Sunday. The 44-year-old thief surnamed Lee targeted drunk people he accosted on the streets. He singled out men who passed out in busy districts and pretended to offer a helping hand -- either to hail a cab or give them company for another round of drinks.(123RF)Lee then told his victims that they need more cash and directed them to ATMs where he got their PIN
April 10, 2016
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Cab driver sentenced for abandoning passenger on highway
A taxi driver was given two years in prison with three years’ probation for abandoning an inebriated passenger on a highway, eventually leading to the passenger’s death, Daegu High Court said Sunday. The taxi was carrying the man from Andong in North Gyeongsang Province to Daegu -- roughly an hour and a half’s ride -- when the man who had gradually become incapable of clear communication failed to give his final desired destination to the driver. (Yonhap)After a number of attempts at getting a
April 10, 2016
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Single-person households in Seoul rise to over 24 pct
Slightly more than 24 percent of homes in Seoul are made up of just one person, with the rate expected to hit 30 percent in 2035, a metropolitan government survey showed Sunday.The latest figures regarding household sizes in Seoul during 2010 were released in the March edition of the "Seoul Economics," a monthly news letter published by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.The figure was only 4.5 percent in 1980.Byeon Mi-ri, chief of the Global Future Research Center of the Seoul Institute who cond
April 10, 2016
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Chinese panda bears make S. Korean debut
A pair of Chinese panda bears that arrived in South Korea last month were unveiled to the public for the first time at an amusement park here Friday, as the city of Yongin hopes the animals will draw more tourists to the region. The pandas, named Ai Bao and Le Bao, were shown to the public for the first time at Everland, the country's largest amusement park in Gyeonggi Province, some 50 kilometers south of Seoul. They have been at the park since their arrival from the Chinese southwestern prov
April 8, 2016
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[Weekender] ‘Descendants of the Sun’: more fantasy than reality
Lee Soo-yeon, a 27-year-old office worker in Seoul, can’t get enough of “Descendants of the Sun,” the ongoing Korean drama series that features a military romance between a solider and a surgeon. “I think the series has many things that I can’t really see or achieve in my real life, such as the sense of justice, responsibility and altruism,” she told The Korea Herald. “And on top of all that, it is just very romantic.” The 16-episode series takes place in a fictional war-torn Mediterranean coun
April 8, 2016
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Injured Korean ex-sex slave in China to be treated in Seoul
South Korea will transfer a South Korean former sex slave in China, who has suffered serious injuries due to an accident, to her home country next week to receive treatment, government officials said Friday.Ha Sang-sook, 88, resides in the city of Wuhan, China's Hubei Province, and broke her rib and pelvis last month after falling down a staircase on Feb. 15 when having a quarrel with a neighbor.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said it has decided to have her transferred to Seoul on Su
April 8, 2016
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Seoul to bolster GPS signal protection amid Pyongyang threats
South Korea will beef up its system to protect GPS signals to counter North Korea's jamming attempts, a related ministry said Friday.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning convened an inter-agency meeting of officials handling radio affairs and discussed ways to cope with the threat highlighted in recent days.The North sought to disrupt South Korea's GPS signals across the border for about a week, although the radio attack came to a halt on Wednesday, according to officials here. A num
April 8, 2016
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Seoul warns Pyongyang to stop slandering President Park
South Korea warned North Korea to stop slandering President Park Geun-hye on Friday after the communist country lashed out at her calls for more sanctions during her recent visit to Washington.North Korea's unification committee, which deals with inter-Korean affairs, said in a statement a day earlier that Park's actions will hasten her death, warning that the North is aiming for her presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae.The statement also called Park "a goblin" and "a demon of the era" who spoiled
April 8, 2016
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Korea to give Bangladesh 300 computers
The South Korean government agreed Friday to provide Bangladesh with hundreds of computers as part of efforts to help the Southeast Asia country narrow its digital divide.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning inked an accord with the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka on the provision of 300 "Green PCs of Love" over the coming three years.The move came at the suggestion of the World Bank, officials said.The Southeast Asian country aims to transform itself into a "digital" state by 2021.Anni
April 8, 2016