Most Popular
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Hyundai Motor eyes 80,000 jobs, W68tr investment at home by 2026
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Dialogue hopes fade as doctors pick hard-liner as new head
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Coupang pledges W3tr to expand Rocket Delivery nationwide by 2027
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[Election Battlefield] Political novice to face off star politician in ‘swing district’
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Korea enters full election mode
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[Kim Seong-kon] The April 2024 election will decide our future
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Seoul’s bus union prepares for strike
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[Hello India] Corporate Korea sees new growth drivers in India
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Health care scams to cost Korea big this year
False health insurance claims in South Korea are expected to flirt with 600 billion won this year despite a crackdown on scammers, data showed Wednesday.According to the data by the National Health Insurance Service, medical providers' false and unfair insurance claims came to 545 billion won ($456 million) in the first 11 months of this year, compared with 594 billion won in 2015. At the current pace, the amount for all of 2016 is widely expected to reach nearly 600 billion won. Experts said t
Dec. 21, 2016
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Korea’s cancer occurrence rate falls for three consecutive years
The cancer occurrence rate among South Koreans has fallen for three consecutive years, government data showed Tuesday.According to data tallied by the Korea Central Cancer Registry, 217,057 patients were diagnosed with cancer in 2014 -- 289.1 cases per 100,000 people -- down 4.5 percent from the 227,188 patients in 2013. The KCCR began collecting data on the occurrence rate of cancer in 1999. It peaked in 2012 with 323.3 cases per 100,000 people, but has since been on a gradual decline. By type
Dec. 20, 2016
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Special probe into Choi scandal kicks off
The independent counsel looking into the corruption scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil wrapped up its 20 days of preparation Tuesday, kicking off its official investigation in tandem with Park’s impeachment trial. The special team led by independent counsel Park Young-soo said it would hold a ceremony to hang up its signboard Wednesday, symbolically launching its probe into the series of accusations that has left the South Korean leader on the brink of b
Dec. 20, 2016
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Ministry maps out plan to prevent human infections of AI
The government on Tuesday mapped out plans to tighten controls to prevent humans from being infected with a highly pathogenic bird flu strain, a week after it elevated its watch level from “alert” to “serious,” the highest level in the country’s disease control system.The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday it has dispatched quarantine officials to monitor human infections and cull infected poultry at 42 sites across the nation.Officials will also provide residents with 15,300 doses of a
Dec. 20, 2016
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Woo hindered Sewol probe: report
Woo Byung-woo, former presidential adviser for civil affairs, allegedly peddled influence over the prosecution when it was investigating the cause of the sinking of the Sewol ferry, Korean media reported Tuesday. Woo, who has been in hiding, is one of the key figures in the influence-peddling and corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil, which led to the embattled president’s impeachment earlier this month. Former presidential secretary Woo Byung
Dec. 20, 2016
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Diplomat accused of sexually harassing girls in Chile summoned home for probe
A South Korean diplomat accused of sexually harassing two teenage girls in Chile returned home Tuesday to face investigation by the foreign ministry, a diplomatic source said.The embassy official in charge of cultural affairs was accused of making improper physical contact with a 14-year-old Chilean girl in September while teaching Korean. A Chilean broadcaster also aired on Sunday (local time) the scene of his sexual abuse of another female teen captured by a hidden camera early this month, spa
Dec. 20, 2016
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Flu rapidly spreading among students in Korea
The number of primary and secondary school students with the influenza virus has reached an all-time high, health authorities said Tuesday, while the country's education ministry is instructing schools to consider starting winter vacation earlier than scheduled in an effort to stop the spread of the contagious yet not deadly virus.The number of flu patients from elementary, middle and high schools per 1,000 came to 152.2 from Dec. 11-17, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Pre
Dec. 20, 2016
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Truck slams into broadcasting firm at center of Park's impeachment
A truck driven by a South Korean man in his 40s slammed into the main gate of broadcasting channel JTBC on Monday, whose initial reports on President Park Geun-hye's alleged documents leaks led to her impeachment earlier in the month. The 45-year man surnamed Kim crashed his 1.5-ton truck into the main entrance of JTBC in Mapo in western Seoul at around 7:25 p.m. apparently in protest of the television channel's reports on Park, according to the police.Wearing the Marine Corps uniform, Kim tried
Dec. 19, 2016
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Is South Korea thawing to conscientious objection?
Lee Yong-suk, a fervent peace advocate who objects any form of violence, never imagined himself behind bars. But in the summer of 2006, that’s exactly where he ended up. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail for refusing to join the Army and fulfill the country’s mandatory military service. “I didn’t want to be a victim, or the inflictor, of violence. I didn’t want to be a slave of violence,” Lee told The Korea Herald. “A strong army has never prevented war. A military is to win wars, not to get
Dec. 19, 2016
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Weekend rallies planned for Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve
South Koreans will continue to take to the streets for rallies before the year-end holidays to call for President Park Geun-hye to immediately resign and the Constitutional Court to promptly carry out her impeachment trial.According to rally organizers, candlelight vigils are planned for the two remaining Saturdays of the year, Dec. 24 and Dec. 31, to show that the “people’s democracy at Gwanghwamun will not die down until President Park Geun-hye resigns.”“Our gathering (for the candlelight vigi
Dec. 19, 2016
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Seoul pulls out stops to halt AI
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Monday a set of countermeasures to stop a highly pathogenic bird flu strain that is spreading toward the capital at an unprecedented pace.The city’s Citizens Health bureau said it has culled eight mandarin ducks at Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon, just outside Seoul and banned at least 40 zookeepers from leaving the zoo for a week, as part of its preventive measures.Authorities sent feces of a total of 1,200 fowl collected inside the zoo to the National I
Dec. 19, 2016
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Unmarried population in their 30s rises to record high in 2015
More than 35 percent of thirtysomethings in South Korea remained unmarried last year amid a widespread late marriage trend in the country, census data showed Monday.According to the 2015 census by Statistics Korea, out of 42.7 million people aged 15 or over, 13.4 million, or 31.3 percent, were single, up from 30.6 percent five years earlier.At the same time, the percentage of unmarried people in their 30s reached 36.3 percent in 2015, up 7.1 percentage points from 2010 data. The figure has been
Dec. 19, 2016
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Underground water near US military base still contaminated
Underground water near the US military base in central Seoul still contains much higher levels of pollutants than the legal limits, the Seoul city government said Monday.According to an internal inspection by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the average concentration of benzene in groundwater near the US military base around Noksapyeong Station was 0.532 milligrams per liter.It went as high as 8.811 miligrams per liter, which is roughly 587 times more than the environmental standard of 0.015 m
Dec. 19, 2016
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Special probe, litigation on Choi to begin
The special investigation and litigation processes into the corruption scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye and her now-infamous friend Choi Soon-sil will begin this week, while the embattled president and the parliament prepares for the coming impeachment trial. The trial of Choi will kick off this week, with the Seoul Central District Court holding official preparations for her trial on Monday. Legal discussions between the prosecution and Choi’s lawyer -- who claimed that the charges w
Dec. 18, 2016
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Zoos shut down as bird flu approaches Seoul
A highly pathogenic bird flu is spreading at an alarming pace toward the capital, with confirmed cases in Gimpo, west of Seoul, and another suspected case near the capital. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Sunday that it temporarily closed the Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, over the weekend after it found two dead storks over consecutive days.Authorities said it did not find anything significant from the autopsy results, while the examinations have been sent to the Nati
Dec. 18, 2016
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Korean’s sodium intake down 19% from 5 years ago
South Koreans now consume about 19 percent less sodium compared to five years ago, data showed Sunday.According to the Korea Health Promotion Foundation, the average Korean’s daily sodium intake in 2015 was 3,871 milligrams, about a 19 percent decrease from 4,785 milligrams in 2010.The KHPF attributed the reduction in sodium intake to a well-being trend in the local food industry -- in particular the introductions of new MSG-free, low-sodium instant noodles and traditional paste products for hea
Dec. 18, 2016
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Chinese-Koreans think living standards in S. Korea better than in China: poll
Chinese-Koreans residing in South Korea think their living standards here are better than they were in China, a local poll showed Sunday.The findings by the IOM Migration Research and Training Center revealed that of the 2,017 people checked from July to October,52.9 percent said life in South Korea is better than in China. The people checked covers Chinese nationals who are ethnically Korean.The survey also showed that 27 percent of ethnic Koreans with ties to China said there was no particular
Dec. 18, 2016
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Supporters of impeached president clash with protesters
Supporters of impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye clashed with anti-Park protesters Saturday, as large crowds of demonstrators again gathered in Seoul to demand the scandal-ridden leader's immediate ouster. Protesters gather in Gwanghwamun in central Seoul on Saturday to demand impeached President Park's immediate resignation. (Yonhap) Supporters of President Park and conservative civic groups hold a rally in central Seoul to show their opposition to the impeachment of the president
Dec. 17, 2016
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S. Korea protests switch focus to impeachment court
Protesters began gathering in the streets of Seoul for the eighth straight week Saturday, pushing their demands for the swift and permanent removal of impeached South Korean President Park Geun-Hye.Organizers said the mass rally would march on the Constitutional Court whose nine justices are considering the validity of the impeachment bill passed by the national assembly more than a week ago.The court has 180 days to make a ruling, but the protesters are pressing for a swift judgement.Although P
Dec. 17, 2016
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Revision seeks to allow easier use of firearms against illegal fishing
The South Korean coast guard may soon be exempted from responsibilities for any damages or loss of private property caused by their use of firearms while cracking down on illegal fishing, as long as their use of force is within legal boundaries, a bill submitted Saturday proposed.Under the revision submitted by Rep. Hwang Young-cheul of the ruling Saenuri Party, the coast guard will be allowed to use firearms should a ship disobey an order three times to stop or withdraw from a specific area.An
Dec. 17, 2016