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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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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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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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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[Grace Kao] Hybe vs. Ador: Inspiration, imitation and plagiarism
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Suspect in custody in connection with murder on hiking trail
Police said Saturday that they have taken a man into custody on the suspicion that he killed a woman found dead on a hiking trail outside Seoul earlier this week.The 45-year-old man, identified only by his last name Chung, confessed via phone on Friday that he was behind the murder of the woman and expressed his intention to turn himself in. He was taken into custody on Saturday, according to the police. The man is suspected of killing the 55-year-old woman, surnamed Chung, who was found dead We
June 12, 2016
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Government to encourage paternity leave in 2016
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Friday the government will do more to expand the rights of women and children, adding it also seeks to have more men take paternity leave this year."The government will promote gender equality at all levels of society and make a determined effort to achieve this vision," Hwang said.Among government goals, Hwang said Seoul will push up the percentage of men taking paternity leave this year to 6.7 percent of workers taking childcare-related leave. This will mark a
June 11, 2016
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Teen kills girlfriend and deserts her body
An 18-year-old surnamed Kim was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for killing his girlfriend and abandoning her body. Kim’s friend and accomplice, surnamed Yang, was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.(123RF)Kim was convicted for strangling his girlfriend in February in Hwasun-gun, South Jeolla Province, and hiding her body in a nearby reed field. Yang helped dump the body. The Gwangju District Court handed down the differing sentences based on evidence of Kim’s a
June 10, 2016
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Police catch distributor of illustrated child pornography
A 26-year-old man was booked without detention for allegedly distributing over 12,000 cartoons of child pornography on the Internet, the Incheon Gyeyang police said Thursday. The man is accused of uploading over 12,800 illustrations of underage children performing sexual acts between Sept. 29, 2015 and May 27, 2016 on a file-sharing site. (123RF)The clicks he received per download of the materials he posted gave him credits that were convertible to 2.6 million won ($2,200) in total. The man told
June 10, 2016
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Half of Korean employees in debt
One in two South Korean employees live in debt, with the average reaching 34.94 million won ($30,040), a survey showed Friday.Recruitment portal service JobKorea surveyed 1,079 employees on their household economy. To a question as to whether they had a loan taken out under their name, 45.2 percent answered yes.(123rf)The amount of debt increased by age, with 34.2 percent in their 20s saying they were in debt, 48.8 percent of those in their 30s and 56.5 percent of those aged 40 and over. More me
June 10, 2016
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PM vows to bolster rights of women, children
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Friday the government will do more to expand the rights of women and children, adding its ministries will join forces to achieve gender equality in all sectors."The government will promote gender equality at all levels of society and make a determined effort to achieve this vision," Hwang said.The prime minister said the efforts will include adopting a flexible work-hour system so that women can focus both on childcare and their careers. The government will also
June 10, 2016
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Korea's crab catch plunges amid rise in uninvited Chinese boats
South Korea's crab catch has been more than halved so far this year, the government said Friday, an apparent result of a recent rise in the number of Chinese boats fishing illegally in South Korean waters.According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the country's catch of crab amounted to 575 tons in April, down 69 percent from the same month last year.Also in the first four months of the year, the country's crab catch plunged 68.5 percent on-year to 664 tons.The ministry largely attribute
June 10, 2016
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Suspects plotted gang rape of female teacher: police
Police concluded Thursday that the gang rape of a female teacher in an island village was a premeditated crime, with the case expected to be transferred to the prosecution the next day.Two men, who were her students’ parents, and a villager are suspected of raping the temporary primary school teacher in Shinan County, South Jeolla Province, at her on-campus residence last month. The Mokpo Police Station said that it will ask prosecutors to indict the suspects in their 30s and 40s on charges of r
June 9, 2016
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[Reporter’s column] Sex crime and the South Korean media
Back in 2014, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Journalists Association of Korea released a guideline for Korean journalists to use when reporting on sexual violence and interviewing the victims. The booklet was developed as a number of news reports allegedly inflicted secondary victimization upon sex crime victims here, including violation of privacy. Some even endorsed distortion of sexual assault – such as how the extent of a woman’s resistance should be the major factor in determining if a
June 9, 2016
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Seoul to boost hanok subsidies
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday that it would be providing more subsidies for those repairing or building “hanok” anywhere in the city.In accordance with the ordinance on preserving and promoting the Korean traditional houses, the subsidies that had previously been limited to areas concentrated with hanok will soon apply to any part of the capital.When building a new hanok, one will be eligible to receive up to 80 million won ($69,000) in subsidies for the exterior and an up to a
June 9, 2016
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Firms raided in election funding probe
The prosecution on Thursday raided printing and advertising companies suspected of offering a rebate to a lawmaker as part of the probe into election law violations. The Western District Prosecutors’ Office did not specify which locations were searched and what items were seized through the raid. The raid came after the National Election Commission filed a complaint against Rep. Kim Soo-min of the third-largest People’s Party for alleged election law violations. Rep. Kim Soo-min Park Hae-mook/Th
June 9, 2016
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Ad firms raided over opposition lawmaker's alleged illegal political funds
Prosecutors raided local advertisement companies Thursday over allegations that they gave illegal kickbacks to a minor opposition party lawmaker during the parliamentary elections held in April.The Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office raided about six offices over suspicions that Rep. Kim Su-min of the People's Party illegally received some 178 million won ($154,000) from the firms through forged contracts.Kim was in charge of the party's election campaign ahead of the April 13 general ele
June 9, 2016
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Woman handed 10-year jail term for murdering husband
A woman who stabbed her husband to death during a fight was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday, according to the Daegu High Court. The 49-year-old woman had gotten into a fight with her husband over a phone conversation she had had with another man. (123Rf)When the husband turned violent, the woman took out a weapon from the kitchen and stabbed him to death. Their child who was at home at the time is said to be suffering from shock and stress. The Daegu court said that the murder was n
June 9, 2016
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Police raid Seoul subway operator over maintenance worker's death
Police raided the headquarters of a Seoul subway operator Thursday as part of their probe into the cause of the accident that killed a 19-year-old maintenance worker on a station platform late last month.The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency dispatched around 100 officers to raid some 10 organizations, including the head offices of Seoul Metro in the southern part of the capital. Eunsung PSD, a subcontractor who had hired the victim -- identified only by his surname Kim - was also included on the
June 9, 2016
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Court hears Australian rape victim case
A Seoul court on Wednesday began to hear a case involving an Australian woman who was allegedly drugged, abducted and raped during a night out in Seoul last year. Airdre Mattner, who now teaches English in Japan, came forward as a rape victim in March through her campaign to raise funds on the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe. The case shed light on Korea’s justice system and its alleged failure to protect sexual assault victims. “I feel exhausted. I have absolutely no faith in the Korean justice
June 8, 2016
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Household goods firms sign safety accord
The Environment Ministry signed memorandums of understanding Wednesday with 59 household goods firms here to review the safety of biocides in their products amid a growing nationwide “chemical-phobia” following a humidifier disinfectant tragedy, which allegedly claimed more than 200 lives since 2011.In a group briefing Wednesday attended by representatives of manufacturers, distributors and importers, the ministry said that it will first review products like deodorants and spray items of these c
June 8, 2016
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Single women relieve stress with alcohol: survey
A high number of single women in South Korea turn to alcohol to relieve stress or depression, a survey showed Wednesday.According to the survey by Seoul National University’s College of Nursing, about 38 percent of respondents said that they are under heavy stress in their daily life, with 13.5 percent feeling sad or despairing for at least two consecutive weeks in the past year.Some 1,700 single women aged 19 or above participated in the national health and nutrition survey between 2010 and 201
June 8, 2016
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[FEATURE] Elderly victims overlooked in disinfectant tragedy
It took Ryu Jae-wook several years to bring himself to apply to the government for a health probe over the death of his father who had regularly used a toxic humidifier disinfectant. Although the government accepted such applications from product users over four separate occasions since 2011, with the latest one currently underway, Ryu deliberately ignored such information, telling himself that his father died of old age not from using the disinfectant. His father passed away in June 2006, and h
June 8, 2016
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Woman assaults senior citizen for ‘looking at’ her
A woman in her 30s was arrested for punching a senior citizen in his 70s, police in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province said Wednesday.Police said the woman, surnamed Kim, hit and kicked the man for “staring at her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable.” (YTN capture)She is also accused of assaulting four other citizens who attempted to pull them apart. The police investigation revealed that Kim had been booked a month earlier for similar allegations of hitting a woman on the streets for “scowling.” Ki
June 8, 2016
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Angels of Sorok Island awarded Korean citizenship
Two nuns from Austria were awarded certificates of honorary South Korean citizenship Wednesday in recognition of their contributions to the country through more than 40 years of caring for leprosy patients, government officials said.The Justice Ministry conferred citizenship on sisters Marianne Stoeger, 82, and Margareta Pissar, 81, who have treated leprosy patients on South Korea's most famous leper colony of Sorok Island off the country's southern coast. Stoeger attended a ceremony at the mini
June 8, 2016