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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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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Choo Shin-soo's father convicted of fraud
The father of Texas Rangers' outfielder Choo Shin-soo received a three-year jail term Thursday for not paying back 500 million won ($407,400) that he borrowed. The Jinju Branch of the Changwon District Court suspended the sentence for the 65-year-old for five years and ordered him to carry out 100 hours of community service.His accomplice, identified only by his surname Cho, was jailed after receiving a four-year prison term. Cho was accused of borrowing an additional 300 million won from the vi
Feb. 18, 2016
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BIFF head steps down amid controversy over censorship
Suh Byung-soo, mayor of Busan, said Thursday he will step down as chief organizer of the Busan International Film Festival amid allegations that he tried to censor a movie screened in 2014.The feud between the Busan Metropolitan Government and BIFF began when the festival organizers screened "The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol," a documentary that criticizes the South Korean government's botched rescue efforts in the immediate aftermath of a ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people in 20
Feb. 18, 2016
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Police raid teachers union’s Web hosting company
Police on Thursday raided the office of a company in Seoul that manages a computer server run by a progressive teachers union to investigate whether the public workers had violated laws by expressing political statements against the government. Earlier in the day, Jongno Police Station seized documents and data from a telecommunications company working with the Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union, the nation’s biggest progressive teachers union that was recently outlawed by the high cour
Feb. 18, 2016
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Public divided on whether to scrap use of ‘Korean age’
For expats, one of the first things they learn to adjust to in South Korea is to clarify their age in two ways: one as they would back home, and another in “Korean age.”Korea is one of the few countries that counts a newborn as being age 1 from birth. The tradition originates from China and was widely used in Asia.From birth, a Korean starts as a 1-year-old and grows older by a year each year as the calendar changes. A 20-year-old, therefore would be 21 years old in Korean age, even if they have
Feb. 18, 2016
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Drug seizures surge 42%
The amount of smuggled narcotics in South Korea surged 42 percent year-on-year last year, statistics released by the Korea Customs Service showed Thursday.Drugs totaling 91.6 kilograms were confiscated in 2015, each marking 28 percent and 42 percent rise from the year before. The number of apprehended smuggled cases reached 325, up 6 percent from 2014. The authorities said drug smuggling cases continued to increase for the past four years. Customs officials display the smuggled drugs confiscated
Feb. 18, 2016
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Over 80,000 infants missed free health checkups: lawmaker
Over 80,000 infants in Korea failed to show up for free basic health checkups, stoking concerns that they may be suffering from parental negligence, a lawmaker said Thursday.According to Rep. Lee No-geun of the ruling Saenuri Party, quoting National Health Insurance Service data, a total of 80,783 of some 1.07 million infants across the country did not receive their free health checkup as of 2013. This accounted for 7.5 percent of total babies. Under the current health rule, babies must receiv
Feb. 18, 2016
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Almost 2 years after disaster, question of memorializing classrooms looms
After a disaster sweeps away three quarters of a high school class, an unusual question arises: What should be done with the abandoned classrooms?For nearly two years after April 16, 2014, when more than 300 students perished in a capsized ferry, the answer, albeit out of administrative negligence more than anything else, had been to preserve them.Now, with the entering class of Danwon High School in Ansan, south of Seoul, numbering more than the existing four classrooms, the question is being r
Feb. 18, 2016
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Top court orders retrial for former judge convicted of bribery
The Supreme Court on Thursday returned to a lower court a ruling that sentenced a former judge to three years in prison for taking bribes from a private money lender in return for legal favors.The 44-year-old, identified only by his surname Choi, was indicted last year over allegations he received some 269 million won ($220,400) from 2009 to 2012, in exchange for helping a notorious loan shark receive reduced sentences for crimes related to drugs and blackmail.The usurer had multiple trials betw
Feb. 18, 2016
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Korea seized smuggled drugs worth 214 bln won in 2015
Drug smuggling into South Korea surged to a 14-year high in 2015 on expanded syndicates and diversified trafficking routes, customs data showed Thursday.A total of 325 shipments of banned substances were caught last year valued at 214 billion won ($174.8 million), up 42 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.The total weight of the confiscated drugs also jumped 28 percent on-year to 91.6 kilograms. The figures of both value and weight marked the
Feb. 18, 2016
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Korea confirms two additional FMD cases
Two more cases of foot-and-mouth disease have been confirmed in South Korea, rekindling concerns that the animal disease could spread across the nation, the government said Thursday.Pigs at farms in Gongju and Cheonan in the central region of South Chungcheong Province tested positive for the highly contagious disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.The authorities plan to cull the affected animals.Early last month, two outbrea
Feb. 18, 2016
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College student nabbed over Facebook threat against Park
A college student was apprehended Wednesday on suspicion of threatening President Park Geun-hye with a Facebook message calling for an attack on her office, police said.The student, identified only by his last name Kim, is suspected of posting the message last month using abusive language toward Park and photos of guns and ammunition, according to the police.Police tracked him down after receiving the suspect's IP address from Facebook headquarters in the U.S.Kim, who was found to live in Cheong
Feb. 18, 2016
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Study carries Allied Forces' testimonies on 'comfort women'
The Allied Forces who participated in World War II have made testimonies on women who were sexually enslaved by Tokyo during the war, a recent study showed Wednesday.In the study by Tessa Morris-Suzuki, professor of Japanese History at Australian National University, a recorded testimony of Angus McDougall, a former Australian serviceman, shows how a group of girls were transported to Japanese army brothels "in the same hellish conditions" as soldiers. "These girls, McDougall recalls, were not J
Feb. 18, 2016
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[Graphic News] Most gifted children learning math, science
Of all elementary, middle and high school students in South Korea, 1.8 percent of have been deemed gifted children and are receiving specialized education, the Education Ministry said Wednesday. Of 110,053 gifted children nationwide, 81.2 percent of them are receiving specialized education in the fields of mathematics and science, the ministry said. Others included invention (4.0 percent), humanities and social sciences (3.5 percent), information-related studies (2.9 percent) and various foreign
Feb. 17, 2016
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Former police chief acquitted of bribery charges
A former police chief was acquitted Wednesday of charges he received bribes from an owner of a local construction firm, citing a lack of evidence.The Busan District Court found Cho Hyun-oh, the ex-commissioner of the National Police Agency, not guilty of receiving 50 million won ($40,700) from the owner of the firm, identified only by his surname Chung, at Cho's office and a local hotel restaurant in 2010 and 2011, respectively.The court said there seems to be a lack of trust between the two to
Feb. 17, 2016
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Seoul mayor's son cleared of draft-dodging rumors
A local court said Wednesday that draft-dodging rumors about the son of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon are false and handed down monetary penalties to those who spread the rumors.The Seoul Central District Court ordered Yang Seung-oh, a renowned radiologist, to pay a fine of 15 million won ($12,200) for spreading false rumors that Park's son Ju-sin evaded mandatory military service.The court also ordered six other defendants to pay fines, ranging from 7 million won to 15 million won, for attempting t
Feb. 17, 2016
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Korea urges Japan to stop damaging 'comfort women' deal
South Korea warned Japan Wednesday not to undermine a bilateral deal on "comfort women," upset about Japan's repeated denial of the forced nature behind the wartime atrocity.Japan should "refrain from words and deeds to damage the spirit and purpose" of the Dec. 28 agreement, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.Under the verbal accord, the Japanese government offered an apology for the sexual enslavement of Korean women by its troops during World War II. It also agreed to provide 1 billion
Feb. 17, 2016
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Mountain-goers with lighters or matches to be fined up to 500,000 won
Anybody who carries lighters or matches while on a mountain or in farmland vulnerable to wildfires can be fined up to 500,000 won ($407), the government said Wednesday.The Ministry of Public Safety and Security said the fine will also be levied on those who start fires in the forest or on farmland, or those caught carrying lighters or matches while climbing a mountain, as tougher measures for the prevention of wildfires that occur frequently during dry seasons like these.The ministry said it wil
Feb. 17, 2016
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Lifer convicted of contract killing gets more jail term for bribery
A former member of the Seoul municipal council, who is serving a life sentence for abetting a murder, received an additional three-year jail term Wednesday for bribery.The Seoul Southern District Court sentenced the former Seoul city councilor Kim Hyung-sik to three years in jail, convicting him of receiving kickbacks from a deceased wealthy businessman, identified only by his surname Song, from 2010 to 2014.The court ordered Kim to pay 50 million won ($40,700) in fines and forfeit another 583 m
Feb. 17, 2016
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Prosecution raids swimming body over corruption
Prosecutors on Wednesday raided the offices of the nation’s swimming governing body and its executives over suspicions they embezzled government subsidies.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office searched the offices of the Korea Swimming Federation and its affiliate in Gangwon Province, seizing hard drives and business documents. YonhapSeveral of the officials, including executive-level officials, were arrested on corruption charges. Their identities were withheld. Authorities will als
Feb. 17, 2016
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Four in 10 prospective candidates in April have been convicted
South Korea’s election watchdog data showed four in 10 prospective candidates planning to run in April general elections have been convicted of charges ranging from driving under the influence to attempted murder. The National Election Committee said that of the 1,448 candidates registered to run in the upcoming race, roughly 37 percent of political aspirants were found to have a total of 973 criminal counts on their prior records. The number was based on the agency’s data as of Tuesday. While m
Feb. 17, 2016