Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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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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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Education issues set for bumpy year in 2016
The year 2016 is expected to be a boisterous one in the education sector, especially as government policies continue to fuel political and ideological debates about issues including free child care, history textbook publication and college reform.Last week, Seoul’s education superintendent Cho Hi-yeon suggested the government raise the budget for local education offices to 21.27 percent of the overall tax income, up from the current 20.27 percent, saying that this would allow them to better shou
Feb. 1, 2016
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U.S. citizen convicted of murdering Korean student appeals
A U.S. citizen who received a 20-year jail term last week for murdering a South Korean student in 1997 has filed an appeal with a higher court, legal sources said Monday.Arthur Patterson, who has been convicted of stabbing then-college student Cho Joong-pil multiple times at a Burger King in the popular foreigner district of Itaewon in central Seoul, brought the case to the Seoul High Court.Last week, the Seoul Central District Court handed down a jail term 19 years after the incident took place
Feb. 1, 2016
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More parking lots to be created for tour buses in Seoul
The Seoul city government said Monday it will create more parking spaces for tourist buses in central Seoul to resolve parking and traffic problems with an increasing number of tourists.The Seoul Metropolitan Government said a tour bus parking lot with 35 spaces will be created near Seoul Station in the center of the capital by the end of this month, by borrowing space from Korail Corp., the state train operator.Another 17 spaces will be provided near the popular foreigners' neighborhood of Itae
Feb. 1, 2016
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Minister urges passage of reform bills
South Korea's finance minister called on parliament Monday to pass controversial reform bills in order to speed up the country's structural reform and bolster overall competitiveness."Every reform is completed by the law. The government cannot carry out sweeping reform without a parliamentary passage," Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said in a press conference with four other ministers from the labor, education and trade ministries and the Financial Services Commission. "The government has tried to c
Feb. 1, 2016
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‘Energy supply scheme change key to curbing climate change’
It is crucial for Korea to change its energy supply scheme in order to reach the target of the Paris Agreement on climate change, according to a renowned environmental activist. “The strongest message of the Paris deal is that the fossil fuel generation has ended. Just as the Stone Age didn’t end just because there were no more stones, global warming is telling us that we can no longer use fossil fuels but have to pursue sustainability,” Ahn Byung-ok, head of the Institute for Climate Change Act
Feb. 1, 2016
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Social immobility becomes harder to tackle in South Korea: study
The gap between the rich and the poor in terms of encountering life chances widened among younger generations in South Korea, with such social immobility costing the country social and economic losses, a report showed Sunday. The report, written by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, showed that social immobility was more prevalent among younger Koreans in their 20s, 30s and 40s, compared to the older generation. The research interviewed a total of 1,342 Koreans and divided them i
Jan. 31, 2016
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Security breaches raise concerns at Incheon International Airport
A series of security breaches at Incheon International Airport including illegal entry to the country by transit passengers and the discovery of a suspect package with a threatening message, has raised concerns about safety at the country’s biggest airport. Questions surrounded the management of the overall passenger screening process and unmanned immigration service kiosks. The airport has been running without a CEO since its former head Park Wan-su quit last month to run for office in the gene
Jan. 31, 2016
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PM urges officials to tighten airport security
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn called on officials Saturday to strengthen security at South Korea's main airport, describing a recent series of security breaches as a crisis."Everything will be lost if security is compromised," Hwang said in a rare visit to Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul.He told airport officials to boost security, saying illegal entries by passengers and other accidents could threaten to undermine the standing and competitiveness of the airport.The visit came hours
Jan. 31, 2016
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1 person dead in chopper crash in Korea
One person died after a fire-fighting helicopter crashed near a temple on a mountain located in South Korea's southwest province, local firefighters said Saturday.The chopper rented by North Jeolla Province for fighting forest fires crashed at around 2:58 p.m. near Geumsan Temple in Gimje, about 260 kilometers southwest of Seoul, according to them.The accident took place while it was en route to the place where it was to begin its mission early next month. The 61-year-old pilot, who was identifi
Jan. 31, 2016
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Warning in Arabic found in box suspected of carrying bomb
Police said Saturday that they have found a warning message written in Arabic inside a box recently discovered at Korea's main airport that raised terror alarms in the country.The message, which was written in Arabic on a sheet of paper half the size of A4, reads, "This is the last warning to you. God will punish." It was not a handwritten but a printed sentence with some grammatical errors, according to the police, who suspected that it could have been translated by a computer program or by a p
Jan. 31, 2016
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Police: Butane canisters found in Incheon Airport
Police said Friday they have recovered two butane canisters in a suspicious white box in South Korea's main airport near Seoul, but no accident was reported.Police said they received a report around 4:30 p.m. that the box suspected to contain explosive devices was found in a man's bathroom in Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway.Police cordoned off the area as an explosive ordnance disposal unit was checking the bathroom.A scan from portable digital x-ray equipment showed th
Jan. 29, 2016
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From asylum seeker to renowned activist
At a glance, Yiombi Thona appears to be a symbol of success as a refugee in Korea, with his thriving career as a university lecturer and human rights activist traveling around the world to address refugee problems. Yet, he could settle down in Korea only after a grueling six-year process to win refugee status, enduring poor treatment toward asylum seekers and discrimination against African migrants. Yiombi Thona (Photo credit: Adam Paul Czelusta)“Korea is my second home which gave me protection.
Jan. 29, 2016
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[Newsmaker] Patterson sentenced to 20 years in jail for Itaewon murder
A Seoul court on Friday sentenced a U.S. man to 20 years in jail for murdering a South Korean college student nearly two decades ago in the Itaewon murder case. The Seoul Central District Court found Arthur John Patterson, 37, guilty of stabbing Cho Joong-pil, 22, to death in 1997 at a Burger King outlet in Itaewon, a multicultural district frequented by expats. Arthur Patterson (Yonhap)The court recognized Edward Lee, 37, as an accomplice for the murder, but did not convict him according to Kor
Jan. 29, 2016
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Ex-P.M. given suspended prison term for corruption
A Seoul court on Friday sentenced former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo to eight months in jail, suspended for two years, for taking illegal political funds from a deceased businessman at the center of a high-profile bribery scandal.Lee was charged last July for receiving a bag carrying 30 million won ($24,865) from former Keangnam Enterprises chairman Sung Woan-jong while running in a by-election in 2013. Sung was found dead last April in an apparent suicide amid a prosecutorial probe into the scan
Jan. 29, 2016
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U.N. official criticizes Korea for restricting freedom of speech
A senior U.N. rights official expressed concerns Friday that the Korean authorities were stifling the rights to public assembly and free speech. Maina Kiai (Yonhap)Maina Kiai, the special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, took issue with the government’s use of law and public force to restrict public assemblies and association, as well as a lack of dialogue channels between the authorities and citizens. “I heard government officials repeatedly cite peop
Jan. 29, 2016
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Military to hand out cell phones to conscripts
The Defense Ministry said Friday it will operate a new mobile phone system at the nation's military barracks, in which soldiers will be able to receive phone calls from their parents and relatives. To this effect, the ministry has distributed a total of 44,686 mobile phones throughout all military barracks for the country's 630,000 soldiers in its latest effort to improve their living conditions.One cell phone will be given to each group of eight to 10 soldiers staying together in the same livin
Jan. 29, 2016
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China presses Korea over THAAD
China urged South Korea Friday to rethink the sensitive issue of bringing in an advanced U.S. missile defense system."The Chinese government hopes the related nation (South Korea) will handle the matter prudently," Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, told Yonhap News Agency.She stressed that Beijing's position is firm that all countries should consider the national interests of other nations in taking their own security into account.China's message came in response to rep
Jan. 29, 2016
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U.S. citizen gets 20-year jail term for murdering Korean student
A U.S. citizen accused of murdering a South Korean college student in 1997 received a 20-year jail term Friday, the severest penalty possible for the defendant who was then an adolescent.The Seoul Central District Court found Arthur Patterson guilty of stabbing Cho Joong-pil, who was then a college student, multiple times at a Burger King in the popular foreigner district of Itaewon in central Seoul 19 years ago."There is credibility in statements made by Edward Lee, an accomplice, that (he) wit
Jan. 29, 2016
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Ex-PM gets suspended jail term for bribery
South Korea's former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo received an 8-month jail term Friday for receiving bribes from a deceased businessman.Still, the Seoul Central District Court suspended the sentence for two years and ordered him to forfeit 30 million won ($27,000).Lee, who stepped down in April after mounting suspicion, was convicted of taking 30 million won at his election office in April2013 from Sung Wan-jong, the late chairman of construction firm Keangnam Enterprises Inc."The authenticity of
Jan. 29, 2016
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Gov't to increase housing support for newlyweds
The government and the ruling party agreed Friday to increase the state housing support for newly married couples as part of efforts to tackle the nation's chronic low birthrate, a lawmaker said.The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will build a total of 10 apartment units across the country exclusively for newlyweds, Rep. Lee Joo-young of the ruling Saenuri Party told reporters following a meeting with government officials. South Korea has one of the lowest birth rates among the Or
Jan. 29, 2016