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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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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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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[Reporter’s Column] Shattering Korea’s family fantasy
Following last week's gruesome case of a father who mutilated the dead body of his 7-year-old child -- he also confessed to neglecting his injured son leading to his death -- the South Korean media have seemed rather obsessed with two words: “why?” and “mystery.”At first, many reports pointed out that he was proven not to be a psychopath according to examination results released by mental health professionals. And then it was revealed that the father had no record of violent crimes. At this poin
Jan. 20, 2016
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More than half of S. Koreans buy lottery tickets
More than half of South Koreans bought a lottery ticket at least once last year, a survey showed Wednesday.According to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, 56.5 percent of 1,000 respondents answered that they have had experience with tombola games last year.A lottery buyer purchases an average of 14.2 tickets per year, or once every four weeks, the survey showed.More than 93 percent of them say they spend less than 10,000 won in buying a lottery ticket. The findings sho
Jan. 20, 2016
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Cold wave sweeps most parts of Korea for three consecutive days
Most parts of the country were hit by a severe cold wave early Wednesday morning, with South Korea's weather service issuing a cold wave advisory for the third consecutive day.As of 5 a.m., temperatures had dropped to minus 13.9 degrees Celsius in Seoul, minus 18.3 degrees in Paju, minus 11.6 degrees in Suwon, minus 12.1 degrees in Incheon and minus 17.2 degrees in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province.The mercury also dropped below zero in the central and southern parts of the country, with minus 11.8 de
Jan. 20, 2016
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Cold wave pushes up power demand to record high
South Korea's power demand soared to an all-time high on Tuesday as the country was hit by a severe cold wave, the government said Tuesday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said electricity demand hit 82.12 million kilowatts as of 11 a.m., breaking the previous record of 80.15 million kilowatts set on Dec. 17, 2014.The spike came as the average temperature for all of South Korea fell to minus 10 degree Celsius. In Seoul, the mercury fell below 15 degrees early in the morning.The country
Jan. 19, 2016
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Park calls for fundamental measures against child abuse
President Park Geun-hye instructed officials Tuesday to come up with fundamental measures to prevent child abuse following the arrest of a couple over the death of their son.She called on school and other relevant authorities to quickly confirm and take necessary actions if a student remains absent from school for a long time."Many people could have been shocked over the child abuse,"Park said at a Cabinet meeting as she called for fundamental measures to ensure child abuse won't recur.Four days
Jan. 19, 2016
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Umbrella union walks out of talks with gov't, management
South Korea's major umbrella labor union declared Tuesday the breakdown of a trilateral deal on labor reform, citing the government's "unilateral" push for a plan to make the labor market more flexible.It also said it will not participate in future talks with management and the government to address major labor issues. Last month, the government announced draft guidelines to allow companies to formally sack underperforming employees and amend employment rules more easily even without consent fro
Jan. 19, 2016
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Korea shuts down nuclear reactor due to warning signal alert
South Korea shut down one of its nuclear reactors on the east coast Tuesday after a warning signal went off indicating a possible problem, the country's atomic energy operator said.The Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Corp. said the 950,000 kilowatt Hanul No. 1 was shut down at 11:39 a.m. after a "reactor warning light" went off at the plant located in Uljin, some 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul.It said preliminary checks showed no radioactive contamination near the reactor and that there is no imm
Jan. 19, 2016
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Schoolboy‘s death raises alarm over child protection system
Last week’s arrest of a man who mutilated his dead son‘s body divulged gaping holes in Korea’s child protection system, as officials took belated measures to investigate the cases of children who have missed school for prolonged periods.The ruling Saenuri Party on Tuesday said that it is pushing to conduct an investigation into all 220 elementary school students who have missed school for three months or more without a specific reason given.This comes in response to a case uncovered last week of
Jan. 19, 2016
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Ministry files suit against Volkswagen Korea
South Korea’s Environment Ministry filed a criminal suit with the prosecution Tuesday against the local unit of Volkswagen over the global automaker’s emissions rigging scandal. The suit was filed against Johannes Thammer, managing director of Audi Volkswagen Korea, after the world’s largest automaker failed to satisfy the nation's legal requirements in its recall plan, the ministry said. Thammer was accused of violating the Clean Air Conservation Act, which can carry a prison term of up to five
Jan. 19, 2016
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Sex abuse makes up half of female health workers’ complaints
Park Hyun-ju (not her real name), a 30-year-old medical resident at a general hospital, is used to patients calling her “agassi” -- a Korean term commonly used when addressing a young woman of unknown age -- instead of a doctor. “But they never call a male doctor ‘chongak’ (the male equivalent for Agassi). My male colleagues are always referred to as doctors,” she said. “And many older male patients don’t take me seriously. Once I told a senior male patient to stop calling me agassi. He said,
Jan. 19, 2016
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No radioactive substances found in tap water following North Korea's nuke test
The metropolitan government said Tuesday it has not detected any radioactive substances in its tap water following North Korea's fourth nuclear bomb test conducted Jan. 6.The Office of Waterworks under the Seoul municipal government said the tap water for 10 million Seoul citizens has been confirmed safe as a result of its examination of artificial radioactive elements, such as cesium-134.Conducted from Jan. 6 through Jan. 12, the city government tested Han River water collected at four water in
Jan. 19, 2016
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Gov't to slap fines on carmakers that fail to recall cars for emissions violations
Carmakers that fail to fix emissions-related violations will be slapped with fines, the government said Monday, as South Korea moves to tackle concerns raised by Volkswagen's cheating scandal.The environment ministry said companies that do not recall their cars will be fined for each violation in accordance with changes to the country's air environment protection law.It said offenders could be slapped with upwards to 3 million won (US$2,500) in fines.The ministry said carmakers that fail to upda
Jan. 18, 2016
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The rooms where time refuses to pass
ANSAN, Gyeonggi Province – Lockers have not been emptied, boards not erased, class timetables not updated and the calendar not flipped since that fateful day of April 16, 2014. This photo shows one of the Memory Classrooms dedicated to the student victims. (Yoon Min-sik/The Korea Herald)Ten classrooms in Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province have been left untouched in memory of 250 students who were killed or remain missing from the sinking of the ferry Sewol en route from Incheon to J
Jan. 18, 2016
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Korea says massive spam emails traced to China's northeast
Massive spam emails sent to South Korean public organizations were traced to an internet network in northeast China that officials said was behind a cyberattack on South Korea's nuclear power operator.Kang Sin-myeong, the National Police Agency Commissioner-General, said the Internet Protocol address used to send the spam emails is registered in the northeastern province of Liaoning that borders North Korea.The IP address -- the online equivalent of a street address or phone number -- exactly co
Jan. 18, 2016
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Multicultural group to lodge complaint over idol's apology
A private multicultural organization said Monday it will file a complaint later this week with the national human rights watchdog against an entertainment agency chief who reportedly forced a 16-year-old Taiwanese K-pop singer to apologize for waving the island's flag.The Center for Multicultural Korea in Seoul denounced Park Jin-young, chief of JYP Entertainment, for allegedly forcing the young girl to make the apology, which it calls a "serious racial discrimination and human rights infringeme
Jan. 18, 2016
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Foreign envoys protest limits on foreign law firms
The U.S. envoy to Korea visited the National Assembly on Monday to renew his calls for easing of restrictions on foreign law firms here citing the bilateral free trade pact, prompting criticism from Korean lawyers’ groups over the envoy’s “intervention in domestic affairs.”Mark Lippert, the U.S ambassador to Korea, visited Rep. Lee Sang-min, head of the parliamentary legislation and judiciary committee, to deliver a joint statement protesting the current bill on the opening of Korea’s legal mark
Jan. 18, 2016
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Military slammed for sending draft notices to Sewol victims
The government has come under fire after it was found to have mailed physical examination notices for military conscription to victims killed or missing from the Sewol ferry sinking nearly two years ago. The Military Manpower Administration sent the letters on Jan. 6 to 92 male students of Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. Most of them were not formally registered as deceased because their bodies had not yet been found or the families were still grieving. They were among 305 who w
Jan. 18, 2016
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Korea aims to draw 400,000 foreign medical patients
South Korea aims to attract 400,000 foreign patients this year while creating 50,000 more jobs in the nation’s health and pharmaceutical industries, the Health Ministry said in its 2016 policy briefing to President Park Geun-hye on Monday.Last year, Korea attracted 280,000 patients from overseas. To lure more visitors, Korea will refund the 10 percent value added tax to foreign patients who receive treatments at dermatology and cosmetic surgery clinics from this year. Also starting this year, r
Jan. 18, 2016
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'20% of suicidal Korean teens turned thoughts into action’
Almost 20 percent of South Korean teenagers with suicidal thoughts tried to end their life at least once, a new study showed Monday. The paper, which was submitted as a master’s thesis at Kyonggi University and got an award from Chindfund Korea, researched a total of 9,438 Korean teens who considered suicide as of 2014. They made up 14.2 percent of all schoolchildren who agreed to participate in the research. Among them, 19.2 percent survived an attempted suicide. The research by scholar Kim J
Jan. 18, 2016
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Violations of corporate disclosure rules double in 2015
Violations of regulations on public disclosures by business firms have been rising rapidly since 2013 with the number doubling last year, the financial watchdog said Monday.The Financial Supervisory Service said it uncovered 126 cases of various violations committed by 98 companies last year, twice the 63 cases in 2014. In 2013, 45 cases of corporate disclosure violations were detected.Of the 126 cases, the FSS imposed sizable surcharges on 26 cases that violated the rules heavily and fines for
Jan. 18, 2016