Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Gov't announces state control over history textbooks
The government Monday announced its plan to reintroduce a single state history textbook for secondary school students to address what it calls the predominantly left-leaning contents in current books. Unveiling an administrative measure, the Ministry of Education said history textbooks for middle and high schoolers nationwide will be authored by the government starting in the 2017 school year. The government published state school history textbooks under the authoritarian Park Chung-hee gover
Oct. 12, 2015
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Ministry unveils plan for history textbook publication system
South Korea's education ministry on Monday unveiled an administrative measure to introduce state-designated history textbooks for secondary school students. According to the measure, history books for middle and high schoolers will be authored by the government for the 2017 school year. Currently, eight private publishing companies print history textbooks after winning approval from the government for use in middle and high schools. Schools choose from any of the eight textbooks while primary
Oct. 12, 2015
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Multicultural families on the rise: lawmaker
The number of marriage immigrants and people in multicultural families in South Korea have both doubled in the past eight years, an opposition lawmaker said Monday, citing government data. More than 147,000 immigrants are or have been married to a South Korean national without claiming South Korean citizenship as of 2015, Rep. Jin Sun-mee of New Politics Alliance for Democracy said, citing data from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. More than 92,000 foreigners became naturalized afte
Oct. 12, 2015
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Gov't to alter history textbook publication system
The government will announce a plan to introduce state-designated history textbooks for secondary school students this week, a government official concerned with the matter said Sunday."The Ministry of Education will make an official announcement on the plan tomorrow," the official said, requesting not to be named.Education minister Hwang Woo-yea will brief reporters on the government decision at 2 p.m. Monday, according to other sources. Currently, eight private publishing companies print histo
Oct. 11, 2015
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S. Korea growing vulnerable to dengue fever, Chikungunya virus: expert
South Korea is becoming more vulnerable to specific infectious diseases -- dengue fever and Chikungunya virus -- partly because of the nation’s climate change, a medical doctor specializing in epidemics said. According to Dr. Kim Woo-joo, the head of the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases, Korea’s warmer temperatures and heavier rainfall in recent years may have increased the rate of human infection of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne tropical disease. Such warmer, humid weather makes it easie
Oct. 11, 2015
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Almost 10% of Korean adoptees may be stateless
In March, the life of Adam Crapser, a Korean adoptee who was facing deportation after his adoptive parents never filed for his American citizenship, made headlines worldwide. As the 40-year-old automatically lost his South Korean citizenship when he left the country at the age of four to be adopted, Crapser has always been effectively stateless. Newly released South Korean government data showed that almost 10 percent of 166,138 registered Korean adoptees who left the country since the 1950s may
Oct. 11, 2015
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Foreign tourists to S. Korea forecast to near 20 mln in 2019
The number of foreign tourists to South Korea is expected to flirt with 20 million in 2019 on the strength of a sharp rise in Chinese visitors, the state tourism agency said Sunday.Despite an expected drop this year due to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak, the number is project to surge 14.6 percent on-year in 2016 and grow at an annual average rate of over 7 percent for the next three years to reach 19.35 million in 2019, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.During the cited
Oct. 11, 2015
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Volkswagen Korea apologizes; mulls recall
The South Korean unit of German carmaker Volkswagen apologized Thursday for an emission-rigging scandal and vowed to take “all necessary measures” including a voluntary recall of the vehicles in question. The scandal erupted after it was revealed last month that Volkswagen Korea had sold some 120,000 vehicles with a device to cheat the pollution tests. To date, over 11 million cars worldwide are believed to have been installed with hidden software that can switch on pollution controls when it de
Oct. 8, 2015
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English guru helps students foster creativity
With Korean society emphasizing the importance of the “creative economy,” novel and imaginative ideas are becoming more valuable than ever. Professor Min Byoung-chul, professor of international studies at Konkuk University, looks to help students’ capacity to come up with such ideas through his business English class. The class, which is conducted entirely in English, centers on teaching the techniques needed while working at global companies, according to Min. This includes presentation skills,
Oct. 8, 2015
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Suspect denies charge in Itaewon murder trial
The key suspect in a reopened murder case denied his charges of stabbing a South Korean college student to death in Itaewon, Seoul, nearly two decades ago at the first court hearing on Thursday. Arthur John Patterson, a 35-year-old U.S. citizen, was extradited to Korea late last month to face a new trial on charges of murdering Cho Joong-pil, 22, in 1997 at a Burger King restaurant in Itaewon, a multicultural district frequented by expats residing in Seoul. Arthur Patterson (Yonhap)At the hearin
Oct. 8, 2015
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10 % of foreign students lack visas: lawmaker
Nearly 10 percent of foreign students studying in Korea were found to be in the country illegally, a lawmaker’s report showed Thursday.According to Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon who obtained the Justice Ministry’s data, 8.1 percent of over 86,000 foreign students here stayed here illegally last year. Of them, 651 were studying in Korea’s top 28 universities. He also accused universities of recklessly recruiting foreign students for financial gain, and argued that they provided insufficient supervision afte
Oct. 8, 2015
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U.S. envoy attacker indicted over assaulting prison staff
The 55-year-old man who attacked the top U.S. envoy to South Korea earlier this year has been indicted for assaulting prison staff, prosecutors said Thursday.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said Kim Ki-jong, who was found guilty of attacking Amb. Mark Lippert with a knife at a function in Seoul, is suspected of hitting a prison officer and a surgeon when he was denied the right to go to a hospital for his ankle injury.The staff rejected the request as the injury was treatable in j
Oct. 8, 2015
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U.S. citizen denies charges of murdering S. Korean student
A U.S. citizen accused of murdering a South Korean college student nearly two decades ago denied the charges Thursday.Arthur Patterson, who is suspected of stabbing college student Cho Joong-pil multiple times at a Burger King in the popular foreigner district of Itaewon in central Seoul in 1997, denied the charges, saying Korean-American Edward Lee committed the crime. Lee was also at the scene. "The crime was committed without a motive or purpose, which is only understandable when done by a ha
Oct. 8, 2015
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Vietnam starts work on S. Korea-funded sewerage treatment project
Vietnam has started work on a sewerage treatment project in the southern part of the country funded by South Korea, the finance ministry said Thursday.The new facility to be built in Long Xuyen City will enhance living and environmental conditions for some 280,000 people living in the surrounding areas, the ministry said."At present, the city does not have a modern sewerage treatment system, causing urban waste to flow directly into the river. This causes waterborne diseases and threatens the we
Oct. 8, 2015
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Bipartisan row escalates over state history textbooks
Rival political parties exchanged barbs Thursday as opposition lawmakers criticized the government's push to publish state history textbooks for secondary school students.Amid backlash from the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy and scholars, the Ministry of Education has said it will announce next week the change in the system for the publication of the history textbooks for middle and high schools across the nation."President Park Geun-hye's order to the Ministry of Education
Oct. 8, 2015
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Suwon aims to become green powerhouse
Suwon, the representative city of South Korea’s most populous province, has been making a name for itself on the global stage as the country’s most environmentally friendly city in light of escalating concerns over the world’s critical environment challenges. Behind the drive is Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young, who is often dubbed the “green mayor” for his dedication to making it the greenest city and leading player in the global campaign against environment threats. Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young (Ahn
Oct. 7, 2015
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Korean-American to take witness stand in Itaewon murder trial
A Seoul court will call in Korean-American Edward Lee, who was cleared of murdering a South Korean college student 18 years ago, to take the witness stand in the fresh trial of new murder suspect Arthur John Patterson. Lee, 36, who recently returned to Korea, will accept the prosecution’s request to testify as a witness in the trial set to begin Thursday, his father said in an interview with a local news outlet. The father said Lee is willing to take the stand to get “the wrong path” set straig
Oct. 7, 2015
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Decision on history textbooks due next week
The Education Ministry said Wednesday it would announce next week its decision on the possible reinstatement of state-published history textbooks for secondary education, a move that is expected to put an end to the yearlong speculation but start a fresh round of standoffs between rival groups. The ministry has mulled whether or not to bestow itself with exclusive rights to publish history textbooks, which has caused rifts in the National Assembly and in education circles. Korea currently allows
Oct. 7, 2015
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[Reporter’s column] Youth employment fund just for show?
Critics of President Park Geun-hye’s youth employment fund have been bashing the project as being strictly for demonstration purposes, simply intended to show that the government cares about the young, rather than as an effective way to tackle their job issues.Since the government rolled out the details of the plan Wednesday ― which Park initiated Aug. 15 ― it has become more difficult to argue otherwise.Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, Labor Minister Lee Ki-kwon and Policy Coordinating Minister Ch
Oct. 7, 2015
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South Korea's Gender Ministry blasted for denying LGBTI rights
A group of South Korean LGBTI and human rights activists on Wednesday protested against the Gender Ministry’s recent order directing the Daejeon Metropolitan City to scrap articles that guarantee LGBTI rights in the city’s newly revised charter of gender equality, demanding an official apology and recognition of LGBTI rights as part of women’s rights. The activists said they are bringing the particular issue to the U.N. Women, during a scheduled meeting with the organization’s policy director D
Oct. 7, 2015