Most Popular
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Korean labor force to shrink by 10 million by 2044: report
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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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[AtoZ Korean Mind] Does your job define who you are? Should it?
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Govt. asks hospitals to mitigate impact of medical professors' absence
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Doggy patrol team on the move to protect their cities
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S. Korea's working-age population to dip nearly 10m by 2044 amid low births
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Allegations surrounding BTS resurface, enraged fans demand apology
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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
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Gov't to build foundation to run 'Youth Hope Fund'
The government said Wednesday that it will establish a foundation to operate a youth employment fund proposed by President Park Geun-hye.Last month, Park launched the "Youth Hope Fund" to create jobs for young adults as youth unemployment has become a serious social problem in Asia's fourth-largest economy.Park became its first donor, contributing 20 million won ($17,000), and promised to give 3.2 million won, or 20 percent of her monthly pay, each month to the fund. The president's move sparked
Oct. 7, 2015
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Second hacker indicted for cyberattack against brokerage firm
Another hacker suspected of orchestrating a cyberattack on a major South Korean securities firm has been indicted on charges of disrupting the company's computer network, prosecutors said Wednesday.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said the 39-year-old man, identified only by his surname Lee, is suspected of launching a distributed denial-of-service attack that overwhelmed the website of Mirae Asset Securities Co., causing its services to be unavailable for 30 minutes on March 21, 2
Oct. 7, 2015
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Spy agency sues its ex-chief over alleged leak of confidential information
South Korea's top intelligence agency has filed a lawsuit against its former head for allegedly leaking confidential information, prosecutors said Wednesday.The National Intelligence Service took legal action against Kim Man-bok on Tuesday, who headed the agency from 2006 to 2008, for allegedly revealing information about a hotline between South and North Korea.Kim said at a symposium last week that after the hotline was set up, South Korea reported any messages coming through the hotline immedi
Oct. 7, 2015
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‘College students have poor Korean’
A recent study by a local scholar suggested South Korean college students are not very proficient in their mother tongue, with the average student having only basic writing skills.Song Hyun-jung, an assistant professor of Korean language education at Jeju National University, assessed the writing skills and grammar knowledge of 632 male and female students. The participants were asked to answer 20 questions designed to see if they had the Korean language skills required for higher education.On a
Oct. 6, 2015
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Job seekers to get increased benefits, but few will qualify
South Korean job seekers will receive higher unemployment benefits for a longer period, but fewer will qualify for the benefits after the National Assembly passes a newly revised labor law. According to the Labor Ministry’s latest report on the bill, the government aims to raise a job seeker’s unemployment allowance to 60 percent of his or her previous income before losing the job, from the current 50 percent. Once qualified, the job seeker would be able to receive the allowance for 120 to 270 d
Oct. 6, 2015
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Explosion injures Chinese diver in Sewol recovery work
A Chinese diver was injured following an underwater explosion while working for the Sewol ferry recovery operation off the southwest coast of the country, officials said Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the 43-year-old Chinese diver fainted when a sudden blast took place in the nose of the 6,825-ton ship on Monday evening while he was participating in a propeller-cutting operation. The diver was immediately pulled to the surface by a colleague and moved to the hospital
Oct. 6, 2015
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Former spy chief released on bail
A former intelligence chief who had been serving a jail term over alleged election meddling was released on bail Tuesday. Won Sei-hoon, who headed the National Intelligence Service from 2009 to 2013 under former President Lee Myung-bak, was freed by the Seoul High Court after 240 days in prison as the court cited his right to prepare for his defense in trial.In July, the Supreme Court returned to a lower court a ruling that convicted the former spy chief of willfully neglecting online posts made
Oct. 6, 2015
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6 in 10 S. Koreans use messengers every day: poll
Slightly over 6 out of 10 South Koreans use online messengers every day, a poll showed Tuesday, with KakaoTalk standing as the most popular communication platform.According to the survey conducted by market researcher TNS, 61 percent of Internet users here used instant messengers daily, hovering above the global average of 55 percent.The survey was conducted on 60,500 respondents from 50 countries over the May-August period.Of the South Korean respondents who used messengers every day, 3 percent
Oct. 6, 2015
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Ex-President Lee's brother denies alleged corruption
The elder brother of former President Lee Myung-bak Tuesday denied alleged influence peddling involving the appointment of the head of South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO."I did not," Lee Sang-deuk, a former six-term lawmaker, told reporters when asked if he illegally used his position to help get former POSCO Chairman Chung Joon-yang appointed. "I explained everything well to clear up any misunderstandings."The 80-year-old former lawmaker emerged from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Offi
Oct. 6, 2015
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Ex-President Lee’s brother summoned over graft scandal
The elder brother of former President Lee Myung-bak was summoned for questioning Monday over influence-peddling and bribery allegations involving POSCO, the country’s largest steelmaker. Lee Sang-deuk, a former six-term lawmaker, appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office at around 10:20 a.m., two years after he completed a 14-month jail term on charges of receiving kickbacks from local savings banks. (Yonhap)This time, the former ruling Saenuri party member is accused of pres
Oct. 5, 2015
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Protests erupt over college president ballots
Last Friday, some 400 students of state-run universities across South Korea held a joint protest supporting the direct voting system of college presidents by professors.While the students themselves were not direct beneficiaries of the system, they said that the Education Ministry’s plan to implement indirect voting infringes on the autonomy of higher education institutes.“The ministry is tearing down the very principles of democracy, which is that members of an organization have the right to pi
Oct. 5, 2015
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Hanyang University to hold student forum
Hanyang University’s Institute of Chinese Studies is hosting an international student forum about the network between South Korea and China on Thursday, school officials said Monday.The topic of the forum will be “Humanities exchange between Korea and China, and the role of students from the two countries.” School officials said the event is a follow-up to the leaders of the two countries agreeing to expand student communications and cooperation at last year’s summit. “I expect students of Korea
Oct. 5, 2015
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New grading system confirmed for college English exam
South Korea recently confirmed the final plans for the 2017 college entrance exam, known here as Suneung, the most notable of which was to change the current curved grading system to a score-based “absolute grading” system for English.Experts say changes applied to English, one of the major Suneung subjects, are likely to affect the admission process and private education market in the country. The annual exam is conducted in November and graded on a nine-level system.The new policy is likely to
Oct. 5, 2015
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S. Korea to spend 610b won on nuclear decommissioning
South Korea on Monday said it plans to spend 610 billion won ($522 million) by 2030 to develop core technology for decommissioning nuclear power plants. The Atomic Energy Promotion Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Hwang Woo-yea, held a meeting and confirmed plans for the project on nuclear decommissioning, in light of the government’s decision to permanently shut down the country’s first nuclear power plant Gori No. 1 last June.“Korea has competence in terms of building and operating a nucle
Oct. 5, 2015
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More Korean women in 30s suffer sleep disorders
The number of South Korean women in their 30s who sought medical help for sleep disorders -- such as insomnia and restless legs syndrome -- increased significantly from 2012-2014, partly because of poor work and life balance, government data showed Monday. According to data, the number of female sleep disorder patients rose from 24,536 in 2012 to 28,930 in 2014, with the highest average annual increase rate among all gender and age groups at 10.4 percent. The number of all Korean sleep disorder
Oct. 5, 2015
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Seoul subway server allegedly hacked by N.K.
The computer server of one of Seoul City’s subway operators was found to have been hacked last year, allegedly by North Korea, though little damage has been confirmed, officials said Monday. According to Saenuri Party Rep. Ha Tae-keung quoting the National Intelligence Service’s report, two servers in charge of managing the PCs of Seoul Metro were hacked in July last year, allowing unauthorized access to 213 company computers. Of them, 58 were found have to been infected with a malicious code, r
Oct. 5, 2015