Most Popular
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Ador CEO denies allegations, accuses Hybe of mistreating NewJeans
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
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Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
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Medical reform committee kicks off despite boycott from doctors
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Hybe's multilabel system tested amid conflict with Ador
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SNU profs to suspend treatment for one day
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Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency
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Over-50s, men, single-person households take up majority of those filing for bankruptcy
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SK hynix pledges W20tr to ramp up DRAM production at home
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Ministry to reduce funding for 66 colleges
The Education Ministry will cut its financial subsidies for 66 colleges and universities that scored poorly in its evaluation on their reform efforts, officials said Monday.The college evaluation, initiated by the ministry in April 2014, aims to reduce the number of student openings at higher education institutes across the country, which is forecast to exceed the number of high school graduates by 160,000 by 2023. “Korea has already entered a phase of rapid decline in students, with at the numb
Aug. 31, 2015
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Korea to stress safety in new school curriculum
South Korea’s Education Ministry will introduce a new subject in elementary schools on how to deal with various safety hazards including traffic and maritime accidents, officials said Monday.The ministry announced that the new safety program ― conducted for an hour each week for first- and second-grade students in elementary schools ― will cover traffic safety, disaster management, self-protection and miscellaneous safety hazards in everyday lives. “Rather than simply focusing on imparting knowl
Aug. 31, 2015
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Teen drug abuse almost triples
South Korea has seen a threefold increase in the number of teenagers caught taking drugs over the past three years, according to the police. (Yonhap)In the report submitted to Rep. Kim Jang-sil of the ruling Saenuri Party by the National Police Agency, the number of teenagers captured for taking drugs nearly tripled from 27 in 2012 to 75 last year. The number for this year will likely hit a record high, with 65 having been nabbed by the police as of July. A total of 210 juvenile offenders we
Aug. 31, 2015
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Ex-chairman of POSCO to face summons
The prosecution will summon former POSCO chairman Chung Joon-yang for questioning this week as part of the ongoing probe into alleged corruption involving the nation’s No. 1 steelmaker and its affiliates. Prosecutors said Monday they are looking at the schedule to call in the 67-year-old chairman for questioning. (Yonhap)The summon comes six months after the prosecution launched its probe into POSCO’s alleged corruption cases including suspicious mergers and acquisitions, tax evasion and setti
Aug. 31, 2015
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Korean bill seeks to prevent latter-day Lears
In Shakespeare’s tragedy “King Lear,” the protagonist loses everything after disposing his kingdom to his children, who betray and mistreat him once obtaining his wealth and power. In South Korea, a new controversial bill is being introduced to prevent Korean parents from becoming modern-day King Lears, some of whom reportedly get abused or neglected by their adult children after handing down most of their wealth and possessions. The bill, which is being introduced by the main opposition New Po
Aug. 31, 2015
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Easy driving test attracts Chinese
Acquiring a Korean driver’s license has become a new phenomenon among an increasing number of Chinese tourists here in recent years, a lawmaker‘s report showed Monday.According to Rep. Han Sun-kyo of the Saenuri Party, the number of Chinese nationals obtaining Korean driver’s licenses surged to about 4,700 last year, jumping by 30-fold in two years. The rate of car accidents involving foreigners also rose by 2.6 times to nearly 2,000, the report said. A driver’s license test agency is crowded w
Aug. 31, 2015
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Ex-Seo Taiji and Boys member under probe for fraud
Lee Juno, a member of the defunct boy band Seo Taiji and Boys, is under investigation for fraud, local news outlets reported Monday. Seo Taiji and Boys was one of the biggest acts of the 1990s, and Lee’s colleagues -- Seo Taiji and Yang Hyun-suk -- have since become major players in the local entertainment industry.According to reports, Lee borrowed 100 million won ($85,000) from an acquaintance, but failed to repay the debt, leading the lender to file a criminal complaint against the singer-pro
Aug. 31, 2015
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South Korea still has top OECD suicide rate
South Korea’s suicide rate remained highest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, while its health status was among the lowest, a recent OECD data showed.According to the OECD Health Statistics 2015, an average of 29.1 people per 100,000 committed suicide in 2012, about 2 1/2 times the OECD average of 11.9, based on data compiled for 25 of 34 OECD members in the same year. Data from 2012 on Austria, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Slovak Repub
Aug. 30, 2015
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Police nab 100 illegal marriage brokers
More than 100 international marriage brokers have been caught illegally offering matchmaking services, the police said Sunday. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency booked 111 brokers belonging to 72 international matchmaking agencies without detention for violating the Marriage Brokers Business Management Act.The brokers were accused of receiving an average of 15 million won ($12,700) from Korean men in return for arranging marriages with underage girls, offering a list of foreign women from which t
Aug. 30, 2015
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The irony of plagiarized ‘self-introductions’
“I’m a talented individual who is very diligent.”“From a very young age, I was very interested in cars. I wish to become a car engineer.”Bluntly praising one’s qualities and telling life experiences that do little to stress one’s abilities or academic prowess are only some of the pitfalls students can fall into while writing self-introductory essays, South Korean education firms that offer lessons on composing essays say.They offer a service that a growing number of students are turning to in th
Aug. 30, 2015
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S. Korea's suicide rate ranks first among OECD members
South Korea has the highest suicide rate among the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and its people were less confident about their health, a report showed Sunday. An average of 29.1 people per 100,000 in South Korea took their own lives in 2012, far surpassing the OECD average of 12, according to the OECD Health Data 2015. Hungary followed with 19.4 and Japan came next with 18.7, it said. The suicide rate in Asia's fourth-largest economy has sharply incr
Aug. 30, 2015
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Pay gap between regulars, tempos widens this year
The wage gap between regular and temporary workers in South Korea widened in 2015 from a year earlier due mainly to the country's economic slowdown, government data showed Sunday. The inflation-adjusted monthly wage of non-regular workers hired by companies with a work force of five or more averaged 1.28 million won ($1,087) in the first half of this year, up 0.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea and the labor ministry. In comparison, the monthly pay of re
Aug. 30, 2015
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Seoul to fund N. Korean scholars' studies in Germany
Seoul plans to provide funding for North Korean forestry specialists to study in Germany, a U.S. news report said Saturday, in its latest effort to restore deforested mountains in the North. Under the plan, South Korea will help around 30 North Korean experts study in Germany by providing US$70,000, according to the Voice of America (VOA), which cited the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The specialists will visit Germany in four batches between September and Nov
Aug. 29, 2015
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S. Korea opens first nuclear waste repository
South Korea dedicated part of its first nuclear waste repository in Gyeongju on Friday, which is expected to help the country better handle its spent radioactive materials.The first phase of the repository, which cost 1.54 trillion won ($1.31 billion), has six underground silos that can hold some 100,000 drums of low- and intermediate-level radioactive by-products from laboratories, hospitals and atomic power plants. Each drum can hold 200 liters of waste material, while the heavily reinforced s
Aug. 28, 2015
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Phone fraud offenders found guilty of creating crime syndicate
A group of criminals involved in telephone-based financial scams was found guilty for the first time of organizing and committing crimes as a crime syndicate. The Daegu District Court handed down a six-year jail term to a 28-year-old Lee, who held a managerial position in the group, convicting him of opening call centers in China and South Korea and systematically making random calls to South Korean citizens to swindle money.Two others, surnamed Moon and Won, were also given five years and four
Aug. 28, 2015
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University enrollment decreases for first time
The number of South Korean undergraduate students in four-year colleges and universities decreased for the first time since the government started tallying educational statistics, officials said Thursday, as the country continued to see a gradual decline in overall students.About 3.61 million students were enrolled in higher education institutes as of 2015, 2.1 million of whom were undergraduates, according to the Education Ministry. The number of undergraduates marked a 0.8 percent fall from 20
Aug. 27, 2015
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Prosecutors seek arrest warrant for ex-KT&G VP
An arrest warrant has been sought for the former vice president of the nation's leading tobacco maker on Tuesday over allegations that he received kickbacks from the company's business partner, prosecutors said.The former vice president of KT&G Corp., identified by his surname Lee, is suspected of receiving hundreds of millions of won from a cigarette pack maker, identified only by the initial S, between 2008 and 2013, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office. In return, Lee
Aug. 27, 2015
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Foreigners join anti-crime campaign
Foreigners and naturalized Korean citizens in the country will work as volunteers to help immigrants settle down and deter them from committing crimes, prosecutors said Thursday.The Southern District Prosecutor's Office said in a press release they have established a committee on Tuesday comprised of Korean and foreign nationals to act as a resource for immigrants.The committee aims to help foreigners, who are often marginalized in society, to better adapt to life abroad and cope with potential
Aug. 27, 2015
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Prosecution indicts Egyptian refugee broker
Prosecutors on Thursday indicted an Egyptian broker who illegally helped other Egyptians enter South Korea as false refugees. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office indicted the 29-year-old suspect, whose identification was withheld, on charges of allegedly providing fake immigration documents to 12 job-seeking Egyptians and supporting them to enter fraudulently as refugees. He and his Korean accomplice were found to have received up to $10,000 per person in return, they added. Of the 12
Aug. 27, 2015
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Labor market reform talks set to resume
South Korea’s largest trade union group decided to return to the long-stalled trilateral negotiations among labor, management and government Wednesday, giving a boost to the government’s push for labor market reform. Key officials from the Federation of Korean Trade Unions made the decision at a high-level meeting four months after the three-way talks collapsed in early April. (Yonhap)The union officials entrusted Kim Dong-man, head of the FKTU, with the authority to decide when to return to the
Aug. 26, 2015