Most Popular
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] Humor in Korea: Navigating the line between what's funny and not
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Yoon seeks rebound, taps 5-term lawmaker as chief of staff
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Medical standoff deepens as doctors reject new med school plan, talks
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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[Herald Interview] Why Toss invited hackers to penetrate its system
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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S. Korean envoys convene to navigate strategy amid Middle East tensions
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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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North Korea fires several short-range ballistic missiles into sea: JCS
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Samsung, SK hynix investors dump shares on Nvidia crash
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Former vice justice minister cleared of sex crime charges
Kim Hak-ui, a former vice justice minister, was cleared on Monday of charges of receiving sexual services in return for business favors from a local developer. Kim is one of a number of high-profile figures who attended a series of banquets hosted by construction businessman Yoon Jung-cheon between 2008 and 2011.Kim stepped down in March because of the scandal. The prosecution indicted Yoon in July on 10 charges including rape, bribery and narcotics use. (christory@heraldcorp.com)
Nov. 11, 2013
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Senior prosecutor faces reprimand for misconduct
A former lead prosecution investigator in the high-profile election-meddling case involving the state spy agency is facing a discipline for failing to follow his superiors' instructions, the top prosecution office said Monday.Wrapping up an internal inspection, the Supreme Public Prosecutors' Office (SPPO) said it has asked the Ministry of Justice to suspend Yoon Seok-youl for failing to report to his bosses before pressing additional charges in the case and detaining some intelligence service a
Nov. 11, 2013
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Institute says S. Korea's welfare ranks near middle among OECD
South Korea is ranked near the middle of a composite index on health and welfare among a group of 34 mostly rich nations, a state-run think tank said Monday.South Korea placed 20th in the index that analyzed data on more than 26 areas, including employment rate, suicide rate and economic growth rate, in 2010, according to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.In 2008, South Korea was ranked 26th among the 34 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (
Nov. 11, 2013
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34 defense contractors falsified product test papers, agency says
The defense quality control agency said Monday that 34 local providers of military equipment parts forged or doctored their quality test documents on 125 occasions over the past three years.The announcement sparked criticism that quality checks were inadequate and concerns that crucial military equipment with flawed parts could fail when tensions with North Korea still remain high.In an inspection of 136,844 products procured over the past three years, the Defense Agency for Technology and Quali
Nov. 11, 2013
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[Newsmaker]Ex-NIS probe chief thrust back into limelight
A senior prosecutor fired last month as chief investigator into the spy agency’s alleged election interference is back in the heart of political controversy as the prosecution office seeks heavy punishment for his violation of investigation protocol. The inspection committee at the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office will ask the Ministry of Justice on Monday to suspend Yoon Seok-youl, head of the prosecutors’ office for Gyeonggi Province’s Yeoju, for three months.Yoon was ousted from the special
Nov. 10, 2013
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[Photo News] Road to college
Nov. 10, 2013
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Temp workers at schools to go on strike
Some 50,000 temporary and contract school workers across the country excluding Seoul are set to go on a strike Wednesday, demanding a pay raise, more benefits and better job security.The union of non-regular employees working for meal services, English classes, administration assistance and extracurricular activities said its members approved a walkout in recent votes.Its chapter in Seoul will not join the action as they reached an agreement with the education authorities in July.The union has s
Nov. 10, 2013
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Regulator probing Kookmin Bank for suspected slush funds
The financial regulator is investigating Kookmin Bank, South Korea's major lender, on suspicion that its Tokyo branch has been involved in running secretive funds for the bank's management, regulatory sources said Sunday. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has apparently found traces of evidence that the branch manager in Kookmin Bank, Tokyo, pocketed large sums of fees from approving loans off the books, FSS officials with knowledge on the matter said, asking not to be named. The FSS disco
Nov. 10, 2013
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Helping others is key to success in foreign land
Steven McKinney, chief of Seoul Global Center, is a self-professed jack-of-all-trades with had experience and training in a diverse range of fields.By training, he is a classical singer, but went on to spend several years in the retail industry after university. From there he moved on to the shoe-manufacturing business, where he spent more than a decade in executive posts. Even now, he runs his own consulting business, serves as the chief of the center of support of international residents in Se
Nov. 8, 2013
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War vet’s sons meet after 60 years
Two Canadian half-brothers, whose father died on the battlefield during the Korean War, were united in Seoul Thursday after six decades without knowing of each other’s existence.Andre Brisebois, 64, first found out about his brother Leo Demay, 60, in July when a Canadian media outlet reported on Demay, who works at the U.N. Memorial Cemetery in Busan, to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice agreement.Ever since, they have been in contact through the Internet. Their first face-to-face meeti
Nov. 8, 2013
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Prosecutors raid public employees’ union
Prosecutors raided the headquarters of the Korean Government Employees’ Union in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, and seized the server of its website early Friday in the first step of an investigation into the union’s alleged interference in the presidential election last year. Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office has launched the probe last Monday after conservative civic group Young’s Liberty Union accused the union of allegedly conducting an illegal online election campaign in support of Dem
Nov. 8, 2013
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S. Korea to raise salaries of soldiers by 15 percent next year
The government plans to raise the salaries of soldiers by 15 percent next year as part of efforts to improve their overall welfare conditions, the finance ministry said Friday.According to the ministry, the government will hike the salaries of corporals to 134,600 won (US$126) a month next year from this year's 117,000 won.Salaries for private and private first class soldiers will also increase to 112,500 won and 121,700, respectively, from 97,800 won and 105,800 won, the ministry said. Sergeant
Nov. 8, 2013
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650,000 students take annual college entrance scholastic test
More than 650,000 students took the annual college entrance exam Thursday. Public offices and the stock market opened an hour later than usual, and airport runways closed temporarily for the nationwide test.This year, 650,747 high school students and graduates applied for the state-administered College Scholastic Ability Test, better known as the Suneung, according to the Ministry of Education. The number of test takers dropped by 17,775 from last year, due to a decline in the overall number of
Nov. 7, 2013
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Seoul pushes for global city network
Seoul and seven other cities agreed Thursday to form a global consultative body next year to push for sustainable socio-economic development.The annual Global Social Economy Forum in Seoul adopted a declaration pledging to cooperate on a range of projects for inclusive urban development, including social enterprises, micro-financing and cooperatives. Seoul will host the provisional secretariat of the envisioned global network and its inaugural conference next year.Representatives from cities inc
Nov. 7, 2013
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Former Moon aide guilty of election law violation
A famed poet was found partially guilty Thursday of election law violations in connection with his campaign for an opposition presidential candidate last year, despite a jury acquittal late last month.The Jeonju District Court convicted Ahn Do-hyun of slandering President Park Geun-hye, then ruling party candidate, but found him not guilty of spreading false rumors.He was sentenced to a suspended fine of 1 million won ($942), the minimum imposable sum for such transgressions, while both the pros
Nov. 7, 2013
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650,000 students take college entrance exam
More than 650,000 high school seniors and graduates in South Korea took the state-administered annual college entrance exam Thursday, the most crucial test of their academic careers seen as the deciding factor in their choice of college and future professions.A total of 650,747 people applied to take the nine-hour standardized College Scholastic Ability Test that was administered at 1,257 test centers across the country, the education ministry said.The exam, which consists mostly of multiple-cho
Nov. 7, 2013
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‘English proficiency in Korea unimproved’
Despite huge investment and educational zeal, the English language skills of Korea’s adults have not improved and have remained at a moderate level over the past six years, according to a global survey released on Tuesday.Korea is ranked 24th among 60 countries where English is not a native language, according to the English Proficiency Index compiled by Education First, an international education company based in Switzerland.Korea was below Asian neighbors like Malaysia (11th) and Singapore (12
Nov. 6, 2013
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[Graphic News] Regional patients head for big hospitals in Seoul
The portion of regional patients visiting five major hospitals in Seoul exceeded 60 percent last year, indicating a deepening imbalance in medical care nationwide.
Nov. 6, 2013
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Pension fund gets more assertive
Choi Kwang, the new chief of the National Pension Service, is committed to a drastic reform of investment strategy and governance of the world’s fourth-largest pension fund as it seeks to support payouts for Korea’s fast-aging population by improving profitability. Priority will be given to bolstering in-house fund management expertise and securing a bigger say in making decisions on its investment portfolio, the NPS chairman said in an interview with The Korea Herald. “It is my mission to lay t
Nov. 6, 2013
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Seoul City to expand welfare budget next year to 7 trillion won
Seoul City said Wednesday that it would expand its welfare budget to 6.9 trillion won ($6.5 billion) next year, a 2.8 percent rise from this year. The city submitted its budget plan for next year to the city council for approval. The overall budget is 24.5 trillion won, a 997 billion won increase from this year.Mayor Park Won-soon has promised to gradually increase the welfare budget to around 30 percent of the overall budget at the beginning of his term. He said that the increase was unavoidabl
Nov. 6, 2013