Most Popular
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Will tug-of-war between doctors, government end soon?
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Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth
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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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[Graphic News] More Koreans say they plan long-distance trips this year
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[KH Explains] Hyundai's full hybrid edge to pay off amid slow transition to pure EVs
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North Korea removes streetlights along cross-border roads with South
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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Farming households dip below 1m for first time in 2023
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Prosecution vows to charge Chun’s son with tax evasion
Prosecutors vowed Tuesday to charge a son of disgraced former President Chun Doo-hwan with tax evasion in a 2006 land deal, saying they would swiftly wrap up the investigation into the case.Chun Jae-yong, the second of the former president’s three sons, faces charges of colluding with his uncle to dodge up to 6 billion won ($5.66 million) in transfer taxes in the process of selling a plot of land in December 2006.The uncle, Lee Chang-seok, is currently on trial on charges of evading the taxes.On
Oct. 29, 2013
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5 Korean men sentenced for killing wealthy businessman in the Philippines
Five South Korean men were sentenced to lengthy prison terms on Tuesday for jointly taking part in the murder of a wealthy South Korean businessman in the Philippines, the country's top court said.The Supreme Court of Korea upheld an appellate court's 17-year prison term for a 35-year-old man, surnamed Yoon, while also confirming the roughly 15-year terms for the three other men, all in their early 30's, over the murder case in August of last year.One more man -- surnamed Song, age 42 -- was als
Oct. 29, 2013
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Pregnancy test kits available at convenience stores
Pregnancy test kits will be available at convenience stores and supermarkets, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on Monday.The ministry said that under a revised law, pregnancy test kits have been reclassified as medical equipment, and can thus be distributed and sold at authorized stores, including convenience stores and large supermarkets. The revised act will go into effect next year after a trial period starting Nov. 13, the ministry said.By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)
Oct. 28, 2013
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74 percent of Koreans cremated after death last year: Health Ministry
Cremation has become a common form of funeral in Korea with a growing number of people choosing the process over traditional burial rites.Out of the 267,221 Koreans who died last year, 197,717, or 74 percent, were cremated, a fourfold increase from 18.4 percent 20 years ago, according to a report released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare released on Monday.By gender, the rate of men cremated last year was 77.2 percent while that of women marked 70.1 percent. It was the first time that the c
Oct. 28, 2013
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Cancer-causing material in S. Korean jeans in dispute
A South Korean apparel maker said on Monday it will request another test on the results that showed its jeans contain three times more cancer-causing substances than the average. According to data released by the Consumers Union of Korea, a pair of jeans from Basic House Co. had 88.8 milligrams of a cancer-inducing material called arylamine per kilogram of fabric, which was used in the dyeing process. The figure far exceeds the maximum limit set at 30 mg per kg. The company, however, said the s
Oct. 28, 2013
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Embassy official in London to be punished over intern interview
The Foreign Ministry plans to penalize an official at its embassy in London for asking inappropriate questions during an internship interview last week. The secretary-level official dispatched from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reportedly asked some applicants how they would respond if they were to face the kind of sexual abuse that former Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Yoon Chang-jung was allegedly involved in.The embassy official said he intended to test their judgment. “We have instruc
Oct. 28, 2013
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High-security isolation for college exam-setters
Every October, hundreds of South Korean teachers and professors are sequestered ― like jurors in a mafia trial ― in a secret, guarded compound: prisoners of their country’s obsession with education.For one month, they are kept in complete isolation under conditions that resemble house arrest, with everything down to their food waste subject to rigorous examination.Their sole task is to compile the annual college entrance exam ― the importance of which in the minds of stressed-out students and th
Oct. 27, 2013
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[Photo News] Fall walk
Oct. 27, 2013
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Woman dies after cosmetic surgery
A 22-year-old woman who had been in a coma for nine days after a cosmetic surgery procedure died Saturday, police in Busan said.The college student only identified by her last name Kim received facial bone contouring surgery for more than five and a half hours on Oct. 7. She was found unconscious by a nurse in the hospital’s recovery room that evening and immediately moved to a nearby general hospital.Investigators said they found no wounds other than those from the cosmetic surgery. An investig
Oct. 27, 2013
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Ministry takes follow-up steps against teachers’ union
The Ministry of Education has ordered regional educational offices to take measures to return the full-time officials of the recently delegalized progressive teachers’ union to their respective schools within 30 days. The government will take disciplinary measures including dismissal, to those who refuse to return within the given time.The Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union was stripped of its 14 years of status as an industrial trade union on Thursday after it refused the government o
Oct. 27, 2013
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Remains of 2 S. Korean victims in Lao plane crash brought home
BUSAN (Yonhap News) -- The remains of two South Korean victims who were killed in a Lao plane crash were brought home on Saturday, government and airport officials said.The French-made ATR-72 jet crashed into the Mekong River while attempting to land in bad weather on Oct. 16, killing all 49 passengers and crewmembers on board, including three South Koreans.The remains of Lee Jae-sang and Lee Kang-pil, whose bodies were identified days after the accident and then cremated, arrived at Gimhae Inte
Oct. 26, 2013
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KT chairman leaves for Rwanda while under corruption probe
The chairman of the telecom giant KT Corp., who is being probed by prosecutors over corruption allegations, left Saturday to attend an international meeting in Rwanda, the company said.Lee Suk-chae flew to Kigali to attend the Transform Africa 2013 Summit from Oct. 28-31, KT said, adding that he will make a keynote speech at the event.The departure came days after the prosecution raided 16 places, including the head office of KT and Lee's home, in connection with allegations that he caused the c
Oct. 26, 2013
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S. Koreans mark 'Day of Dokdo' with flash mobs, festivals
South Koreans held various events on Friday to commemorate the fourth "Day of Dokdo," renewing their determination to defend the country's easternmost islets of Dokdo from Japan's sovereignty claim.In 2010, some local municipalities and civic groups designated Oct. 25 as Day of Dokdo in a move viewed as bolstering the country's sovereignty over the East Sea islets. A series of flash mobs of dancers and celebrations were held in Seoul and other large cities around the country to mark the day 113
Oct. 25, 2013
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Amateur game leisure of choice for 100,000s
Waking up at 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning is never easy. But for the 44-year-old father-of-two Na Yoon-chul, it is just another day on the baseball field.“I really take care not to wake my wife up whenever I get up on weekends that early,” he explains. “But when I’m scheduled to pitch, or when it is my turn to go and prepare the bats, baseballs and whatever for the morning game, I’ve got to go whether it’s 5 a.m., 6 a.m. or 7 a.m.”Na is one of the hundreds of thousands who part ways with their w
Oct. 25, 2013
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Seoul City aims to become 5th most visited destination
Seoul City announced on Friday a new tourism scheme to increase sightseeing infrastructure and attractions in an attempt to bring in 10 million more visitors and become the fifth city in the world in tourist numbers by 2018.Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon announced the new plan in the annual general meeting of Seoul International Business Advisory Council. Seoul will transform 25 historical spots into major sightseeing attractions and build about 77,600 more accommodations in the next five years, acco
Oct. 25, 2013
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Seoul City eyes world's No. 5 tourist attraction by 2018
Seoul City said Friday it plans to diversify its tourism programs and boost infrastructure investment as part of its efforts to become the world's fifth most-visited city by 2018.Under a five-year plan, the South Korean capital city aims to attract 20 million visitors a year by 2018. In 2012, more than 10 million foreigners visited Seoul, making it the world's 11th most-visited city, according to government data."More efforts will be made to transform the city into a perfect model place for bot
Oct. 25, 2013
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S. Korea ranks 111th in gender equality: WEF report
South Korea ranked among the lowest in terms of gender equality as women's economic participation, health and education conditions remained poor, an international organization's report showed Friday.According to the report by the World Economic Forum (WEF), South Korea came in at 111th place out of 136 countries on the "gender gap index," which is three notches lower than a year earlier.The report is based on its analysis of women's economic participation, level of education, health and politica
Oct. 25, 2013
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Burberry Korea loses in damages suit
A court on Thursday took the side of a Korean retailer who filed a damages suit against Burberry Korea after being accused of importing counterfeit clothing. Seoul Central District Court ordered the Korean branch of the British company to compensate the plaintiff with 10 million won ($9,475) for both mental and pecuniary damages derived from the allegation.The retailer in 2010 requested an import declaration for 5,700 scarves from China worth 40 million won.Korea Customs Service, which received
Oct. 24, 2013
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Teachers’ union stripped of legal status
Tens of thousands of teachers in Korea are expected to be affected as the government on Thursday moved to deregister the country’s largest teachers’ union for infringement of the labor law.Employment and Labor Minister Phang Ha-nam and Education Minister Seo Nam-soo announced in a joint news conference that they had officially notified the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union that it would “no longer be recognized” as a legal union.The Ministry of Labor and Employment gave the progressiv
Oct. 24, 2013
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Authors refuse revision of new history textbooks
The authors of Korean history textbooks announced Thursday that they will not comply with the Ministry of Education’s order to make revisions.The ministry Monday ordered the publishers of all eight recently approved history textbooks to make changes amid disputes over a book from Kyohak Publishing Co for its allegedly slanted depiction of the country’s modern history.Revision and supplementation were ordered for 829 parts, including passages regarding Japan’s forced sexual enslavement of Korean
Oct. 24, 2013