Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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[Grace Kao] Hybe vs. Ador: Inspiration, imitation and plagiarism
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Samsung heir’s son to quit prestigious school after favoritism talks
Samsung Electronic Co. vice chairman Lee Jay-yong publicly apologized on Thursday for a controversy involving his son’s admission to the Younghoon International Middle School.“I am sorry for causing public concern involving my son’s school admission,” said Lee, heir-apparent to Korea’s largest conglomerate Samsung Group. “I think it is right for my son to leave the school.Lee’s 13-year-old son did not show up at Younghoon on Wednesday. Disputes arose in January over his admission to the elite in
May 30, 2013
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University campus evacuated after gas leak
A gas leak at a Seoul university Wednesday caused for more than 2,000 people to be evacuated, according to police investigators. No casualties were reported.The leak was reported just past 4:20 p.m. at Sejong University in eastern Seoul, investigators said.About 1.5 kilograms of liquid boron tribromide, known as BBr3, had leaked in the form of a gas after being exposed to air during an experiment with solar panels in a laboratory, they said. BBr3 is colorless but has a pungent odor and can caus
May 29, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Governor closes public hospital
South Gyeongsang Province on Wednesday closed its main public medical center plagued by snowballing losses, bellicose unionists and heated political disputes. Governor Hong Joon-pyo pushed ahead with the plan to shut down Jinju Medical Center despite fierce opposition from the union, opposition parties and the central government.The former ruling party leader sparked a nationwide controversy when he warned that the government will shut down the country’s second-oldest public hospital unless its
May 29, 2013
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Prosecutors detain school official in admissions fraud
Prosecutors investigating admissions fraud at Younghoon International Middle school detained the school’s administration official on bribe charges Wednesday.The official surnamed Lim is suspected of receiving money from parents to admit some unqualified students.The investigators raided 16 places related to the school foundation including the chairman’s home, offices and other affiliated primary and secondary schools.The school in northern Seoul first came under fire after it was revealed earlie
May 29, 2013
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Construction of Miryang power-line towers halted
Korea Electric Power Corp. agreed to halt work on high-voltage transmission towers in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday while a group of experts reviews alternative plans. The company and residents accepted the parliamentary Trade, Industry and Energy Committee’s mediation measures. The nine-member group ― consisting of experts picked by the residents, KEPCO and the National Assembly ― will review various alternatives for 40 days.The panel will give priority to plans for circumven
May 29, 2013
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Faculty, leadership power USC’s growth
Los Angeles was a small, dusty town when the University of Southern California was launched with some 50 students in 1880. Today the school is the largest private institution in the megacity, enrolling more than 39,000 students and 3,700 faculty members.In an interview with The Korea Herald, C.L. Max Nikias, the president of USC, underscored the driving force of its growth: a focus on top-notch faculty, students and research, and leadership that looks to the future and the world. Nikias, who was
May 29, 2013
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Prosecutors raid CJ chairman’s home in tax, slush fund probe
Prosecutors investigating allegations of tax evasion and a slush fund formed by CJ Group raided the home of the group’s chairman Lee Jay-hyun on Wednesday.The investigators also raided the headquarters of Shinhan Bank over the 24 billion won ($21 million) loan the bank gave to Pan Japan, a Japan-based company said to be operated by the chief of CJ Group’s Japanese branch. Ahead of the raid on the bank, an employee of Shinhan Bank’s Tokyo branch was summoned for questioning on Tuesday. Along with
May 29, 2013
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Comedian turns himself in for DUI
A South Korean comedian Yoo Se-yoon turned himself in Wednesday for drunk driving.Gyeonggi Ilsan police detained Yoo without physical detention on the charge of driving under the influence of alcohol around 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday. Yoo allegedly drove for 30 kilometers from Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul to Ilsan, northwest of the capital.“I came to the police because I felt guilty,” he told the police.According to police, Yoo’s blood alcohol content level was 0.086 percent, enough to have his driver
May 29, 2013
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Military investigates sex assault case involving Army cadets
The South Korean Army has launched an investigation into allegations that a senior male cadet sexually assaulted a junior female officer cadet under the influence of alcohol on campus during a festival last week, military officials said Wednesday.Last Wednesday, about 30 students and professors at the Korea Military Academy had lunch and drank alcohol after a sports event earlier in the day to celebrate Cadet Day. After a female sophomore drank too much and kept vomiting, the senior cadet brough
May 29, 2013
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Prosecution raid Younghoon International Middle School
The prosecution on Tuesday raided the office of Younghoon International Middle School to secure evidence of alleged admission fraud. According to the investigation, dozens of officers at the Seoul Northern Prosecutors’ Office secured documents, computer files and other material around 3:30 p.m. The evidence is believed to support their suspicion that the school’s vice headmasters as well as teachers fabricated school records used in the initial application screening process in order to admit unq
May 28, 2013
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Prosecutors widen CJ Group probe
The investigation into CJ Group’s alleged illegal financial activities is expanding as evidence emerged that its chief Lee Jay-hyun and his family were involved in overseas tax evasion, slush funds and of holding additional assets held under borrowed names. Investigators of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office are said to be focusing on determining whether the group has illicit assets in addition to those revealed in 2008. In 2008, the group paid 170 billion won ($151 million) in taxes
May 28, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Miryang power-line towers a headache
The controversy over work on high-voltage transmission towers in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, continues with potential solutions running into further problems.Last week, Vice Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Han Jin-hyun said that the government and the ruling Saenuri Party will ensure that compensation promised by the Korea Electric Power Corporation is paid.The Ministry of Strategy and Finance, however, has taken the position that the compensation should be funded by KEPCO, as tho
May 28, 2013
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Seoul to pilot test-free semester in September
All middle school students will be allowed to spend a semester without tests and assessment starting in 2016, the Education Ministry announced Tuesday.The “free-learning semester,” one of President Park Geun-hye’s pledges, is designed to ease the burden of school testing and help students focus on career planning. The ministry will test-run the program in September in 42 middle schools, providing each school with a 30 million won ($26,600) subsidy. It will pick 40 additional schools next year.Th
May 28, 2013
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Ex-spy chief grilled again over alleged political activity
The former chief of the nation’s main intelligence agency was questioned by prosecutors again over suspicions that he directed spy agents to influence public opinion ahead of last year’s presidential election, according to officials Tuesday.Won Sei-hoon, who headed the National Intelligence Service for about four years until early this year, is under suspicion of intervening in domestic politics by ordering agents to post a slew of politically sensitive comments on the Internet in order to sway
May 28, 2013
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Korea develops vehicle fueled by ammonia
South Korea on Tuesday unveiled its first vehicle partly fueled by ammonia, an alternative to fossil fuel that produces no greenhouse gases.The vehicle, developed by the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), uses a mixture of ammonia and gasoline that is 70 percent ammonia, which reduces the car’s emissions of carbon dioxide by up to 70 percent, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen, which produces only the two materials
May 28, 2013
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Deaths from chemical accidents jump in 2012
The number of deaths from chemical accidents soared nearly 40 percent in 2012 from a year earlier amid a spate of fires, explosions and gas leaks at industrial plants across the country, government data showed. A total of 98 people were killed in chemical accidents last year, up 38 percent from 71 a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The number marked the highest level since 2008 when 112 such deaths were reported. The annual death toll from chemical acc
May 28, 2013
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Seoul’s elderly employment up 50% in last decade
The number of elderly Seoulites with jobs has leaped 50 percent over the past 10 years, while that of working youth has plunged more than 20 percent, data showed Tuesday.A total of 513,000 Seoul citizens aged 60 or older were employed in 2012, compared with 342,000 people in 2002, according to the data by a municipal-run think tank. The annual growth rate averaged 4.1 percent over the 10-year period.In contrast, the capital city’s employed population in the 15-29 age group tumbled 25.1 percent f
May 28, 2013
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High school students don‘t sleep enough: survey
South Korea’s high school students sleep as little as five hours a day, according to research data released by Gyeonggi Educational Research Institute on Monday.A GERI survey attempted to identify the average sleeping hours of Gyeonggi Province students through data gathered from 11,834 students from 212 elementary, middle and high schools in the province.According to the data, more than 80 percent of high school students wake up before 7:00 a.m. and sleep on average 5-7 hours a day. Most high s
May 28, 2013
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Korea‘s college students ‘unhappy’: survey
The majority of South Korean college students are leading “unhappy” lives on campus due to concerns over heavy tuition and bleak job prospects, data showed on Tuesday.The results are based on a survey of 528 students in their senior year across the nation by Job Korea, in which 50.6 percent of respondents said they are “not happy with university life.”As the source of unhappiness, 44.2 percent of those who are not happy picked “tuition.”Of all the respondents, only 12.1 percent turned out to be
May 28, 2013
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Middle school students to enjoy test-free semester
The education ministry said Tuesday it will initiate a pilot test-free semester program for middle school students this year to provide them with chances toexperience a wide range of learning activities for their future career. In March, the Ministry of Education announced its plan to implement the so-called free semester system for middle school students, where schools shift the focus away from test scores and teach students through such diverse engaging methods as discussion, experiments, ou
May 28, 2013