Most Popular
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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Second Gimpo civil servant found dead, after apologizing for not finishing work
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First-ever meeting of president, opposition chief set to finally happen
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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NewJeans' singles, Japanese debut to proceed as planned, despite Hybe-Ador feud
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Experts raise concerns about Japan putting pressure on Naver over Line
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Samsung mobile chief, Google device head meet in Seoul
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South Korea to launch space security center under spy agency
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More med professors to take day off each week while govt. urges them to stay
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Hybe refutes Ador CEO Min's denial of breach of trust
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[Newsmaker] Residents fume at Taean spill ruling
A court’s ruling on the Taean oil spill on Wednesday is likely to rekindle controversy as its assessment of financial damages fell short of expectations. The Seosan Branch of the Daejeon District Court ordered a 734 billion won ($694 million) compensation payout to victims of the country’s worst oil spill in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, after five years of legal disputes.About 128,000 people including residents, fishing and tourism business operators and local government offices sought 4.2
Jan. 17, 2013
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Green exports jumped by 60% in 2012
Despite the global slowdown, Korea’s environmental industry exports grew 60 percent on-year to reach 515 billion won ($486 million) in 2012, according to official data released Thursday.The expansion was driven by surging demand for eco-friendly products and technologies in both emerging and advanced economies, the state-run Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute said. In 2012, Korea’s green export market, which had focused on Asia, expanded to the Middle East and North Africa, ac
Jan. 17, 2013
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Man found dead after six years
The body of a man in his fifties who died six years ago was found on Thursday, said Busan police.The man was found by his landlord in the building’s boiler room. The corpse was badly decomposed. The police assumed the date of death to be at least six years ago, as the calendar in Kim’s house was for the year 2006. Also, Kim’s family members and neighbors stated they had not seen him since 2006. From news reports (khnews@heraldcorp.com)<관련 한글 기사>50대男, 숨진 지 6년만에 발견돼부산에서 혼자 살던 50대 남자가 집에서 스스로 목숨을 끊
Jan. 17, 2013
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Court questions constitutionality of punishing conscientious objectors
A Seoul court has brought the law that punishes conscientious objectors before the Constitutional Court, according to court officials Thursday.It is the eighth time a local court has challenged the article of the military service law that punishes people who refuse to serve compulsory military service due to their political or religious beliefs. All able-bodied men have been required to serve about two years in the military or other public sectors since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Under
Jan. 17, 2013
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More green cars run on Korean roads
The number of environmentally friendly cars sold in Korea increased 79.6 percent on-year in 2012 to 36,544 units, the Ministry of Environment said on Wednesday.They accounted for 3.1 percent of the 1.17 million newly-registered vehicles last year, according to the ministry’s data.Most of them were hybrids (35,830 units), while only 714 electric cars were sold.Japan and the U.S., which lead the world green car market, sold 450,000 and 280,000 environment-friendly cars, respectively. The number of
Jan. 16, 2013
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Gray smog blows in from China
Gray pollutants that have turned China’s Beijing into “Gray-jing“ appear to be affecting Korea as well, government researchers said Wednesday.The level of particulate matter and air pollutants including sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxide in major cities surpassed two times the standard in recent days, prompting authorities to issue health advisories and environmentalists to take to streets. “The recent smog in Korea is a mixture of air pollutants coming from China, water vapor and polluting substan
Jan. 16, 2013
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Distance learning booms thanks to social shifts
For the past 40 years, the Korea National Open University has played a key role in broadening higher education in the nation. More than 528,000 students, mostly unable to attend a regular university or wanting additional learning in their spare time, received a degree through its distance learning program on TV and radio.The school is taking on greater roles with the sweeping changes in education spurred by technology, globalization and an aging population.An increasing portion of its students a
Jan. 16, 2013
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Hagwon chief gets suspended term for leaking test content
The chief of a local English education institute received a suspended prison term on Tuesday for instructing his employees to illegally record questions of official English proficiency tests, according to court officials. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the Hackers Group chairman, surnamed Cho, to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the copyright law, they said. His brother also received a suspended prison term for the same charge.“(The two) used elaborate an
Jan. 16, 2013
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Most colleges to cut, freeze tuition this year
More than 90 percent of the country’s colleges are expected to either lower or freeze their tuition fees this year in accordance with the government’s effort to reduce the burden shouldered by students and their parents. According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, 317 out of the country’s 339 colleges, including two- to three-year community schools, expressed their willingness to join the government’s policy of giving state scholarships to students whose schools vow not to ra
Jan. 16, 2013
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Ministry details plan to stop students studying ahead of curriculum
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology on Tuesday reported to the presidential transition committee its plan to ban schools from teaching ahead of the curriculum.The plan is one of the key parts of President-elect Park’s education reform strategy that aim to cut private tutoring and upgrade public education.In its briefing to the presidential transition committee, the ministry reportedly proposed to establish a special supervisory commission at all 17 regional education offices to mon
Jan. 15, 2013
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Parents protest ban on student exchange programs
More than 10 parents occupied the president’s office at Chung-Ang University for a second consecutive day on Tuesday in protest of the school’s plan to close a recently outlawed program through which their children were admitted. More than 240 students were admitted through the so-called “1+3” student exchange program, in which they study at the university for one year and at another university abroad for three years. Late last year, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology announced th
Jan. 15, 2013
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Ministry to step up support for Korean studies
The government announced Tuesday it would invest 28.8 billion won ($27 million) this year to promote Korean studies at home and abroad.The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Academy of Korean Studies, a state-run research and educational institution, started the project in 2007 with the aim of broadening Korean studies with a budget of 4.5 billion won.The budget has increased significantly since then thanks to growing interest in Korean culture and entertainment, breaking the
Jan. 15, 2013
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Language institute chief gets suspended term for leaking content of TOEIC, TEPS
The chief of a local English education institute received a suspended prison term on Tuesday for instructing his employees to illegally record questions of official English proficiency tests, according to court officials. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the Hackers Group chairman, surnamed Cho, to 18 months in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the copyright law, they said. His brother also received a suspended prison term for the same charge."(The two) used elaborate an
Jan. 15, 2013
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Education ministry aims to make high school education free by 2017
The education ministry will aim to make high school education free for everyone by 2017 as part of efforts to implement President-elect Park Geun-hye's campaign pledges on education policy, officials said Tuesday.Officials from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology reported the plan to the presidential transition committee during a policy briefing earlier in the day, saying that it would expand the current program that provides free education only to students in vocational schools or
Jan. 15, 2013
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FDI in Seoul shows modest improvement
Foreign direct investment in Seoul showed a moderate but meaningful improvement in 2012. The city attracted $5.8 billion last year, which accounts for 36 percent of Korea’s foreign direct investment. The figure is a 41 percent increase from the year before, when $4.1 billion was invested in the city. FDI has been rising since bottoming out in 2010.Around $2.3 billion, the largest amount, or 40 percent of the total FDI was made by Japanese investors, who still struggle with the strong yen and pow
Jan. 14, 2013
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Seoul district offices, garbage firms in dispute over fees
Unpleasant odors and piles of plastic bags containing rotting food waste littered the streets of Seoul as garbage disposers refused to make their rounds in a simmering dispute with city authorities.Seoul’s district offices including Seongbuk, Yeongdeungpo, and Yangcheon are butting heads with private food waste management firms over a price increase in food waste treatment services. The firms are demanding an increase in fees as food waste treatment has become more expensive due to a new law tha
Jan. 14, 2013
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Education, creativity Park’s key goals
The following is the fourth in a series of articles on the major tasks and key members of President-elect Park Geun-hye’s transition team. ― Ed.Improving the education system, enhancing science and technology research and building an innovation-driven economy form a key part of President-elect Park Geun-hye’s economic strategy. Kwak Byong-sun, key architect of her educational reform, and Chang Soon-heung, Korea’s top nuclear power scientist, are in charge of laying the groundwork for the vision
Jan. 14, 2013
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HUFS dedicates auditorium to Obama
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies renamed its main auditorium “Barack Obama Hall” Monday to mark the U.S. president’s reelection.At the hall, then called the Minerva Auditorium, Obama delivered a speech in March 2012. In a congratulatory letter to the White House last November, HUFS president Park Chul said the school would rename the hall after the U.S. president and honorary HUFS alumnus to remember the landmark event.On behalf of U.S. Ambassador to Korea Sung Kim, Minister Counselor for Pu
Jan. 14, 2013
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People in 40s, 50s, main consumers of movies
It‘s a trend that began a few years ago that movie theaters are visited by broader age groups, but now middle-aged people in their 40s and 50s are the main consumer group of cinemas.The advance ticket reservation rates of the three local box-office hits -- “Tower,” “Les Miserable” and “Life of Pi” -- were the highest among viewers aged 40 or over, Maxmovie, a leading online movie ticket reservation site, said Monday. For the Korean disaster film “Tower,” which exceeded 4 million in attendance as
Jan. 14, 2013
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Deaths of seniors living alone led to calls for action
A number of cases of elderly people living alone being found dead in the south of the country have led to calls for the government to come up with measures to tackle the problem. A police officer from Suncheon police department found an unidentified 89-year-old woman’s body in an electric pad in her home. The police assume that the woman died from hypothermia three to four days previously. It was revealed that the woman had lived off of a 95,000-won ($90) old-age pension and didn’t qualify for b
Jan. 14, 2013