Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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S. Korea calls on Japan to confront history amid Yasukuni Shrine visit
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Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
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Hybe and Min Hee-jin, CEO of Hybe sublabel Ador, lock horns
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[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
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Yoo Jae-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok team up in 'Whenever Possible'
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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Aging population to drive down Korea's housing prices from 2040: experts
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Civil service grew by 1.7 percent under Lee
More than 10,000 new civil service jobs were created during since President Lee Myung-bak’s administration began in 2008, according to official data released Monday.According to the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, there were 615,487 civil servants working for the government in 2012, up 10,773 from five years ago.The ministry noted that concerns on public security were the main factor for the increase in civil service jobs. More than half of new employees, 6,500, were police offic
Jan. 7, 2013
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Ministry to hire 1,000 more school violence counselors
The government said Monday it will double the number of counselors at primary and secondary schools nationwide this year as part of its effort to stop the increase in school violence and bullying.The education ministry said it will recruit 500 counselors in charge of helping both school bullies and victims by March, and dispatch them to the country’s private primary, middle and high schools deemed prone to in-campus violence.It will also hire 500 additional counselors through the annual teachers
Jan. 7, 2013
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Korean named Asia head of global weather body
A senior Korean weatherman has been chosen to head the world weather body’s regional office for Asia, the Korea Metrological Administration said Monday. Park Chung-kyu, 57, who currently serves as the director-general for planning and coordination at the Korean state-run weather agency, will assume the position of the director of World Meteorological Organization’s regional office for Asia and the South-West Pacific. “It is the first time since the establishment of the KMA that a Korean officia
Jan. 7, 2013
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Cho’s death brings copycat fears
After the death on Sunday of Cho Sung-min, the ex-husband of late actress Choi Jin-sil and former professional baseball player, there are worries that interest in the story may lead to copycat deaths. Cho, 39, was found dead in an apparent suicide on Jan. 6 at around 3:40 a.m., at his girlfriend’s apartment in Dogok-dong, Seoul, according to Suseo Police Station. This shocking news is feared to encourage other people to attempt copycat suicides. When suicide is frequently talked about on the Int
Jan. 7, 2013
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KORAIL to start Seollal reservations Jan. 15-16
The state-run railway operator KORAIL said Monday that ticket reservations for this year’s Lunar New Year holidays would start on Jan. 15 or 16, depending on the route.The reservations are for train services including KTX, Saemaul, Mugunghwa, Nuri, and ITX trains, KORAIL announced.Tickets for the Gyeongbu Line, which connects Seoul and Busan, will go on sale on Jan. 15 and Honam Line tickets, bound for South Jeolla Province, will be released on Jan. 16.Unlike previous years, Internet reservation
Jan. 7, 2013
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Spurned lover arrested for setting fire to his ex’s house
A college student has been arrested for setting fire to the house of his girlfriend, who wanted to finish the relationship, police reported.Yangcheon police station in central Seoul said that the suspect had been arrested for committing arson on Dec. 29, resulting in severe burns inflicted on the woman’s disabled father.Police investigation revealed that the 20-year-old suspect had thrown a burning cigarette butt into his ex-girlfriend’s window when he failed to contact her after waiting for hou
Jan. 7, 2013
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Low birth rate to cut youth population by half in 2060: report
South Korea could see the younger population aged between 9-24 decrease by more than 50 percent from now in 2060 if the country's low birth rates continue, a government report showed Monday.The nation's youth population reached its peak at 14 million in 1980, but it has since steadily declined to 10.2 million last year, accounting for 20.4 percent of the total population, census data by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family showed.The number of young people aged 9-24 is expected to dwindle
Jan. 7, 2013
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Choi Jin-sil’s former husband found dead
Cho Sung-min, the ex-husband of late actress Choi Jin-sil and a former star baseball player, was found dead early Sunday morning in an apparent suicide, police said. The body of Cho, 39, was discovered by his girlfriend, hanged in the bathroom of her apartment in Dogok-dong, southern Seoul, at around 5:26 a.m. according to Suseo Police Station, which is investigating the case. “We have found no signs yet of a break-in or any injuries to suspect his death to be a homicide,” the police said a pres
Jan. 6, 2013
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No family-accompanied stay of troops: USFK
The U.S. military in South Korea said Friday it will again be unable this year to normalize tours of its troops here where more troops will be accompanied by their family members.The U.S. military has been trying since 2008 to increase the number of troops on “normal” or family-accompanied tours to about half of its 28,500 soldiers stationed in South Korea by 2020, but it has been unable to begin the process largely due to lack of funds.The U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement that its commande
Jan. 6, 2013
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Former organized crime boss Kim Tae-chon dies in hospital
Kim Tae-chon, former boss of South Korea’s noted criminal syndicates in the 1970s and 1980s, died early Saturday at a hospital in Seoul after about a year of treatment for diseases. He was 64. The cause was said to be heart failure, according to officials at Seoul National University Hospital, where Kim had been admitted since December 2011 for treatment of a type of thyroid disease. Kim had been under intensive care since March because of difficulty breathing. Kim “died early today after being
Jan. 6, 2013
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Ministry cracks down on illegal overseas study programs
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has filed a complaint with the prosecution against 12 private agencies involved in illegal overseas study programs. The accused agencies have been luring students who seek to obtain an overseas degree by allowing them to transfer to foreign colleges without requiring tests, the ministry said Sunday.Under their special admission programs, students study English for one or two years in local colleges and transfer as second or third-year students to
Jan. 6, 2013
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Ministry cracks down on illegal overseas study programs
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has filed a complaint with the prosecution against 12 private agencies involved in illegal overseas study programs. The accused agencies have been luring students who seek to obtain an overseas degree by allowing them to transfer to foreign colleges without tests, the ministry said Sunday.Under their special admission programs, students study English for one or two years in local colleges and transfer as second or third-year students to foreign c
Jan. 6, 2013
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S. Korea‘s overseas arrivals, departures top 50 million in 2012
The number of locals and foreigners going in and out of South Korea rose 10.8 percent in 2012 from a year earlier, surpassing the 50-million mark last year for the first time, the Justice Ministry said Sunday.The tally came to some 50.32 million, with the number of locals reaching 28.14 million, while that of foreigners came in at 22.18 million, the ministry said.Some 3.49 million Japanese visited South Korea last year, followed by China with 2.48 million, according to the ministry. The Korean w
Jan. 6, 2013
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S. Korea‘s labor productivity decline larger than OECD countries
South Korea‘s labor productivity fell by the second-largest margin in the third quarter of last year among the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), due mainly to a drop in economic growth, data showed Sunday.According to the data compiled by the OECD, South Korea’s labor productivity declined 0.4 percent in the July-September period of last year from three months earlier, the second-largest drop among the 22 OECD member countries after Norway, which suffer
Jan. 6, 2013
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Prosecution questions Shinsegae vice chairman
Prosecutors questioned Chung Yong-jin, vice chairman of Shinsegae Group, Wednesday over his rejection of parliamentary summons to attend a hearing in October.The National Assembly accused Chung and three other heads of major retail giants here of abandoning their duties to attend the hearing session during a parliamentary inspection. They were ordered to appear at the National Assembly and answer questions by lawmakers but none of them did, citing business trips. The Seoul Central Prosecutors’ O
Jan. 5, 2013
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Former gang boss Kim Tae-chon dies in hospital
Kim Tae-chon, former boss of South Korea's noted criminal syndicates in the 1970s and 1980s, died early Saturday at a hospital in Seoul after about a year of treatment for diseases. He was 64.The cause was said to be heart failure, according to officials at Seoul National University Hospital, where Kim had been admitted since December 2011 for treatment of a type of thyroid disease. Kim had been under intensive care since March because of difficulty in breathing.Kim "died early today after being
Jan. 5, 2013
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Seoul City halts plans for foreign school in Gangnam
Seoul City put a brake on a plan to build a foreign school in Gaepo, southern Seoul, due to decreased demand and a possible oversupply of foreign schools. The city government had a project to build three foreign schools since 2008 to increase the city’s global competence by providing a better educational environment to children of foreign businesspeople and attracting more investment in the city. The city government currently runs two foreign schools, Dulwich College Seoul in Banpo, southern Seo
Jan. 4, 2013
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Chemical castration ruling sparks controversy
Civic groups on Friday criticized a court’s sentence of forced chemical castration for a repeat rapist of teenage girls, saying it violates human rights.The Seoul Southern District Court ruled on Thursday that a 31-year-old convict should be put under hormonal treatment for three years to shut down his sexual desire.It was the first chemical castration order by a court since the National Assembly passed in 2011 a bill allowing the administration of anti-sex hormone medication for convicted child
Jan. 4, 2013
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Poet acquitted of charges of infringing national security
Kim Ji-ha, 72, a renowned poet, has been acquitted after 39 years of charges of violating the National Security Act and the presidential emergency rule, and inciting rebellion.Kim was convicted for publishing a poem “Ojeok” or “Five Enemies,” which criticized political and financial elites during the iron-fisted rule of late President Park Chung-hee, President-elect Park Geun-hye’s father, and participating in a students’ democracy movement in 1974. He received the death penalty, but was freed a
Jan. 4, 2013
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S. Korean police questioned American for alleged sexual harassment
South Korean police have questioned an American for alleged sexual harassment of three flight attendants aboard a flight bound for Incheon from New York, an official said.The American, identified only by his family name Rakowski, allegedly got drunk and hugged three crew members and hit two other crew members, the police official in Incheon said late Thursday.A crew member overpowered the suspect by using a taser gun and later handed him over to South Korean police upon arrival at Incheon Intern
Jan. 4, 2013