Most Popular
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1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse
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Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility
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US 'incredibly concerned' about suspected NK-Iran military ties
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K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
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K-pop singer lost consciousness after being hit by foul ball, cancels show
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Korean Muslim YouTuber's plan to build mosque in Incheon goes viral
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[Kim Seong-kon] Democracy and the future of South Korea
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Yoon's office denies considering liberal figures for key posts
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Why is Apple Pay struggling to get purchase in Korea?
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Seoul says Fu Bao loan 'not going to happen'
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Solomon Islanders to adopt Hangeul to keep spoken language alive
The inhabitants of the Solomon Islands will adopt Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, to preserve their spoken languages, officials announced on Tuesday.Two provinces, Guadalcanal and Malaita, which have a population of some 60,000, recently designated Hangeul their official written system to transcribe their spoken languages, the Center for Humanities Information of Seoul National University said.The SNU center, with support from United Nations Global Compact in Korea, developed textbooks, and also h
Oct. 9, 2012
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Online Korean dictionary goes on trial run
A new Internet-based Korean language dictionary began a trial service amid growing demand for Korean language study among foreigners at home and abroad.The National Institute of the Korean Language said the dictionary became available at http://krdic.korean.go.kr, on Tuesday, the national day for commemorating King Sejong’s creation of Korean alphabet known as Hangeul.The digital dictionary has some 50,000 entries of basic Korean words explained in simple Korean language as well as other informa
Oct. 9, 2012
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Surviving as a Korean native in international environment
You wake up with the sun rise and get up. Looking around, you find three guys from different countries: Nepal, the U.S. and Germany. It makes you think that you are not in South Korea but somewhere international. However, you are in Korea.I have lived my entire life in Korea. I do not have any experience in any foreign countries using English. The only traveling experience abroad I have is to Japan for five days about 20 years ago. As a native Korean, I attend Handong Global University, and this
Oct. 9, 2012
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Foreign schools show Korea’s social divide
Elitism coupled with obsession with English learning and lack of regulations create highly expensive schoolsAbout 60 parents were recently summoned by prosecutors on suspicion of acquiring forged documents to enroll their children in a special international school in Korea.They are said to have paid some 50 million won ($45,000) to brokers in Latin American countries including Guatemala to obtain fake citizenship certificates and passports. Under the current law, only children who have lived ove
Oct. 9, 2012
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Second-hand luxury dealer caters to status-conscious customers
During the economic boom of the late 1990s, Koreans developed a taste for things very expensive although unnecessary, and high-end clothes and accessories became ways to broadcast new wealth. As people say, timing is everything in business, and Lee Sang-kwon couldn’t have picked a better time to hop on the boom.After finishing his military service in 1997, Lee went into business for himself, trading toys and other goods. He soon moved to luxury goods like handbags and watches, right when the pop
Oct. 9, 2012
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Shame hampers struggle against suicide
South Korea’s efforts to curb its alarming suicide rate are being undermined by a deep-rooted belief that seeking help for mental problems leads to social and professional exclusion, health experts say.Suicide, fuelled by an intense pressure for academic and career achievement, has become a perennial blight on a country whose rapid economic development has otherwise raised living standards and encouraged social mobility. Figures released by the Health Ministry earlier September showed South Kore
Oct. 9, 2012
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Acid-hit region will take over 5 years to recover
Government designates area a disaster zoneThe government on Monday designated the area in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province hit by an acid leak a disaster zone amid criticism over its belated response to the incident.Experts said it may take more than five years for the town to fully recover its agricultural land and crops, which are the main source of income and food for residents in the area.The tardy response of the government and miscalculation by the state-run scientific institute is being bl
Oct. 8, 2012
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Acid-hit region will take over five years to recover
Government designates area a disaster zoneThe government on Monday designated the area in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, hit by an acid leak a disaster zone amid criticism over its belated response to the incident.Experts said it may take more than five years for the town to fully recover its agricultural land and crops, which are the main source of income and food for residents in the area.The
Oct. 8, 2012
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Hundreds evacuate as public incensed over acid leak response
Public anger is growing over perceived government nonchalance in the face of an acid leak almost two weeks ago in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province.The accident at a factory owned by Hube Korea, a local manufacturer of hydrofluoric acid used for the production of displays, has claimed five lives. More than 2,000 residents have also suffered from the effects of the acid on their skin, eyes and respiratory system, while some 300 local residents have opted to temporarily relocate.Despite growing call
Oct. 7, 2012
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One in six sex offenders is 50 or older
One in six sex offenders is aged 50 or above, data from the Ministry of Justice shows.The number of sex offenders aged 50 and above marked 8,885 out of the total 51,876 convicted between 2010 and the first six months of this year, or 17.1 percent.The number has seen a steady increase, from 3,460 in 2010 to 3,834 in 2011.In the first half of this year, 1,591 seniors were charged for sexual crimes. Sex offenders in their 60s recorded 5.1 percent (805) of the total in 2010, 5.4 percent (887) in 201
Oct. 7, 2012
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2 KOICA volunteers killed by lightning in Sri Lanka
Two members of the Korea International Cooperation Agency were killed and three others were injured after being struck by lightning in Sri Lanka on Saturday, local time. The state-run volunteer group said its five members were hit by lightning at around 5:30 p.m. in Haputale, a mountainous area in the central region of the nation. A man surnamed Kim, 22, and a woman surnamed Jang, 24, were killed.Three female workers were taken to a nearby hospital.The female members had joined the volunteer gro
Oct. 7, 2012
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Family separation haunts civil servants in Sejong
A 30-year-old newly-wed employee of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is bitter about the ongoing relocation of key government offices to Sejong City, located some 150 kilometers south of Seoul.The female civil servant, who asked to be known only as Park, deliberately got pregnant years before she initially planned to take advantage of government rules that allow years of maternity leave, thus delaying her move to Sejong.Park said she feels relieved after hearing of the ordeals suffered by colle
Oct. 7, 2012
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Sri Lanka lightning kills 2 Korean aid workers, injures 3
Two South Korean volunteer workers were killed and three others injured in a lightning accident in Sri Lanka, a state aid agency said Sunday. The two -- a 22-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman -- were killed by lightning on Saturday evening in the mountainous Haputale region in the central part of Sri Lanka, according to Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a state-funded agency in ch
Oct. 7, 2012
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Dozens of villagers evacuate gas leak-contaminated village to temporary shelter
(Yonhap) -- Dozens of villagers evacuated to a temporary shelter Saturday as officials tried to assess the extent of damage from a poisonous gas leak that devastated a large farmland. About 70 elderly residents left their village, Bongsan-ri, in the southeastern city of Gumi to a public facility considered safer from the aftermath of the Sept. 27 leak of about eight tons of hydrofluoric acid.
Oct. 6, 2012
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U.S. media shed lights on Dokdo after rare trip there
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- "For S. Korea, islands are outposts of national pride," reads a front-page story of the Washington Post's Friday edition. It shed lights on Dokdo, a pair of rocky islets in the East Sea, after a rare trip by one of its reporters there earlier this week. The South Korean government organized a helicopter tour of Dokdo, which is at the center of its diplomatic tension
Oct. 6, 2012
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U.S. to OK drone’s sale to Korea
The U.S. Congress is expected to approve the proposed sale to South Korea of Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles, and the two sides are in talks on price, a government official said Friday.South Korea hopes to purchase the advanced spy aircraft to bolster its surveillance capabilities over North Korea as the country prepares to retake wartime operational control of its troops from the United States in 2015.Congress has the final say in the sale of Global Hawks to foreign countries.“We expect th
Oct. 5, 2012
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KEPCO shareholders lose lawsuits over power rates
A local court on Friday ruled it is not illegal for a state power monopoly to set its electricity rates below cost, a verdict expected to deter the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. from implementing power rate hikes.The Seoul Central District Court dismissed two separate suits filed by minor shareholders of KEPCO, who accused the government and a former KEPCO chief executive of keeping electricity rates intentionally low to the detriment of company shareholders.One group consisting of 28 sma
Oct. 5, 2012
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W800b spent to subsidize civilian-developed road
The government is wasting a huge amount of taxpayer money each year to make sure a group of private investors in an airport highway makes an adequate return on their investment, data showed Friday.According to the data from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, the government paid a cumulative 790.9 billion won ($711.9 million) in subsidies between 2002-2011 to New Airport Hiway Co., a private owner and operator of a highway connecting Seoul to its main gateway Incheon Internatio
Oct. 5, 2012
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Korea to craft long-term plan to attain ‘AAA’ rating
South Korea will establish a long-term plan to attain the world’s highest credit ratings levels based on the momentum it received from the recent rating upgrades by major appraisers, the Finance Ministry said Friday.Moody’s, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s, the world’s three major appraisers, recently hiked their ratings on South Korea by a notch, citing the country’s improved fiscal soundness. The rating on Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, however, still remains three or four steps bel
Oct. 5, 2012
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Shares up on good results outlook
South Korean shares inched up 0.12 percent Friday on hopes of good corporate earnings, though investors took a wait-and-see stance on lingering European concerns, analysts said. The local currency climbed against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 2.49 points to 1,995.17. Trading volume was heavy at 672.4 million shares worth 4.4 trillion won ($3.96 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 462 to 351.Market analysts said that investors pay more heed to the E
Oct. 5, 2012