Most Popular
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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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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Experts raise concerns about Japan putting pressure on Naver over Line
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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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S. Korea, Japan could consider simplified entry agreement: Seoul official
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Legoland Korea Resort to open until 9 p.m.
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Technology as a blessing for physically challenged
Professor Lee Sang-mook has been heading a government-funded project to improve the quality of life of disabled people through technology for over two years. The project called Quality of Life Technology, or QoLT, falls in line with Lee’s belief that the advancements in the field of information technology are the biggest blessing for the physically challenged.Ultimately, those behind the program hope to establish a “welfare-industry state” and to nurture the so-called QoLT industry into a major
Sept. 28, 2012
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‘Korea should become the world leader in disability issues’
Following are excerpts from the interview with professor Lee Sang-mook of Seoul National University. ― Ed.Korea Herald: What happened after the accident?Lee: A helicopter came to the middle of the desert (to rescue us) after 40 minutes, and I slipped in and out of consciousness for three days. A nurse told me that I didn’t know how to speak.It was as if an executioner cut off my neck but was ordered to put it back on. The accident severed all the muscles in my neck. The spinal cord, which is lik
Sept. 28, 2012
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Six students injured in rampage by teenager
Six schoolchildren were injured after a depressed teenage dropout went on a violent rampage and attacked young students with a shovel at an elementary school in southern Seoul, police said Friday.The 18-year-old boy surnamed Kim broke into the school's campus shortly before noon and wielded the entrenching shovel in a classroom, hurting three girls and three boys, the Bangbae Police Station said,
Sept. 28, 2012
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Six elementary schoolers injured in rampage by teenage dropout
A high school dropout stormed into a class in an elementary school in southern Seoul on Friday and threw around a shovel, wounding six children, the police said. The 18-year-old, surnamed Kim, broke into the school compound in Bangbae-dong at 11:50 a.m. and allegedly hit children who were taking a morning class with a toy gun and a shovel, a rampage that lasted for five minutes. Six elementary school students were wounded and taken to a nearby hospital to receive treatment. The suspect, who is s
Sept. 28, 2012
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Korea's Stephen Hawking: I've never cried
Seoul National University professor Lee Sang-mook. (Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald)Lee works to improve lives with technology, facilitate science education for disabled studentsIn July 2006, marine geophysics professor Lee Sang-mook of Seoul National University was on a field trip in the U.S. along with his 12 students when the vehicle carrying them rolled over in the desert. One student was killed and
Sept. 28, 2012
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Chemical plant explosion kills 4, injures 8
An explosion at a chemical plant in Gumi in the southern part of Korea killed at least four workers and injured eight others Thursday, police said.The death toll may rise as some of the wounded are in critical condition, police said. The blast broke out at around 3:45 p.m. at the Gumi National Industrial Complex in North Gyeongsang Province when the employees of Hube Global were unloading hydrochloric acid from a tank truck, according to the police. The Seoul-based company makes chemicals and ma
Sept. 27, 2012
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Seoul’s chief educator ousted from office
Supreme Court convicts Kwak of bribery, hands down one-year term, orders return of W3.5bThe Supreme Court on Thursday found Seoul educational chief Kwak No-hyun guilty of bribery during his election in 2010, upholding a lower court ruling that sentenced him to one year in prison. The superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education was stripped of his position immediately and will be back in prison for the eight months remaining on his sentence.Kwak will also have to return the 3.52
Sept. 27, 2012
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HUFS bans drinking on campus
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul has decided to ban the sale of alcohol on campus and cut funding for departments that house violators, school officials said Thursday. “(The decision) is to stop alcohol-related accidents and crimes on university campuses, which have become a social problem. It is also to create sound campus life,” officials at HUFS said in a statement.Students at the university used to open makeshift bars during school festivals held in the spring and fall.The gover
Sept. 27, 2012
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High-caffeine drinks may be banned from school stores
The Korea Food and Drug Administration has drafted new guidelines for children’s food safety under which high caffeine energy drinks such as Hot Six and Red Bull may be banned from school stores and areas around schools.The agency on Thursday unveiled a set of nutrition management guides for children’s snacks and school lunches.According to the plan, schools stores will be banned from selling beverages containing over 0.15mg of caffeine per 1ml. The “Children’s Food Safety Protection Zone,” init
Sept. 27, 2012
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Blood mercury levels higher in Koreans than Americans: study
Mercury levels in Koreans’ blood are three times higher than those of Americans and five times higher than those of Germans, a new study found. This, however, does not necessarily mean that Koreans experience more adverse health effects from the toxic heavy metal, as the concentrations were under levels associated with health problems, it said. The study, conducted by the state-run National Institute of Environmental Institute, found that the average concentration of mercury in the blood to be 3
Sept. 27, 2012
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KDI, KOICA host Africa development conference
The Korea International Cooperation Agency and the Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management jointly hosted an international conference on development for African countries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Tuesday.The conference discussed how to enhance the economic development of African countries, as well as successful strategies employed by various African countries including Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya and Egypt. Participants included Dean Nam Sang-woo of KDI School, State Mi
Sept. 27, 2012
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Chemical plant explosion kills 3, injures 5
An explosion at a chemical plant in Gumi in the southern part of Korea killed at least three workers and injured five others Thursday, police said.The death toll may rise as some of the wounded are in critical condition, police said. The blast broke out at around 3:45 p.m. at the Gumi National Industrial Complex in North Gyeongsang Province when the employees of Hube Global were unloading hydrochl
Sept. 27, 2012
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One-year prison term confirmed for Seoul education chief
Kwak No-hyun, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. (Yonhap News)The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a one-year prison term for Seoul's education chief Kwak No-hyun for bribery charges, stripping the disgraced liberal educator of his post.The 58-year-old superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education was indicted last year on charges of paying 200 million
Sept. 27, 2012
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Chinese Embassy tops parking fine list
The Chinese Embassy owes the highest amount in parking fines among foreign missions in Korea taking advantage of diplomatic immunity, Seoul City data showed Wednesday. In the first eight months of the year, the city government issued 440 tickets worth around 19 million won ($17,000) to embassies. It has so far collected only some 6.3 million won, or about 33 percent. China topped the list with fines worth more than 5.3 million won. Trailing next is Russia with about 1.3 million won, followed by
Sept. 26, 2012
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Seoul confirms Suseo as new bullet train station
The Seoul Metropolitan Government decided Wednesday to push ahead with its plan to build a new bullet train station in Suseo, southern Seoul.The city’s urban development committee confirmed plans to build a new KTX line connecting the southern district to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province by 2015.The government had planned to operate the new KTX line between Suseo and Busan from 2015, but the plan was delayed after the city government tried to build the station in a more central location in Samseong
Sept. 26, 2012
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Sex workers want anti-sex trade laws scrapped
Workers in the sex industry called Wednesday for the scrapping or revision of anti-sex trafficking laws, saying it restricts their right of sexual autonomy.South Korea has banned the sex trade since two pertinent laws went into effect in 2004, dealing a serious blow to the industry.“Part of the anti-sex trafficking laws about those who sell sex is against the Constitution,“ a sex worker said in a news conference in Seoul hosted by their trade association, Hanteo.The clause limits sex workers‘ ri
Sept. 26, 2012
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HIV infections top 8,000
The total number of HIV/AIDS cases in Korea surpassed the 8,000 mark with a record number of new infections last year, health authorities said Tuesday. According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 888 more Koreans were found to have contracted HIV, which can lead to AIDS, in 2011, raising the total number to 8,544. Some 1,512 of the 8,514 infected have died, which leaves 7,032 Koreans currently living with HIV/AIDS. The number of new infections has been on a steady rise in r
Sept. 25, 2012
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P.M.’s relative implicated in admission scam at foreign school
Prosecutors are investigating a relative of Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik as part of an on-going investigation into a massive admission fraud case involving several foreign schools.Prosecutors said Monday that they had summoned the wife of Kim’s nephew on suspicion of fabricating documents in order to enroll her child in a foreign school. The 36-year-old, surnamed Park, is believed to have acquired a forged foreign passport through a broker, according to Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office.The m
Sept. 25, 2012
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Seoul’s households spend heavily on private education: survey
Around 40 percent of households in Seoul with elementary and secondary school students spend more than 910,000 won ($813) on private education per month, a survey showed Tuesday.According to the telephone survey of 261 parents having elementary and secondary school children, 36.6 percent said they spend more than 910,000 won on average per month for private education, followed by 410,000 won to 500,000 won with 11.6 percent and 510,000 won to 600,000 won with 9.9 percent, the data showed.The cat
Sept. 25, 2012
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Ruling party pushes to relocate Seoul National Univ to Sejong City
The ruling Saenuri Party is pushing to move the country’s top-ranked Seoul National University to the new administrative city of Sejong in a move to woo voters ahead of December’s presidential election, party officials said Monday.The move would help the Seoul-based state-run university attract additional investment and cut tuition if it sells its land and buildings, a party official said, asking that he not be identified.The official is a key member of a party committee in charge of drawing up
Sept. 25, 2012