Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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Man arrested for holding pregnant woman hostage
Police apprehended a man who held a pregnant woman at knifepoint in a Seoul department store on Wednesday.According to Gangnam Police Station, 35-year-old Lee grabbed the woman by her hair and held her hostage while brandishing a kitchen knife at the Hyundai Department Store COEX branch.“Around 10 a.m. right after the store opened its doors, there was a young man who was hanging around and laughing suspiciously,” said one witness whose name was not disclosed.“He suddenly grabbed a knife on displ
Jan. 11, 2012
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Korea to run integrated hotline on school violence
The government and the ruling party agreed to open a school violence hotline as one major step to responding to school violence, Education Ministry officials said Wednesday. A high-level meeting of Grand National Party members and ministers of related agencies agreed to unify separate school violence hotlines into “117,” which will be operational 24 hours a day nationwide. “As we remember 112 as a number for reporting crimes, and 119 for fire reports, we decided to make 117 a number with which p
Jan. 11, 2012
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Hyundai Motor unionists return to assembly line
Union members at the nation’s largest carmaker said Wednesday that they will stop a walk-out and resume production, as many of their requests have been accepted by the management. The union at Hyundai Motor’s largest plant in Ulsan on Tuesday afternoon halted engine production after one of its members set himself on fire, alleging he was bullied by his superior, who told him not to leave work to participate in union activities.The walk-out on Tuesday afternoon broke three straight years of no st
Jan. 11, 2012
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3 Korean sailors missing after ship fire in Antarctica
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Yonhap News) -- Three crew members of a South Korean fishing boat went missing overboard and three others were injured after the ship caught fire in Antarctic waters early Wednesday, rescue officials said.The 51-meter-long vessel Jeong-woo 2, which had been fishing in the remote Ross Sea, some 3,704 kilometers southeast of New Zealand, issued a distress call at around 3 a.m. after it was engulfed in fire, according to the Rescue Coordination Center New Zealand (RCCNZ).The
Jan. 11, 2012
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Seoul Global Center to open new office in Yeouido
Seoul Global Center will open a new branch Thursday in Seoul’s business district to help foreigners with startups and investments here, officials said Wednesday.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the Yeouido Global Business Center will open its doors to counsel foreigners on opening small businesses and finding investment opportunities.Located within the newly opened Seoul International Finance Center, the center will also be able to help foreigners with administrative work outside
Jan. 11, 2012
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Man arrested for taking pregnant woman hostage
A man who held a pregnant woman hostage at a department store in southern Seoul Wednesday morning has been arrested, police said.Authorities said the man threatened the woman with a knife that was on display in the kitchen appliance section on the 7th floor of the Hyundai Department Store in Samseong-dong. The man didn’t demand anything throughout the incident. He was taken down by the police less than an hour after the confrontation started. No one was injured, officials added.Witnesses said th
Jan. 11, 2012
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3 Korean sailors missing after ship fire in Antarctica
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- Three crew members of a South Korean fishing boat went missing overboard and three others were injured after the ship caught fire in Antarctic waters early Wednesday, rescue officials said.The 51-meter-long vessel Jeong-woo 2, which had been fishing in the
Jan. 11, 2012
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Number of S. Koreans retiring to farms reaches record high in 2011
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Koreans retiring to farming surged to a new annual high in 2011 thanks to local governments' efforts to attract retiring baby boomers, a report showed Wednesday.According to the report by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the nu
Jan. 11, 2012
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Arrest warrant sought for Chinese attacker of Japanese Embassy in Seoul
A judge issued an arrest warrant for a Chinese man Tuesday on charges of throwing firebombs at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for the 38-year-old man, surnamed Liu, for allegedly attacking the embassy in Seoul on Jan. 8 in protest of Japan's r
Jan. 10, 2012
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Prosecutors indict Chinese fisherman on murder charges
Prosecutors indicted the captain of a Chinese fishing boat with physical detention Tuesday on charges of killing a South Korean law enforcement officer last month during a raid on the vessel for illegally fishing in Korea's exclusive economic zone.The 42-year-old captain, whose identity was withheld
Jan. 10, 2012
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Korea grants pardon to 955 convicts
The government pardoned or reduced the sentences of 955 convicts and lifted more than 3,700 administrative restrictions for construction companies on Tuesday.According to the Ministry of Justice, 540 prisoners including one serving a life sentence were pardoned or given reduced sentences. The convict on life sentence, whose sentence was reduced to 20 years, is a first-time offender who has served more than 10 years of his term, during which the prisoner has shown exemplary behavior, the ministry
Jan. 10, 2012
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Students allowed to use calculators in math class
Korean students will be able to use digital tools such as calculators and computers in math class from 2014 under the government plan to strengthen the real-life application of mathematics, Education Ministry officials said Tuesday. The ministry will also oversee the math curriculum of middle and high schools to see if they follow the regular public curriculum in an attempt to curb excessive spending on private tutoring, according to officials. Currently, Korean students are not allowed to use c
Jan. 10, 2012
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Policeman’s heroic death in last year’s floods under scrutiny
Police said Tuesday they will reinvestigate the death of a young conscripted policeman who they had announced was killed in a rescue operation during last summer's massive floods, following allegations that the story was fabricated.(Yonhap News)The Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency said the reinvest
Jan. 10, 2012
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Cheonggyecheon draws over a million wishes
Cheonggyecheon, the stream running through the heart of Seoul, has seen visitors toss more than a million coins into its wishing well in a little over six years, Seoul City said Tuesday.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Facilities Management Corporation, 1.07 million coins have been thrown into the wishing well totaling 68.73 million won ($59,450) from October 2005 to December of last year.On a layover from Texas to Beijing, 25-year-old Stephen Tinh visited the well at the mouth of the popular
Jan. 10, 2012
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Bamseom Island in Han River to be added to Ramsar list
Seoul’s Bamseom Island in the Han River, known as a rare urban habitat for migratory birds, is expected to be included on a protection list under the international treaty of the Ramsar Convention, in recognition of its ecological and environmental value, the Environment Ministry said Tuesday.The ministry said it will register the island with the secretariat of the Ramsar Convention within this month. The secretariat is expected to make a decision as early as April after reviewing the island’s bi
Jan. 10, 2012
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Officials keep tabs on falling satellite
As a Russian Mars probe that stalled in orbit may fall to the Earth sometime next week, the government announced Tuesday that it would broadcast its location real time on the websites of related agencies and via Twitter until its crash.The 13.2-ton probe named Phobos-Grunt, launched last November, was scheduled to explore the Martian moon Phobos, but became stuck in orbit when its rocket boosters failed, and computer malfunctioned, according to the Russian space agency Roscosmos. It is expected
Jan. 10, 2012
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City ups fight against sexual harassment
Seoul City is teaming up with women’s counseling groups in an effort to stop sexual harassment in the workplace, officials said Tuesday.The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it is joining hands with the Korea Women’s Hotline so that female government employees may feel safe in receiving counseling after an incident. The hotline will offer women from all branches of the city government a chance to report incidents anonymously, in order to prevent repercussions.The center will then investigate th
Jan. 10, 2012
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Presidential aide faces land deal summons
Prosecutors may question Lee’s son if suspicions over retirement house not settledA presidential office worker was summoned to Seoul Central Prosecutors’ office on Tuesday, to be questioned over allegations that Cheong Wa Dae paid for property President Lee Myung-bak purchased under his son’s name earlier last year.If their suspicions remain, investigators are expected to question Lee Si-hyong, the President’s son, as well. According to local broadcasting network MBC, Cheong Wa Dae is suspected
Jan. 10, 2012
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Nonghyup probed for interest rate scams
The prosecution has launched an investigation into the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, or Nonghyup, for manipulation of net interest spread at some of its branches, raking in 2 billion won ($1.7 m) through the method.According to the Central Investigation Division at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday, about 30 provincial branches of Nonghyup were accused of making 10 billion won ($8.54 m) in profit by raising the net interest spread without notifying customers. Net interes
Jan. 10, 2012
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US steps up testing for fungicide in orange juice
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it will step up testing for a fungicide that has been found in low levels in orange juice. Icicles hang from an orange tree at a commercial grove near Winter Garden, Florida, U.S. (Bloomberg)FDA officials said they are not conce
Jan. 10, 2012