Most Popular
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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Ador CEO's request for exclusive right to terminate NewJeans' contract with Hybe refused in February
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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Naver will consider company benefits in deciding on selling Line shares: CEO
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Woman dangling from power lines rescued by residents holding blanket
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Unemployment benefit applications hit record high in Q1: govt. data
The number of people newly applying for unemployment benefits reached a record high during the first quarter of this year, government data showed Sunday, amid concerns over a sharp increase in the minimum wage causing employers to lay off workers.The liberal Moon Jae-in administration raised the minimum wage by 16.4 percent to 7,530 won ($7.02) on Jan. 1 this year, the biggest jump in nearly two decades, while planning to increase the wage to 10,000 by 2020.As many as 628,000 people got unemploy
April 15, 2018
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Seoul to reinforce public facilities to better withstand earthquakes
Seoul city plans to inject 281.9 billion won ($263.9 million) over the next three years to better protect existing public facilities from earthquakes. The city government on Sunday announced the plan to increase the portion of quake-resistant public buildings from the current 62.5 percent to 80.2 percent by 2020.The project will involve 2,035 buildings, 604 railway sections, 579 bridges and roads and 11 sewage treatment plants, the government said. Concerns about earthquakes have increased in th
April 15, 2018
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Infidelity increasingly blamed for divorces
The number of divorces attributed to infidelity by spouses amounted to 7,528 in South Korea last year, accounting for 7.1 percent of the nation's total 106,032 marriage breakups, Statistics Korea said Saturday.The number of divorces resulting from extramarital affairs, cheating and other acts of infidelity has steadily decreased here by around 400 cases annually since 2010.But the same figure fell 36 cases in 2017 from the previous year, according to the government's statistics office.Thus, divo
April 15, 2018
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Private education costs exceeded 40 tln won last year
Total household spending on private education for children exceeded 40 trillion won ($37 billion) last year despite the country's declining birth rate, the central bank said Saturday.South Korean households spent a total of 40.94 trillion won on private education in 2017, up 2.8 percent from 39.84 trillion won a year earlier, for children in elementary, middle and high schools, according to data from the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)Per-capita private education costs have increased continuously over
April 14, 2018
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Doctor released on bail after arrest in newborns' deaths
An Ewha Womans University Hospital doctor has been released on bail after being arrested last week on charges of negligent homicide over the deaths of four newborns by bacterial infection late last year, officials said Saturday.Cho Soo-jin, a pediatric professor in charge of the hospital's intensive care unit for newborns, was arrested on April 4, along with another doctor and a nurse, on charges of overlooking duties and breaching hygiene rules, causing the infants to get infected with a bacter
April 14, 2018
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Coast Guard seizes Chinese boat for illegal fishing off west coast
The Coast Guard has seized a Chinese fishing boat for illegally operating in South Korean waters off the west coast, officials said Saturday.The 35-ton dragnet boat was caught for fishing in waters about26 km northwest of South Korea's northernmost island of Baengyeong around 6:10 p.m. Friday after crossing the inter-Korean maritime border, known as the Northern Limit Line, 5 km into the South. (Yonhap)The Coast Guard chased the boat for two and a half hours before seizing it, officials said. In
April 14, 2018
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Theater director Lee indicted on sex assault allegations
Prosecutors indicted Lee Youn-taek, a famed theatrical director, Friday on allegations that he used his status to sexually harass or assault more than a dozen women.Lee, 66, was formally charged with repeated sexual assaults of female junior members of his drama troupe since 2010, according to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. He was arrested on March 23. Lee Youn-taek (Yonhap)Lee was a leading figure in South Korea's theater circles and is one of several high-profile South Korean men who are und
April 13, 2018
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Prosecution team seeking indictment of ex-prosecutor suspected of sexual assault
A committee of the prosecution concluded Friday that it is proper to indict a former senior prosecutor who is accused of sexually assaulting a female junior colleague and using his influence to demote her after she raised the issue.The committee tasked with reviewing the prosecutors' probe held a meeting to discuss whether to seek a warrant to arrest Ahn Tae-geun, 52, and indict him and said that it is appropriate to seek to formally charge him. District Attorney Seo Ji-hyeon (Yonhap)Seo Ji-hyeo
April 13, 2018
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Civic groups vow to erect statue for forced labor victims near Japanese consulate
A coalition of South Korean civic groups vowed Friday to erect a statue in front of the Japanese Consulate in South Korea's second largest city of Busan next month to commemorate Korean victims of forced labor under Japan's colonial rule. Members of a civic group rally in front of a model statue, which symbolizes Korean victims of forced labor under Japan`s colonial rule, in South Korea`s largest port city of Busan on Jan. 24, 2018. They vowed to erect such a statue in front of the Japanese Con
April 13, 2018
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Busan district to offer ad-based support for waste paper collectors
The Haeundae District Office in Busan plans to support waste paper collectors by paying them for attaching side panel adverts on their handcarts after their incomes were hit by a dramatic fall in the price of waste paper.The collectors will be paid 50,000 won ($46) a month by advertisers for displaying advertisements on their handcarts. (Yonhap)The district office decided to provide financial support for the collectors, who are suffering from sharp decline in income.Concerns were fueled in that
April 13, 2018
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Top court advises on sexual violence trials
The Supreme Court said Friday it overturned a lower court decision to reinstate a professor who was fired for sexually harassing students, saying it lacked sensitivity to gender equality.The top court sent the case back to the Seoul High Court for retrial, and stressed that judges should apply gender sensitivity in handling cases of sexual wrongdoing, presenting a yardstick for future trials as the #MeToo movement sweeps the country. Gender sensitivity refers to the aim of understanding societal
April 13, 2018
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Police officer indicted on bribery, sex trafficking charges
Prosecutors have launched on Friday a probe into allegations that a police officer accepted bribes from the owner of a brothel and selectively conducted raids on its rival brothels. Uijeongbu prosecutors indicted the inspector on bribery, dereliction of duty, sex trafficking and other charges. The corrupt inspector, 38, a member of the Goyang Police Station, is accused of operating the illegal brothel, disguised as a massage parlor, in partnership with a 39-year-old man. YonhapIt is said the in
April 13, 2018
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Massive fire sets Incheon chemical recyling plant ablaze
A massive fire set a chemical processing plant ablaze in Seo-gu, Incheon, at 11:47 a.m. on Friday, as thick, black smoke and toxic fumes poured out from the plant. Incheon authorities said the rapidly moving fire had consumed the chemical treatment plant inside the city’s industrial complex, and that it was mobilizing all firefighters and equipment available in Incheon and neighboring areas of Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. Fire authorities issued a third-phase warning -- the highest level among a
April 13, 2018
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Hotel clerk arrested for theft from valeted car
Busanjin Police Station in Busan said Friday that it booked a hotel clerk without detention for stealing cash from a customer’s vehicle that he had parked. (123RF)The suspect valet-parked the client’s automobile at a hotel in Busan and took 130,000 won ($120) from the business card holder inside the center console, according to police.After the theft was reported, police analyzed CCTV footage and traced the suspect to arrest him.By Ahn Sang-yool (koolsangon@heraldcorp.com)
April 13, 2018
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Fire causes estimated W170m in damages at Ansan food warehouse
A fire broke out at a frozen food warehouse in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, at 2:40 a.m. Friday. It took three hours and thirty minutes to extinguish the fast-moving fire, the Ansan Fire Department said. Firefighters extinguish the warehouse fire in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province on Friday, April 13. YonhapWhen the fire started, forty workers were reportedly unloading frozen food onto loading deck of the warehouse. There were no casualties with everyone quickly evacuating the perimeter, according to the
April 13, 2018
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Police launch preliminary probe into Korean Air heiress over suspected assault
Police said Friday they began a preliminary investigation into allegations that a daughter of Korean Air Lines Co.'s chief physically assaulted an advertising company official last month. Cho Hyun-min, an executive at the country's largest air carrier and the second daughter of Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, is accused of yelling at the manager of an advertising firm and throwing water in his face in her office in western Seoul, the police said.She was reportedly angry that the manager did n
April 13, 2018
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Prosecutors raid stock exchange, bank in probe into FSS chief's sponsored trips
Prosecutors raided the offices of a bourse operator and a bank on Friday as part of a probe into allegations that the new head of the country's financial watchdog received special treatment from financial institutions when he was a lawmaker. Investigators from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office were sent to search the Seoul and Busan headquarters of the Korea Exchange Bank and Woori Bank and confiscate accounting documents, the office said. Raids are also being carried out at two lo
April 13, 2018
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Most sexual violence in public sector workplaces unreported: survey
The majority of recent sexual harassment cases within public sector workplaces supposedly went unreported, a government poll showed Friday.A blind survey on sexual violence in the public sector conducted by the gender equality and family ministry showed that 67.3 percent of alleged victims did not report their experience to their respective institutions.The online poll was open to 569,000 public sector workers from March 12-April 6. Of those, 40.8 percent, or 232,000, participated in the survey.
April 13, 2018
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S. Korea OKs restart of nuclear reactor
South Korea's nuclear safety agency said Thursday that it has approved the restarting of a reactor in the country's southeastern region, with the unit expected to come online in the coming days. (Yonhap)The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said it has confirmed the safety of the Kori 4 in an inspection following the reactor's shutdown on March 28 last year due to a coolant leak in a welded part of a drainage pipe."We have confirmed that there is nothing that could compromise safe operation
April 12, 2018
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Experts urge for changes in law, policies to reduce secondary harm from sex crimes
Although the recent #MeToo movement in Korea has encouraged many to open up about their experiences of sexual assault and harassment, the victims often end up suffering secondary victimization by third parties who cast doubt on their claims and pass judgment.Addressing growing concerns over secondary victimization, a women’s rights activist on Wednesday urged for changes to the law and policies, adding that society should stop expecting victims to behave in a certain way. (National Police Agenc
April 12, 2018