Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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PyeongChang 'ready to welcome the world' at next Winter Olympics: IOC
South Korea's PyeongChang is "ready to welcome the world" next February when it hosts the Winter Olympic Games, an International Olympic Committee official said Thursday.Gunilla Lindberg, head of the IOC's Coordination Commission on PyeongChang, on Thursday concluded her team's ninth and final visit to PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul, before the Winter Games. At her wrap-up press conference, Lindberg said she was "very pleased with the progress" by PyeongChang."This visit has give
Aug. 31, 2017
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‘Excrement School’ changes name to protect students from ridicule
An elementary school named “Daebyun,” whose sound in Korean can make one think about “feces,” is changing its name to “Yongam,” the school said Thursday. The school had been named after the area of Gijang County in Busan where it is located. Most of the residents in this area are alumni of this elementary school. Yongam refers to the name of the village which had been used a century earlier. A sign by Daebyun students reads, "We want to have a good school name" (Instagram @mey_moon)For decades
Aug. 31, 2017
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Foreigners briefed on anti-terrorism measures for PyeongChang
PYEONGCHANG -- The organizing committee for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Thursday briefed approximately 100 Olympic-related foreign officials on South Korea's measures to combat terrorism.Invited by the committee, the foreign officials from 35 International Olympic Committee member countries, IOC official sponsors and US broadcaster NBC, the rightsholder for broadcasting the Olympics in the United States, took part in the briefing session at an observatory at Alpensia Ski Resort in th
Aug. 31, 2017
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‘Digital sexual violence insurance’ sparks backlash for monetizing fear
A new insurance program targeting victims of digital sexual violence -- such as spy cams or revenge pornography -- sparked backlash from women’s rights advocates, a local news media reported.According to Kyunghyang Shinmun on Thursday, a big-name insurance company in South Korea has conducted preliminary market research to develop private insurance for digital sexual violence victims. The coverage would include monetary compensation for the client’s psychological damage as well as payment for cy
Aug. 31, 2017
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[Newsmaker] Validity of 2012 presidential election called into question
The validity of South Korea’s 2012 presidential election, in which now-jailed former President Park Geun-hye beat the current President Moon Jae-in by a narrow margin, is now in doubt, after then spy agency chief was found guilty of conducting a secret operation to help Park win the race. Former President Park Geun-hye, who is now in jail over corruption charges, is taken to the Seoul Central District Court on May 30, 2017. (Yonhap)Won Sei-hoon, who led the National Intelligence Agency from 2009
Aug. 31, 2017
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Smokers’ group chief quits cigarette
The head of the Korea Smokers’ Association made headlines Thursday -- for quitting smoking.Shin Min-hyung, the KSA chief and a smoker for 43 years, wrote on his Facebook on Aug. 4 that he is forgoing smoking due to health concerns. By Thursday, the post had attracted over 112 likes from Shin’s acquaintances. KSA chief Shin Min-hyung (Yonhap)“My body, coughing and phlegmy, is difficult to handle especially in this summer heat. I’m going to the public health center intending to quit smoking. My wi
Aug. 31, 2017
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Korea's population edges up 0.4% in 2016: census
South Korea's total population rose slightly last year, but senior people outnumbered children for the first time in history amid a rapid aging trend, a national census showed Thursday.A total of 51.27 million people lived in South Korea as of Nov. 1, 2016, up 0.4 percent, or 200,000, from a year earlier, according to the 2016 census by Statistics Korea.The agency started to hold a census based on the national resident registration records every year starting from 2016, with the conventional per
Aug. 31, 2017
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Teacher-pupil sex incident leads to misguided witch hunt
The recent case of a female teacher charged for sex with her preteen student has triggered an online witch hunt for the suspect.Some female teachers have seen their personal information spread online against their will and without their knowledge. Police have stepped in to rein in the illegal activity, as other women have been falsely identified as the suspect accused of underage rape and molestation of the 12-year-old student. Those held responsible as sources of the malignant rumors can be cha
Aug. 31, 2017
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2 dead, 1 missing in ship collision off Pohang
DAEGU -- Two men were killed and another went missing after a fishing boat collided with a barge in waters off Pohang on South Korea's southeastern coast Thursday, the Coast Guard said.Around 4:42 a.m., the 4.6-ton fishing boat collided with the 1,207-ton barge at the entrance of a port in the city of Pohang, causing the three fishermen on the boat to drown.The Coast Guard rescued two of the three, but they were pronounced dead at a hospital later. A rescuer reaches a submerged fishing boat in
Aug. 31, 2017
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South Korean students fall by 167,000 this year
South Korea saw a 2.5 percent on-year drop in the number of students enrolled in kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools last year, government data showed Thursday. As of April, 6.46 million children are attending school, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Education.First-year students are jubilant at Myeongil Elementary School in Seoul`s Gangdong Ward on July 14, 2017, as this year`s summer vacation starts. (Yonhap)Middle school students reported the steepest decline of 5.2
Aug. 31, 2017
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Govt. creating bilingual talent database from multicultural community
The government said Thursday it is creating a database of bilingual talents from the country's multicultural community to systematize and improve connecting job opportunities for the growing mixed-race population.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said it is accepting applications until the end of September from those of multicultural households who can be recognized for their bilingual skills or have relevant experience in activities involving the use of Korean and another language.The
Aug. 31, 2017
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Bereaved families join hands to shed light on 1923 massacre in Japan
The bereaved families of Koreans killed in a post-earthquake massacre in Japan nearly 100 years ago banded together Wednesday to reveal the truth and demand Tokyo's compensation. In the aftermath of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, up to 6,000 Koreans were killed by Japanese people agitated after the government spread a rumor that Koreans planned a riot, according to historians.Seven victims' families launched the first association devoted to the incident which has not received much attention, e
Aug. 30, 2017
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Korea to improve livestock breeding to secure food safety
South Korea will expand free range livestock husbandry in raising chickens as a way to improve food safety following the recent pesticide egg scandal that rocked the nation, the agriculture ministry said Wednesday.At the policy briefing held before President Moon Jae-in in Sejong, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it will introduce mandatory "pasture-raised" poultry farms from 2018 to improve the hygiene and safety of birds being raised.It will give financial incentives to
Aug. 30, 2017
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Moon urges variety in education, reduced burden on students
President Moon Jae-in stressed the importance of variety in public education Wednesday, while calling for government efforts to reduce financial burdens on students and their parents."What I especially want to stress to the education ministry is that there must never be standardized education that undermines variety," he said while meeting with officials from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for a policy briefing."The fourth industrial revolution requires
Aug. 30, 2017
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Over half North Korean defectors estimate Korean reunification impossible
Nearly 56 percent of North Korean defectors who participated in a recent South Korean survey said they thought Korean reunification was impossible while living in the North. YonhapThe Seoul National University’s Institute for Peace and Unification Studies asked 132 defectors who fled to South Korea last year, and 55.7 percent of respondents said they were pessimistic about unification before coming to the South. It marked an increase by 11 percentage points compared to the previous year’s surve
Aug. 30, 2017
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Shaman ruled not guilty of fraud
A shaman who was taken to court on charges of fraud was ruled not guilty by the Seoul Southern District Court on Wednesday. “Shamanism is, for the most part, aimed at gaining consolation and inner peace. Even if shamanistic rituals do not yield the promised outcome, it is difficult to hold the shaman accountable for the failure,” the court said.The shaman in the case had blamed the spirits of the victim’s aborted twin babies for her husband’s flagging business and suggested the victim appease th
Aug. 30, 2017
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[Newsmaker] Former spy chief gets 4 years in jail for election manipulation
The Seoul High Court on Wednesday gave a four-year jail term to a former spy agency chief for his role in a covert operation to manipulate public sentiment in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election. Won Sei-hoon, 66, who led the National Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2013 under the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration, was found guilty of election and NIS law violations. He was accused of directing his agents to conduct an illicit smear campaign online to sway voters in favor of th
Aug. 30, 2017
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Overseas Korean women gather for annual conference
GUNSAN -- Hundreds of Korean female leaders in various fields at home and abroad gathered in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss women's empowerment and changing roles in an age marked by disruptive technological transformation. The 17th annual Korean Women's International Network, organized by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, opened at the Gunsan Convention Center in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul. More than 600 women leaders from 32 countries who are cre
Aug. 30, 2017
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Extended Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway unveiled to public
Some 100 meters of walkway by the famous stonewall surrounding the palace Deoksugung in Seoul has been restored and was opened to public Wednesday.The section is part of the 170 meters of the 1.1-kilometer wall that has been occupied by the British Embassy for nearly 60 years. Some 70 meters of the walkway, which is the embassy’s legal property, will remain off-limits to pedestrians. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon made the first approach to the UK authority for cooperation in restoring and returning
Aug. 30, 2017
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4 dead, 2 missing after fishing ship capsizes off Pohang
POHANG -- Four men were killed and two others went missing after a fishing boat capsized off Cape Homi in Pohang on South Korea's southeastern coast Wednesday, the Coast Guard said.Around 12:50 p.m., the Coast Guard received a report from a merchant ship that the 27-ton boat carrying nine crew members was found capsized in high waves about 40 kilometers east of the cape.The Coast Guard rescued the ship's captain and two others who are in stable condition, it said. It also transferred another fou
Aug. 30, 2017