Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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S. Korea lowers COVID-19 warning level, lifts last-remaining antivirus mandates
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[Graphic News] Korean women’s lives in numbers
In South Korea, 49.9 percent of the population of 51.4 million is female, standing at 25.6 million as of 2017. Among those aged 60 or over, women outnumber men. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family released annual statistics Tuesday that give a glimpse into Korean women’s changing lives and perceptions, as well as the existing gender-based disparity in terms of income and social status. According to data mainly based on figures from 2016, women on average live longer than men. They are mo
June 27, 2017
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Five elite schools may face loss of special status
Some of Seoul’s specialized private high schools may lose their status as part of the Seoul education chief’s drive to level the playing field for students. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education was set to announce Wednesday the results of an assessment it conducted on five of the 29 foreign language and autonomous private schools across the city.(Yonhap)The review was conducted with the aim of deciding whether to cancel Seoul Foreign Language High School and four other schools’ designation
June 27, 2017
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Govt. mulls extending aid for patients with severe illness
The government is considering extending a financial support program for low-income patients with serious diseases in an effort to reduce their financial burden, the health ministry said Tuesday.The program, which started in 2013 and is slated to end this year, is designed to protect people with four critical illnesses -- cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and rare and incurable diseases -- and serious burns from big out-of-pocket payments.Ministry of Health and Welfare (Yonhap)The m
June 27, 2017
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Ex-Congressman Honda receives S. Korean state medal for efforts to help 'comfort women'
Former US Congressman Mike Honda was awarded a state medal from South Korea's government Monday for his efforts to help improve Korea-US relations and heal the wounds of Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery.Honda, who served as a House member representing California from 2001 to 2017, received the Gwanghwa Medal of the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit from South Korean Ambassador Ahn Ho-young in a ceremony at the ambassador's residence. Former Congressman Mike Honda (L) shakes hands
June 27, 2017
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Japanese man confesses to damaging epitaph on Korean victims
CHEONAN -- A Japanese man on Monday confessed to damaging a epitaph at a national cemetery for Korean victims of forced labor under Japan's colonial rule, "to correct historical facts," police said.Shigeharu Oku, a 69-year-old former member of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, made the confession two days after he was arrested upon arriving at Incheon airport, west of Seoul, from Japan, on suspicion of damaging the epitaph for the victims at the Manghyang Cemetery in the city of Cheonan, south of S
June 26, 2017
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Korea to issue housekeeping vouchers for working parents
The government said Monday that it will issue vouchers for housekeeping services to working parents starting in 2019, as part of efforts to ease the burden of child-rearing and housework. The Ministry of Employment and Labor on Monday released a public notice for the new legislation, which envisions the voucher system along with measures to better protect housekeepers and improve housekeeping services. (Yonhap)The ministry said it plans to encourage companies to adopt the voucher system for the
June 26, 2017
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Compensation suit begins against Park
The first hearing was held at a local court Monday for those seeking compensation over mental and physical distress caused by the corruption scandal surrounding former President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil. In the class action suit, filed in December with 5,001 plaintiffs including their legal representative Kwak Sang-eon, each demands 500,000 won ($440) in compensation. Some 4,160 plaintiffs also separately filed a compensation suit in January, with its hearing schedule not
June 26, 2017
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Efforts to abolish elite schools face backlash, doubts
With liberal President Moon Jae-in in power, South Korea’s education policy is set to shift away from elitism toward equality. And the nation’s most coveted schools are first to take a hit. Elite private high schools, which in their heydays were gateways to prestigious universities here and abroad, are facing an existential crisis, as education chiefs in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi Province have vowed to rescind their autonomy in school curriculum and admissions. Protesters oppose aboliti
June 26, 2017
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Meth smuggling suspect extradited from China
The justice ministry said Monday that a key South Korean suspect in meth smuggling was extradited from China. The file photo, taken on May 23, 2017, shows methamphetamine confiscated by police. (Yonhap)A 59-year-old man, identified only by his surname Lee, was arrested by the Chinese authorities in April. He was set to arrive at Incheon International Airport from Qingdao later in the day, the ministry said in a statement. Lee has been accused of bringing in five kilograms of the illicit drug fr
June 26, 2017
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Gov't to start supplying 300,000 rental homes to jobseekers
South Korea will launch a project later this year to provide 300,000 rental homes to jobseekers that can help ease the financial burden of young people, the land and infrastructure ministry said Monday. The rental homes will be supplied gradually during the President Moon Jae-in's five-year term that began May 10. This undated Yonhap News TV graphic image shows Transport Minister Kim Hyun-mee, a real estate contract and a pile of cash. (Yonhap)In a move to fulfill one of the chief executive's m
June 26, 2017
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Eggs imported from Thailand to arrive in Korea this week
Eggs imported from Thailand are expected to arrive in South Korea this week, industry sources said Monday, as the government seeks to ease a domestic supply shortage caused by the outbreak of bird flu.Local distributors completed the shipment of some 1 million eggs bound for South Korea on Friday and Saturday, which are likely to reach consumers early next month at the latest, sources said.Local importers originally planned to import 2 million eggs that were expected to arrive in South Korea las
June 26, 2017
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3 out of 5 Koreans optimistic about relations with US: survey
More than three out of five South Koreans expect that the relations between South Korea and the United States will improve under the President Moon Jae-in government, a survey showed Monday.The survey disclosed by the Asan Institute showed that 67 percent of those polled said that South Korea-US relations will get better going forward, with 20.7 percent saying the opposite. (EPA-Yonhap)The survey was conducted via phone on 1,000 adults aged 19 or older during June 1-3. It was unveiled days befor
June 26, 2017
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3,300 names of UN troops killed in Korean War called out in ceremony in Washington
The names of 3,300 UN troops killed in the Korean War were called out in Washington on Sunday in a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the war's outbreak 67 years ago.Representatives of 21 countries took turns calling out the names of the fallen troops at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington for 12 hours starting at 7 a.m. (Yonhap)The names of soldiers were called in groups according to their countries in alphabetical order beginning with Australia. As a new country took its turn
June 26, 2017
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Sailor at naval base found dead in suspected suicide
INCHEON -- A Navy petty officer was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head Sunday in a suspected suicide case, the military said.The 24-year-old, whose identity was withheld, was found by his colleagues at 1:20 a.m. at a base in Incheon, west of Seoul, according to authorities. (Yonhap)A firearm and a spent cartridge were found on site, but the authorities said there were no suicide note or a magazine. According to the probe, the soldier sent a text message to a friend earlier in the day, i
June 25, 2017
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[From the scene] Trump, fury, misunderstanding drive THAAD protest
On Saturday afternoon, thousands of South Koreans took to the streets to protest against the deployment of a US anti-missile system here, struggling to penetrate thick lines of police and besiege the US Embassy in downtown Seoul. An estimated 3,000 people chanted in unison “Retract the deployment of THAAD” and “THAAD out. Peace in.” Some were carrying placards reading “Koreans Hate THAAD” or “No THAAD, No Trump.” They were accusing Washington of “forcing” Seoul to station a Terminal High Altitud
June 25, 2017
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Ex-dictator requests court change over memoir lawsuit
Former President Chun Doo-hwan, responsible for the bloody suppression of the 1980 pro-democracy movement in Gwangju, has requested that the petition for an injunction against the publication of his memoir be reviewed in Seoul. According to the Gwangju District Court and the May 18 Memorial Foundation on Sunday, Chun has requested the case to be reviewed in Seoul, saying that the Gwagnju court may be influenced by public sentiment. According to court records, Chun filed a motion seeking to trans
June 25, 2017
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Supreme Court finds 14th conscientious objector guilty
The Supreme Court on Sunday upheld a prison sentence for a man refusing to do military service on religious grounds. This is the 14th time the Supreme Court approved of imprisonment for those refusing military service on religious grounds so far this year. In the latest case, the 22-year old man identified by the surname Shin was tried for refusing to join the military after he received his draft letter in December 2015. The first court to try Shin had found him innocent, saying that forcing him
June 25, 2017
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[Weekender] Deadly heat waves to be the norm by 2100
High temperatures can kill a person in a number of ways, and each year reports of an elderly individual dying during a heat wave makes the headlines in South Korea. However, such incidents could become a regular occurrence with summers set to be filled with killer heatwaves by 2100, should carbon dioxide emissions increase at the current rate, researchers warn. (123RF)According to research, led by Camilo Mora of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Seoul will have up to 67 days of deadly heat wave
June 25, 2017
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Protest rally in central Seoul demands withdrawal of THAAD
Thousands of South Koreans staged a protest rally in central Seoul on Saturday demanding the withdrawal of the deployment of an American high-tech anti-missile defense system as President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart Donald Trump are set to meet in Washington D.C. next week."The deployment of THAAD, which is unnecessary for the defense of the Korean Peninsula, should be pulled back," the protesters said in a rally held in Seoul Plaza at the heart of Seoul. The rally's organizer put the num
June 25, 2017
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[Weekender] Frogs, flowers in January -- Climate change's impact on Korea
The Korean Peninsula can’t escape global warming. Every year heat wave warnings come earlier and earlier, and record temperatures no longer come as a surprise. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Korea’s annual average temperature has increased by 1.7 degrees Celsius between 1912 and 2008. In comparison, the global average saw an increase of 0.74 degrees Celsius over the same period. Korea’s faster climate change is thought to have been aggravated by rapid urbanization. “About
June 25, 2017