Most Popular
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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Govt. asks hospitals to mitigate impact of medical professors' absence
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S. Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: official
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S. Korea's working-age population to dip nearly 10m by 2044 amid low births
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Doggy patrol team on the move to protect their cities
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Sales of eco-friendly cars top 100,000 in Q1 in S. Korea
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[Herald Interview] Director of 'Goodbye Earth' aimed to ask how we would face apocalypse
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[Feature] Incheon Airport to set tone for irregular workers’ status shift
INCHEON – Incheon Airport has been praised for its excellent service, chosen as the world’s No. 1 airport for 12 years in a row. Beneath the fancy title, however, the airport has long been viewed by local labor experts as a microcosm of the country’s sharply-polarized labor market: Nearly 85 percent of the workforce here are “irregular workers” on an average salary that is less than half that of the “regular workers.” Precisely for that reason, President Moon Jae-in chose it as the place to star
May 31, 2017
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[Newsmaker] Chung Yoo-ra returns home to face questioning
Chung Yoo-ra, who has enjoyed a wide range of privileges on the back of her once-influential mother Choi Soon-sil, returned to South Korea on Wednesday to face questioning about the corruption scandal involving her mother and ex-President Park Geun-hye.Eight months after she went into hiding in Europe to avoid the prosecution’s summons, Chung finally returned home in handcuffs and shifted all responsibility to her mother.Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye's
May 31, 2017
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Poll shows 60% of Koreans negative about China's influence
Six in 10 South Koreans have a negative viewpoint of China's influence on their country, according to a poll released Wednesday.In the poll of 758 adult South Koreans organized jointly by the Asan Institute for Policy Studies and several foreign institutions early this year, 60 percent negatively evaluated China's influence on South Korea, while those with neutral and positive opinions amounted to 25 percent and 15 percent, respectively. (Yonhap)Institute officials noted that the ratio of negati
May 31, 2017
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Top court confirms 3-year term for labor union leader over violent rallies
South Korea’s Supreme Court confirmed Wednesday a three-year jail sentence for Han Sang-gyun, the leader of the nation’s second-biggest umbrella labor union, for leading violent rallies. Labor groups denounced the ruling as a regression of democracy.Han, head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, was convicted on charges of leading a series of illegal rallies at the end of 2015 and causing damage to public property and police officers.Protesters hold candles at a rally held near the Const
May 31, 2017
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BOK under fire for sexual harassment report
South Korea’s central bank said Wednesday it is investigating a claim by a female employee that she was verbally harassed by two male superiors for nearly two years. The woman who works at a provincial branch of the Bank of Korea filed the report in April, saying two of her senior colleagues at the office made sexually humiliating remarks several times between 2015 and last year.(123RF)One of the remarks revealed by local reports was: “Women are good at peeling fruit and men are good at strippin
May 31, 2017
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Choi Soon-sil's daughter returns to Korea
The daughter of former President Park Geun-hye's close friend involved in a corruption scandal returned to South Korea on Wednesday, after she was extradited from Denmark where she was in custody for five months. Chung Yoo-ra, the 21-year-old daughter of Choi Soon-sil, arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at around 2:40 p.m. She was arrested by local authorities on a flight from Amsterdam where she transferred."I don't even know what my major was at Ewha Womans University" (Y
May 31, 2017
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Court confirms fine for artist who spread leaflets satirizing Park
South Korea's top court on Wednesday confirmed a monetary penalty for a pop artist for distributing leaflets critical of former President Park Geun-hye across the country.Upholding a lower court's decision, the Supreme Court ordered Lee Byeong-ha to pay 2 million won ($1,700) in fines. Lee distributed a total of some 18,000 leaflets in Seoul and other major cities between 2014 and 2015. This provided photo, taken on Dec. 17, 2013, shows leaflets satirizing then-President Park Geun-hye and North
May 31, 2017
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Daughter of S. Korea's 'Rasputin' set to return home
The daughter of the woman at the centre of a corruption scandal that led to the ousting of South Korea's president will return home Wednesday from Denmark, officials said.Chung Yoo-Ra, 20, will be "immediately put into custody" when she arrives at Incheon airport after being extradited from Denmark, a justice ministry spokesman said.The ministry sent five officials to Denmark on Monday to accompany her home, he said. Chung is the only child of Choi Soon-Sil, the close confidante of former Presid
May 30, 2017
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Seoul clears illegal camp of Park Geun-hye supporters
The Seoul city government Tuesday forcibly removed a camp of former President Park Geun-hye’s supporters outside City Hall. The site, which is frequented by foreign tourists, has been occupied for 129 days by those protesting against Park’s impeachment.Seoul city officials remove the tents set up by supporters of former President Park Geun-hye at Seoul Plaza on Tuesday. The tents, installed on Jan. 21, have been occupying the plaza illegally for more than three months. (Yonhap)The Seoul Metropol
May 30, 2017
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Number of China-bound travelers drops 42% on THAAD spat: data
The number of South Koreans visiting China shrank by almost half in March-May from a year earlier, data from a major travel agency showed Tuesday, reflecting weak demand amid the ongoing diplomatic row between the neighboring countries. The tally on outbound travelers to China plunged 42 percent in the cited two months ending May 31. People visiting China accounted for 15.1 percent of all outbound travelers in the cited period down from 32.6 percent the previous year, according to the latest dat
May 30, 2017
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[News Focus] Drought complicates Moon’s plan to undo river project
President Moon Jae-in’s move to reverse the effects of a controversial damming and dredging project has run into an unexpected snag: South Korea may be entering one of the most severe droughts in decades. From Thursday, the government will release water from six of the 16 dammed pools on four major rivers, the first step after Moon’s order earlier this month to review from scratch the previous Lee Myung-bak administration’s 22 trillion won ($19.5 billion) project.The water levels of the dammed p
May 30, 2017
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Gov't to support foreign organizations to promote Korea overseas
The South Korean government said Tuesday it will sponsor seven foreign private organizations this year in its program to better promote the country abroad. The seven institutions -- from Bulgaria, Poland, Macedonia, the United States, Russia, Slovenia and Thailand -- will be given some 10 million won ($8,800) of subsidies each to be used for promoting South Korea in their respective countries, the Ministry of Education said. The annual sponsorship program was launched in 2009 with an aim to corr
May 30, 2017
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Park Geun-hye seen dozing off during trial
Former President Park Geun-hye’s aloof attitude during her trial is drawing attention. On Monday, while attending the third hearing of her trial, the impeached leader was seen dozing off for about 20 minutes. The 65-year-old impeached leader, who looked visibly tired throughout the day, was seen falling asleep near the end of the hearing, which lasted nearly 12 hours. Former President Park Geun-hye (Yonhap)At that time, witness questioning was underway on Park’s role in the alleged money-for-fav
May 30, 2017
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Man plunges to death from Seoul overpass-turned-park
A man plunged to his death from Seoul’s recently opened overpass-turned-park around midnight Monday, in an apparent suicide, police said Tuesday. According to police, a 32-year-old man from Kazakhstan threw himself from Seoullo 7017, near Cheongpa-ro, west of Seoul Station. The elevated park, which opened May 20, has 1.4-meter high safety walls erected on both sides. Safety walls are built on both sides of the Seoullo elevated park. (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald)According to police, the park ha
May 30, 2017
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Many newlywed couples quit jobs after having child: data
Many dual-income newlywed couples in South Korea quit a job after having a baby as working moms struggle with raising children, government data showed Tuesday.Out of 235,000 couples who tied the knot in 2014 and maintained their marital status through 2015, 130,000 couples, or 55.5 percent, have at least one child as of November 2015, up from 22.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.Among the couples with a kid, 38.6 percent of them were working in a d
May 30, 2017
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S. Korea to send home 6 N. Korean sailors rescued from East Sea
South Korea will send home all six North Korean sailors recently rescued from the East Sea in accordance with their free will, a Ministry of Unification official said Tuesday.The North Korean sailors aboard two fishing boats were adrift in South Korean waters on May 27, when they were all rescued by the South Korean Coast Guard. Ministry of Unification (Yonhap)"All of the six North Korean sailors rescued said they want to return home, and they are in good condition," the Unification Ministry off
May 30, 2017
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Older generation feeling closer to friends, neighbors than siblings
South Korea's older generation feels closer to their friends and neighbors, relying on and seeing more of them compared to their siblings, a survey showed Tuesday.The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs polled 1,500 people aged 35-69 for a month from Aug. 9 last year and found that 62.5 percent of them had friends and neighbors who would help them at unexpected times of need. This compares with 56.1 percent who said the same of their brothers and sisters. According to the findings, 16.
May 30, 2017
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[Graphic News] South Korea’s suicide rate second highest compared to EU countries
South Korea, which saw 28.7 suicides per 100,000 people in 2014, ranks No. 2 in suicide rate, if compared to European Union counties, data showed Monday. According to a Eurostat survey based on 2014 data, only Lithuania had a higher suicide rate, with 32 suicides per 100,000 people. Latvia, Hungary and Slovenia came in third with 19 suicides, while the UK saw seven; Italia six and Greece the lowest at five. The EU’s average stood at 11. Among countries in the Organization for Economic Developmen
May 29, 2017
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Subway worker’s death still resonates one year after
On May 28, 2016, a 19-year-old repairman was crushed to death by an incoming subway train while working on a malfunctioning safety door at Seoul’s Guui Station. Safety guidelines that repair crew should work in pairs and train operation should be halted while they are on tracks were ignored to minimize the convenience of passengers. The victim, surnamed Kim, was all by himself on the tracks, and the train’s conductor was not informed of the ongoing maintenance work. One year later, nine official
May 29, 2017
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Seoul hosts international forum to solve fine dust problems
A two-day international forum on fine dust problems will kick off in Seoul on Thursday. Hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the forum will bring together representatives from 13 cities in northeastern Asia including Beijing, Jilin, Tokyo, Kyoto, Japan, Ulaanbaatar. There will also be researchers from government agencies and education institutions such as the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Science, Japan’s Mie University and the Mongolian University of Life Science. Citizens p
May 29, 2017