Most Popular
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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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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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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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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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Work hour reduction needs to be applied differently among industries: institute
South Korean lawmakers need to differentiate between industries while introducing a law to reduce work hours for South Korean workers, a private research institute said Thursday,South Koreans worked an average 2,113 hours annually compared to 1,766 hours on average for all member state of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a 2015 OECD data shows.People in the country put in some of the longest work hours in the world. A file photo of jobseekers at a job fair in Busan, Sou
March 23, 2017
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3 teachers to be dismissed for undue favors to Choi's daughter
A local education office said Wednesday it has decided to dismiss three teachers who gave undue academic favors to the daughter of former President Park Geun-hye's close friend at the center of an influence-peddling scandal.The teachers at Chungdam High School in southern Seoul are accused of unfairly giving high scores to Chung Yoo-ra, daughter of Choi Soon-sil, and fabricating documents for her, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. Chung Yoo-ra (Herald database)Chung is cur
March 23, 2017
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Nat'l Gugak Center goes on Central Asia tour
The National Gugak Center will go on a tour in three Central Asian nations to celebrate the 25th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations with them, South Korea's culture ministry said Thursday.The center, designed to promote Korean traditional music and performances, will hold concerts in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, starting this Saturday.The undated photo provided by the National Gugak Center shows Korean artists dancing and playing traditional musical instruments. (Yonhap
March 23, 2017
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Korea's population to decline after 2031: data
South Korea's population is expected to decline in coming years due to low birthrates, government data showed Thursday, a development that could hurt the country's growth potential.South Korea's population stood at 51.25 million in 2016 and is projected to reach a record high of 52.96 million in 2031 before gradually falling, according to data released by Statistics Korea.The statistics office said South Korea's population could fall to 45.24 million in 2060. (Yonhap)The looming decline came as
March 23, 2017
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Air pollution costs Korea dearly: data
Air pollution costs South Korea more than 10 trillion won ($8.9 billion) a year in lost production and other damages, with the figure feared to nearly double in about 40 years, data showed Thursday.Air pollution causes direct and indirect damage across the board by not only harming people's health, but also affecting their leisure activity and industrial production. (Yonhap)According to the data by local environmental authorities, scholars and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develo
March 23, 2017
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Park's arrest will be decided only based on 'law and principle': top prosecutor
South Korea's top prosecutor said Thursday the prosecution will decide whether to seek the arrest of former President Park Geun-hye only on the basis of the law and principles and the results of the investigation.The former president returned home Wednesday after a 21-hour interrogation at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office as she faces allegations of bribery, abuse of power, coercion and leaking government secrets. Prosecutor-General Kim Soo-nam speaks to the press upon arrival at h
March 23, 2017
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S. Korea committed to raising sunken ferry Sewol
South Korea began to raise the hull of the sunken ferry Sewol late Wednesday after confirming all conditions were right to push the salvage operation forward, a government official said. "We started to raise the hull of the Sewol at 8:50 p.m. and expect 13 meters of the 22-meter-wide ferry hull to be above the surface at around 11 a.m. Thursday," said Song Sang-geun, a spokesman for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The site of the Sewol ferry sinking off the country's southwestern coast ne
March 22, 2017
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Salvage operators raise Sewol ferry
South Korea on Wednesday took a long-awaited step to salvage the sunken Sewol ferry, as the wreckage began to be lifted from the seabed.(Yonhap)In the red circle, part of the Sewol's structure is seen above the water. (Yonhap)About 300 people, mostly high school students, died when it went aground and capsized in waters off Jindo, South Jeolla Province, nearly three years ago. Nine are still unaccounted for. Salvage operators said they began to raise the sunken ship and part of its structure was
March 22, 2017
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Lights off Saturday to save planet
Earth Hour, a worldwide grassroots movement to raise awareness of climate change, will return for its 10th edition Saturday, encouraging people to show their commitment to saving the planet by turning off the lights. The event, organized by World Wide Fund for Nature, will see individuals, communities, households and businesses switch off nonessential lights for an hour from 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Namsan Tower in Seoul (123rf)In 2007, Earth Hour was launched in Sydney, Australia, to send a message
March 22, 2017
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1 out of 10 Korean women to remain single in 2025
One out of 10 South Korean females who turn 50 in 2025 is expected to be single, a recent report showed. According to the study by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on Wednesday, unmarried women, who accounted for 3.8 percent of all Korean women in 2015, would increase to 7.1 percent in 2020 and 10.5 percent in 2025. In the 1990s, less than 1 percent of South Korean women were single. (123RF)Korean women’s negative perception of marriage is the main attributor to the rapid growt
March 22, 2017
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Probe into local firms, Woo to accelerate
After questioning ousted President Park Geun-hye, at the core of a corruption scandal that has rocked the country, the prosecution is expected to quicken its investigation into local conglomerates and ex-Presidential Secretary Woo Byung-woo. For now, the investigation team has not revealed details on how the remaining probe will go or who will be summoned. It is also keeping mum on whether Park will be arrested and which charges she additionally faces during the briefing Wednesday. Former Presid
March 22, 2017
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South Korea 10th of 188 countries in gender equality
South Korea ranked 10th out of 188 countries in terms of gender equality, the highest among Asian nations, the UN rankings for 2015 showed. According to the Gender Gap Index released by the United Nations Development Program on Tuesday, South Korea scored 0.067 in 2015, up 13 notches compared to a year earlier, mainly on the back of a decrease in maternal mortality ratio and adolescent birth rate. (123RF)The GGI evaluates gender disparity using the measurements – women’s reproductive health, wom
March 22, 2017
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Ex-UN chief awarded merit plaque by UN tourism body
Former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon received a plaque of appreciation from the tourism body of the United Nations on Wednesday, for his contributions to the advancement of world peace and development, the organization said.Former United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (center) (Yonhap)Taleb Rifai, the chief of the UN World Tourism Organization presented Ban with a merit plaque in Seoul earlier in the day, in gratitude for his service to world peace and development as the he
March 22, 2017
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7 in 10 people undernourished in N. Korea
Nearly 70 percent of the North Korean population, roughly seven in 10 people, is undernourished, a US broadcaster reported Wednesday, citing a UN report on the need for humanitarian aid to North Korea. According to the report released the previous day by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, some 18 million North Korean people, including 1.3 million children under five, are malnourished because of the socialist country's poor state food rations which lack protein and fat, R
March 22, 2017
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Korean schools cancel field trips to China amid THAAD row
Dozens of local schools have canceled their planned field trips to China amid a diplomatic dispute over the deployment of a US missile defense system to South Korea, the education ministry said Wednesday.Out of the 87 schools that planned trips to the neighboring country, 44 have switched the destination to Japan and other places as of Monday, according to the Ministry of Education. A relatively quite Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, as China's measure to force its travel agencies
March 22, 2017
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Korea repatriates remains of Chinese soldiers killed in war
South Korea on Wednesday repatriated the remains of Chinese soldiers killed during the Korean War six decades ago, a move that reflects Seoul's commitment to the humanitarian project despite a political row between the neighboring countries over a US weapon system.The 28 sets of remains were handed over to China in a repatriation ceremony held at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, according to the Ministry of National Defense. The repatriation ceremony for the remains of Chinese
March 22, 2017
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Military asked to stop inspections of soldiers' smartphones without consent
The South Korean military's practice of inspecting individual soldiers' smartphone content without consent can violate their constitutional rights to privacy and freedom, the nation's rights watchdog said Wednesday.The National Human Rights Commission said it has asked the Defense Security Command to revise its method of investigations into service members under security inspections and their smartphones to better protect their human rights.Defense Security Command (Yonhap)The recommendation cam
March 22, 2017
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Korea retracts application for ancient wall to be listed on UNESCO heritage site
The South Korean government scraped a plan to put an ancient wall built in 1396 on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Cultural Heritage Foundation said Tuesday.The decision came after the International Council on Monuments and Sites, an advisory group to UNESCO, ruled earlier this month "not to inscribe" the wall onto the World Heritage list.Parts of the Seoul City Wall (Yonhap)The Seoul City Wall is an 18.6-kilometer-long wall surrounding Hanyang, the former capital of the Joseon D
March 22, 2017
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[Newsmaker] Park endures grueling day at prosecution
When former president Park Geun-hye was proudly sworn into office as the nation’s first female leader, she would have never imagined this day would come – being questioned by the prosecution as a criminal suspect. It only took 47 seconds for ousted Park to get out of her black sedan, stand for photos and deliver her two-sentence message to the public before entering the prosecution’s office Tuesday. Former President Park Geun-hye speaks to reporters after arriving at the Seoul Central District
March 21, 2017
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[Graphic News] S. Korea’s birthrate among lowest in world
South Korea’s total birthrate -- the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- stood at 1.25 in 2016, according to the CIA World Factbook.South Korea ranked No. 220 out of 224 countries by birthrate. South Korea‘s total birthrate is also the lowest among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 35 mostly rich nations.Hong Kong ranked No. 221, with its birthrate standing at 1.19, followed by Taiwan at 1.12, Macau at 0.94 and Singapore with 0.82. In c
March 21, 2017