Most Popular
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1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse
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Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility
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K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
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K-pop singer lost consciousness after being hit by foul ball, cancels show
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Korean Muslim YouTuber's plan to build mosque in Incheon goes viral
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Why is Apple Pay struggling to get purchase in Korea?
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Yoon's office denies considering liberal figures for key posts
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Seoul says Fu Bao loan 'not going to happen'
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[Today’s K-pop] BTS pop-up event to come to Seoul
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Parliament to hold Choi Soon-sil scandal hearings in prison
South Korea's parliament is set to hold separate hearings with key figures in the corruption scandal surrounding Choi Soon-sil in prison, the investigation committee said Friday.The key witnesses, including President Park Geun-hye's confidante Choi, have repeatedly rejected parliament's request to appear at the National Assembly to answer questions about their roles in the scandal that has led to the impeachment of the chief executive. The 60-year-old has been in custody since late October on ch
Dec. 23, 2016
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Cigarette packs to carry graphic health warnings
Starting Friday, graphic warnings about the harmful effects of smoking will be attached to cigarette packs sold in South Korea. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, all cigarette packs sold here, including those sold at duty-free shops, must carry one of 10 designated full-color and disturbing photos with warnings on the adverse effects of smoking.Some of the photos depict the body parts of smokers suffering from fatal diseases such as lung cancer, oral cancer, heart attack and strok
Dec. 22, 2016
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Choi suspected of hiding W800b in Germany: report
Key figures in the President Park Geun-hye scandal, Choi Soon-sil and her daughter possess some 800 billion won ($667 million) worth of assets under borrowed names in Germany, a local daily reported Thursday. According to the Hankook Ilbo, German prosecutors are investigating Choi and her daughter Chung Yoo-ra for having created some 500 paper companies using the names of 10 affiliates, including Chung’s horseback riding coach and another associate in Europe, mainly in Germany. The newspaper cit
Dec. 22, 2016
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Park, parliament lock horns in impeachment trial
Legal representatives of President Park Geun-hye and the parliament clashed at the Constitutional Court Thursday for the first time, in what is expected to be a long, drawn-out litigation war on the legitimacy of the president’s impeachment. The embattled president was dealt a blow during the first preliminary proceedings, as the court turned down her objection on its request to the investigators for files related to the corruption and influence-peddling scandal Park is believed to be involved i
Dec. 22, 2016
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[Newsmaker] Woo Byung-woo, key player unscathed
As bizarre as the President Park Geun-hye scandal seems, it would not have been possible if Cheong Wa Dae’s internal system had worked as designed, or if Woo Byung-woo had cared. Yet, Park’s former senior secretary for civil affairs, who was until October in charge of monitoring corruption and irregularities in the civil service, including presidential staff and the president’s inner circle, is apparently without any regrets or remorse. “I did my job. I did my best,” Woo said during a nationall
Dec. 22, 2016
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Population aging getting faster in S. Korea
South Korea is fast becoming an aged society amid record-low childbirths and marriages, official data showed Thursday.The number of newborn babies in the country declined 13.9 percent on-year to 31,600 in October, according to Statistics Korea.It marks the lowest since such data were first compiled here in 2000.A total of 349,000 babies were born in the first 10 months of this year, down 6.4 percent from a year earlier."Given the trend, the number of babies born this year is expected to stand at
Dec. 22, 2016
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Top court upholds 1-year jail term for Incheon airport fake bomber
The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal against the one-year jail term imposed on a 35-year-old South Korean man convicted of placing a fake explosive with a warning in Arabic at the country's main airport early this year.According to lower court rulings, the defendant, who is identified by his last name Yoo, was found guilty of disrupting normal operations at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Jan. 29. He left the fake explosive made with two butane canisters taped to a w
Dec. 22, 2016
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Probe into Chung Yoo-ra intensifies
The independent counsel investigating the scandal involving President Park Geun-hye is cooperating with German authorities to extradite Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, it said Wednesday. “The court has issued a warrant to arrest Chung on charges of business obstruction,” the counsel’s spokesperson Lee Kyu-cheol told reporters. “We took a measure to invalidate her passport and requested cooperation from the German prosecution to obtain Chung’s transaction and phone records and freeze
Dec. 21, 2016
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Did poor etiquette lead to Korea’s worst flu outbreak?
For Kim Su-yeon, a 36-year-old self-proclaimed germophobe, Seoul at this time of a year is a nightmare. Before stepping outside, she always makes sure she has a sufficient supply of antibacterial wipes and hand sanitizers in her bag. But such precautions still seem inadequate in keeping her germ-free, especially when strangers near her start to cough without covering their mouth. “I saw a lady who clearly had a contagious cold, coughing, sneezing and wiping her nose with her hand in the subway.
Dec. 21, 2016
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Air condition not bad in Korea, despite worst smog in neighboring China
The news of China suffocating in thick, grey smog for days has made many health conscious South Koreans worry about the air condition of their own country and whether it is affected by the toxic haze in the neighboring country. A man wearing a mask for protection against pollution exercise at Ritan Park during a heavily polluted day in Beijing on Monday. Chinese cities are limiting the number of cars on roads and have temporarily shut down factories to cut down pollution during a national "red a
Dec. 21, 2016
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Gov't, mobile carriers unite to monitor infectious disease
South Korea's health authorities and one of the nation's three mobile carriers launched a collaboration on Wednesday to monitor and further prevent the spread of infectious diseases.Under an agreement between the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and LG Uplus Co., the authorities will provide information about virus outbreaks in other countries to people using roaming service overseas provided by LG Uplus.Also, the mobile carrier will deliver roaming data pertaining to whether the
Dec. 21, 2016
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Independent counsel team raids pension service
Special prosecutors raided the state-run pension service and the health ministry's pensin division Wednesday as they started a full-fledged probe into an influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her close friend.The team led by independent counsel Park Young-soo officially began its investigation after 20 days of preparation. (Yonhap)The National Pension Service, South Korea's largest institutional investor, supported Samsung Group's controversial merger of two affiliates
Dec. 21, 2016
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Health care scams to cost Korea big this year
False health insurance claims in South Korea are expected to flirt with 600 billion won this year despite a crackdown on scammers, data showed Wednesday.According to the data by the National Health Insurance Service, medical providers' false and unfair insurance claims came to 545 billion won ($456 million) in the first 11 months of this year, compared with 594 billion won in 2015. At the current pace, the amount for all of 2016 is widely expected to reach nearly 600 billion won. Experts said t
Dec. 21, 2016
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Korea’s cancer occurrence rate falls for three consecutive years
The cancer occurrence rate among South Koreans has fallen for three consecutive years, government data showed Tuesday.According to data tallied by the Korea Central Cancer Registry, 217,057 patients were diagnosed with cancer in 2014 -- 289.1 cases per 100,000 people -- down 4.5 percent from the 227,188 patients in 2013. The KCCR began collecting data on the occurrence rate of cancer in 1999. It peaked in 2012 with 323.3 cases per 100,000 people, but has since been on a gradual decline. By type
Dec. 20, 2016
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Special probe into Choi scandal kicks off
The independent counsel looking into the corruption scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil wrapped up its 20 days of preparation Tuesday, kicking off its official investigation in tandem with Park’s impeachment trial. The special team led by independent counsel Park Young-soo said it would hold a ceremony to hang up its signboard Wednesday, symbolically launching its probe into the series of accusations that has left the South Korean leader on the brink of b
Dec. 20, 2016
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Ministry maps out plan to prevent human infections of AI
The government on Tuesday mapped out plans to tighten controls to prevent humans from being infected with a highly pathogenic bird flu strain, a week after it elevated its watch level from “alert” to “serious,” the highest level in the country’s disease control system.The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday it has dispatched quarantine officials to monitor human infections and cull infected poultry at 42 sites across the nation.Officials will also provide residents with 15,300 doses of a
Dec. 20, 2016
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Woo hindered Sewol probe: report
Woo Byung-woo, former presidential adviser for civil affairs, allegedly peddled influence over the prosecution when it was investigating the cause of the sinking of the Sewol ferry, Korean media reported Tuesday. Woo, who has been in hiding, is one of the key figures in the influence-peddling and corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil, which led to the embattled president’s impeachment earlier this month. Former presidential secretary Woo Byung
Dec. 20, 2016
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Diplomat accused of sexually harassing girls in Chile summoned home for probe
A South Korean diplomat accused of sexually harassing two teenage girls in Chile returned home Tuesday to face investigation by the foreign ministry, a diplomatic source said.The embassy official in charge of cultural affairs was accused of making improper physical contact with a 14-year-old Chilean girl in September while teaching Korean. A Chilean broadcaster also aired on Sunday (local time) the scene of his sexual abuse of another female teen captured by a hidden camera early this month, spa
Dec. 20, 2016
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Flu rapidly spreading among students in Korea
The number of primary and secondary school students with the influenza virus has reached an all-time high, health authorities said Tuesday, while the country's education ministry is instructing schools to consider starting winter vacation earlier than scheduled in an effort to stop the spread of the contagious yet not deadly virus.The number of flu patients from elementary, middle and high schools per 1,000 came to 152.2 from Dec. 11-17, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Pre
Dec. 20, 2016
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Truck slams into broadcasting firm at center of Park's impeachment
A truck driven by a South Korean man in his 40s slammed into the main gate of broadcasting channel JTBC on Monday, whose initial reports on President Park Geun-hye's alleged documents leaks led to her impeachment earlier in the month. The 45-year man surnamed Kim crashed his 1.5-ton truck into the main entrance of JTBC in Mapo in western Seoul at around 7:25 p.m. apparently in protest of the television channel's reports on Park, according to the police.Wearing the Marine Corps uniform, Kim tried
Dec. 19, 2016