Most Popular
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Medical profs at top hospitals suspend surgeries, clinics
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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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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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Shinsegae faces showdown with investors over SSG.com's delayed IPO
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Hopes rise for possible Gaza truce deal
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Ex-pro baseball player who killed debtor appeals sentence
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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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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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Harvard University students call for Park’s resignation
A group of students from Harvard University in Massachusetts called on President Park Geun-hye to resign, denouncing Park over the scandal involving her close confidante. “The Park administration has utterly lost the people’s trust in its moral legitimacy and competence to govern. … we demand that President Park immediately step away from state affairs,” a total of 193 Korean Students and Scholars of Harvard University said in a statement released Saturday. “Having completely failed the trust of
Nov. 12, 2016
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Korean police book 15 over animal smuggling
Korean police have booked 15 people for allegedly smuggling endangered animals from Thailand and showing them at small zoos or to children at kindergartens and daycare centers. A police official in the port city of Busan said Friday that they seized 22 animals including Siamese crocodiles and slow loris monkeys.The official said most of the animals were bought from Thailand in 2014 by a 38-year-old man, identified only by his surname, Kim. He said Kim sold the animals to other suspects, some of
Nov. 11, 2016
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Saturday’s protest to be watershed moment for Park
Cheong Wa Dae, rival political forces and the police on Friday braced themselves for the massive anti-government rally to be held Saturday in Seoul, which observers say could be a watershed moment for the beleaguered President Park Geun-hye in the Choi Soon-sil fiasco. Thousands of chartered buses are expected to take residents from other parts of the Korean Peninsula to the rally, which is expected to be the largest candlelight vigil ever to be held in local history.As many as 1 million people
Nov. 11, 2016
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Prosecution focuses on probing companies in Choi scandal
The prosecution appears to be focusing on whether local firms were coerced into funding nonprofit foundations in return for favors, accelerating a probe into the scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil. Out of the 53 local companies that gave a combined 77.4 billion won ($66.5 million) in donations to the Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation, Kwon Oh-joon, CEO of the nation’s No. 1 steelmaker Posco, was the first to undergo questioning. Kwon was set to be gri
Nov. 11, 2016
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Tension grows ahead of massive anti-Park rally
Hundreds of thousands of South Koreans are expected to join an anti-government protest Saturday, police and civic groups said, amid rising public anger over President Park Geun-hye's corruption scandal.The rally, involving some 1,500 civic groups, may draw the largest number of participants this millennium, with the police expecting 170,000 protesters and organizers putting the number between 500,000 and 1 million. Three opposition parties vowed to join the rally, along with some potential presi
Nov. 11, 2016
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Korean gets jail term for threatening to kill US envoy to Seoul
A South Korean man was sentenced to 18 months in prison Friday for posting letters on the White House website, threatening to kill the top US envoy to Seoul and rape the second daughter of US President Barack Obama.The Seoul Central District Court found the 34-year-old defendant, identified only by his surname Lee, guilty of attempted intimidation for posting a letter titled "Declaration Terror to Mr. President Obama" on the White House webpage for civil petitions in July last year.In the letter
Nov. 11, 2016
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Scandal figure alleged to have sought control of CJ Group's projects
A figure deeply implicated in a presidential confidante scandal was alleged Friday to have abused his power to try to take over projects managed by entertainment giant CJ Group, most likely for personal gains.A source privy to the proceedings of the projects said Cha Eun-taek, a former director of TV ads and music videos, demanded that he be given the top controlling posts at the two projects operated by the conglomerate. When refused, Cha turned "unfriendly" toward CJ, he said.What the source h
Nov. 11, 2016
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Government actively promoting ‘Legislation Hallyu’
Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president, once said: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” Taking the time to get a freshly sharpened axe blade will ensure you to cut more trees, while the blunt one only wastes your time and energy. This quote stresses that the key to success in achieving a goal is taking efficient methods. Government Legislation Minister Je Jeong-boo Such words are also true in the process of national development today as i
Nov. 10, 2016
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Saturday’s anti-Park rally anticipated to be biggest in size
Saturday’s anti-President Park Geun-hye rally in Seoul is likely to be the largest candlelight vigil ever to be held in South Korean history, police said Thursday, exceeding that of the 2008 anti-US beef uproar. Organizers -- a union of some 1,500 civic organizations and labor groups -- expect at least 500,000 participants, while police anticipate 160,000. Even by police projections, the upcoming rally would double the size of the anti-US beef protest, which police put at 80,000. At the time, o
Nov. 10, 2016
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Possible evidence of Park’s role in scandal surfaces
The prosecution has obtained fresh evidence and testimonies that may implicate President Park Geun-hye in the spiraling scandal involving her confidante Choi Soon-sil. Park’s ex-presidential aides, who are now under questioning in the prosecution’s probe, told interrogators that they had just followed orders from President Park, after initially denying her role in the scandal, multiple media outlets reported Thursday. According to reports, An Chong-bum, ex-presidential secretary for policy coord
Nov. 10, 2016
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Conglomerate tycoons face investigation in Choi scandal
South Korean prosecutors said Thursday they will question the heads of seven local conglomerates over allegations that President Park Geun-hye had pressured them to make donations to two nonprofit organizations, possibly in exchange for favors.Investigators have arrested Choi Soon-sil, the president’s close confidante accused of pulling strings behind the scenes, Choi’s associates and former presidential secretaries on suspicions they coerced 53 companies to raise some 77.4 billion won ($67.4 mi
Nov. 10, 2016
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Office workers spend more on drinks than books: survey
South Korean office workers spend twice as much on alcohol than on books, a poll showed Wednesday.According to the survey released by a life education company, Huenet, a poll of 805 office workers showed they spend an average of 30,000 won ($26) per month on books and 62,000 won on alcohol. Some 43.9 percent read one book per month, while 7.6 percent do not read any. Those reading two to four books per month made up 37.3 percent of the total. Both men and women read a similar number of books per
Nov. 9, 2016
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Plastic surgery clinic thrust into Choi scandal
A plastic surgery clinic in Seoul's Gangnam district has become embroiled in the political scandal plaguing President Park Geun-hye. The clinic that Choi Soon-sil, Park’s confidante accused of meddling in state affairs, and her daughter Chung Yoo-ra are said to have frequented for skin care treatments is accused of receiving favors from Cheong Wa Dae. After suspicions surfaced, the plastic surgery clinic, which also runs a skin care clinic and cosmetics business, had closed down and was unavaila
Nov. 9, 2016
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Prosecutors probe Choi graft allegations
Prosecutors on Wednesday continued their investigation on embezzlement and illegal coercion allegations involving an aide of Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye’s confidante. Cha Eun-taek, once a prominent TV commercial director, appeared before the prosecution Wednesday to be questioned on allegations that he played a role in illegally acquiring the advertisement company Poreka, formerly an in-house firm owned by Posco. Cha Eun-taek gets out of a vehicle that transported arrested suspects f
Nov. 9, 2016
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[Newsmaker] Fall from grace for ‘crown prince’
At the center of the spiraling influence-peddling scandal engulfing South Korea is Cha Eun-taek, who has been dubbed “crown prince” in the local culture scene for wielding great influence over various state-led cultural projects.Cha, who was arrested upon his return to Korea from China late Tuesday night, is believed to be a core member of the Choi Soon-sil’s clique attending a secretive meeting to discuss state affairs. His professor and uncle served President Park Geun-hye as culture minister
Nov. 9, 2016
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Prosecutors raid homes of former, current presidential officials
Prosecutors on Wednesday raided the homes of four former and current presidential aides as they accelerated a probe into the influence-peddling scandal surrounding a close friend of President Park Geun-hye.The homes of Ahn Bong-geun and Lee Jae-man, who served as presidential secretaries for public relations and administrative affairs, respectively, were included on the raid list, according to the prosecution. Their work logs and cell phones were confiscated in the process. The two are among Par
Nov. 9, 2016
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Choi Soon-sil likely to be indicted later next week
State prosecutors investigating Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of an unfolding presidential scandal, are likely to indict her next week, sources said Tuesday. Choi, President Park Geun-hye’s friend of 40 years accused of meddling in state affairs and extorting donations from corporations, is under arrest and currently facing two criminal charges -- accomplice to abuse of power and attempted fraud. But she could face more charges, the prosecution said. “Indictment is not the end of our inves
Nov. 8, 2016
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Korea toughens rules on crackdown of illegal fishing
South Korea allowed its coast guards to engage more aggressively with foreign fishing boats operating illegally in its waters under new guidelines released Tuesday. The Ministry of Public Safety and Security announced a set of revised rules regarding the Coast Guard's use of weapons, under which the on-site commanders will exercise the authority to decide whether to fire crew-served weapons in case the foreign boats violently resist crackdown operations. The new guidelines also allow the command
Nov. 8, 2016
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Research team finds record of Japanese military killing Korean sex slaves
A local research team said Monday it found a record of the Japanese military killing Korean women forced to serve as sex slaves when the country was under colonial rule (1910-45).The operation diary for Sept. 15, 1944, recorded by allied forces of the United States and China, says "Night of the (Sept.) 13th, (1944), the Japs shot 30 Korean girls in the city (of Tengchong, China)," according to the Seoul National University (SNU) Human Rights Center. This scanned document provided by the Seoul Na
Nov. 7, 2016
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Prosecution secures key evidence in Choi scandal
The prosecution Monday secured what appears to be key evidence that Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye’s longtime confidante, meddled in state affairs in an escalating investigation into the influence-peddling scandal. Prosecutors said they discovered recorded phone conversations between Park’s former presidential aide Jeong Ho-seong and Choi on Jeong’s phones that were seized during a raid on his home late last month. Jeong, ex-secretary for the president’s private affairs, was arrested Sun
Nov. 7, 2016