Most Popular
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Korean labor force to shrink by 10 million by 2044: report
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[AtoZ Korean Mind] Does your job define who you are? Should it?
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Allegations surrounding BTS resurface, enraged fans demand apology
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Students with history of violence will be barred from becoming teachers
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Medical feud leaves hospitals in financial crisis
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Top prosecutor pledges 'speedy, strict' probe into first lady's luxury bag allegations
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Samsung mocks Apple over iPhone alarm glitch
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Chip up cycle won’t stay long: SK chief
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'Queen of Tears' riding high on Netflix chart
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Speaker floats dual citizenship as solution to falling births
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S. Korea to join multilateral military drill
South Korea has sent Navy and Marine troops to participate in one of the world's largest military exercises held every year in Thailand later this week, the Marine Corps said Sunday.Cobra Gold, a regional drill initiated by the United States and Thailand, will run from Monday to Feb. 20 this year. The largest Asia-Pacific exercise was started in 1981 and has been an annual fixture in the Southeast Asian nation.This year would mark the sixth time South Korea joins the pan-continental exercise. Se
Feb. 8, 2015
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S. Korea to face budget crunch for key defense projects: data
South Korea will likely lack some 30 trillion won ($27.5 billion) to fund defense projects over the next five years, data showed Sunday, causing concern over a delay in key programs to boost military capabilities.According to the data by the defense ministry, the country's arms procurement agency, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, estimated that 96 trillion won would be required to implement defense projects scheduled for completion between 2016 and 2020."The amount is some 30 tril
Feb. 8, 2015
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S. Korea says 'no consultation' with U.S. on missile defense
South Korea reaffirmed Thursday that it has not consulted with the United States on Washington's plan to deploy an advanced missile defense system on the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. has expressed its desire to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery, an integral part of its Missile Defense system, in South Korea, citing evolving threats from North Korea. It is designed to shoot down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles at a higher altitude in their terminal phas
Feb. 5, 2015
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Park urges military readiness against N.K. provocations
South Korean President Park Geun-hye called on the military Thursday to maintain its readiness to deter North Korea's possible provocations amid tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula. North Korea has ratcheted up rhetoric against South Korea over anti-Pyongyang leaflets and its planned annual joint military drills with the United States. Propaganda leaflets critical of North Korea have long been a constant source of tension between the two rival Koreas. The tension flared up in October when
Feb. 5, 2015
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Korean Air, Airbus join hands for S. Korean fighter project
South Korea's top air carrier Korean Air Line Co. plans to sign a partnership agreement with Europe's Airbus this week to jointly bid for Seoul's indigenous fighter development program, officials said Thursday. Codenamed KF-X, the 8.5 trillion won ($8.3 billion) project calls for South Korea to develop and produce some 120 fighter jets of the F-16 class to replace its aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s. "The two sides reached a verbal agreement earlier this week to jointly bid for the development pr
Feb. 5, 2015
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S. Korea launches large-scale aerial drill
The South Korean Air Force said Thursday it has started a large-scale aerial exercise involving indigenous light attack fighter jets as part of efforts to evaluate and improve its strategic and combat capabilities. The exercise "Soaring Eagle" kicked off Monday for a two-week run at an air base in the central city of Cheongju, 137 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Air Force. The biannual drill, which was inaugurated in 2008 with air-to-air and air-to-surface operations across the co
Feb. 5, 2015
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China raises concerns over missile defense
China’s defense minister expressed concerns over the U.S.’ possible deployment of an advanced missile defense asset to the peninsula during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart in Seoul on Wednesday. Chinese Gen. Chang Wanquan(left) and Korean defense chief Han Min-koo(right).Seoul’s Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his Chinese counterpart Gen. Chang Wanquan held the countries’ first top-level defense talks since 2011 to discuss a range of regional and bilateral issues including North Kor
Feb. 4, 2015
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Korea pushing to export FA-50 fighter jets to Peru
The South Korean military is seeking to export $1 billion worth of an indigenous light attack aircraft to Peru, informed sources said Tuesday.“We’ve been pushing to sell 24 units of the FA-50 to Peru, and are planning to submit a proposal for Lima’s fighter purchase project this month,” said a source, requesting anonymity.“Factoring in the necessary logistics support, the total amount of the envisioned exports would reach $2 billion.”South Korea is likely to vie with Russia, Italy and China, wit
Feb. 3, 2015
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Army sergeant gets death sentence for murder spree
A military court on Tuesday gave the death penalty to an Army sergeant who killed five soldiers and wounded seven more in a shooting rampage at a guard post near the inter-Korean border last year.The 23-year-old soldier surnamed Lim was charged with murder for the shooting in June 2014 at his unit in the 22nd Army Division in Goseong, Gangwon Province. He was also found guilty of defecting from his unit with weapons and killing a superior officer.A soldier who kills a superior officer can be sen
Feb. 3, 2015
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U.S. nuke sub visits S. Korea for joint drill
A nuclear-powered U.S. submarine has arrived in South Korea to participate in an annual joint military drill this week, a naval officer here said Monday.The USS Olympia (SSN-717), a Los Angeles-class submarine, carrying some 120 sailors, arrived in the southern port city of Jinhae, 410 kilometers south of Seoul, on Friday, to attend the joint Seoul-Washington three-day naval drill starting Thursday, the naval officer said, requesting anonymity."The submarine will join a South Korean fleet to lau
Feb. 2, 2015
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Seoul launches sub command
South Korea launched its submarine force command on Sunday to better cope with evolving maritime security challenges including those from North Korea, and potentially from outside the peninsula.Incorporating its functions of underwater operations, training and education, and maintenance into the new command, the Navy seeks to conduct more integrated, efficient and stable submarine operations, Navy officials explained.With the launch, the South has become the world’s sixth country to have a subma
Feb. 1, 2015
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Army sex offenders to face forcible discharge
The Army is seeking tougher punishments for sex offenders in the military including immediate dismissal and demotion following a spate of recent sexual assault cases that have damaged public trust and troop morale. It is also considering employing a “one-strike” system in which senior officials, caught sexually harassing subordinate soldiers, will be forcibly expelled from the military for good, a senior Army official said.“We will toughen our disciplinary rules for sex crimes to mete out heavy
Feb. 1, 2015
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S. Korean Navy launches submarine command
The South Korean Navy on Sunday inaugurated a submarine command as part of efforts to bolster its underwater capabilities and combat readiness against North Korea.The fleet of the command, based in the southern port city of Jinhae and led by a rear admiral, is composed of 13 submarines under the Ninth Submarine Flotilla, the Navy said in a statement.The Navy operates nine 1,200-ton submarines and four 1,800-ton subs, while planning to add five more 1,800-ton submarines to be built by 2019. In ad
Feb. 1, 2015
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Army deserter nabbed for killing his mother
An Army deserter addicted to online games has been arrested on charges of killing his mother and setting fire to her body, military police said Friday.The 21-year-old private first class identified only by his surname Kang, allegedly murdered his 54-year-old mother at their residence in Seoul and burned her body on Jan. 22, while failing to return to his unit in the country's eastern province of Gangwon after a leave, according to the military police.The enlistee "hit his mother on the head more
Jan. 30, 2015
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Military plans to install more CCTV cameras to curb abuse
The Defense Ministry plans to install more surveillance cameras to curb human rights abuses, allow conscripts to acquire academic credit through their military activities and distribute mobile phones to be shared by enlisted troops.Defense Minister Han Min-koo on Thursday reported these measures to a parliamentary panel on reforming the rigid, outmoded culture that has been blamed for desertions, deaths by beating, suicides and even a shooting spree last year.The ministry adopted 15 of the total
Jan. 29, 2015
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S. Korea, U.S. to hold cyber-security talks
Defense officials of South Korea and the United States plan to hold annual cyber-security talks that are expected to focus on how better to cope with hacking attacks from North Korea, sources said Wednesday.The two allies established the Korea-U.S. National Defense Cyber Cooperation Working Group (CCWG) and held its first meeting in Seoul in February last year. A second meeting of the working group will take place in Washington in a couple of months, the sources said.This year's meeting, which c
Jan. 29, 2015
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Army colonel arrested on rape charges
The Army said Tuesday that military police had arrested an incumbent brigade commander on charges of sexually assaulting a female noncommissioned officer.The colonel, 47, in charge of a unit in Gangwon Province, is alleged to have sexually assaulted the NCO, 21, at his military residence on several occasions in the past two months. The colonel argues that the sexual relationship took place based on “mutual consent,” while the NCO says she was sexually assaulted. The names of the colonel and alle
Jan. 27, 2015
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S. Korea conducts live-fire drill near tense sea border
The South Korean military carried out a live-fire exercise near the tensely guarded inter-Korean border in the Yellow Sea on Tuesday to check and further boost its preparedness against possible provocations by North Korea, officers said.The one-hour firing drill, which took place on the islands of Baengnyeong and Yeonpyeong in the Yellow Sea, "involved K-9 self-propelled howitzers and Vulcan guns, among others," a military officer said on condition of anonymity."More than 600 rounds were fired t
Jan. 27, 2015
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Budget hampers procurement plans: Defense Ministry
Several military procurement projects, including one to acquire four aerial refueling tankers, are expected to be delayed or canceled due to budgetary constraints, as Seoul seeks to readjust its mid-term defense improvement plan, a source said Sunday.The Defense Ministry has been drafting the defense plan for 2016-2020, which will be finalized next month. Following a legal revision, the ministry took over responsibility for drawing up the plan starting this year. Until last year, the Defense Acq
Jan. 25, 2015
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Navy sailor injured in shell explosion
A Navy sailor was in critical condition after being hit by a shell accidently fired from a malfunctioning 76 mm-caliber cannon on a guided missile warship in West Sea on Wednesday, military officials said Thursday.The 21-year-old seaman of the 2nd Fleet Command, identified only by his surname Oh, was in a coma after the shell hit the side of his head, they said. Oh was standing on the deck near the cannon as other sailors tried to remove the shells loaded in the flawed system for safety reasons.
Jan. 22, 2015