Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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S. Korea, Japan could consider simplified entry agreement: Seoul official
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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[Music in drama] An ode to childhood trauma
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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'The Roundup: Punishment' becomes fastest 2024 film to top 2 mln admissions
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New head of doctors' association vows war in case of disadvantage to medical professors
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] ‘Chemyeon’: the role of 'face' in shaping Korea's cultural dynamics
Lee Jung-ah, 36, recently ended her yearlong relationship with her boyfriend, mainly due to her parents’ opposition. They told her they disapproved of him because he did not match up to her professional and educational background. They worried that they would lose face in front of their relatives and acquaintances if she married him. Now, Lee is hoping to find someone who can uphold the "chemyeon" of her father, who is a university professor, although she believes the chances of
Feb. 11, 2024
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Top 0.1 pct of wage earners in Seoul made average 1.4 bln won in 2022
The top 0.1 percent of wage earners in Seoul made an average of 1.4 billion won ($1.05 million) in 2022, triple the amount earned by the same cohort in Gangwon Province, data showed Sunday. According to the data compiled by the National Tax Service and released by Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the main opposition Democratic Party, there were 6,213 people in the top 0.1 percent wage bracket in Seoul. The southern island of Jeju came second with 1 billion won, followed by Gyeonggi Province with 950 mill
Feb. 11, 2024
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Supreme Court says old name of coffee can be trademarked
South Korea's Supreme Court recently decided to allow an antiquated name for coffee to be used as the name of a coffee shop, officials said Tuesday. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff surnamed Hong, who challenged an earlier decision by the Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board that invalidated his 2015 trademark to use "Yangtangguk" as the name of his new cafe. Yangtangguk, which literally translates as "Western soup," was the name used during the Joseon e
Feb. 10, 2024
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Traffic building up on highways as people travel on Lunar New Year
Traffic on major highways began to build up across South Korea on Saturday morning as millions of people hit the road on the Lunar New Year. This year's holiday began Friday, marked by the traditional exodus of people from Seoul and its surrounding areas to their hometowns. On the second day of the long weekend Saturday, more people headed out of the capital region, while others were making their way back to Seoul. According to the state-run Korea Expressway Corp., a drive from Seoul to the
Feb. 10, 2024
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Endangered Korean leopard returns to homeland
An endangered Amur leopard from the UK has found a new home at a zoo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on Thursday. The arrival of the female leopard, born in 2014, at Seoul Grand Park is a significant addition to the zoo's existing pair of only male cats, born in 2016. Zoo officials said they plan to initiate a breeding program for these leopards. The public will have the opportunity to meet the new leopard in the second half of the year. The Amur leopard, scientifically known as Panthera par
Feb. 9, 2024
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5.2m cars to hit the road on 1st day of Lunar New Year holiday
Some 5.2 million cars were expected to hit the road nationwide Friday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, as people head to their hometowns. Among such cars, some 490,000 vehicles were expected to leave the greater Seoul area for provincial regions, while 370,000 cars were forecast to travel into the city, according to the Korea Expressway Corp. The agency expected traffic congestion on roads heading to provincial regions to have peaked between 11 a.m. and noon and to ease around 8 p.m
Feb. 9, 2024
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Seoul opens lounge promoting city's 'Seoul, My Soul' slogan in hanok village
The Seoul city government on Friday opened a welcome lounge promoting the city's new slogan, "Seoul, My Soul," in a popular tourist destination in central Seoul, known for its preservation of traditional Korean houses called hanok. The promotion set up in Bukchon Lounge, a sample hanok house the city government runs in the Bukchon Hanok Village, will receive visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Mondays and Lunar New Year, which falls on Saturday, city officials said. T
Feb. 9, 2024
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Illegal drug suspect charged with forgery for AI-generated letter
An individual charged with illegal drug possession and use is now facing a another trial for filing what he claimed was a petition containing a character reference letter from the head of a local sports association, but which was allegedly forged by the suspect's friend using ChatGPT, arguing for leniency from the court, state prosecutors said Thursday. He was subsequently indicted for document forgery. The letter, submitted to the prosecution during the man’s first trial on drug char
Feb. 8, 2024
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Doctors, government lock horns over medical school expansion
Medical circles continue to lock horns with the government following the announcement of an increase in medical school enrollment quotas by 2,000 from the current 3,058, as they mull joint action in protest of the decision. In response, the Health Ministry said Thursday afternoon it had issued orders to prohibit doctors from engaging in collective action and specialists from resigning en masse. The ministry raised the national health crisis level to alert -- the third highest in the four-tier
Feb. 8, 2024
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[Graphic News] Majority of adults just want to rest over Lunar New Year’s holiday
More than half of South Korean adults would like to rest at home during the upcoming Lunar New Year’s holidays, according to a survey. Fifty-one percent of respondents said they would rest at home, while 31.3 percent said they would visit their hometowns or parents’ homes. Roughly 14.3 percent said they would travel. Some people chose possible activities in a short period, such as a day trip (14.1 percent), or meeting acquaintances or friends (11.4 percent). The survey was conducted
Feb. 8, 2024
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Number of international students grows to 182,000 last year: ministry
South Korea saw up to 182,000 new international students in 2023, an increase compared the 167,000 in 2022, said the Ministry of Education on Wednesday. To enhance Korean universities’ management of the increasing numbers of international students and to respond to the problem of illegal immigration among international students, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice annually examine the universities' internationalization competencies. In 2023, among the universities th
Feb. 7, 2024
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Foreign nanny plan put on hold as Philippines suspends worker deployment
A moratorium set by the Philippine government on sending their workers to South Korea has put the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s plan to bring in foreign domestic workers on hold, while also leaving some local farms with a shortage of workers as they will have fewer seasonal workers from the Philippines than in previous years. The Seoul city government said last year that it would bring in around 100 Filipina domestic helpers during the second half of 2023 in a pilot program to tackle the
Feb. 7, 2024
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Race for med school heats up after hike in student quota
The race for medical school enrollment has kicked off nationwide following the government’s decision on Tuesday to increase the quota by 2,000 from the current 3,058 to ease the staffing problem and improve access to healthcare services, according to experts on Wednesday. Woo Youn-cheol, a team leader at Jinhak Educational Assessment Research Institute, pointed out that there would be a particular increase in the number of retakers for the Suneung, or the country’s national college e
Feb. 7, 2024
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Ruling party leader denounces hidden recording of first lady
The ruling party leader on Wednesday criticized the usage of a hidden camera against the first lady for 2022 footage that shows a Korean American pastor giving her a luxury bag, which has sparked suspicions of anti-graft law violations. “The incident is quintessentially a vulgar operation involving a spycam,” People Power Party Chair Han Dong-hoon said during a debate hosted by the Kwanhun Club, an association of senior journalists in Seoul. In footage uploaded by liberal news outlet
Feb. 7, 2024
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Criticism mounts over DJ's deadly drunk-driving
South Koreans across the country have been angered by the news that a drunk-driving DJ who hit and killed a motorcyclist did nothing to help the victim a the time of the accident. The 20-something DJ surnamed Ahn is accused of hitting a 54-year-old delivery man on a motorcycle with her vehicle last Saturday while driving under the influence of alcohol. She was arrested Monday on suspicion of death due to dangerous driving. A police investigation found that Ahn's car moved for 100 meters aft
Feb. 7, 2024
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'Beauty Taxi' discontinues makeup service due to safety concerns
A South Korean taxi driver who provided cosmetics supplies for passengers has been instructed not to do so anymore, after complaints that some of the items could present safety concerns. Kakao Mobility, the operator of the Kakao T taxi service, said Tuesday that it has ordered driver Ahn Seon-woo to remove all the makeup equipment from inside his vehicle. The 62-year-old driver based in Daejeon had been providing the services on his own initiative, gaining media attention and earning the nicknam
Feb. 6, 2024
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South Korea to lower EV subsidies by W1m
Subsidies given to those who purchase electric vehicles will be lower regardless of vehicle size compared to the subsidies given last year, said the Ministry of Environment on Tuesday. During the Ministry of Environment’s press briefing on its new EV subsidy plan, the environment ministry confirmed that the performance subsidies for EVs of all sizes have been reduced by 1 million won ($752). According to this new plan, the maximum subsidy for medium and large-sized EVs will reduced from 5
Feb. 6, 2024
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Popular YouTuber apologizes for racism
Tzuyang, one of the most popular internet celebrities in South Korea, issued a public apology late Monday after being accused of racism for featuring a comedian doing an offensive portrayal of a Filipino character in one of her videos, Jan. 28. "It was a huge oversight on my part not to realize that the content we produced might unintentionally cause emotional pain, which was not our intention. I sincerely apologize once again to the Filipino viewers and to anyone who felt uncomfortable wat
Feb. 6, 2024
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Yoon meets trilateral dialogue representatives for 1st time
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday met representatives of the country’s tripartite panel of labor, management and the government, urging them to jointly resolve pending issues. “Labor-management issues are not simply issues between groups with different interests but should be discussed within the larger framework of ‘sustainability’ in this society," he said as he hosted a luncheon with the member of the Economic, Social and Labor Affairs Committee. "If we comm
Feb. 6, 2024
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S. Korea to increase med students by 2,000 despite doctors’ threat to strike
The South Korean government on Tuesday announced it will increase the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 to address the shortage of doctors in non-metropolitan areas and broaden the reach of healthcare services despite the medical circle’s strong opposition and threat to hold a nationwide strike. According to the plan, approved by the medical policy review body held on Tuesday afternoon, the number of medical students will be increased to 5,058. The hike is the first in 27 years sinc
Feb. 6, 2024