Most Popular
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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First-ever meeting of president, opposition chief set to finally happen
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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NewJeans' singles, Japanese debut to proceed as planned, despite Hybe-Ador feud
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Experts raise concerns about Japan putting pressure on Naver over Line
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South Korea to launch space security center under spy agency
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More med professors to take day off each week while govt. urges them to stay
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Hybe refutes Ador CEO Min's denial of breach of trust
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S. Korea, Japan could consider simplified entry agreement: Seoul official
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Legoland Korea Resort to open until 9 p.m.
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[Editorial] Outlook still clouded
Top Korean economic policymakers heaved a sigh of relief at the news that a pro-bailout Greek party, which won the largest number of congressional seats in the Sunday general elections, would soon take steps to form a coalition government. The news was undoubtedly a ray of sunshine for the Korean government, who had been bracing for a potentially devastating impact from the Greek elections on the Korean economy.With the chances now being higher that Greece would remain in the eurozone, the first
June 19, 2012
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[Editorial] Tighter code of conduct
Local council leaders’ refusal to abide by a code of conduct enacted by a state anticorruption agency is yet another case showing that Korean society still faces an intransigent obstacle to ridding itself of one of its chronic problems.Heads of the 16 metropolitan and provincial councils across the country recently adopted a resolution against the conduct rules and delivered it to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.The resolutio
June 18, 2012
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[Editorial] Hosting global bodies
Korea will pass another milestone on June 23 when its population is projected to exceed the 50 million mark with its per capita gross national income being above $20,000.Though shrouded with concerns over a deepening slowdown of the global economy, the achievement of becoming the world’s seventh nation to reach those statistical landmarks is not to be underestimated.There is still much to be done for Korea to enter the club of truly advanced nations. As part of efforts toward that goal, some exp
June 18, 2012
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[Editorial] Countering N.K. threats
South Korea and the United States have agreed to strengthen “comprehensive and combined” defenses against North Korea’s missile threats and to enhance cooperation to fend off its increasing cyber threats.The two countries reached these agreements during a meeting of their foreign and defense ministers in Washington on Thursday. The so-called “two plus two” meeting was the second of its kind between the two allies, following the first held in Seoul in 2010.The joint statement issued after the min
June 17, 2012
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[Editorial] Bolstering deterrence
South Korea and the United States are reportedly exploring ways to ensure that Seoul’s planned takeover from Washington of wartime operation control of its troops by December 2015 does not weaken deterrence against North Korea.According to reports, one option being studied by the two allies is to transform the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division into a joint unit and maintain the present deployment of its key troops near the border with the North.The idea deserves backing as it can bolster the allies’ de
June 17, 2012
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[Editorial] Price of recklessness
The deepening mess surrounding the financing of free child care testifies to what consequences political populism could bring about.If a lesson is to be learned from the confusion, it should ring a loud alarm bell against reckless competition between the rival parties to woo voters with excessive welfare pledges in the lead-up to the presidential election in December.It has been just a matter of time for the budget for free child care to be exhausted since lawmakers passed a measure last Decembe
June 15, 2012
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[Editorial] Embarrassing figures
President Lee Myung-bak emphasized the need to enhance public safety awareness during his radio address this week. He said various accident-related statistics made “us still ashamed to say that we are on the threshold of becoming an advanced nation.”A review of the actual figures shows his remarks are far from exaggerated.The annual death toll from traffic accidents, industrial accidents and fires exceeded 15,000 and the overall economic loss incurred by them amounted to 32 trillion won ($27.3 b
June 15, 2012
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[Editorial] Patients held hostage
Doctors are threatening to stop treating patients in protest against the government’s plan to introduce a mandatory fixed-rate system for seven illnesses starting July 1.Ophthalmologists have already declared they will not perform any cataract operations during the first week of next month, asserting that the new plan would cause a significant drop in the quality of their services. Obstetricians, orthopedic surgeons and otolaryngologists have also decided to temporarily stop conducting some of t
June 14, 2012
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[Editorial] Key questions unanswered
The prosecution has again disappointed us by coming up almost empty-handed after three months of reinvestigation into the allegations that officials of the Prime Minister’s Office illegally spied on civilians.Prosecutors did not bother to get to the heart of the scandal, leaving many central questions unanswered. Who was the mastermind behind the illegal surveillance? How deeply was the Office of the Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs involved in the affair? Had President Lee Myung-
June 14, 2012
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[Editorial] Restarting operations
Nothing can be placed before safety when it comes to nuclear power generation. The latest reminder was the Fukushima disaster of March 2011. The nuclear reactors, though designed to withstand a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, succumbed to the 14-meter-high tsunami waves.Now, has Japan entirely abandoned nuclear power generation in the wake of the Fukushima accident? Of course not. It is instead preparing to restart two of the reactors that have passed post-Fukushima safety tests.At issue in Korea is t
June 13, 2012
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[Editorial] Discredited again
In the past, the prosecutors’ office has often been accused of being obedient to the incumbent president and those close to him. It turned itself into a target of similar accusations again this week when it decided not to file criminal charges against any of those involved in the dubious land purchases in the outskirts of Seoul made for the construction of President Lee Myung-bak’s post-retirement residence.What is now in store for the prosecutors’ office is the public humiliation of being sidel
June 13, 2012
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[Editorial] A heart-breaking loss
All Koreans must have felt heartbroken at the pictures of the bodies of eight Korean engineers being recovered with those of six other people from the site of a helicopter crash in the mountains in southern Peru on Sunday.They were flying back to a Peruvian town after aerial surveillance of a possible site for a hydroelectric project when their helicopter apparently crashed at about 4,950 meters above sea level due to bad weather conditions Wednesday.Most of the eight Koreans aboard the ill-fate
June 12, 2012
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[Editorial] Families in crisis
A majority of Korean families are gripped with a range of problems, which threaten to rattle the foundation of society if left unaddressed.Nearly six out of 10 households are in critical or vulnerable situations due to disease, debt, unemployment, delinquent children or other troubles, according to a report published this month.Only 42 percent said they had little difficulty during the past year.About one in four families (23 percent) cited illness of one of its members as the most serious conce
June 12, 2012
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[Editorial] Tasks for DUP leader
Former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan has been elected the new chairman of the main opposition Democratic United Party. The six-term lawmaker won a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Rep. Kim Han-gil on Saturday, the final day of the party’s leadership race that began on May 20.The new leader’s primary task is to manage the selection of a party candidate for the presidential election in December. The job sounds simple but is in fact complex because the party, after nominating its own presidenti
June 11, 2012
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[Editorial] Bracing for the worst
Spain has at last decided to request European financing to recapitalize its teetering banks, becoming the fourth eurozone country to receive an EU bailout, following Greece, Ireland and Portugal.Madrid’s request for a financial rescue is welcome news for the global economy, as it would calm market jitters over Spanish banks, which are swamped with bad debts resulting from their reckless lending to property developers.The specific amount of aid has not yet been set, as an assessment of the capita
June 11, 2012
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[Editorial] Escalating tension
North Korea, which has conducted two nuclear tests in the past, is alarmingly provocative. It has recently proclaimed itself a nuclear weapons state in defiance of the international community’s demand that it dismantle its nuclear weapons program.It has also picked out President Lee Myung-bak and news outlets in Seoul as potential targets for a “holy war of retribution.” As if to demonstrate its resolve, it sends its jet fighters threateningly close to the Demilitarized Zone before calling them
June 10, 2012
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[Editorial] China’s Goguryeo claims
Ancient China had a great civilization, with the Great Wall being one of its legacies attesting to its ancient history. But was it necessary for modern China to dot the fortifications of non-Chinese ancient civilizations and link them to extend the length of the Great Wall, as it has done now?The wall, the largest manmade structure in the world, is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth and other materials. According to a 2009 Chinese estimate, the wall, built to fend off
June 10, 2012
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[Editorial] Renouncing privileges
The ruling Saenuri Party has come up with a sweeping set of reform proposals to curtail privileges and benefits for lawmakers and hold them to higher ethical standards.The party said the package is designed to implement its pledges made for the April parliamentary election. It is desirable for a political party to try to put into practice its election promises to the public. The package contains six proposals, including scrapping lawmakers’ immunity from arrest, reforming their much criticized r
June 8, 2012
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[Editorial] Ideological vortex
The controversy over the alleged pro-North Korea lawmakers of the left-wing United Progressive Party has escalated into a virulent ideological dispute between the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party. The escalation was sparked by DUP Rep. Lim Soo-kyung, a former high-profile student activist who became a lawmaker on a proportional representation ticket. Lim recently insulted North Korean defectors in the South by calling them “traitors.” She apologized to the def
June 8, 2012
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[Editorial] No time for clash
Departing from their low-key position, business circles are beginning to raise their voices against political parties’ moves to impose stricter regulations on conglomerates in the name of economic democratization.A research institute affiliated with the Federation of Korean Industries, the country’s main business lobby group, held a debate this week, where participants criticized politicians for pushing ahead with bills that go against market economy principles and shackle big business.They clai
June 7, 2012