Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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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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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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[Music in drama] An ode to childhood trauma
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[Editorial] UPP on path to ruin
The non-mainstream factions of the strife-torn United Progressive Party have managed to launch an emergency leadership headed by Rep. Kang Ki-kab, seizing the initiative from the party’s widely criticized mainstreamers. Kang was appointed at a meeting of the party’s central committee, which was convened online from Sunday night to Monday morning without the presence of the representatives from the mainstream group. The committee’s meeting on Saturday was interrupted by violence. Some 100 members
May 15, 2012
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[Editorial] Reform on savings banks
Four savings banks that have recently been declared insolvent are found to have sustained huge losses from high-risk investments. Worse still, astronomical amounts of money have allegedly been embezzled by the managers of two of them. If they are not recouped, taxpayers will have to hold the bag.Prosecutors are widening their investigation into an allegation that Lim Suk, chairman of Solomon Savings Bank, embezzled 500 billion won from customer deposits and put the money into a maritime service
May 14, 2012
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[Editorial] Spike in power demand
Unseasonably high temperatures have raised concerns about nationwide blackouts again this year. Demand for electricity remains high at a time when many power plants are under maintenance, reducing the power reserves to a worrisome level.For the first time in recent years, the nation experienced rolling blackouts last September ― a series of intentional electrical blackouts affecting small areas in succession as a means of conserving electricity when supply was low.Korea Electric Power Corp. had
May 14, 2012
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[Editorial] Calling needed again
With a carnation pinned to their lapels, teachers will hear students sing a song expressing gratitude for their teaching in schools across the country Tuesday, marking the 31st Teacher’s Day.It is regrettable, however, that the actual relationship between teachers and students appears not so amicable these days.In fact, it is getting so much worse that a growing number of teachers fall victim to violence from their own students.In the latest case, a 51-year-old female teacher was hit on the head
May 13, 2012
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[Editorial] Physical education
There is no denying Korean teenagers live a most stressful life.Recent figures from Statistics Korea showed that seven out of 10 youths have been under a lot of stress, with 8.8 percent thinking of committing suicide over the past year. Suicide has already become the primary cause of death of young people in the country, which has seen about 13 in every 100,000 teenagers killing themselves every year.According to a recent study by a local research institute, Korean students ranked lowest in an i
May 13, 2012
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[Editorial] Opening of Yeosu Expo
The Yeosu Expo is opening on Saturday, putting on display the five years of preparations for the promotion of knowledge, technology and activities for the sustainable development of marine resources.These preparations by Yeosu as the host of the international exposition are showcased by the “Big-O” core facility for exhibitions and entertainment, a huge fountain over the sea, an aquarium containing robotic fish as well as actual fish, and other facilities. More than 100 countries and internation
May 11, 2012
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[Editorial] Boosting housing market
It is a typical pattern for administrations to boost the real-estate market when the economy is in a slump. President Lee Myung-bak’s administration is no different.The policy package that the Lee administration unveiled on Thursday was intended as a shot in the arm for the housing market in the doldrums. The measure was taken at a time when the administration finds it extremely difficult to attain its modest growth target for this year ― 3.5 percent.Most notable among the policies was to free S
May 11, 2012
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[Editorial] Boosting private spending
A recent survey by a job website showed seven out of 10 employed Koreans regard themselves as working poor.Repayment of student loans and the cost of mortgages were cited as the major reasons for being short of money, according to the survey of about 500 employees in their 20s-40s.The poll reflects the financial pinch that has gripped Korean consumers. Structural problems in the economy have held down household income for years. From 1998 to 2011, the country’s gross national income increased by
May 10, 2012
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[Editorial] A brazen reply
North Korea recently replied to a U.N. inquiry into the fate of the wife and two daughters left behind by a South Korean man who escaped the North in 1986 a year after defecting there with his family.In the letter sent to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on April 27, it claimed Shin Suk-ja, the wife of Oh Kil-nam, died of hepatitis and the two daughters did not want to see Oh, whom they did not regard as their father because he abandoned his family and drove their mother to her deat
May 10, 2012
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[Editorial] Software ecosystem
A bill to revise the Software Industry Promotion Act was passed on May 2 along with some 60 others during the last session of the 18th National Assembly. The revised law, which goes into effect from next January, bans chaebol-affiliated IT service companies from working on public-sector projects.The new regulation is one of the initiatives the government has recently taken to jump-start the stagnating domestic software industry, which it has pledged to foster as one of the nation’s future growth
May 9, 2012
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[Editorial] Digging own grave
The mainstream faction of the United Progressive Party is digging itself deeper into a hole as it struggles to retain power in the face of mounting pressure to take responsibility for alleged fraud in the primaries for the April 11 general election.The faction, led by Lee Jung-hee, one of the UPP’s four co-leaders, rejected the recommendation adopted by the party’s National Steering Committee over the weekend that the three proportional representation lawmakers-elect chosen through the primary r
May 9, 2012
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[Editorial] Crying wolf again
When the Financial Services Commission suspended four mutual savings banks on Sunday, it said there would be no more industry-wide restructuring. Instead, it promised to deal with each savings bank as soon as it shows signs of insolvency.No one was mistaken if this pledge sounded familiar. When it suspended the operations of seven savings banks for six months last September, the commission said public concerns about another round of restructuring were unjustified because there would be no such d
May 8, 2012
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[Editorial] Fall of ‘king’s man’
Prosecutors arrested Park Young-joon, a former vice minister of knowledge economy, and took him into custody Monday. The charges against him were influence-peddling and taking 100 million won in bribes from the developer of a Seoul shopping mall.His arrest followed the issuance of a warrant by a judge at a Seoul district court, who was quoted as saying he was considered a flight risk and that he could try to destroy evidence. Before being taken into custody, Park told reporters that he had nothi
May 8, 2012
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[Editorial] Putin initiatives
Vladimir Putin’s return to the Russian presidency comes at a delicate time when North Korea’s move toward a third nuclear test is alerting neighboring powers, with the U.S. and China engaged in an increasing military rivalry in the Pacific region.Putin, who began his third presidential term Monday, may well expect this situation to give him more leeway in expanding Russia’s strategic presence in Northeast Asia.He had kept his grip on power while serving as prime minister during the past four yea
May 7, 2012
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[Editorial] Competitive SMEs
A recent survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed local small and medium-sized enterprises are far less competitive than SMEs in Germany, Japan and other industrialized countries.If the competitiveness of small companies in advanced nations with a strong manufacturing sector is put at 100, that of Korea’s SMEs scored 59.6, according to the survey of 151 economic experts here.Among the key problems cited by the experts for holding back domestic small firms were a lack of innova
May 7, 2012
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[Editorial] Spurring investment
The government is ratcheting up efforts to stimulate investment by domestic and foreign companies to sustain economic growth and strengthen the nation’s weakening growth potential.In recent months, the economy has lost much of its growth momentum due to a worsening external environment. In the first quarter of the year, the economy expanded 2.8 percent from a year ago, the smallest increase since the 1 percent gain in the first three months of 2009.Yet the first-quarter performance was much less
May 6, 2012
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[Editorial] New nuclear plants
Korea has started building two new nuclear reactors, reaffirming its unwavering commitment to developing atomic energy. The government hailed the 1,400-megawatt reactors as “a new milestone” in Korea’s nuclear technology development, as their key components, such as the man-machine interface and reactor coolant pumps, were all designed and produced locally. The two reactors, both based on the nation’s Advanced Power Reactor design, will be built at the Uljin power plant on the southeastern coast
May 6, 2012
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[Editorial] Much more to lose
Three more North Korean companies have recently been placed on a U.N. blacklist of corporations banned from international trade. On Wednesday, a U.N. Security Council committee decided to add the companies to the blacklist as sanctions on North Korea against its April 13 rocket launch.The U.N. decision followed China’s consent to sanctions on the three companies. The number fell far short of the 40 or so North Korean companies that the United States, South Korea and other countries had reportedl
May 4, 2012
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[Editorial] Free trade with China
South Korea, which relies on external trade for growth, needs to promote free trade. The need for free trade is shared by China. Still, they find formidable obstacles to their pursuit of a free trade agreement.Growth in South Korea’s trade with China, which is larger than combined Korean-U.S. and Korean-EU trade, will certainly accelerate when many of the tariff and non-tariff barriers are removed or lowered. It is only natural for South Korea, which has concluded free trade agreements with both
May 4, 2012
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[Editorial] Heed OECD’s advice
The OECD has recently published two reports on Korea that offer valuable advice to Korean politicians as well as government policymakers. One is the latest OECD economic survey of Korea while the other is the first OECD assessment of the Korean government’s urban policy. The OECD Economic Survey of Korea 2012 focuses on the two key challenges confronting the Korean economy ― sustaining economic growth in the face of rapid population aging and improving social cohesion by reducing inequality and
May 3, 2012