Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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[Editorial] Park Geun-hye’s essay
Park Geun-hye contributed an article to the September-October edition of Foreign Affairs, the New York-based international affairs magazine, to discuss how to achieve genuine peace on the Korean Peninsula. In the 2,250-word article, the frontrunner on the 2012 presidential race said Seoul must be mo
Sept. 5, 2011
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[Editorial] Donations and taxation
Kim Jang-hoon, a pop singer, is well known not only for his songs but his charitable giving. During the past 10 years, he has donated 11 billion won to help the unfortunate.Despite his virtue, there is no knowing when his career as a popular entertainer will come to an end. After all, isn’t populari
Sept. 4, 2011
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[Editorial] Back to basics
Exports, the nation’s main source of growth, are slowing, with a double-dip recession looming in the United States and Europe. But imports are growing fast, making a deep cut in the trade surplus.As a result, growth in gross domestic product is certain to fall below the 2011 target set by President
Sept. 4, 2011
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[Editorial] Verdict on ‘comfort women’
The Constitutional Court has ushered in a new phase in the long-running dispute between Seoul and Tokyo over compensation of Korean “comfort women” and nuclear bomb victims for their suffering and human rights abuses during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea. On Tuesday, the court ruled on a petition fi
Sept. 2, 2011
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[Editorial] New drug pricing policy
The government’s plan to cut drug prices by an average of 17 percent starting next year has triggered vehement protests from the domestic pharmaceutical community. On Thursday, an alliance of 10 pharmaceutical-related organizations issued a joint statement, declaring an all-out struggle against the
Sept. 2, 2011
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[Editorial] Session in jeopardy
The regular session of an outgoing National Assembly is the least productive as its members often shun debate on issues of concern to the public, deliberation on pending bills and participation in voting. Instead, they tend to make a final pitch in constituency work in their electoral districts in p
Sept. 1, 2011
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[Editorial] Change in N.K. policy?
Signals are coming from those close to President Lee Myung-bak that he is considering changing his anti-North Korea policy in favor of improving relations with the communist state. If he is really considering such a shift in policy, he will have to think about a backlash from his conservative suppor
Sept. 1, 2011
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[Editorial] Fostering female CEOs
Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee recently stressed the importance of utilizing women in the workforce, saying talented female employees should be allowed to become CEOs. Lee held a rare session last week with a small number of female executives from Samsung companies to express his commitmen
Aug. 31, 2011
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[Editorial] Education and politics
Seoul education chief Kwak No-hyun’s alleged involvement in election campaign corruption has sparked a flurry of moves to reform the current system for electing education officials in the nation’s seven largest cities and nine provinces.A group of lawmakers of the ruling Grand National Party is movi
Aug. 31, 2011
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[Editorial] Jeju naval base
The Jeju district court issued an injunction Monday to stop obstructions by radical activists and residents against the construction work for a naval base at Gangjeong on the southern coast of Jeju Island. However, the court ruling did not totally prohibit opposition activities around the constructi
Aug. 30, 2011
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[Editorial] Japan’s new premier
Watching Japan install a new prime minister after his predecessor’s 15 months in office, we cannot but feel unease about continuing political instability in the neighboring country, which needs a strong leadership to weather the many political and economic problems ahead. Naoto Kan may take consolat
Aug. 30, 2011
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[Editorial] Hyundai donations
It is refreshing that the children of the late Hyundai Group founder, Chung Ju-yung, now operating top-level enterprises have made large donations amounting to 1 trillion won ($950 million) from their personal assets for social service programs. The charity moves by Chung Mong-joon of the Hyundai He
Aug. 29, 2011
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[Editorial] Crucial investigation
With Seoul Education Superintendent Kwak No-hyun’s admission that he gave 200 million won to his former rival candidate Park Myung-gi in last year’s election, the prosecution will have no other choice but press charges of election law violation on Kwak, the champion of free school meals and an icon
Aug. 29, 2011
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[Editorial] Mayoral by-election
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon resigned Friday, taking responsibility for Wednesday’s invalidated free lunch referendum. With his prompt resignation, a by-election will be held on Oct. 26, setting the stage for another battle on welfare between the ruling Grand National Party and the main opposition Democra
Aug. 28, 2011
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[Editorial] External debt growth
When the Bank of Korea released the latest data on Korea’s external debt last week, it had both good news and bad news. First the bad news. The nation’s foreign debt continued to increase in the second quarter, with the outstanding balance reaching $398 billion as of the end of June, a new record hi
Aug. 28, 2011
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[Editorial] North Korea’s spy ring
The prosecutors’ office has recently arrested five core members of a North Korean espionage network that has allegedly been operating for more than a decade in South Korea. It has also indicted another five without detention, charging them with espionage.What should come as a surprise is not that No
Aug. 26, 2011
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[Editorial] Kim’s Russia visit
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is on his train journey back home after talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Siberia on Wednesday. As expected, their talks focused on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program and Moscow’s aid to the North. But no fresh ground was broken.At the talks, Kim propos
Aug. 26, 2011
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[Editorial] Operating system R&D
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy is planning to initiate an R&D project to help domestic smartphone manufacturers jointly develop a new operating system for mobile devices. According to reports, the ministry intends to launch a consortium this year together with Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics
Aug. 25, 2011
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[Editorial] Balanced welfare policy
The nation has lost a precious opportunity to put the brakes on the rising tide of welfare populism as the free lunch referendum in Seoul held Wednesday was declared invalid due to low voter turnout. Only 25.7 percent of the capital city’s 8.4 million-strong electorate voted, falling far short of th
Aug. 25, 2011
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[Editorial] End of Geumgang tours?
The project of sending South Korean tourists to a scenic resort in North Korea, suspended since July 2008, is now at the risk of being put to an end as Pyongyang is confiscating South Korean assets in Mount Geumgang on North Korea’s east coast.North Korea, which said on Monday it was legally disposi
Aug. 24, 2011