Most Popular
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Ador CEO denies allegations, accuses Hybe of mistreating NewJeans
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Medical reform committee kicks off despite boycott from doctors
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10-man S. Korea lose to Indonesia to miss out on Paris Olympic football qualification
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DP leader says he will meet Yoon without conditions
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Over 9,000 hotline calls made by stalking victims in 2023
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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[Hello India] Hyundai Motor vows to boost 'clean mobility' in India
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Second Gimpo civil servant found dead, after apologizing for not finishing work
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Monthly users on local streaming platforms outpace Netflix, Disney+
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US will take steps for three-way engagement on nuclear deterrence with S. Korea, Japan: Campbell
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[Editorial] Household medicines
Controversy is raging over the government’s plan to make general household medicines available at supermarkets and convenience stores. The Health and Welfare Ministry recently announced a list of 44 over-the-counter pharmaceutical products that would be sold at retail outlets starting August. If the plan goes as scheduled, it will be the first time in Korea that OTC products are sold at places oth
June 24, 2011
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[Editorial] OECD’s advice
A random glance at newspaper front pages shows that few encouraging stories are making the headlines these days. Instead, they are filled with corruption scandals involving public officeholders, never-ending animosity among ostensibly irreconcilable political adversaries, looming economic disasters ― you name it, it’s there.Few bright spots are in sight at a time of political transition. Instead,
June 23, 2011
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[Editorial] Tuition fee cuts
The legislation process is under way to cut university tuition fees. Similar efforts are being made by the administration. But it will be no less important for the administration to close private universities and colleges whose lifeline is nothing but government subsidies.On Wednesday, the parliamentary committee on education approved a bill banning the transfer of collected tuition fees to reserv
June 23, 2011
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[Editorial] Devil is in the details
The prosecution and the police have struck a deal to end an unedifying dispute on the right to investigate crimes. The agreement, struck Monday between Justice Minister Lee Kwi-nam and National Police Agency chief Cho Hyun-oh, is a compromise that balances the key demands of the two sides.Specifically, they agreed to empower police officers to launch an investigation if there is reasonable suspici
June 22, 2011
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[Editorial] Woori privatization
The government’s renewed plan to privatize Woori Finance Holdings appears to have collapsed in the face of lawmakers’ opposition to the possible emergence of a mega bank. Last month, the Public Fund Oversight Committee resumed the process of selling off the government’s 57 percent stake in the nation’s second-largest financial group. The process was stalled in December following an aborted attempt
June 22, 2011
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[Editorial] University rankings
As social and political debates on cutting university tuition fees rages on, the restructuring of higher education has emerged as an urgent issue. There is a need to strengthen university finances in general and concentrate state support on more viable institutions. While the Board of Audit and Inspection is checking the financial, personnel and academic affairs of all 200 four-year universities,
June 21, 2011
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[Editorial] N.K. Human Rights Act
North Korea again blared out warnings of “merciless retaliation,” this time against the move here to pass the North Korean human rights bill at the National Assembly. Their language grew harsher as with a change in activities in the South that they consider to threaten the stability of their system.Jopyeongtong, Pyongyang’s mouthpiece on South Korean affairs, said the bill represented Seoul’s atte
June 21, 2011
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[Editorial] Ban Ki-moon’s U.N. job
With the U.N. Security Council’s unanimous approval of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s second term Friday, the General Assembly is expected to confirm his appointment with a vote this week, probably on Tuesday. Thus, for the next five-and-a-half years, the world will see a South Korean preside over the United Nations as it deals with major global issues ranging from wars and disarmament to poverty
June 20, 2011
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[Editorial] Shooting at airliner
The incident last week at Gyodong Island in which two Marines watching the North Korean coast fired their rifles at an Asiana airliner approaching Incheon International Airport revealed how our soldiers guarding the northwestern-most territory have increased their alertness since the deadly North Korean attacks last year. Yet, it also exposed how poorly trained our front line guards are about what
June 20, 2011
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[Editorial] Prosecution-police conflict
The prosecution and the police are again clashing over the right to investigate crimes. The old conflict between the two law-enforcement agencies has been reignited as a parliamentary special committee on judicial reform is set to revise the laws defining their relationship.At the heart of the dispute is a clause in the Criminal Procedure Act requiring police officers to investigate crimes under t
June 19, 2011
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[Editorial] Poll on free lunches
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced Friday that his metropolitan government has begun to take steps to hold a referendum on free school lunches. The referendum was requested by a coalition of conservative civic groups opposed to the controversial free meal program launched by the city’s education office in March.The coalition, dubbed the National Anti-Populism Union, submitted Thursday more than 800,
June 19, 2011
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[Editorial] University reform
The number of high school graduates dropped 15 percent from 2000 to 2005, making it impossible for some universities and junior colleges to fill their freshman quotas. A fall in admissions meant a drop in tuition fees ― the main source of revenues for the ill-fated ones.The situation will worsen if no action is taken because the number is projected to fall 40 percent from 670,000 to 410,000 in a d
June 17, 2011
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[Editorial] Control on borrowing
A borrower is up to no good if he is much indebted. This has been proven to be true in all ages and countries, no matter which the borrower may be ― a corporation, a state or an individual.Kim Choong-soo, governor of the Bank of Korea, made remarks to that effect when he was commenting on Tuesday’s news report that Greece took a super-low rating from the Standard & Poor’s. If so, why is he accused
June 17, 2011
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[Editorial] Public sector corruption
A recent survey on the trends of corruption in the Korean public sector has found that 2010 was the worst year since 2000 in terms of businessmen’s perception of corruption among high-ranking government officials. According to the Korea Institute of Public Administration, 86.5 percent of the respondents said corruption was serious among senior public officials last year, the highest level since it
June 16, 2011
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[Editorial] Aborted reform bid
A parliamentary bid for judicial reform appears to have foundered in the face of stiff opposition from prosecutors, judges and the presidential office. The special parliamentary committee that has grappled with the tough task of reforming the judicial system since February last year has decided to stop work this month, leaving most of the main issues on its agenda unresolved.The committee reached
June 16, 2011
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[Editorial] Auditing universities
Debate on half-priced university tuition is mired in the paucity of information on the finances of the 345 institutions of higher education in the nation ― 199 universities and 146 junior colleges. Information is scant because the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is withholding it, citing confidentiality.But a Korean daily, quoting the ministry’s 2009 report, says five universities an
June 15, 2011
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[Editorial] Five-day school week
Beginning in March next year, all primary and secondary schools will have no classes on Saturdays, putting an end to the current practice of teaching every other Saturday. The five-day workweek, which was introduced in 1998 to improve the quality of life, will have been implemented at all workplaces except for those employing four or fewer people.To make up for the potential loss of classes result
June 15, 2011
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[Editorial] Devil’s snare
Former Agriculture-Forestry Minister Im Sang-gyu should have secured a place in the annals of Korean bureaucracy as a model public administrator, if only he had a little more courage to escape the temptation of corruption. He called it “the devil’s snare” in his suicide note found Monday. Suicide is not rare in this country. But in most corruption scandals, the accused bureaucrats or politicians e
June 14, 2011
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[Editorial] Across the Tumen River
If the political atmosphere between China and North Korea may at times be changeable, the two neighboring countries have been strengthening their economic cooperation steadily and substantially, particularly across the Tumen River. Some of the South Korean media saw political significance in the postponement of the official launches of the Hwanggeumpyeong and Hunchun-Raseon projects last month, bu
June 14, 2011
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[Editorial] Tuition politics
One of the ugliest political scenes took place last week at the narrow Cheonggyecheon square in Seoul which was packed with university students holding candle lights in a rally demanding “halved tuition.” Opposition Democratic Party chairman Sohn Hak-kyu climbed onto the makeshift stage and urged the rallying students in his high-pitched voice to mount their pressure on the Lee Myung-bak governmen
June 13, 2011