Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Foreign residents of Seoul happier than Koreans: poll
Foreign residents of Seoul were happier than than their Korean neighbors, a poll conducted by Seoul City showed Thursday. The “happiness index” of foreign residents in Seoul (7.07) was higher than that of the city’s Korean residents (6.72), according to the survey of some 20,000 families, 5,000 citizens and 2,500 foreign residents of Seoul conducted from September through October last year. Over half of the foreign respondents (56.3 percent) said they wish to continue to live i
May 26, 2023
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[Korean History] June 1987: Democracy takes root, at least in the Constitution
After weeks of massive protests, the South Korean public finally got what it demanded. In late June of 1987, the junta hoisted a white flag and proposed a constitutional reform for direct presidential elections. “Roh proposes direct election of next president under new Constitution,” reads the front-page story of The Korea Herald's June 30, 1987, edition, signaling the dawn of a new era for a nation that had been under dictatorship for decades. Roh in the headline is the late fo
May 24, 2023
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[Korea Quiz] Wedding gift dilemma
Find the answer at the bottom of the page. Cash is a common gift in Korea for various celebratory events like a baby's first birthday, Lunar New Year or weddings. For funerals, too, guests prepare cash in a white envelope to give to the grieving family. However, with surging inflation in recent years, there has been upward pressure on the amount of money given as congratulatory or condolence gifts, leading many Koreans to face a dilemma of how much to spend on such occasions. The best guide
May 24, 2023
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Koreans in eyes of 19th-century Westerners (2)
Westerners who left records of what they saw and experienced in Korea in the 19th century often marveled at how much work women outside the ruling class did, how physically strong Koreans were and how much they ate. Without a word of reproach, women did most of the farm labor and carried lunch to the workers in the field, on top of housework including the endless amount of laundry, they wrote. “You should see the poor things on the coldest days and nights of winter, smashing the thick ice
May 23, 2023
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[Survive & Thrive] Getting around at night
Seoul wouldn’t be famous for its lively nightlife scene if getting back home after a night out were a major challenge. Recognizing the need of a public that is socially active at night, South Korea’s public transport operates at least until around midnight, although one is strongly advised to check on the last vehicle reaching the desired destination from the point of departure. Most major metropolitan areas have buses that operate well after midnight, but Seoul even has regularly di
May 23, 2023
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Photos show glimpse into first steps of alliance
When 23-year-old Dominick Spina was drafted into the US Army in January 1953 and arrived in South Korea’s Chuncheon as a soldier of the 40th Infantry Division in August that year, his mother was constantly worried about him. So he wrote to her often, hoping to quell her nerves. The Korean Armistice Agreement had just been signed in late July, bringing an end to the hostilities of the 1950-53 Korean War, and Dominick was grateful there was no fighting. In October 1953, he was assigned to th
May 23, 2023
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'Catch! Teenieping' producer aims to become 'Disney of Korea'
Pink-haired Romi, princess of the Emotion Kingdom, comes to Earth to catch cute and mischievous creatures called Teeniepings that each have a unique power linked to an emotion or a concept they represent. Romi lives as a normal girl in Harmony Town, going to school and working in a bakery, but secretly turns into a magical princess when catching the Teeniepings. The setting of the brightly colored 3D animated film series “Catch! Teenieping” may sound like just another kid’s sho
May 20, 2023
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[Korean History] Operation Vienna: Filmmakers’ perilous escape from clutches of North Korea
Actor Choi Eun-hee and filmmaker Shin Sang-ok gave new meaning to the word “dramatic” when they made a daring escape to the US Embassy in Vienna on March 13, 1986. The couple's story is more extraordinary than any of the films they made, blending genres of romance, spy thriller and political documentary. “Choi Eun-hee, Shin Sang-ok flee to West after 8 years of NK shackles” reads the front page of The Korea Herald in its March 19, 1986 edition, telling the story of t
May 17, 2023
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[Korea Quiz] J-Hope's military service
You can find the correct answer(s) at the bottom of the page. J-Hope, a member of K-pop juggernaut BTS, has temporarily suspended his stage activities to fulfill his mandatory military service. In South Korea, which faces a belligerent North Korea, all able-bodied men are required to serve in the military. The duration of service has changed over time, from three years in the past to a minimum of 18 months at present. South Korea’s Armed Forces consist of the Army, Navy, Marines and Ai
May 17, 2023
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[Survive & Thrive] Reasons to forgo cash for bus fare
The sight of a bus passenger paying their fare with cash is dying out in South Korea nowadays. There are several reasons for this. Cashless payments, via Tmoney cards, credit cards or mobile payment options, are not just more convenient but safer, as the conductor can focus only on driving, which can help improve the safety of everyone on the bus. Also, cashless payments save you money -- quite a lot, in fact, if you transfer between buses and/or subways. The country’s free transfer benefi
May 16, 2023
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Hidden lives of terminal dwellers in South Korea
In February 2020, an African man landed at Incheon Airport in South Korea, seeking asylum. He had fled his homeland, where a civil war had killed many of his family members and relatives. The South Korean immigration office, however, refused to accept his application for refugee status, on the grounds that he was a transfer passenger. His eligibility as a refugee was not even reviewed. For months that followed, the man lived in the transit zone. He slept on chairs near the terminal gates, ate fr
May 15, 2023
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American couple who sheltered Korean tourists in blizzard visit Korea
On Dec. 23 last year, a group of South Korean tourists became stranded in Buffalo, New York, during a heavy blizzard on their way to Niagara Falls. Their van got stuck in the snow, so two of them knocked on the door of a nearby house to ask for shovels to dig the vehicle out of a ditch. That was the home of Alexander Campagna and his wife Andrea, who had planned for a quiet Christmas weekend indoors, with a stocked fridge to wait out the snowstorm. The couple invited the nine travelers plus the
May 14, 2023
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[Subway Stories] From relic of 2002 World Cup to new sports and culture mecca
Despite its name, World Cup Stadium (Seongsan) Station can get crowded for a number of reasons outside of just sports, such as couples going for a night out at the movies, families shopping at the supermarket, or even K-pop fans flocking to a concert. The station on Seoul Subway Line No. 6 opened in 2000 as the gateway to Seoul World Cup Stadium, which hosted the opening ceremony and games of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan. Its beginnings, however, were humble
May 14, 2023
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[Hello Hangeul] Korean proficiency highly sought after for jobs in Vietnam
HAI PHONG, Vietnam -- In this coastal city in northern Vietnam, it's said that having English skills can double your salary, while having Korean skills can triple it. Although the saying may be somewhat exaggerated, it certainly captures the high value placed on proficiency in the Korean language. Korean companies and institutions are prominent employers in the city, running immense factories, leading a variety of business projects, and they attract top-quality manpower with solid compe
May 13, 2023
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[Korean History] Revisiting the 1983 Rangoon Bombing
The mid-80s were a harrowing time for South Koreans, marked by traumatic events that shook the entire nation. The shock of the Korean Air Flight 007's shot down by a Soviet missile on Sept. 1, 1983, which killed all of its passengers and crew, was compounded by another horror, just a month later, at the hands of communist forces in the northern part of the peninsula. On Oct. 9, in Myanmar’s capital of Yangon, a bomb went off, killing key members of South Korea’s economic team le
May 10, 2023
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[Korea Quiz] Blackpink in your area
Find the answer at the bottom of the page. South Korean girl group Blackpink made history last month when they performed as headliners of this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. They are the first K-pop group and Asian act to headline the largest music festival in North America. This year marked their second time performing at Coachella. Their first performance was in 2019 at the sub-main stage. At the time, they were the first K-pop girl group to perform at the event. Blac
May 10, 2023
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Livestreamed teen suicides: Nation struggles to block spread
In the country with the highest suicide rates in the world, a disturbing new trend may be emerging: the live broadcasting of suicides on social media. On April 16, a teenager livestreamed her death by suicide on Instagram. Such content has been of international concern for some time, but the girl’s death marked the first known case of its kind in South Korea. Further jolting the nation, two teenage girls were stopped by the police from taking their own lives while livestreaming last Friday
May 9, 2023
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Korea in the eyes of 19th-century Westerners
Sometimes, an outsider’s view of a society and its people can be telling or, at the very least, worth noting, even if the view itself comes from the 19th century. Compared to its neighbors China and Japan, Korea was secluded and relatively unknown to the Western world for a long time. While the Portuguese and the Dutch sailed to and traded with China from the 16th century and Japan from the 17th century, with Jesuit missionaries such as Matteo Ricci introducing China to the West in the lat
May 9, 2023
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[Survive & Thrive] Transportation (1): Free transfers within 30 minutes
Getting around in any of South Korea's major cities is easy and convenient, thanks to the cheap and extensive public transportation system. As the first segment in a four-part series on South Korea's mass transit systems, this article will review how to transfer between buses, the subway and other forms of transportation. The transfer system allows passengers to switch between different types of public transport without paying an additional fee. To avoid paying any extra charges, one
May 9, 2023
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5 most popular Korean universities for international students
Of all colleges and universities in South Korea, Hanyang University had the highest number of international students last year, with a total of 6,999 enrolled -- 4,816 at its main campus in Seoul and 2,183 at its branch campus in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province -- according to data on Monday. Kyung Hee University came next with 6,912 students, followed by Sungkyunkwan University with 6,676, according to the data compiled by the Korean Educational Development Institute. These colleges were followed by Y
May 8, 2023