Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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Top prosecutor orders speedy investigation into first lady's alleged acceptance of luxury handbag
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Defense chiefs of US, Australia, Japan decry NK-Russia military cooperation
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[Ferry Disaster] Sewol disaster investigation expands to owner family
South Korean authorities widened their investigation into the cause of the ferry disaster on Monday by arresting four crew members and banning others involved from leaving the country. Prosecutors on Monday barred the family that owns Chonghaejin Marine Co., the operator of the ill-fated ferry Sewol, from leaving Korea.The Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office took the measure as part of an expanding probe to identify whether the ship’s renovation and the crew members’ lack of safety education pl
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Ferry controversy grows as rescue mission limps on
The controversy surrounding the conduct of the crew on the Sewol ferry expanded further Monday with an eyewitness alleging that the ship’s first mate may have failed to relay the evacuation order.As new accounts feed the growing controversy, the death toll continued to rise as divers recovered more bodies from the ship’s wreckage some 20 kilometers off the coast of Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province. Early Monday, divers recovered five bodies thought to be students from Danwon High School, push
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Ferry’s lifespan was extended by 7 years with remodeling: FSS
Financial Supervisory Service data showed Monday that Chonghaejin Marine, the operator of the capsized Sewol, had garnered shipping authorities’ approval in extending the lifespan of the ferry by seven years.The ferry Sewol operator also was found to have borrowed 10 billion won ($9.5 million) from the state-run Korea Development Bank to repair the outdated ship, which had operated for 18 years from 1994-2012 in Japan, according to audit data held by the Financial Supervisory Service.Through rep
April 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Korea drags feet in forming response team
The South Korean government’s unfulfilled promise to hire more emergency and disaster experts over the last two years is drawing criticism from the public. The Ministry of Security and Public Administration said in November 2012 that it would revise the Decree on the Appointment of Public Officials to create a state unit in charge of preventing disasters, the ministry said Monday. Under the revised law, the government pledged to hire experts with university degrees in relevant fields and recruit
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Woman questioned for slandering Coast Guard rescue operations
Hong Ga-hye doing interview on KBS a few years ago then again on MBN in 2014A Korean woman who made a false claim in a television interview about the delayed rescue operation of the capsized ferry Sewol turned herself in late Sunday, police said.The South Jeolla Provincial Police Agency on Saturday issued a warrant to detain the 26-year-old woman, surnamed Hong, who claimed that the Coast Guard told civilian divers to “kill time” and that some divers had confirmed survivors inside the sunken shi
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Officials, politicians blasted for insensitivity
(Yonhap)Public criticism is mounting against some government officials and politicians accused of inappropriate conduct as the nation grieves for the lives lost in the Sewol ferry accident.Song Young-cheol, a senior official at the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, has become a target of criticism after he tried to take a photograph of himself in front of the room for victims’ families at a port terminal on Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, near the wreck site. Song was caught b
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Ferry transcript reveals evacuation chaos
(Yonhap)JINDO, South Jeolla Province ― Panic-stricken and fumbling for responses, the crew of the Sewol ferry dithered over the evacuation of passengers in the crucial final moments before it sank, a transcript released Sunday revealed.The transcript suggests that the chaos may have added to the death toll that could eventually exceed 300. Many people followed the captain’s initial order to stay below deck, where it is feared they remain trapped.In the final nerve-wracking moments before the ves
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] 20 % of surviving students in ferry disaster need psych treatment: hospital
ANSAN, Gyeonggi Province (Yonhap) -- Two in 10 students who survived last week's deadly ferry sinking require psychiatric treatment as they still suffer from serious mental stress and depression, a local hospital treating the students said Monday.The Korea University Ansan Hospital in Ansan, 42 kilometers south of Seoul, is treating 81 survivors, including 74 students from Danwon High School in Ansan."We're considering sending about 20 percent of the patients to a psychiatric clinic with consent
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Sewol controversy expands as rescue mission crawls along
The controversy surrounding the conduct of the crew on the Sewol ferry expanded further Monday with an eye witness alleging that the ship’s first mate may have failed to relay the evacuation order.As new accounts feed the growing controversy, the death toll continued to rise as divers recovered more bodies from the ship’s wreckage some 20 kilometers off the coast of Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province. Early Monday, divers recovered five bodies suspected of being students from Danwon High School
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Mixed reports on time of Sewol’s sinking cause confusion
There has been no consensus reached on the reported time of the ferry Sewol’s sinking, according to news reports on Monday, adding to the nation’s confusion about the accident. According to accident reports, the ferry sent a distress signal at 8:58 a.m., when the Jeju Vessel Traffic Service Center transferred the Sewol to its Jindo Island counterpart to start the rescue operation. However, evidence continues to surface that as early as 8:29 a.m. the Sewol crew was aware that something had gone a
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Families bid tearful farewells to loved ones
Families and friends tearfully bid farewell to loved ones as funeral services were held over the weekend for victims of the ferry that sank off the southwestern coast of the country last week. On early Monday, the funeral service was held for the Danwon High School vice principal.The 52-year-old vice principal, surnamed Kang, committed suicide on Friday, two days after hundreds of his students drowned or went missing in the ferry sinking. Before he hung himself, Kang wrote in a suicide note that
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Poor handling of disaster adds to despair
The government’s clumsy handling of the ferry disaster is further deepening the despair and anger of the families of the victims.The grief-stricken families have been infuriated by the flawed first responses to the sinking of the ferry Sewol in waters off the country’s southwestern coast, the conflicting numbers of survivors and the slow rescue process.Their anger came to a head last Sunday as the rescue process did not pick up pace despite their tearful appeals for more aggressive efforts to se
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Park calls crew actions ‘murderous’
President Park Geun-hye on Monday condemned the captain and crew of the doomed ferry Sewol who fled and abandoned hundreds of passengers in the sinking vessel, comparing what they did to an act of murder.“Above all, the actions of the captain and some of the crew members were unacceptable from the viewpoint of common sense. It was like an act of unpardonable murder,” she said during a meeting with senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae.Park’s denouncement came a day after a radio transcript between
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Divers enter Sewol, death toll rises to 87
Divers recovered 22 more bodies from the wreckage of the ferry Sewol late Monday, pushing the death toll up to 87.The bodies have yet to be identified but authorities suspect that many of them are students from Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. With Monday’s discoveries, the number of unaccounted for passengers now stands at 215. More than 200 of the missing are expected to be Danwon High School students and teachers who were on their way to Jejudo Island on a school trip. The resc
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Woman turns herself in after false ‘kill time’ claims
A South Korean woman who made a false claim on a television interview about the delayed rescue operation of the capsized ferry Sewol turned herself in late Sunday, police said.The South Jeolla Provincial Police Agency on Saturday issued a warrant to detain the 26-year-old woman, surnamed Hong, who claimed that the Coast Guard told civilian divers to “kill time” and that some divers had confirmed survivors inside the sunken ship.Police said Hong was immediately detained after voluntarily appeari
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Media’s role in Sewol tragedy
We are still holding onto a sliver of hope that, miraculously, survivors will be found even though more than 100 hours have passed since the Sewol capsized in the waters off Jindo Island Wednesday morning.But these hopes are being brutally dashed not only by the excruciatingly slow rescue process, but by the animals of our society who see this as a money-making opportunity ― hence the smishing and disrespectful postings regarding the Sewol passengers. It is up to the government, with the aid of
Social AffairsApril 20, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Government under fire for flawed response
Korea faces an unconventional threat that has long been predicted for this new era in which the enemy remains hidden and can cause social disruption like that following the devastating ferry accident off the southwest coast.This enemy has turned out to be none other than business corruption, selfishness and rivalry between government agencies ― not the strong tides, rain and poor underwater visibility that have hampered the nation’s search operations for hundreds of missing passengers.These ingr
Social AffairsApril 20, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Government cracks down on ferry scams
(Yonhap)Spam text messages sent to smartphones and other mobile devices claiming to have information on the sunken Sewol ferry, have been spreading widely and hurting family members of the victims.The government warned citizens not to download such SMS phishing, or “smishing,” messages, which are aimed at extracting personal data.It told the public to just delete false messages as they can embed malicious codes in mobile devices if their attached links are clicked on.The government and police wa
Social AffairsApril 20, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] Ferry victims, families face hopeless compensation war
(Yonhap)In addition to the desperate rescue attempts and the escalating blame game, the Sewol ferry victims and their family members are now expected to face a hard and complicated battle on damage compensation.Although the passengers, both the survivors and those who died in the accident, are all covered by a number of insurances, the actual compensation process is likely to be long and painful.Normally, life insurance clauses would exclude those who are recorded as missing as they require an o
April 20, 2014
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[Ferry Disaster] ‘Overload, massive extension might have caused disaster’
The illfated ferry Sewol was overloaded and its crew seemed to have broken several other safety guidelines, which could have been the cause of the sinking on April 16, insiders suggested Sunday. The 20-year-old vessel was reportedly renovated in 2012, after it was purchased from a Japanese ferry company. Two cabins were added to the back, possibly making it top-heavy, experts claimed. Though it is not illegal to extend a ship vertically, it could exert greater weight and pressure on the vessel,
Social AffairsApril 20, 2014