Most Popular
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Hyundai Motor eyes 80,000 jobs, W68tr investment at home by 2026
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Dialogue hopes fade as doctors pick hard-liner as new head
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Coupang pledges W3tr to expand Rocket Delivery nationwide by 2027
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Korea enters full election mode
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[Election Battlefield] Political novice to face off star politician in ‘swing district’
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[Kim Seong-kon] The April 2024 election will decide our future
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Seoul’s bus union prepares for strike
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[Hello India] Corporate Korea sees new growth drivers in India
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[Newsmaker] Will Hyun's visit help break N.K. stalemate?
Expectations were high over the weekend for the resumption of stalled business projects in North Korea following the Hyundai Group chairwoman’s visit to the communist state. Hyun Jeong-eun visited the North for six hours on Saturday to hold a memorial service for her late husband and former Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-hun, who pioneered North Korean businesses in the early 2000s.After her brief visit, she received a personal letter from the North’s young leader Kim Jong-un who wished the company
IndustryAug. 4, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Koreans garner attention in British Open
World No. 1 Park In-bee of South Korea is aiming to make headlines with her Korean rivals as the British Open kicks off its four-day run at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, Thursday. Heavy favorite Park aims to make history at the course, regarded as the “home of golf,” where the sport was first played in the early 1400s, by adding a first British Open to her three major wins. The 25-year-old Seoul native captured titles at Kraft Nabisco, the LPGA Championship and U.S. Open. A win in the
GolfAug. 1, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Nationalists further sour Korea-Japan ties
Buoyed by a recent election sweep, high-flying Japanese officials are again churning out inflammatory remarks and backing visits to a controversial war shrine, posing another stumbling block to defrosting relations between Seoul and Tokyo. At a lecture on Monday, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Taro Aso called for a swift constitutional amendment, citing how the Nazis neutralized Germany’s Weimar Constitution in the 1930s. “It is a mistake to think that crying for a protection of the Constit
Foreign AffairsJuly 31, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Tax service chiefs: A barrel of bad apples
The former heads of the National Tax Service collectively have one of the worst track records among high-level government officials for corruption. Of the 20 individuals to head the NTS since 1966, six have been penalized for it. Jeon Goon-pyo, who was the country’s top tax official from July 2006 to November 2007, served a prison term for taking 70 million won ($63,000) and $10,000 in cash from a subordinate in return for favorable treatment in a personnel reshuffle. Jeon is once again under th
PoliticsJuly 30, 2013
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[Newsmaker] N.K. leader’s aunt back from sick leave
Kim Kyong-hui, the powerful aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, returned to the public eye last week for the first time since May amid persistent speculation that she was in critical condition.On Thursday, the North’s official Korean Central Television showed Kim, 67, appearing at a ceremony marking the completion of a cemetery in Pyongyang where those killed during the Korean War were laid to rest.The younger sister of late strongman Kim Jong-il seemed to be in a relatively stable conditio
North KoreaJuly 29, 2013
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[Newsmaker] California erects comfort women monument
A statue of a girl symbolizing the victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial military during World War II will be unveiled in the city of Glendale, California, Tuesday.The girl, identical to the one that sits in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, will settle in front of the Glendale Central Library as a reminder of Korean comfort women that still face denial of their ordeal by the Japanese government.The statue will incorporate a slate to explain the history of the comfort women. T
Social AffairsJuly 28, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Two Koreas, U.S. mark Korean War armistice
The two Koreas will hold separate ceremonies to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice on Saturday with two very different aims. Seoul will use it to honor war veterans from home and abroad, while Pyongyang will seek to strengthen internal unity.The U.S. will also hold a ceremony in Washington, D.C., where President Barack Obama is expected to participate for the first time as an incumbent leader. During its ceremony, Pyongyang is to hold a massive military parade, which its young leader Kim
DefenseJuly 25, 2013
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[Newsmaker] U.K. greets youngest celebrity
For British newspapers, a good story about the royal family sells, and they made the most of Monday’s birth of Prince William and Princess Kate’s new son. The Sun changed its “u” to an “o” to mark the birth, while three others splashed “It’s a Boy!” across their front pages.Fountains in London were lit up in blue, along with Niagara Falls and other landmarks in Canada and New Zealand.Away from the media scrum at the hospital, crowds flocked outside Buckingham Palace to catch a glimpse of an offi
Expat LivingJuly 24, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Moon enmeshed in summit records controversy
The missing 2007 inter-Korean summit records have driven the main opposition Democratic Party on the defensive as the debate has shifted to how the transcript went missing.At the core of the dispute is Rep. Moon Jae-in, the former right-hand man to late President Roh Moo-hyun, who is alleged by the ruling camp of having ordered the transcript in question be deleted upon leaving office.Moon, supported by the pro-Roh forces against the current party leadership, had spearheaded the calls to view th
PoliticsJuly 23, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Icon of peaceful protest tainted by violence
Two years ago, “Buses of Hope,” carrying thousands of people from different backgrounds, emerged as an icon for peaceful protest.The sympathy rally was launched in support of Kim Jin-suk, a female labor union member, who protested alone on a 35-meter-high crane for more than 300 days against Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction after the shipbuilder laid off more than 400 workers. Ferried in by buses, about 8,000 participants from across the country visited the shipyard in Busan on five occa
Social AffairsJuly 22, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Crooked lobbyist back in spotlight
Prosecutors said Sunday they indicted lobbyist-turned-businessman Choi Kyu-sun for embezzlement. The chief executive of UI Energy Corp., a resources developer, and Hyundai P&C, a maker of coating and paint products, is suspected of misappropriating about 41.6 billion won ($34.2 million) in funds from the two companies. He was not detained. Choi was at the center of a series of influence-peddling scandals in 2002 including one involving then President Kim Dae-jung’s third son Kim Hong-gul. He ser
Social AffairsJuly 21, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Speaker heralds Constitution revision debate
Revising the Constitution could become a priority next year, with National Assembly Speaker Rep. Kang Chang-hee suggesting a rough timeframe for processing the issue. Kang’s comments could revive talks on constitutional amendment, which have been on the backburner for some time.“It would be right to make constitutional revision a public issue from early next year and to conclude the matter within the 19th National Assembly,” Kang said on Wednesday. Kang also said that Korean society has transfor
PoliticsJuly 18, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Chun, ruthless ex-military strongman
Former President Chun Doo-hwan’s rule in the 1980s arguably marked some of the darkest days of Korea’s modern political history. The Army general overthrew the government, ordered a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests, destroyed democratic institutions and took hundreds of billions of won in bribes. He took power through a military coup in 1979 and held that power until 1988. Chun removed opposing forces using any means necessary, even ordering the military to use lethal force against civ
PoliticsJuly 17, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Suh named BOK's first female exec
The Bank of Korea appointed a woman as deputy governor for the first time since its foundation in June 1950.Suh Young-kyung, who has worked for the BOK for 25 years, embarked on her three-year term as one of the seven executives at the central bank on Tuesday.There are five deputy governors at the bank, who share the No. 3 rank following Governor Kim Choong-soo and Senior Deputy Governor Park Won-shik. Each may be reappointed for a second three-year term.Born in Seoul in 1963, Suh joined the BOK
July 16, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Park ties record for all-time low in LPGA
Park Hee-young showed winning for her was par for the course on Sunday, scoring her second LPGA Tour win and tying for an all-time low in shot count.She captured the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic at Grey Silo Golf Course in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, on Sunday, beating American Angela Stanford with a birdie on the third playoff hole.Park and Stanford tied for an LPGA Tour all-time low with 258 shots over 72 holes. The record was first set by Karen Stupples of England at the Welch’s-Fry’s Champ
PeopleJuly 15, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Public outcry fazes state pension service
The number of taxpayers signing up in an online campaign to abolish the state-run pension system is nearing 100,000, signaling a growing opposition against the mandatory program for all employees in the country.The Alliance for Taxpayers Korea said on Saturday that the number of people who think the current pension scheme is unfair and disagree with a plan to raise subscribers’ contribution rate, is fast growing. The civic group claimed that the government should enact a dramatic reform to impro
Social AffairsJuly 14, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Governor refuses to budge on closed hospital
Lawmakers are set to file a complaint with the prosecution against South Gyeongsang Province Governor Hong Joon-pyo after he refused to attend a parliamentary hearing on his closure of a provincial public hospital. The Assembly’s special committee on the inquiry into the current status of public medical institutions, which is looking into the shutdown of Jinju Medical Center, will determine whether to take legal action against the political bigwig on Friday.After Hong refused to stand before the
DefenseJuly 11, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Sohn leaves KCCI to rescue CJ Group
Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, who is also co-chairman of CJ Group, officially resigned from his KCCI post on Tuesday, explaining that he could no longer carry on have chairmanship duties due to his extensive involvement in CJ Group’s crisis-management committee. Since CJ Group chairman Lee Jay-hyun’s arrest on July 1 for allegations of embezzlement and tax evasion, Sohn ― who is Lee’s uncle on his mother’s side ― has led Korea’s largest food and entertainment c
IndustryJuly 10, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Jangju alleges monks made gambling trips
Secret video footage showing a group of monks playing poker while drinking and smoking in a hotel room shocked the nation last year as the news of a handful of local Buddhist monk leaders from the Jogye Order, the country’s largest Buddhist order, caught gambling made headlines.At a press conference held in the Pohang City Hall Briefing Room on Monday, Ven. Jangju further revealed the severity of the gambling addiction among some monks, who even went abroad to gamble with the order’s donation mo
CultureJuly 9, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Corruption ruins Korea’s nuclear industry
Kim Jong-shin led Korea’s nuclear industry when it began to flex its muscles in the world market, culminating a $40 billion contract to build plants in the United Arab Emirates in 2009.It is becoming increasingly clear that the former president of the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power was also at the center of a corruption scandal and safety blunders that tarnished the atomic power sector. The Busan District Prosecutor’s Office arrested him Sunday over an allegation that he took more than
Social AffairsJuly 8, 2013