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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[Newsmaker] Hu to leave China stronger, but less certain
As Chinese President Hu Jintao prepares to leave office, his likely successor Xi Jinping faces pressure to bring change that never came under Hu. During his time in office, Hu has seen China grow in stature, particularly in terms of its economic and military profile. He has appeared keen to increase China’s involvement in international issues, notably by hosting the six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea. But the form of that increased involvement has not always been welcome by other worl
World NewsNov. 5, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Bloomberg blinks on NYC marathon
A call to carry on as normal in a time of crisis can be taken as an invocation of hope and strength. Or it can be interpreted as insensitivity to others’ plight. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg learned the latter on Friday when a public outcry forced him to cancel this year’s New York City Marathon in the city still recovering from Hurricane Sandy. Just hours earlier, Bloomberg had pledged the world’s biggest marathon would go ahead as planned.The billionaire mayor had argued that holding
Foreign AffairsNov. 4, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Wen becomes headache for party
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has been the focus of international scrutiny since the New York Times last week reported that his family had squirreled away a fortune in business deals. The revelations could make next month’s sweeping power transition in Beijing, and the inevitable jockeying for position among the country’s elite, more fraught.Few would be shocked by the revelations, but that they were openly reported in such detail has apparently damaged Wen’s image as a grandfatherly figure with a
InternationalNov. 1, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Nami Island foreign visitors hit 500,000
Nami Island, the small half-moon-shaped island in Chuncheon, is rising as one of the must-visit tourist destinations in Korea, attracting more than 500,000 foreign tourists so far this year. The island officials expect the number will reach over 600,000 by the end of the year. The number of foreign and Korean visitors is expected to be 2.5 million. “It’s the number of foreign visitors who come on group tours, and does not include the visitors who come individually,” said Minn Kyung-hyuk, executi
TravelOct. 31, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Lawmaker in hot seat for sexual remarks
Kim Kwang-jin, 30, stepped into the limelight when the activist from the remote southern city of Suncheon became the 19th National Assembly’s youngest member in April. The baby-faced rookie legislator was also a boon to the main opposition Democratic United Party badly in need of an image makeover. Within less than a week, the party’s best asset turned into its biggest nuisance for retweeting curses against President Lee Myung-bak and hints at kinky sexual preferences. The controversy forced par
PoliticsOct. 30, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Key questions surround president’s eldest brother
Lee Sang-eun, President Lee Myung-bak’s eldest brother, will be summoned by special investigators on Wednesday in a widening investigation into a property scandal surrounding the first family. On Wednesday morning, the 79-year-old chairman of automotive seat maker DAS will become the second member of Lee’s family to be questioned by the independent counsel over alleged irregularities in connection with the president’s now-scrapped retirement home project. Lee’s son Si-hyung was grilled on Thursd
Social AffairsOct. 29, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Berlusconi defiant after conviction
After giving up prime ministerial ambitions Wednesday, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi responded to his conviction for tax fraud Friday with typical defiance, vowing to stay in politics. The court sentenced him to four years in jail, reduced to one year under a law ― introduced, ironically by his political opponents ― to reduce prison overcrowding.He may never serve a day. Berlusconi is entitled to two appeals before the sentence can take effect, a process that could last beyond
InternationalOct. 28, 2012
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[Newsmaker] President’s only son probed as suspect
President Lee Myung-bak’s only son will face questioning by a team of independent investigators Thursday as part of an escalating probe into his father’s now-scrapped retirement home plan.Lee Shi-hyung, 34, will be greeted by an army of TV cameramen, photographers and journalists anxious to catch the moment the president’s son faces the music. Confronted by the special investigative team, which his father reluctantly agreed to, he now must fight to clear his and his father’s name in a corruption
Social AffairsOct. 24, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Yahoo’s latest CEO hopes to break cycle of failure
Marissa Mayer wants to revive the flagging fortunes of Yahoo Inc. by returning to its roots. The recently appointed CEO, a former Google executive who joined Yahoo in July, has been signaling a new technology-focused strategy for the company through her hires and acquisitions. Moving away from her predecessors’ focus on media content, Mayer has pledged to revamp the company’s email and search engine services, and tailor more services to mobile devices. Yahoo’s plan for revival pits it squarely a
Social AffairsOct. 23, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Climate fund boosts hopes for Songdo City
After years reeling from a lack of foreign investment and a moribund property market, Songdo is brimming with fresh vigor and a new vision as it was picked to house the secretariat of the Green Climate Fund. Long known for its seaside amusement park, the reclaimed island is the centerpiece of the Incheon Free Economic Zone, launched in 2003 with an aim of developing a leading business, logistics and tourism center in Northeast Asia.The ambition, however, was dented by doubts of its advantages ag
Foreign AffairsOct. 22, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Jeongsu Foundation’s legacy too big to ignore
It was perhaps what the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Rep. Park Geun-hye has been dreading the most. Following her successful presidential nomination in August, her aides have been bracing for the opponent’s anticipated attack against her purported ties to the Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation, one of the prominent remnants of her father’s, former President Park Chung-hee, authoritarian rule.Jeongsu Foundation was initially the Buil Scholarship Foundation, which was set up by Busan-
PoliticsOct. 21, 2012
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[Newsmaker] A fall from loyal aide to heaviest burden
Choi Phil-lip, the 84-year-old chairman of the board for the Jeongsu Scholarship Foundation, has become seen as a public enemy.Son of a slain independence activist and former aide to late President Park Chung-hee, Choi has endured his opponents’ ceaseless calls for resignation as the foundation’s chief in succession to Park Geun-hye, the Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate, since 2005.His headstrong position that the foundation, considered a remnant of Park Chung-hee’s authoritarian rule, is
PoliticsOct. 18, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Japan’s risk-taking mogul makes another gamble
Masayoshi Son, the founder and CEO of Japanese Internet and telecoms venture SoftBank Corp., is no stranger to playing the odds. The Japanese ethnic Korean has the distinction of losing more money than any other individual in history, having seen some $70 billion of his personal wealth evaporate during the dotcom crash of 2000. For Son, though, risk continues to bring great reward: Son remains Japan’s second-richest person, worth over $7 billion. In keeping with his reputation, Son, who recently
Foreign AffairsOct. 16, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Law professor key figure in candidate unification push
Progressive law professor Cho Kuk is emerging as an unlikely kingmaker mediating a tricky process to generate a united opposition candidacy. Cho is one of the country’s best known liberal academics and fiercest critics of party politics. He made headlines in September when he was mentioned as a potential member of Democratic United Party Moon Jae-in’s campaign. However, the academic has so far remained away from the election campaigns saying that he will play a role in the unification process.
PoliticsOct. 15, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Can the ‘Boss’ pull together troubled Park campaign?
The “boss” is back. Former lawmaker Kim Moo-sung, 61, is the choice of Saenuri Party presidential candidate Rep. Park Geun-hye as she strives to defuse one of the biggest crises in her campaign.Dogged by rising internal protest against her controversial appointments, Park finally listened to her associates’ recommendation that she bring back Kim, a Busan native with tenacity to match his formidable physique.People, and not just the Saenuri Party members but also journalists, call him “Moodae,” s
PoliticsOct. 10, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Once success story, founder of Woongjin in grave crisis
Everything Yoon Seok-keum touched seemed to turn to gold. He was a man who in just three decades, built a 6 trillion won ($5.3 billion) empire from the ground up, armed with nothing but a few good men and a natural gift for sales.But whether this success story will have a happy ending has become uncertain; Yoon’s company, Woongjin Group, recently filed for court receivership in a desperate bid to prevent a spreading bankruptcy after the group’s construction arm, Kukdong Construction, went down t
IndustrySept. 27, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Korean Methodist Church bans father-to-son succession
Christian churches in Korea have kept an unusual, anti-democratic and unfair system for decades ― the practice of hereditary succession or “seseup,” just like the father-to-son power transition that occurs in conglomerate groups.This unnatural process has allowed some commanding pastors at the top mega-churches to turn over their leadership to their children. The proponents of the practice have claimed that the system is necessary to ensure church stability and security. However, this seseup tra
CultureSept. 26, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Bomb thrower-state leader riles Israel, West yet again
No stranger to incendiary rhetoric, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad riled Israel and the West once again with his remarks on Monday that the world’s only Jewish-majority state had no roots in the Middle East and would be “eliminated.” Speaking in New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad also dismissed the credibility of Israel’s threats to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, and condemned the “Innocence of Muslims,” the film trailer depicting the prophe
Foreign AffairsSept. 25, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Questions dog challenger to vulnerable president
Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger to President Barack Obama in November’s U.S. presidential election, tried to dampen speculation and political attacks over his finances on Friday with the release of his 2011 tax return and a 20-year overview of tax payments. Last year’s tax return showed that the former governor of Massachusetts paid $1.9 million in taxes on income of $13.6 million, for an effective tax rate of about 14 percent. Romney has indicated that he does not intend to release his t
PoliticsSept. 23, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Security dominates agenda of new Libyan premier
After Libya’s 200-member General National Congress elected him prime minister Wednesday, the domestic security situation must be foremost on the mind of Mustafa Abu-Shakour.One of his last acts as Deputy Prime Minister was to condemn the killing of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens during an attack on the United States’ consulate in Benghazi just hours before he was elected. The attack brought more international attention to a situation Abu-Shakour had sought to downplay a month before. In a Reuters
InternationalSept. 13, 2012