Most Popular
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Jimin of BTS, actor Song Da-eun suspected to be dating, again
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Police raid popera singer Kim Ho-joong's house over hit-and-run suspicions
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What's next for the government's push in quota hike?
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Trump may like to 'solve' N. Korean nuclear problem if reelected: ex-official
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Woman falls to death from acquaintance's home after exhibiting ‘unexplained' behaviors
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N. Korea slams planned S. Korea-US military drills, warns of 'catastrophic aftermath'
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N. Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: JCS
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‘Malice should not undermine the system, social order,’ says Hybe's Bang
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[Robert J. Fouser] Social attitudes toward language proficiency
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[Graphic News] How much do Korean adults read?
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North Korea forging ahead with excavation of new nuclear test tunnel: 38 North
North Korea is forging ahead with excavation of a new tunnel at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site, a U.S. research institute said Wednesday.New high-resolution commercial satellite imagery shows a canopy set up at the entrance of the new tunnel to shield against falling debris as well as mining cart tracks used to transport spoil from excavation, 38 North said in a report."The presence of the mining cart tracks shows that excavation is continuing with no indication of when it will be completed,"
North KoreaDec. 31, 2015
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Trump again accuses South Korea of getting defense free-ride from U.S.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump repeated his unfounded criticism of South Korea on Wednesday that the wealthy Asian nation relies on the U.S. for national defense without giving anything in return."I order thousands of televisions, they're all from South Korea. So we have 28,000 people on the border separating South Korea from this maniac in North Korea. We get nothing ... We get nothing. They're making a fortune. It's an economic behemoth," Trump said during a campaign speech
DefenseDec. 31, 2015
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Watchdog issues ultimatum on constituency remapping
As the rival parties remained deadlocked over redrawing the electoral districts with two days remaining for the legal deadline, the nation’s election watchdog said Wednesday it would offer a grace period, allowing preliminary candidates to continue their campaigns for a while to minimize disruption.It also pledged to step in and take the matter in its own hands, should political parties fail to reach an agreement during the extra period.“We urge the National Assembly to fix the new constituencie
PoliticsDec. 31, 2015
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Korea faces sex slave backlash
Two days after the breakthrough on the sex slavery issue, Korea faces a double whammy of mounting Japanese efforts to dilute the agreement and eroding public and political support at home. Participants hold up pictures of victims of Japan`s WWII sexual slavery during a weekly rally held near the statue of a girl representing comfort women adjacent to a construction site of the Japanese Embassy building in central Seoul, Wednesday. (Yonhap)Seoul’s ongoing effort to appease the victims is being b
Foreign AffairsDec. 30, 2015
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Victims protest sex slavery deal
South Koreans gathered across the street from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Wednesday to condemn Seoul and Tokyo for sealing a deal over Japan’s sexual enslavement of Korean women without consulting the victims or gaining their consent. Enraged by what they called political collusion between the two countries, nearly 1,000 people jammed into a narrow downtown street to participate in the 1,211st weekly rally held by the former sex slaves and their supporters. (Yonhap)The Korean Council for
Social AffairsDec. 30, 2015
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Expats satisfied with support centers: survey
Foreign residents in the capital are “very satisfied” with services of public support facilities, a survey showed. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s survey that included 760 foreigners from October to November, the satisfaction rate stood at 4.56 out of 5 points. The surveyed queried participants on three parts: accessibility and cleanness of the facility; hospitality and expertise of center employees; and contents of programs. The support centers received the highest score in dai
Social AffairsDec. 30, 2015
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City to toll bell for New Year
Seoul City will mark the New Year with a bell-tolling ceremony in the center of the capital as part of its annual event, officials said. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon is set to ring the bell at Bosingak Pavilion on Thursday night a total of 33 times with 11 citizens chosen as representatives for the year 2015.The guests include a doctor who reopened his clinic after successfully containing the Middle East respiratory syndrome and a firefighter who saved 11 live
Social AffairsDec. 30, 2015
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77% of South Koreans see need for ‘filial duty contracts’
More than 75 percent of South Koreans surveyed by a local pollster think “filial duty contracts” -- a legal document that makes it mandatory for all grown children to financially and emotionally care for their aged parents -- are necessary should they receive any gifts such as real estate or stocks from them. The survey results were released two days after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of an elderly father who filed a suit against his son, who, in spite of signing a filial duty contract, did
Social AffairsDec. 30, 2015
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'Comfort women' deal did not include statue's removal: official
A South Korean official on Wednesday denied Japanese news reports that Seoul agreed to relocate a statue symbolizing victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery in exchange for compensation for the women.The statue of a girl, which sits across from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, has been a source of friction between the two countries as they have sought to resolve issues related to the wartime atrocity.Historians estimate that more than 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, were forced to work in fron
Foreign AffairsDec. 30, 2015
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Man arrested after taking hostage at opposition party chief's office
An armed man was arrested after staging a hostage situation at the local office of the main opposition party chief Wednesday, police said. The 55-year-old man, identified only by his surname Chung, stormed into the office of Moon Jae-in of the Minjoo Party of Korea -- formerly the New Politics Alliance for Democracy -- in the country's second-largest city of Busan, with a weapon at around 9:10 a.m.Moon was not at the local office as he was in Seoul to participate in a memorial ceremony of a form
PoliticsDec. 30, 2015
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Opposition party confirms its name to be 'The Minjoo'
The main opposition party confirmed its new name Wednesday, in a symbolic move to reform its image before the general elections in April, officials said."The Minjoo Party of Korea" was officially confirmed in a meeting of senior party members, a party representative said, adding that the English abbreviation will be "The Minjoo." On the shortlist of English translations of the Korean name were "Democracy for All," "Harmonious Democratic Party," "Inclusive Democratic Party," and "The Democratic U
PoliticsDec. 30, 2015
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Election candidates to be temporarily allowed to electioneer
The country's election watchdog said Wednesday that it will temporarily allow candidates for next year's general elections to electioneer even if constituencies are not redrawn.Rival parties have failed to fully agree on redrawing the electoral constituency map for next April's general elections. The current electoral map becomes invalid at the end of the year. "There is no choice but to temporarily stop cracking down on election campaigning by candidates who will have finished registration by t
PoliticsDec. 30, 2015
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Majority of Koreans against relocating 'comfort woman' statue: poll
Nearly 7 out of 10 South Koreans disapprove of relocating a statue of a girl that symbolizes Korean wartime sex slaves in exchange for the recent "comfort women" deal between South Korea and Japan, a local survey showed Wednesday.Earlier this week, Japan apologized for sexually enslaving Korean women during World War II in a landmark deal between the two neighbors.But Japan reportedly stipulated that South Korea remove the statue in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul in exchange for 1 billio
NationalDec. 30, 2015
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More Korean seniors familiar with instant messengers
The number of South Korean seniors using instant messengers increased sharply in 2015 from a year earlier in line with a jump in the use of smartphones, government data showed Wednesday.Around 72 percent of South Koreans aged 60 and above used instant messengers such as KakaoTalk or Skype, compared to the 62.6 percent posted at end-2014, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning and the Korea Internet & Security Agency.The figure stood at 90 percent for all
Social AffairsDec. 30, 2015
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China warns Korean journalists over reporting along North Korean
Chinese authorities have warned that South Korean journalists could face an unspecified "stern measure" if they report along the sensitive border between North Korea and China without prior permission, an official at the South Korean Embassy in Beijing said Wednesday. The warning came less than a week after South Korean journalists reported about activities of trade between North Korea and China in the Chinese border city of Dandong, following a sudden cancellation of a concert in Beijing by a N
Foreign AffairsDec. 30, 2015
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Korea to hike security budget for diplomatic missions in 2016
South Korea will sharply increase the budget allocated to beefing up security at its diplomatic missions in 2016, in the face of mounting threats to its diplomats and facilities, the government said Wednesday.According to the finance ministry, 26.5 billion won ($22.6 million) will be set aside in the new year, up more than 50 percent from 17.6 billion won earmarked for 2015.The move follows a terrorist attack against its embassy in Libya in April that left two local security personnel dead. Its
PoliticsDec. 30, 2015
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Korean soldier found dead inside DMZ in gun-related incident
A South Korean soldier was found dead on the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone early Wednesday morning in a gun-related incident, the military said.Army Private Jeong was found with gunshot wounds in the central east border area of Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, around 3:00 a.m., the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The 21-year-old had been participating in a border patrol operation inside the DMZ, according to JCS. "Now an investigation is underway to see how he was found and how the incident too
DefenseDec. 30, 2015
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North Korea's senior official handling inter-Korean affairs dies
North Korea's top party official handling inter-Korean affairs has been killed in a traffic accident, Pyongyang's state media said Wednesday. He was 73.Kim Yang-gon, the head of the United Front Department at the ruling Workers' Party, died in car accident at 6:15 a.m. Tuesday, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency.The KCNA called Kim "the closest comrade-in-arms" of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying that North Korea will hold a state funeral for Kim on Thursday, to be headed
North KoreaDec. 30, 2015
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Korea to hike security budget for diplomatic missions in 2016
South Korea will sharply increase the budget allocated to beefing up security at its diplomatic missions in 2016, in the face of mounting threats to its diplomats and facilities, the government said Wednesday.According to the finance ministry, 26.5 billion won ($22.6 million) will be set aside in the new year, up more than 50 percent from 17.6 billion won earmarked for 2015.The move follows a terrorist attack against its embassy in Libya in April that left two local security personnel dead. Its
Foreign AffairsDec. 30, 2015
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N. Korea sends letter to U.N. to call for peace treaty with U.S.
North Korea has sent a letter to the United Nations, renewing its call for a peace treaty with the United States, U.N. records showed Tuesday.Amb. Ja Song-nam, chief of the North's mission to the U.N., sent the letter to the U.N. secretary-general last week, along with a statement from Pyongyang's foreign ministry calling for a peace treaty with the U.S., according to a copy of the letter released by the U.N.Ja asked that the letter and the statement be circulated as a Security Council document.
Foreign AffairsDec. 30, 2015