Most Popular
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[Weekender] Geeks have never been so chic in Korea
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N. Korea says it test-fired tactical ballistic missile with new guidance technology
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NewJeans members submit petitions over court injunction in Hybe-Ador conflict
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[News Focus] Mystery deepens after hundreds of cat deaths in S. Korea
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S. Korea's exports of instant noodles surpass $100m for 1st time in April: data
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[Herald Interview] Byun Yo-han's 'unlikable' character is result of calculated acting
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[KH Explains] Why Korea's so tough on short selling
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US military commander in S. Korea during Gwangju uprising dies
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Actors involved in past controversies return first via streaming service originals
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[Photo News] Seoul seeks 'best sleeper'
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[Herald Interview] Photographer delivers ‘frame of hope’
With DSLR cameras in hand and eyes beaming with curiosity, about 20 students carefully listen to a teacher explain how they, too, can take good pictures. This otherwise common scene is made more special as the students are homeless and the teacher is Cho Sei-hon, among the top tier of photographers in Korea. This is part of Cho and Seoul City’s welfare program called “Himang Frame,” or frame of hope, seeking to help homeless members of society become more self-reliant by providing them with a ch
Social AffairsOct. 27, 2015
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Military to accept more mandatory service applicants
South Korea will start accepting more applicants for compulsory military service to narrow down the gap between the number of young men signing up for enlistment and the number of places available for them. The Ministry of National Defense and the ruling Saenuri Party agreed Tuesday to expand the quota for military enlistment by 10,000 in 2016 and 2017. They decided to budget some 60 billion won ($53 million) to accommodate the increase in the number of enlisted service members. “We agreed to
DefenseOct. 27, 2015
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Park calls for peace and reconciliation in Northeast Asia
President Park Geun-hye stressed the need Tuesday for Northeast Asian nations to redouble efforts to build trust in order to foster peace and co-prosperity in the region long dogged by history and territorial disputes."Northeast Asia has a long way to go to build trust. It's because cooperation among regional countries are restricted by longstanding conflicts over history and territory," she said in a message for a Seoul forum on regional peace and stability. It was read by Vice Foreign Minister
PoliticsOct. 27, 2015
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Prosecutors to indict former president's brother
Prosecutors said Tuesday that they have decided to indict the elder brother of former President Lee Myung-bak on influence peddling charges.Still, prosecutors said they would not take Lee Sang-deuk, 80, into custody, taking into account his age and health, as he suffers from coronary artery stenosis.Lee is suspected to have been involved in the appointment of the head of South Korea's top steelmaker POSCO and resolved one of company's key problems.In return, Lee made POSCO give business contract
Social AffairsOct. 27, 2015
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'China, U.S. vie with visions for regional order’
This is the third installment in a series of interviews with renowned scholars and experts on China as a resurgent Asian power triggering shifts in the regional order. This installment looks into China’s vision for a regional order and the ongoing Sino-U.S. rivalry. -- Ed. China and the U.S. have been envisioning different regional orders with the former seeking one that encompasses Asians’ unique cultural aspects and the latter pursuing a strictly rule-based approach anchored in its alliance ne
Foreign AffairsOct. 27, 2015
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Park confronts NPAD over history textbooks
Unrattled by the opposition lawmakers’ silent protest, President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday vowed to push ahead with a controversial plan to issue state-authored history textbooks, calling it a “righteous mission” to instill a sense of national pride for future generations.While the opposition members sat with their laptops holding up signs denouncing her textbook plan, Park dismissed concerns that the plan was intended to glamorize pro-Japanese and pro-U.S. activities decades ago, stressing that
PoliticsOct. 27, 2015
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Korea's childbirths fall for first time in 5 months in Aug.
The number of childbirths in South Korea fell in August after rising for five straight months, a government report showed Tuesday, a worrisome turnaround for a country struggling with an aging population.In July, some 35,200 babies were born here, down 3.6 percent from the same month last year, according to the report from Statistics Korea. The total number of newborns was also down from 36,700 tallied for July.The annual decrease follows a 0.8 percent on-year rise in the previous month and 3.8
Social AffairsOct. 27, 2015
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Wife to stand trial for allegedly raping husband
A 40-year-old woman has been indicted on charges of forcing her husband to have sex with her, prosecutors said Tuesday. It marks the first time that a wife has been charged with marital rape. The Supreme Court recognized spousal rape as a crime in May 2013. The Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office investigating the case alleges that the wife, only identified by her surname Shim, locked her husband, surnamed Kim, inside their house for 29 hours and forced him to have sex with her. Shim allegedly com
Social AffairsOct. 27, 2015
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Korea, U.S. hold talks on cyber threats
South Korea and the United States held working-level talks on Tuesday on how to tighten cooperation on protecting against potential cyber attacks, the Ministry of National Defense said.The third Cyber Cooperation Working Group held in Seoul discussed sharing intelligence on cyber threats and joint efforts to fend off potential attacks on the cyber space. The meeting was each headed by Park Rae-ho, director general, and U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Sean R. Filipowski."The latest mee
DefenseOct. 27, 2015
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‘5 IS members held in Korea for smuggling bomb ingredient’
A ruling party lawmaker said Monday that South Korean authorities have detained five members of the militant group Islamic State after they were caught trying to smuggle a key bomb-making ingredient out of the country.Rep. Lee Cheol-woo of the Saenuri Party said in a radio interview that they were held here as they tried to smuggle ammonium nitrate which cannot be easily obtained in their home country, Lebanon.“Our authorities blocked them from taking ammonium nitrate to their country,” Lee said
Foreign AffairsOct. 27, 2015
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China urges Japan to face history ahead of 3-way summit
Japan must squarely face up to its "unbeautiful" past and learn lessons from its wartime aggression if it wants to ensure smooth cooperation with South Korea and China, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday, ahead of a trilateral summit among the three nations in Seoul.President Park Geun-hye will host Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the weekend for the three-way summit that had been on hold since 2012 due to a bitter territorial dispute between Chi
Foreign AffairsOct. 27, 2015
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S. Korean civilian group gives fertilizer, other aid to N. Korea
A South Korean civilian group crossed the inter-Korean border Tuesday to provide fertilizer and other assistance needed for a greenhouse project in North Korea, relevant company officials said.Representatives from Ace Gyeongam, the foundation run by bed maker Ace, visited North Korea for the first time in six months earlier in the day to deliver items necessary for running greenhouses in Sariwon, about 70 kilometers southeast of Pyongyang, according to the officials."Most of the materials are gr
North KoreaOct. 27, 2015
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Gov't to conscript extra 20,000 soldiers in next 2 yrs
The government and the ruling party agreed Tuesday to conscript an additional 20,000 soldiers over the next two years, as part of efforts to steadily maintain its standing forces.The government will spend an extra budget of 60 billion won ($53 million) to recruit an additional 10,000 officers in 2016 and another 10,000 in 2017."Currently, some 250,000 men are conscripted annually and there is enough facility to accommodate an extra 10,000," Rep. Kim Sung-chan of the ruling Saenuri Party told rep
DefenseOct. 27, 2015
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Park vows to push ahead with correct history textbooks
President Park Geun-hye vowed Tuesday to push ahead with the publication of "correct" history textbooks as she dismissed concern of possible distortion of the proposed books."Correcting history cannot and should not be the subject of political strife," Park said in a televised address to the National Assembly.Park's latest appeal came amid outcry from the opposition party and some liberal civic groups against the government's move to reintroduce state history textbooks for secondary school stude
DefenseOct. 27, 2015
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Korea, Japan to discuss WWII sexual slavery issue before summit
South Korean and Japanese officials in charge of delicate talks on Tokyo's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women will meet in Seoul later Tuesday, ahead of next week's summit between the leaders of the two countries, a diplomatic source said.Kimihiro Ishikane, director-general of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian affairs bureau, is visiting Seoul to attend a forum on ways to promote peace and stability in Northeast Asia.He is Japan's new point man on Korea, serving as chief
Foreign AffairsOct. 27, 2015
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S. Korean Catholic priests make 1st visit to N.K. in 7 years
A progressive group of South Korean Catholic priests will return home Tuesday, wrapping up their first visit to North Korea in seven years for a special Mass, government officials said.A 12-member delegation of the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice flew into Pyongyang on Friday from Beijing for a five-day stay in the North to attend a Mass for inter-Korean reunification, according to officials from the Unification Ministry.The visit marked the first since September 2008, when the group t
North KoreaOct. 27, 2015
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Pentagon used NGO for espionage missions in N. Korea: report
The U.S. Defense Department declined comment Monday on a news report that it had secretly funded a nongovernmental aid group to carry out espionage missions in North Korea by using its access to the communist nation gained in the name of providing humanitarian assistance.The online news outlet The Intercept reported earlier in the day that the Pentagon provided Humanitarian International Services Group with millions of dollars under a secret intelligence gathering program launched in 2004 until
North KoreaOct. 27, 2015
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U.S. calls for stronger relations in Northeast Asia amid hopes for Korea-Japan summit
The United States called Monday for strong and constructive relations between countries in Northeast Asia as it reacted to South Korea's offer to hold a summit meeting with Japan for the first time in more than three years.The South made the proposal public earlier Monday, saying it recently suggested to Japan that President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hold their first formal talks in Seoul on Nov. 2 on the sidelines of a trilateral summit between the leaders of South Ko
Foreign AffairsOct. 27, 2015
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Prosecutors quiz K-1 fighter Choi over alleged fraud
Prosecutors said Monday they were questioning a South Korean mixed martial arts fighter over an alleged fraud.Choi Hong-man showed up at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor's Office on Monday evening, six days after a court issued a warrant to arrest him, prosecutors said.Choi had refused to comply with prosecutors' repeated demands that he appear for questioning over the allegation that he did not pay back HK$710,000 (US$91,600) to an acquaintance of his.Prosecutors said Choi borrowed the mon
Social AffairsOct. 26, 2015
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FM vows to step up efforts for stability in Middle East
South Korea's top diplomat pledged Monday to strengthen efforts to help the Middle East achieve stability.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said South Korea has joined international efforts to defeat the Islamic State militant group at an opening ceremony of a forum meant to boost cooperation between South Korea and the Middle East.Still, he did not elaborate on how South Korea will bring stability to the Middle East marred by conflicts for decades. Separately, Yun said South Korea can be an optimal
Foreign AffairsOct. 26, 2015