Most Popular
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No plan to let doctors with foreign licenses practice here anytime soon: PM
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Ador CEO's dismissal to be decided on last day of May
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[Graphic News] Beer the most favored alcoholic drink by Koreans
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Science Ministry expresses regret over Japan’s pressure on Naver
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Haeundae Beach to become sand art museum in late May
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Hostilities get out of hand as YouTuber murders another outside courthouse
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Medical professors set to take day off amid protracted walkouts by junior doctors
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Police officer jumps barefoot into drainage tunnel to save man
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Yoon interacts with public for 1st time since election defeat
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Lee Sun-kyun's posthumuous film to hit theaters in August
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N. Korea launches 2nd day of firing drills
North Korea launched a firing drill near the tensely patrolled western maritime border with the South for a second consecutive day on Thursday, the South Korean military said. The artillery drill began at around 7:10 p.m. near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), but none of the artillery rounds landed on the south side of the sea border, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. "We are closely monitoring the North Korean military's drills, keeping a tight guard against any provocations," the JCS s
North KoreaMay 14, 2015
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News of N. Korea's purge seems to be blocked on China's Baidu
The news of the purge and reported execution of North Korea's defense minister, Hyon Yong-chol, was not searchable on China's dominant search engine Baidu Thursday, suggesting that China's Internet authorities might have blocked it. Searches by Yonhap News Agency for "Hyon Yong-chol" or "North Korea's Hyon Yong-chol" on the Baidu portal site produced no results as of 3:40 p.m. on Thursday. However, a search of "defense minister" produced some results for news about Hyon. South Korea's i
North KoreaMay 14, 2015
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Ex-Prime Minister grilled in graft probe
Former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo appeared before the prosecution on Thursday over allegations he received illegal political funds from deceased businessman Sung Woan-jong, two weeks after he stepped down from the nation’s No. 2 post. Lee is the second of eight political heavyweights to be grilled over the burgeoning graft scandal.Before entering the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office, Lee apologized to Korean citizens “regardless of the reason” for causing concern. But the former premier reiter
PoliticsMay 14, 2015
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‘Kim’s brutality could threaten regime’s security’
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s continued executions and purges of senior officials could foment angst and resentment among the country’s elite, and eventually threaten the security of his regime, analysts said Thursday.The execution last month of Hyon Yong-chol, the chief of the North’s Korean People’s Armed Forces, for “dozing off at a military event and talking back” to Kim, underscored the brutality of the dictator. Hyon’s death might have unnerved top officials, by opening up the possibil
North KoreaMay 14, 2015
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Park appoints new envoy to Russia
South Korea appointed Park Ro-byug, a veteran diplomat with expertise in European affairs, as its new ambassador to Russia. The 58-year-old former envoy to Ukraine will replace Wi Sung-lac, who is set to retire after serving more than three years in Moscow. Park most recently led years-long negotiations with Washington to revise their civilian atomic energy pact as the Foreign Ministry’s ambassador for nuclear energy cooperation. The two countries clinched a deal last month to pave the way for a
Foreign AffairsMay 14, 2015
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Shooting spree premeditated: Army
The reserve soldier who carried out Wednesday’s shooting spree at a Seoul military training camp had deliberately planned the attack and sent mobile messages bearing signs of suicide to a friend, the Army said Thursday. The 23-year-old reservist, surnamed Choi, had asked to be placed in the first firing line to make it easy for him to aim at colleagues, the Army said. After receiving a magazine with 10 rounds for a K-2 rifle, he fired one at the target then suddenly turn around to fire seven mor
DefenseMay 14, 2015
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After 24 years, ex-activist cleared of abetting suicide
The Supreme Court Thursday upheld the acquittal of a student activist who was jailed by the former military-backed government for abetting a fellow activist’s suicide. The highest court confirmed the ruling by lower courts that delivered a not-guilty verdict to Kang Ki-hoon, citing the “lack of credibility” of forensic evidence. Kang, 51, was convicted in 1991 for helping a fellow activist Kim Ki-sul set himself on fire and jump to his death from a university building in Seoul, and ghostwriting
Social AffairsMay 14, 2015
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Ex-comedian gets suspended jail term for assaulting wife
A Seoul lower court on Thursday sentenced a former comedian to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for assaulting his wife.Seoul Central District Court ruled that comedian-turned-clergyman Seo Se-won was guilty of domestic violence. Seo was suspected of pushing and dragging his former actress wife Seo Jung-hee to the ground and strangling her during a quarrel in the hallway of their apartment in southern Seoul last year. “The wife’s injury was not light at all and the accused has not
Social AffairsMay 14, 2015
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Ex-Doosan head to be quizzed over graft allegations
Prosecutors on Friday will summon a former business tycoon and a board chairman of a Seoul-based university for allegedly giving kickbacks to a senior presidential secretary in 2011, authorities said.Park Yong-sung, ex-head of Doosan Group and Chung-Ang University, faces charges of giving bribes worth 100 million won ($91,600) to Park Bum-hoon, who served as a senior presidential secretary for education and culture during the Lee Myung-bak administration.The former presidential secretary had all
Social AffairsMay 14, 2015
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[Herald Interview] Agency calls for health care support for North Korea
When Lee Soo-ku, president of the Korea Foundation for International Healthcare, visited a dental facility in North Korea for the first time in the early 2000s, he was almost speechless. “There was literally nothing except a few very basic instruments,” he said. “There was a mouth mirror and an extractor. That’s about it.”Lee, who is also a practicing dentist, has been serving as the head of the KOFIH since 2012. His organization is the only South Korean public agency that provides health care s
Social AffairsMay 14, 2015
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S. Korea calls for transparency in Japan's new defense policy
South Korea urged Japan Thursday to abide by the spirit of its Pacifist Constitution in implementing its new defense policy."We expect discussions on Japan's defense policy to proceed in the direction of contributing to peace and stability in the region while sticking to the spirit of the Pacifist Constitution," foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il said at a press briefing.In particular, he added, South Korea will never accept any measure related to its national interests and the security of
Foreign AffairsMay 14, 2015
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China against Japan's world heritage bid for slave labor
China joined forces with South Korea Thursday as it denounced Japan's bid to list as UNESCO World Heritage sites some of its wartime industrial facilities linked to Korean slave labor.Japan has been stepping up efforts to gain world heritage status for the 23 industrial facilities, where tens of thousands of Korean people were brought to such coal mines before and during the Japanese colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. "The Chinese side shares the strong concerns of the South Korean side with
InternationalMay 14, 2015
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Reservist premeditates deadly shooting: military
An Army reservist behind a deadly shooting at a Seoul training camp had long suffered from mental disorders and it was a premeditated attack, military officials said Thursday.On Wednesday, the 23-year-old man, surnamed Choi, opened fire on fellow reservists during a shooting exercise at the compound in southern Seoul, killing two and wounding another two. He then shot himself to death. Citing the results of a probe so far, the Army said the shooter had planned to use the training session as the
Social AffairsMay 14, 2015
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FM Yun to meet UNESCO chief next week
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will meet with UNESCO chief Irina Bokova next week, a ministry spokesman said Thursday, as Japan pushes to win world heritage status for industrial facilities linked to wartime Korean slave labor.Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, is scheduled to visit South Korea next week to attend the World Education Forum in Songdo, west of Seoul, from Tuesday through Friday.Yun and Bokova will hold talks Tuesday, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il.The meeting
Foreign AffairsMay 14, 2015
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Military faces criticism for poor training, firearms management
The deadly shooting by a reservist during a drill reveals the military's poor management of weapons and the reservist training system, military experts said Thursday.On Wednesday, a 23-year-old Army reservist, surnamed Choi, opened fire on fellow reservists with his K-2 rifle at the military training center in Naegok-dong, southern Seoul, killing two and wounding another two. He then shot himself to death. With an investigation underway into his motive, criticism has mounted over the military's
Social AffairsMay 14, 2015
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Top court upholds provincial student rights ordinance
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a provincial liberal student rights ordinance is valid against the Park Geun-hye government's desire to nullify it.The Ministry of Education filed a lawsuit in 2013, demanding the nullification of North Jeolla Province's decision to ban corporal punishment and allow students to choose their own hairstyles, saying it violates a higher law.The provincial ordinance also prohibits teachers from checking students' possessions randomly and holding late night study
Social AffairsMay 14, 2015
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Top court upholds student activist's acquittal
The Supreme Court Thursday upheld the acquittal of a former student who was imprisoned more than 20 years ago for aiding and abetting the suicide of a fellow activist and forging his will.In 1991, Kang Ki-hoon was convicted of ghostwriting the will of Kim Ki-sul and persuading him to set himself on fire and jump to his death from a building at Seoul's Sogang University in protest against the then authoritarian government.The highest court confirmed the not-guilty ruling Thursday, citing the lack
Social AffairsMay 14, 2015
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S. Korea wary of North over alleged defense chief purge
South Korea said Thursday it will closely monitor the political situation in North Korea following reports that its defense chief was purged.North Korea executed Defense Minister Hyon Yong-chol in late April over his disloyalty and disrespect to the North's leader Kim Jong-un, South Korea's spy agency said Wednesday, in the latest sign of Kim's reign of terror.If confirmed, it would mark another high-profile public execution by the North. In late 2013 Kim ordered the execution of his once-powerf
North KoreaMay 14, 2015
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Ex-comedian gets suspended sentence for assaulting wife
Comedian-turned-pastor Seo Se-won was given a suspended jail sentence Thursday in a high-profile domestic violence case.Judge Yoo Hwan-woo of the Seoul Central District Court sentenced him to six months in prison, convicting him of an assault, but suspended the sentence for two years."We found him guilty of all the charges leveled against him, but the crime took place accidentally and the couple has been undergoing the divorce process," the judge said.The former top comedian is accused of assaul
Social AffairsMay 14, 2015
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S. Korea eyes expressway linking Seoul to border town
South Korea plans to begin work this year on an expressway linking Seoul with a western border town in an attempt to boost trade with North Korea and prepare for unification, the finance ministry said Thursday.Construction of the 35.2-kilometer-long expressway connecting Seoul to Munsan, just south of the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas, has been postponed due to an environmental impact assessment.The finance ministry said it held a policy coordination meeting and decided to pus
Social AffairsMay 14, 2015