Most Popular
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Yoon rejects Lee's proposal for pension reform talks
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S. Korea to hold rotating presidency of UN Security Council next month
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US girding for possibility of N. Korea taking most provocative military actions in decade near election: NBC
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Chonnam international student found dead
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Tax-payers shouldering most of burden for pension childbirth credit programs
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Ottogi heir joins family business in US
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Korea signs off on new med school quotas
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NewJeans drops new album amid Hybe-Ador dispute
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Samsung denies report on HBM chips failing Nvidia tests
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Govt. to reduce tariffs on fresh food imports to curb inflation
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Lee discusses economic ties, reunification with German leaders
President says existence of nuclear arms on Korean Peninsula will delay reunificationBERLIN -- President Lee Myung-bak and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday discussed ways to strengthen economic ties, especially for the development of renewable energy, during their talks here in the German capital.Lee’s talks with Merkel came after the Korean president held a summit meeting earlier in the
PoliticsMay 9, 2011
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Task force set up to reform FSS as scandal spreads
Senior watchdog official indicted for briberyThe Prime Minister’s Office launched a task force on Monday to revamp the Financial Supervisory Service, under fire for poor oversight of seven troubled savings banks and corruption among its staff.Rim Chae-min, chief of staff to Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, and Kim Jun-kyung, professor of the Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Man
Social AffairsMay 9, 2011
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U.S. generals in S. Korea on educational tour
Twenty newly promoted general-grade officers from the U.S. are on a five-day tour to South Korea under an educational program aimed at enhancing understanding of its key Asian ally.Under the “Capstone” program organized by the U.S. National Defense University, the group, which arrived here Sunday, visited Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and was briefed on the security situation on the Korean Peninsu
DefenseMay 9, 2011
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Ministry eases passport rules
Regulations on passport issuance for those who have committed crimes overseas will be eased, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Monday.It said that the revision is likely to go into effect from July. Currently, those who have committed crimes in foreign countries are banned from being issued passports for a year. Passport issuance is restricted for three years for those who are charged
PoliticsMay 9, 2011
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Lee offers to resign as leader of minority LFP
Conservative says his party needs changeLee Hoi-chang, leader of the conservative minority Liberty Forward Party, has turned in his resignation in the hope of overcoming the party’s prolonged political stagnation.“I am stepping down to give way to changes in our party,” Lee said in the Supreme Council meeting held on Monday morning.“Political circles are undergoing sweeping changes and the LFP nee
PoliticsMay 9, 2011
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Police encouraged to use firearms in emergencies
Police were told Monday that there are situations when use of their weapons is appropriate. The National Police Agency Commissioner-General Cho Hyun-oh said in a meeting of high-ranking officials that police officers are encouraged to use weapons such as pistols, tear gas guns and taser guns in situations including those taking place in police stations, especially if they threaten the authority of
Social AffairsMay 9, 2011
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Cyberspace tainted with racist postings
Looking at Internet cafes with many messages disparaging migrant workers based on their appearances and nationalities, Soe Moe Thu feels Korea still has a long way to go to establish a “mature” online culture.To maintain the country’s reputation for state-of-the-art Internet infrastructure, the Seoul government needs to make more efforts to ameliorate “online manners,” the 36-year-old Myanmarese s
Social AffairsMay 9, 2011
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Medical spending may triple by 2020
Ministry seeks to dissuade patients from relying on top-tier hospitalsMore than 11 percent of Korea’s gross domestic product may be consumed by medical care in 2020, the Ministry of Health and Welfares said Monday, stressing the need to reform medical facilities nationwide. Snowballing medical expenses will burden the nation’s economy as the population ages, putting further pressure on the medical
Social AffairsMay 9, 2011
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Military strengthens protective facilities on border islands
The South Korean military is strengthening its protective facilities on the country’s five northwestern border islands with corrugated steel plates a military official said Monday.It has been bolstering its defense capabilities on the islands near the tense western sea border since the artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island in November last year, killing two soldiers and two civilians.Additional hi
PoliticsMay 9, 2011
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Vocational high schools losing appeal to students
Vocational high schools, mostly attended by students who intend to land jobs right after graduation, are losing their reputation as a sure path to employment. According to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, 463,888 students attended 692 vocational schools across the country in 2010, down from 578,865 students at 775 schools in 2001. While 54.7 percent of them got jobs after graduat
Social AffairsMay 9, 2011
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Lee Hoi-chang offers resignation
(Lee Hoi-chang offers to resign as minor conservative party chief. Yonhap News)Lee Hoi-chang, leader of the conservative minority Liberty Forward Party, offered his resignation on Monday, in an attempt to catalyze the party’s reform moves.“Our party is to face up to the ongoing changes within the political circles,” Lee said.Lee, who has held the LFP leader post since 2008, also suggested that the
PoliticsMay 9, 2011
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Toilets are back in town
Hundreds of quake-stricken New Zealand households banned from flushing their toilets are now free to flush again. Some 40,000 homes in Christchurch have not been able to flush their toilets ever since a massive earthquake hit the nation in February. After two months of lavatory inconvenience, 860 households are now able to enjoy the benefits of flushing toilets once more. And 15,000 other househol
Social AffairsMay 9, 2011
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How does the U.S. name their operation codes?
When the U.S. intelligence caught Osama bin Laden, the first words that came out from the officer in command was “Geronimo EKIA.” Geronimo referred to the legendary Apache Indian who became a hero to Native Americans, and EKIA meant “Enemy killed in Action.”The U.S. has, historically, used codes that tended to summarize the character of the person, often reflecting how the government viewed the pe
DefenseMay 9, 2011
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Lee says North's nukes an obstacle to unification
BERLIN (Yonhap News) -- President Lee Myung-bak said Sunday that Korea should seek unification with North Korea at any cost, stressing the need to end Pyongyang's nuclear programs that he said are an obstacle to unification.Lee made the remark in Berlin, the symbolic city of German unification, on the first leg of a three-nation European tour, saying that unification with the North could come at a
PoliticsMay 9, 2011
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Prosecution to summon 30 FSS officials this week
Prosecutors plan to call in around 30 employees of the country's financial watchdog this week to determine whether they intentionally relaxed their inspections of savings banks in return for bribes, sources said Sunday. South Korea's top prosecutor has been widening its probe after the chief and other major shareholders at a suspended savings bank were found to have taken out illegal loans to lo
Social AffairsMay 8, 2011
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North Korean defectors soar 50-fold in Thailand
The number of North Koreans who have illegally migrated to Thailand has jumped 50-fold in the past six years and the Thai government is not happy about the sudden influx, a Thai newspaper reported last week. According to the Bangkok Post, an English newspaper in Thailand, the number of North Korean defectors to Thailand marked 2,482 in 2010, compared to 46 in 2004. From October until April, 899 No
Social AffairsMay 8, 2011
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North Korea exported nuclear materials to Libya: VOA
The nuclear materials found in Libya in 2004 were highly likely to have been produced by North Korea, U.S.-funded broadcaster Voice of America said Saturday, citing an interview with a former senior official of the U.N. nuclear watchdog. In the interview, Olli Heinonen, the former deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said uranium hexafluoride, or UF6 ― used in uranium
North KoreaMay 8, 2011
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Lee starts talks with Europe leaders
President arrives in Berlin on a three-nation tourBERLIN ― President Lee Myung-bak on Sunday arrived in Berlin on the first leg of his week-long European tour aimed at promoting bilateral trade and investment as well as cooperation for low carbon, green growth. Lee’s trip to Germany, Denmark and France comes just days after the National Assembly ratified Korea’s free trade pact with the European U
Foreign AffairsMay 8, 2011
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Education ministers from South Korea, U.S. plan rare talks
Korean and U.S. ministers of education and science will hold talks to discuss ways to boost personnel and research exchanges, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Sunday. The talks will be the first of their kind in 30 years.Education and Science Minister Lee Ju-ho will visit Washington Tuesday for the talks with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan from May 11-13. The two min
Social AffairsMay 8, 2011
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Ex-civil servants dominate top posts of public corporations
Retired provincial public service employees and politicians dominate management posts of local public firms, even though many have no corporate management experience, reports said.Chief executives or board chairmen in 95 of the 127 provincial public firms are former local civil servants or politicians, Yonhap news agency reported Sunday, citing the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.Ou
Social AffairsMay 8, 2011