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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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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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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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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S. Korea lowers COVID-19 warning level, lifts last-remaining antivirus mandates
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Housing market shows signs of improvement in Q1: report
South Korea's housing market continued to improve in the first quarter of 2015 amid a surge in transactions and rising prices, a report showed Tuesday. Home purchases surged 18.3 percent on-year to 270,053 in the January-March period, the highest number since the first quarter of 2006, according to the report by the state-run Korea Development Institute. The average price of homes in the country also rose 2.3 percent from the year before, and 2.1 percent from the previous quarter, a sign that
Social AffairsApril 28, 2015
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Suicide No. 1 cause of death for S. Korean teens, youths
Suicide was the No. 1 cause of death among teens and young people in South Korea in 2013, with the suicide rate rising over the past decade, a report showed Tuesday. According to the report by Statistics Korea, suicide was the leading cause of death among those aged 9-24 in 2013. The suicide rate per 100,000 for this age group stood at 7.8, up from 7.4 in 2003. Ten years ago, traffic accidents topped the list with a rate of 9.6 per 100,000, with suicide coming in second, the report showed. In
Social AffairsApril 28, 2015
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Sunken ferry captain gets life imprisonment for murder
The captain of the sunken ferry Sewol was sentenced to a life term for murder at an appeals court here Tuesday. Overturning a lower court ruling that acquitted Lee Joon-seok of murder, the Gwangju High Court convicted him of murdering 304 passengers aboard the ferry that sank off the southwest coast on April 16, 2014. The ferry was en route to the southern resort island of Jeju from Incheon, west of Seoul. Most of the 304 victims were high school students on a field trip.. Lee Joon-seok, th
Social AffairsApril 28, 2015
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Park pledges to remove corruption, seek political reform
President Park Geun-hye expressed regret Tuesday over the resignation of Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo over a bribery scandal and pledged to root out corruption and pursue political reform. "People will not condone anyone involved in the corruption scandal," Park said in a message read by Kim Sung-woo, senior presidential press secretary. "I am determined to eradicate the time-honored irregularities and corruption so we could achieve a new political reform." Park could not appear in public due to
PoliticsApril 28, 2015
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Park says special pardon for Sung incomprehensible
President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday raised questions on special pardons granted by her two predecessors to deceased businessman Sung Woan-jong, calling it “incomprehensible” a matter that undermined the rule of law and principle. (Yonhap)In a message delivered by her senior press secretary, she also called for a thorough investigation into special pardons granted by previous administrations as part of efforts to achieve political reform.“It is difficult for the people to accept the special pardon
NationalApril 28, 2015
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S. Korea seeks more assurance in new U.S.-Japan defense rules
South Korea urged the United States and Japan Tuesday to assure the security of South Korea in implementing the U.S-Japan defense guidelines, which expand Japan's military role abroad against possible threats from China and North Korea. "The government expects the U.S. and Japan to continue close consultations with South Korea on issues related to the security of the Korean Peninsula and our national interests," Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il said in a statement. Foreign Ministry spoke
Foreign AffairsApril 28, 2015
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U.S. envoy highlights S. Korean role in TPP
South Korea's global economic network of free trade deals with many other countries will be a strong selling point for participation in a U.S.-led regional trade pact, known as the Trans Pacific Partnership, the top U.S. envoy to Seoul said Tuesday. "We realize (South) Korea plays a role in the regional economy and has free trade agreements with many countries in the Pacific," Mark Lippert, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, said in a Seoul forum. "Korea is already a high standard, high perfo
Foreign AffairsApril 28, 2015
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N.K. defector calls for Pyongyang's redesignation as terror sponsor, stronger sanctions
A North Korean defector-turned-activist said Monday he and other defectors will appeal to the United States to toughen sanctions and relist their former communist homeland as a terrorism sponsor for human rights violations. Kim Seong-min, head of Free North Korea Radio, based in Seoul, made the remark during a news conference to announce action plans for this week's North Korea Freedom Week, an annual set of events aimed at drawing international attention to Pyongyang's rights abuses. Kim Seon
North KoreaApril 28, 2015
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Abe offers no apology for wartime sexual slavery
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe offered no clear apology Monday for Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women, sticking to a previous vague statement on the issue that has stymied Tokyo's relations with Seoul. "When it comes to the comfort women issue, my heart aches when I think about those people who were victimized by human trafficking and who were subject to immeasurable pain and suffering beyond description," Abe said during a visit to Harvard University in Bost
Foreign AffairsApril 28, 2015
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AIIB members hold meeting in Beijing
Senior government officials from 57 members of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) began a two-day meeting in Beijing on Monday to discuss the articles of agreement and other pending issues, a diplomatic source said. This week's meeting is aimed at finalizing the articles before holding the final round of preparatory meetings in Singapore next month, the source said on the condition of anonymity. South Korea sent a deputy finance minister as a chief negotiator to the meet
Foreign AffairsApril 27, 2015
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Seoul approves first fertilizer aid to North Korea since 2010
South Korea on Monday approved a civic group’s plan to provide fertilizers to the North, marking the first authorization of the politically sensitive aid since 2010. The decision will allow the Ace Gyeongam Foundation to shore up agriculture in Sariwon, the capital of North Hwanghae Province, by building an additional 50 greenhouses and providing 15 tons of fertilizers and other construction and farming materials. “They will provide technical support such as for establishing gardens and greenhou
North KoreaApril 27, 2015
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Korea’s rape laws self-contradict
Earlier this month, a 21-year-old marine was sentenced to one year and six months in prison for sexually abusing at least four of his male subordinates over the course of 20 occasions in 2013, including forcing them to perform oral sex on him.However, when prosecutors in Gwangju indicted him on sexual abuse charges, they could not apply the nation’s rape laws ― as the law only acknowledges rape when the “female sex organ has been penetrated by the male sex organ.”This means same-sex rape cannot
Social AffairsApril 27, 2015
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Seoul to host event on urban park project
Seoul City will open an overpass near the Seoul Station to the public next month as part of efforts to promote its controversial urban restoration scheme, dubbed Korea’s version of “High Line Park.”Seoul Metropolitan Government said a 1 kilometer-long section of the high-rise road in central Seoul will be opened to pedestrians on May 10 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is the second time the road has been opened to the public, with the first public event held in October last year.Inspired by High Line
Social AffairsApril 27, 2015
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Korea sends rescue team, aid to Nepal
South Korea said Monday it would dispatch search and rescue staff and medical personnel to Nepal as relief assistance pours into the country, following a massive earthquake that has left thousands dead and others injured. An advance team of 10 members from the 119 rescue squad and four government officials were scheduled to fly to the South Asian nation late Monday evening to inspect the situation and help the ongoing rescue efforts for 10 days, alongside a Foreign Ministry official who departed
Foreign AffairsApril 27, 2015
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Gaps narrowed in pension reform talks
The special committee on civil servant pension reforms narrowed its differences over the weekend, raising speculation the weekslong debate about the reforms is coming to a close.The details on the reform plan for the debt-ridden pension system were discussed with floor leaders of rival political parties Monday afternoon. The parties set a May 2 deadline to finalize the plan.The committee, comprising government representatives, public servants and pension experts, has mapped out a tentative plan,
Social AffairsApril 27, 2015
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Park accepts P.M.’s resignation
President Park Geun-hye accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo on Monday, a week after he offered to quit amid snowballing allegations that he received illegal political funds from a deceased businessman.The announcement came hours after the president returned from her trip from South America. Lee’s farewell ceremony was held later in the evening. The president, however, remained silent on the graft scandal, with her office explaining she would need a day or two of rest after fal
PoliticsApril 27, 2015
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Upgraded U.S.-Japan ties pose dilemma for Seoul
The strengthening U.S.-Japan alliance is posing a strategic dilemma for South Korea as its relations with Tokyo show no signs of improving, while the need for security cooperation over North Korea’s military threats rises.Capitalizing on the U.S. backing, Tokyo has been striving to carve out an advantageous position in the changing contours of regional security, raising calls for Seoul to move beyond the historical animosities and pursue what better serves its practical interests.Seoul has remai
Foreign AffairsApril 27, 2015
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Park accepts PM's resignation over bribery scandal
President Park Geun-hye on Monday accepted Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo's offer to step down over a bribery scandal involving Lee and some of her key aides. Lee expressed his intention to resign a week ago amid growing suspicions that he took 30 million won ($28,000) from the late head of a mid-size construction firm while running for a parliamentary seat in 2013. "President Park has formally accepted Prime Minister Lee's resignation," presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said in a press briefi
PoliticsApril 27, 2015
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S. Korea, U.S. to push for 'meaningful' nuke talks: official
South Korea and the United States agreed Monday to make efforts to resume the multilateral talks on North Korea's denuclearization, which have been stalled for years due to the North's failure to abide by a past nuclear deal, a Seoul official said. Kim Gunn, director-general for North Korean nuclear affairs of the Foreign Ministry, met with Sydney Seiler, U.S. special envoy for the six-party nuclear talks with North Korea. The two had a "in-depth" discussion on the North Korean nuclear issue, i
Foreign AffairsApril 27, 2015
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N. Korea improves coal shipment capacity at Rajin port
The North Korean port city of Rajin has improved its capacity to handle a second shipment of Russian coals, boosting confidence in the joint coal shipment project involving the two Koreas and Russia, Seoul officials said Monday. About 140,000 tons of Russian coal is expected to be transferred into South Korea on a ship from Rajin after being moved from Russia's border city of Khasan on a re-connected railway as a second pilot operation for the three-way logistics project. The shipment will be
North KoreaApril 27, 2015