Most Popular
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Jennie, Stray Kids's Met Gala attendance puts them on 'digital guillotine' blacklist
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Korean industries gauge impact of Biden's steep tariffs on China
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Do Korean doctors make too much money?
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Another suspect behind murder of Korean tourist in Pattaya arrested in Cambodia
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Is FTC's conglomerate listing a boon or bane for Hybe?
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NewJeans to headline palace show
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Coupang's Kim Bom escapes chaebol chief designation again
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Rare mid-May heavy snow warning issued over mountainous areas of Gangwon
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CIO chief nominee to explain allegations at confirmation hearing
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Yoon vows to run country 'rightly' on Buddha's birthday
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S. Korea, China to hold security talks
South Korea and China were to hold working-level security talks in Seoul Monday to discuss an array of bilateral and regional security issues such as the situation with North Korea, the foreign ministry said.The meeting, the second of its kind since December 2013, comes after North Korea recently offered an olive branch to Seoul by proposing a summit between the political leaders of the two countries.But Pyongyang's relations with the United States have deteriorated, with Washington announcing f
Jan. 5, 2015
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Policeman indicted for document leak
A senior police officer was indicted Saturday on charges of writing a presidential document claiming a former aide to President Park Geun-hye tried to exert undue influence on state affairs, prosecutors said.Superintendent Park Kwan-cheon is suspected of authoring and leaking presidential documents spanning more than 100 pages, including one that said Chung Yoon-hoi, who was President Park’s adviser before she was elected, pulled strings to try and replace the president’s current chief of staff,
Jan. 5, 2015
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Park hopes S. Korea, China contribute to regional peace
President Park Geun-hye expressed hope Saturday that South Korea and China can contribute to peace and stability in Northeast Asia.Tensions persist in the region over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs as well as territorial and other history-related issues between South Korea and Japan and between China and Japan.Japan ruled the Korean Peninsula as a colony from 1910-45 and controlled much of China in the early part of the 20th century.Park said she hopes that South Korea and China can
Jan. 5, 2015
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Korean medic tests negative for Ebola
A South Korean medic exposed to the Ebola virus while treating a patient in West Africa tested negative in an initial blood test, Berlin municipal officials said on Sunday.But the health worker will be monitored for at least three more weeks in Germany to ensure the virus is not in incubation, the officials added. Experts believe the Ebola virus can stay dormant in the human body for up to 21 days. The South Korean has not yet shown symptoms of infection.The health worker had been dispatched by
Jan. 4, 2015
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S. Korea to grant more financial aid to asylum seekers
South Korea has increased financial support this year for asylum seekers coming to the country, the justice ministry said Sunday.The government has approved a 510 million won (US$461,747) budget this year to assist refugee applicants from overseas, 50 percent higher than the amount given out in 2014.Asylum seekers in South Korea have been increasing in number in recent years. In 2012 and 2013, the figure came to 1,143 and 1,574 people, respectively, while in the January-November period of last y
Jan. 4, 2015
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NPAD hopes to regroup at February convention
For the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, 2015 will be a year that will decide its fate.Having faced one crisis after another since the 2012 presidential election, the NPAD was left in a state one party official described as “screwed,” with falling ratings and worsening internal strife topped off by a lack of leadership.As 2014 drew to an end, NPAD supporters were hoping the party convention in February would be the political panacea they had been waiting for. NPAD members at
Jan. 2, 2015
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Park trumpets unification drive
President Park Geun-hye requested political leaders’ support for her reform drive and efforts to improve inter-Korean ties in a New Year meeting held at the presidential office on Friday.“We face the historic task of overcoming the wounds of the 70 years of national division and open an era of unification on the Korean Peninsula,” Park said at the meeting attended by the leaders of the two largest parties, the parliamentary standing committee chiefs, high-ranking officials and business represent
Jan. 2, 2015
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Park vows substantial preparations for unification with N. Korea
South Korean President Park Geun-hye pledged Friday to make "substantial" preparations for potential unification with North Korea, a day after the North's leader, Kim Jong-un, offered conditional summit talks with her.Park said South Koreans have a historic task to overcome a seven-decades-long division and open a new era of unification.The Korean Peninsula was divided into the capitalistic South and communist North after its liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule."The government will do
Jan. 2, 2015
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Opposition leader calls on Park to focus on inter-Korean ties
The leader of the main opposition party called on President Park Geun-hye Friday to focus her efforts on improving inter-Korean relations this year as both sides expressed willingness for talks.On Monday, Seoul proposed that the two Koreas hold ministerial talks this month to discuss bilateral issues, such as reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.In a New Year's address on Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for a "big shift" in inter-Korean relations, saying he i
Jan. 2, 2015
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PM vows efforts to dissolve inter-Korean confrontation
South Korea will make utmost efforts to end the confrontational environment vis-a-vis North Korea, the prime minister said Friday, amid brewing hopes for a possible inter-Korean summit."The government will make proactive efforts to resolve the inter-Korean confrontational mood and to open the door for inter-Korean dialogue and co-prosperity," Prime Minister Chung Hong-won said in his New Year's message."This year, (South Korea) must establish an everlasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and take
Jan. 2, 2015
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Park vows efforts to end Korean division
President Park Geun-hye on Thursday called for an end to the 70 years of inter-Korean division and Cold War tension on the peninsula in a New Year’s message to the South Korean military.“This year marks the 70th anniversary of (Korea’s) liberation and the division (of the two Koreas) on which we should end the history of separation and the Cold War on the Korean Peninsula,” she said in her video message to the nation’s 650,000 service members.Park started the first day of the year by paying her
Jan. 1, 2015
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Saenuri Party’s year rides on reforms
Rep. Kim Moo-sung, chairman of the Saenuri Party, reiterated the need for innovation and change on Thursday as the ruling party embarks on a year that hinges on the success of its reform drives. Kim said that Korea faced many political, economic and social challenges, and that the party had a lot to tackle in 2015.“When the country is in difficulty, the Saenuri Party should be the group that leads innovation to open a new age,” Kim said. He went on to say that the party should rally behind “the
Jan. 1, 2015
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[Newsmaker] After tumultuous year, Park to focus on economy
President Park Geun-hye had high expectations for 2014. In her second year in the office, Park unveiled a three-year plan to reinvigorate the economy by driving out irregularities in both the private and public sectors. She also vowed to kick-start preparations for reunification, calling it an “economic bonanza” for Korea and neighboring countries. Her vision started out fresh enough to captivate the public, with her approval ratings soaring past the 60 percent level. But the ferry disaster in A
Dec. 31, 2014
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[Graphic News] Park’s rollercoaster approval ratings
Dec. 31, 2014
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Heavyweights still matter in Korean politics
Not long ago, Korean politics was dominated by charismatic leaders called the Three Kims ― former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam, and the power broker Kim Jong-pil. The personality-centered political structure has declined steadily over the years, but a number of Korean lawmakers and would-be political leaders continue to rally behind individuals. Some of them continue to lead traditional party factions bequeathed by former presidents. Others have risen and fallen pursuing their own g
Dec. 31, 2014
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Saenuri opts for surveys in naming candidates, committee chiefs
Saenuri Party chairman Kim Moo-sung (Yonhap)The ruling Saenuri Party will select its candidates for the April by-elections through opinion polls, party chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung said Tuesday. Kim also said that the candidates, who will run for the three National Assembly seats vacated by former lawmakers of the dissolved Unified Progressive Party, will be selected by the end of January. “Candidates will be nominated according to the wishes of the residents, based 100 percent on opinion polls,”
Dec. 30, 2014
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Gov't to step up development of public land in 2015: minister
The government will step up development of public land next year to generate revenue and advance public interest, the country's chief economic policymaker said Tuesday. At an event to mark the official opening of the Sejong National Research Complex, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said the state-run Korea Asset Management Corp. (KAMCO) will attract private investment to develop land owned by the Air Force in Yeouido, in downtown Seoul, as well as the central and Seodaemun tax offices. "The
Dec. 30, 2014
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Park vows to revitalize economy, push reform
President Park Geun-hye on Monday vowed to revive the nation’s sluggish economy in the New Year by pushing ahead with drastic reform efforts.“We must put everything we have into the three-year economic reform plan, keeping in mind that the new year would be the last golden time for us to revitalize the economy,” Park said at a meeting to review 38 major state agendas pushed by her administration this year.Since early this year, Park has urged officials to ease unnecessary business regulations an
Dec. 29, 2014
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Assembly passes over 120 bills
The National Assembly on Monday passed more than 120 bills and motions in the last plenary session of the year.The bills include the so-called “three real estate laws” aimed at boosting the property market. With the three real estate-related acts being approved, a flexible price ceiling will be placed on newly built housing developed by the private sector. In addition, each resident of a redeveloped area will be able to receive up to three properties. The parties also approved the motion to laun
Dec. 29, 2014
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Moon to run in NPAD vote
President Park Geun-hye’s 2012 election rival Moon Jae-in on Monday announced his bid to run for chairman at the New Politics Alliance for Democracy’s convention, promising to revive the struggling main opposition party.Analysts said the lawmaker’s move could be a prelude to his plans to run in the 2017 presidential race. By winning the NPAD’s chairmanship, Moon would have a chance to showcase his leadership and win the party’s ticket in 2017.But he faces an uphill battle if he tries to use his
Dec. 29, 2014