Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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Defense chiefs of US, Australia, Japan decry NK-Russia military cooperation
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S. Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: official
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(Photo News) Lawmakers under graft probe
Rep. Kim Jae-yun (top) of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, answers reporters’ questions as he arrives at the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday afternoon for a court hearing on whether to issue an arrest warrant against him. Kim and two other opposition lawmakers, Reps. Shin Geh-ryeun (center) and Shin Hak-yong, are suspected of taking bribes from a local art institute in return for pushing a law favorable to the school. (Yonhap)
Aug. 21, 2014
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Opposition in shambles after Sewol bill fiasco
Family members of those killed in the April ferry disaster demanded on Thursday that parties scuttle the latest compromise over a special bill authorizing probes into the government over the Sewol accident.The families’ demands could weaken public support for the so-called “special Sewol bill” and the main opposition party, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, reports and data showed.The NPAD agreed to a compromise over the Sewol bill with the ruling Saenuri Party on Tuesday, ending weeks of
Aug. 21, 2014
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Park calls for military readiness amid tensions
President Park Geun-hye on Thursday called on the military to maintain a firm readiness amid North Korea’s threats of a preemptive strike against South Korea and the United States, her office said.The threats are a typical North Korean response to annual joint military drills underway between South Korea and the U.S.North Korea has condemned the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion. Seoul and Washington have repeatedly said such exercises are purely defensive in nature
Aug. 21, 2014
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Ruling party, ministries to draft sinkhole measures
The ruling Saenuri Party and the government are to take steps to uncover the causes and prevent further occurrences of sinkholes, officials said following a government-ruling party meeting on Thursday. “The meeting was organized to ease the public’s concerns. Fundamental measures to address the issue will be drawn up in the near future,” Rep. Joo Ho-young, the chief of the Saenuri Party policy committee, told the local media ahead of the meeting. In addition to the sinkholes and underground holl
Aug. 21, 2014
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Opposition party rules out renegotiation of bill on ferry disaster
The main opposition party will not renegotiate a bill aimed at uncovering the truth behind April's deadly ferry sinking despite the wishes of family members of the victims, the party's interim chief said Wednesday.On Tuesday, the ruling Saenuri Party and the No. 1 opposition party New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) reached a deal to pass the bill after weeks of wrangling over who should have the right to choose a special counsel for the investigation.The investigation is aimed at determi
Aug. 20, 2014
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Families oppose compromise Sewol bill
Lawmakers as of Wednesday are still deadlocked over a special bill proposing to set up a prosecution team to investigate the April sinking of the Sewol ferry. Floor leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy had ironed out a deal on Tuesday, briefly ending weeks of partisan bickering over the so-called “Special Sewol Bill.”But families of the victims killed in the sinking demanded an overhaul of Tuesday’s deal, saying the compromised version o
Aug. 20, 2014
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Parliament endorses art professor as culture minister
The National Assembly endorsed an art professor as the nation's culture minister Wednesday in the last step to forming President Park Geun-hye's new Cabinet.Kim Jong-deok, a professor of visual design at Seoul's Hongik University, was tapped by Park early this month after the previous nominee for the job, Chung Sung-keun, stepped down over allegations of drunken driving and other ethical lapses.The parliamentary education and culture committee adopted a report endorsing Kim after holding a confi
Aug. 20, 2014
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Ruling-party lawmaker summoned over graft
A ruling-party lawmaker appeared before prosecutors Wednesday to face questioning over suspicions that he received bribes worth 55 million won (US$54,000) from a local railway supplier.Rep. Song Kwang-ho of the ruling Saenuri Party is suspected of taking the money from the railway parts supplier AVT in return for business favors, prosecutors said.Song showed up at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul at around 7:50 a.m. to face questioning as a criminal suspect in the
Aug. 20, 2014
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Parties strike last-minute deal on Sewol bill
The ruling and main opposition parties reached a last-minute agreement Tuesday on the so-called special Sewol bill. In last-minute talks held behind closed doors, Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Lee Wan-koo and main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy’s interim chief Rep. Park Young-sun hammered out a new compromise. Under the agreement, the two parties agreed to give the opposition and the families of the Sewol accident victims a bigger say in forming the committee that will nominate
Aug. 19, 2014
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Korea pushes for drastic change to regulatory scheme
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a bill to comprehensively revise the regulation law for the first time in 16 years, as part of its efforts to remove obstacles for business activities and to spur corporate investment.The regulatory reform bill calls for introducing a “cost in, cost out” system, which would allow ministries to introduce new regulations only if they can abolish existing ones that are more expensive to implement. Through the bill, the government also seeks to adopt a negative-list a
Aug. 19, 2014
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Gov't pushes to reform regulation law for first time in 16 years
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a government-proposed bill that would maintain the total cost of regulation at a constant level by removing existing rules when adding new ones, the government said.The revision to the Framework Act on Administrative Regulations passed a Cabinet meeting presided over by President Park Geun-hye and will be presented to the National Assembly later this week, said the Prime Minister's Office.If approved by the parliament, this would be the first sweeping revision of
Aug. 19, 2014
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Park meets Alibaba CEO
President Park Geun-hye on Monday met with Jack Ma, founder and CEO of Alibaba, the world’s biggest internet commerce company, to discuss ways to expand global online trading, and digital content sharing with Korean companies. Park asked Ma to support local small and medium-sized companies seeking business opportunities in online markets in China by developing a more efficient logistics system and product certificate programs together, officials said.The president also requested the head of Alib
Aug. 18, 2014
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Family, politicians mark 5th anniversary of Kim Dae-jung's death
Relatives and politicians paid tribute to late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung on Monday as they marked the fifth death anniversary of the former pro-democracy champion and Nobel peace laureate.Kim, a liberal icon, was a vocal critic of the 1961-79 authoritarian rule of former President Park Chung-hee -- the father of current President Park Geun-hye -- and almost lost his life while protesting against the regime.While serving as president from 1998 to 2003, he held the first-ever inter-Korea
Aug. 18, 2014
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(Photo News) To Ansan via N. Korea
A group of ethnic Koreans from the former Soviet Union pays a visit to a memorial altar set up for victims of the sunken ferry Sewol in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday. The group drove through the North and across the inter-Korean border into the South on Saturday as part of their transcontinental trip from Moscow planned to mark the 150th anniversary of their emigration. (Yonhap)
Aug. 17, 2014
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Governor's son accused of beating, sexually harassing 2 subordinates in military
A provincial governor apologized Sunday on Twitter after his son was accused of beating a subordinate and sexually harassing another one in the military.The eldest son of Nam Kyung-pil, a five-term ruling party lawmaker who was elected governor of Gyeonggi Province in the June 4 local elections, is under investigation for allegedly hitting his subordinate in the stomach and face on a number of occasions since early April, military officials said.The son, a corporal, is also accused of sexually h
Aug. 17, 2014
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Assembly to grill final batch of Park’s nominees this week
The National Assembly will hold separate confirmation hearings this week for President Park Geun-hye’s choice of new culture minister, tax agency chief and police commissioner, the final batch of her government reshuffle carried out in the wake of Sewol disaster. The nominees who are set to go through the parliamentary screening process are: Culture Minister nominee Kim Jong-deok, National Tax Service chief-designate Lim Hwan-soo and police commissioner-appointee Kang Sin-myeong. The three candi
Aug. 17, 2014
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Park urges N. Korea to abandon its nuclear programs
President Park Geun-hye on Friday pressed North Korea again to give up its nuclear weapons programs as she offered her latest conciliatory overture meant to lay the groundwork for potential unification with Pyongyang.She suggested that North Korea should follow in the footsteps of Kazakhstan in giving up nuclear weapons and emulate Vietnam and Myanmar, which opted for reform and openness, noting those countries enjoy peace and prosperity. (Yonhap)"Now, North Korea should abandon its nuclear prog
Aug. 16, 2014
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Seoul and Berlin agree to boost cultural exchanges
The city governments of Seoul and Berlin agreed to step up culture and tour exchanges between the two metropolises, officials said Thursday.Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon signed a memorandum of understanding with Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit to that end during his visit to Germany this week, according to the Seoul municipal government. Under the agreement, the two cities will boost their cooperation in the fields of tourism, fashion and film, as well as personnel exchanges, according to the city.Seoul
Aug. 14, 2014
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Lawmakers grilled over art school graft
Two more opposition lawmakers were grilled by the prosecution on Thursday on suspicion of taking bribes from a local art college in return for making regulation changes to benefit the institution. The New Politics Alliance for Democracy lawmakers ― Reps. Kim Jae-yun and Shin Hak-yong ― are suspected of taking bribes from Seoul Art College, or SAC, in exchange for making a law revision at the request of the school’s chairman of the board Kim Min-seong. Kim Jae-yun is accused of receiving 50 milli
Aug. 14, 2014
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Leftist lawmaker, prosecution challenge high court ruling
A left-leaning lawmaker on Thursday filed an appeal against an appellate court conviction that he had instigated an anti-state armed revolt against the government.On Monday, the Seoul High Court, partly overturning a lower court ruling, handed down a reduced jail sentence of nine years to Lee Seok-ki, a member of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party.Lawyers representing the 53-year-old lawmaker said they have lodged an appeal with the Supreme Court against the conviction. Prosecutors a
Aug. 14, 2014