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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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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S. Korea lowers COVID-19 warning level, lifts last-remaining antivirus mandates
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Five-term ruling party lawmaker to run for Gyeonggi governor
A five-term lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party declared his bid to run for governor of Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday, the latest in a series of big-name politicians to join what are expected to be tight races in the June local elections.Rep. Nam Kyung-pil made his governorship bid official during a party meeting. His bid shows the ruling party is mobilizing all resources to win the upcoming elections that are seen as a midterm confidence vote for the government of President Park Geun-hye.Nam,
March 5, 2014
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Security minister joins election fray
Minister of Security and Public Administration Yoo Jeong-bok will resign and enter the race for Incheon mayor on Wednesday, joining the growing list of conservative heavyweights entering the June 4 local elections. “The situation does not allow me to ignore the political command to run for Incheon mayor for the success of the Park Geun-hye administration,” Yoo told Saenuri Party members in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday. Gimpo is Yoo’s constituency, where he has won three terms in the Nati
March 4, 2014
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Park calls for more family exchanges with N. Korea
President Park Geun-hye has ordered officials to open talks with North Korea to allow letter exchanges and video reunions for families separated by the Korean War, which ended more than 60 years ago. Stressing that time is running out for millions of separated families in the South and North, the president said the government has to seek ways to help them reunite with their long-lost kin before they die. The remark came only three days after she suggested holding the family reunions on a regular
March 4, 2014
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Kim, Ahn forge ahead toward party launch
Rep. Kim Han-gil and independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo are gearing up for the launch of their new party despite concerns of internal discord within both of their organizations. From Wednesday, Democratic Party leader Kim and Ahn are set to begin a nationwide tour to whip up support for the new party. In addition, Kim named three-term lawmaker Rep. Sul Hoon as the chief of the committee that will oversee the new party’s launch, which the two sides plan to complete before March 23. “I think that thos
March 3, 2014
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Merger with DP undermines Ahn’s ‘new politics’ pitch
The main opposition Democratic Party and independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s plan to launch a new party will be a double-edged sword for the opposition bloc, experts say. According to political analysts, the DP-Ahn merger will place the opposition on stronger footing against the ruling Saenuri Party in the June 4 local elections, but weaken its cause of introducing so-called new politics. “Establishing a two-party structure can be considered laying the foundations for competitive elections. This gi
March 3, 2014
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DP, Ahn agree to form new party
Democratic Party chairman Rep. Kim Han-gil and independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo have agreed to establish a new political party to challenge the ruling Saenuri Party ahead of local election in June.The two opposition leaders also said Sunday they will join forces to abolish parties’ candidate nomination for lower-level administration chiefs and councilors as part of their political reform efforts.The new party will be formed with the unified aim to transfer power from the ruling party in the next p
March 2, 2014
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Park calls on Japan to face up to history
President Park Geun-hye on Saturday renewed her calls for Japan to face up to its colonial history, warning that its denial of the past would invite further diplomatic isolation.During a ceremony to mark Independence Movement Day, Park also urged Tokyo to teach history correctly to its youth, stressing a country’s historical perception serves as a “compass” that guides its path into the future.“If (Japan) can’t look back on the past, it can’t open a new era. It is only natural that a leader who
March 2, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Chung leads Saenuri big guns in Seoul polls
Rep. Chung Mong-joon, who announced his candidacy in the Saenuri Party’s primary for Seoul mayor, is a veteran politician with a career only a few can match. Chung has had a very successful political career despite criticism that he lacks common touch, a claim that is backed up by comments such as that regarding Seoul’s bus fares. The seven-term lawmaker has been quoted estimating bus fares to be about 70 won, when the actual figures stand at more than 1,000 won. Regardless, Chung has served as
March 2, 2014
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[News Focus] Opposition bloc's coalition party shakes up political landscape
Many political watchers expected the opposition bloc to face an uphill battle ahead of the nationwide local elections in June, but few could have predicted that the solution would be another new party, especially one that combines the largest opposition party with the emerging party of a popular independent.On Sunday, Kim Han-gil, the chief of the main opposition Democratic Party, and Ahn Cheol-soo, a former presidential candidate with his own party in the making, announced that they would join
March 2, 2014
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Tycoon-turned-legislator announces candidacy for Seoul mayor
Seven-term ruling party legislator and millionaire business executive Chung Mong-joon officially announced his candidacy for Seoul mayor, entering a race that on the same day took an unexpected turn with the announcement of a merger of opposition blocs.Chung, son of late Hyundai Group founder and current chairman of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's largest shipbuilder, said he will run for the mayor of the capital city, pledging to put Seoul at the center of national development."In ord
March 2, 2014
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Opposition bloc to create united coalition party
Leaders of main opposition blocs announced Sunday they will create a new united coalition party ahead of local elections, a move that upends the country's political structure.Kim Han-gil, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party , and Ahn Cheol-soo, a businessman-turned-politician new to the political scene, said they will seek a union and aim for a transfer of power at the next presidential election.The move was announced just months ahead of the June 4 local elections to pick a new Seo
March 2, 2014
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'Comfort women' could be asked to testify again: Japanese lawmaker
Korean victims of the Japanese military's sexual enslavement during World War II could be asked to repeat their testimonies, a Japanese news report quoted a ranking Japanese lawmaker as saying Saturday, a remark that could be seen as another sign of Tokyo's unrepentant attitude over its wartime atrocities.Shigeru Ishiba, the secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, made the remark in a meeting with reporters following revelations that the Japanese government will set up a te
March 2, 2014
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Former Japanese premier says war apology must stand
Former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said Thursday the landmark 1993 Kono Statement admitting the country’s conscription of sex slaves should not be re-examined, amid growing speculation that the Japanese government will attempt to revise it.Muramaya also said in a press conference that his 1995 apology for the country’s wartime atrocities was an international pledge that could not be retracted. “The 1993 Kono Statement came after comprehensive research of the evidence,” the former P
Feb. 28, 2014
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Assembly passes special investigation bills
The National Assembly passed the much-contended prosecution reform bills on Friday, under pressure to avoid ending the February session without significant results. The bills will allow the introduction of a special investigator, who will monitor activities of high-level officials and members of the president’s family, and ease the requirements for launching an independent probe. The measures, however, came under fire even before their approval in the plenary session, with critics saying that th
Feb. 28, 2014
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Park receives credentials from nine ambassadors
South Korean President Park Geun-hye received credentials from China’s new ambassador and eight other foreign envoys to Seoul on Friday, her office said.Amb. Qiu Guohong took office as China’s top envoy to South Korea earlier this month. He replaced Zhang Xinsen, who ended his four-year stint in Seoul in December. Qiu had been known as an expert in Japanese affairs, and it is his first time to serve in South Korea.Park also received credentials from three other new ambassadors stationed in Seoul
Feb. 28, 2014
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DP chair-Ahn meeting yields no results
Democratic Party chairman Rep. Kim Han-gil and independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s much anticipated meeting over the candidate nomination system ended achieving little less than confirming their views. “The two agreed on the seriousness of President Park Geun-hye and the Saenuri Party’s promise-breaking, and to endeavor until the end to abolish the nomination system for local elections,” DP spokesman Rep. Lee Yoon-seok said. He added that Ahn requested a “wise decision” from the DP and that Kim res
Feb. 27, 2014
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Top nuke envoy named vice foreign minister
President Park Geun-hye named Cho Tae-yong, Seoul’s top nuclear envoy, first vice foreign minister in a small-scale reshuffle that affected two other high-level posts, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday.Cho, the special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, was selected due to his ample diplomatic experience, professionalism, negotiation skills and management know-how, presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook told reporters. Having served in the ministry for some 34 years, Cho wi
Feb. 27, 2014
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Park to meet UAE crown prince for talks on cooperation
South Korean President Park Geun-hye will meet the United Arab Emirates' crown prince of Abu Dhabi Thursday for talks on expanding bilateral cooperation in energy, defense and other areas of mutual interest, her office said.Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who arrived in Seoul Wednesday for a three-day visit, is the highest-ranking Middle Eastern official to visit South Korea since the launch of the Park government last February, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said in a p
Feb. 27, 2014
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Park names top nuclear envoy as vice foreign minister
President Park Geun-hye named South Korea's chief nuclear envoy as the first vice foreign minister Thursday in a minor government reshuffle that also affected two other vice ministerial posts, her spokesman said.Cho Tae-yong, Seoul's top envoy to the six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea, replaces former Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kyou-hyun, who was appointed first deputy chief of the presidential office of national security early this month.Cho, a career diplomat of 34 years, was chosen
Feb. 27, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Fake evidence scandal hits prosecution, NIS
Hamstrung by allegations of evidence fabrication, the prosecutors’ office is facing a major crisis. The developments that threaten to undermine not only the prosecutors’ office but also cast doubt on the integrity of South Korea’s entire legal system began to play out last year when a former Seoul city official was tried on charges of espionage. Although the defendant, Yoo Woo-seong, a North Korean of Chinese descent who came to the South in 2004, was initially acquitted, the prosecution appeale
Feb. 26, 2014