Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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China's vice FM to visit Seoul after trip to Pyongyang
China's vice foreign minister will fly to Seoul late Thursday after his visit to North Korea, in a rare back-to-back trip by a ranking Chinese official to both Koreas, officials said.Liu Zhenmin has been visiting North Korea since Monday for meetings with officials there over security issues, including the North's nuclear weapons program.The Chinese official will leave Pyongyang and fly straight to Seoul via Beijing Thursday evening for a three-day stay, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affa
Feb. 20, 2014
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DP steps up attacks on alleged spy case fabrication
The main opposition Democratic Party staged a rally Wednesday, upping its offensive against the government and prosecution over allegations that state investigators fabricated Chinese documents in a high-profile espionage case.Dozens of DP lawmakers renewed their calls for a parliamentary inquiry and an independent-counsel probe into the case during their first rally in three months at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul.The ruling Saenuri Party decried the street gathering as politically-motiva
Feb. 19, 2014
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Former premier hints at running for Seoul mayor
Former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik on Wednesday said he is considering running in this year’s Seoul mayoral race. “I am receiving requests from several people in the Saenuri Party, regardless of factions, to play a role in (promoting) the party (concerning the election),” Kim said.Kim, currently residing in the U.S., hinted at the possibility of returning to Seoul as early as mid-March, which would give him about two months of preparation time before candidate registration begins on May 15. Kim
Feb. 19, 2014
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Opposition party to take to streets over evidence manipulation scandal
The main opposition Democratic Party will take to the streets this week in protest of the government’s alleged interference in the trial of a former civil servant accused of spying for North Korea, the party’s floor leader said Tuesday.The rally will take place at Gwanghwamun Plaza in central Seoul Wednesday, floor leader Jun Byung-hun said at a general meeting of DP lawmakers, urging them all to take part.The trial of Yoo Woo-seong, a 34-year-old former civil servant for the Seoul municipal gov
Feb. 18, 2014
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Park holds summit with Lithuanian president
South Korean President Park Geun-hye met with her Lithuanian counterpart Tuesday in a summit expected to focus on ways to increase trade and investment and bolster cooperation in energy and other areas between the two countries, officials said.Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite has been on a visit to South Korea to attend the naming ceremony for a Korean-built liquefied natural gas, or LNG, carrier that the Baltic country is borrowing from Norway in an effort to lessen its dependence on Rus
Feb. 18, 2014
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Park thanks U.S. lawmaker for support on 'comfort women' issue
South Korean President Park Geun-hye thanked the chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday for his support in Seoul's efforts to resolve the issue of Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II.Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is known for his sympathy and support for the so-called comfort women issue. Earlier this month, he visited the statue of a girl set up in Glendale, California, in memory of the victims and paid his re
Feb. 18, 2014
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China's Xi to meet S. Korea's parliament delegation this week
A large-scale South Korean parliamentary delegation will visit Beijing this week for talks with Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, a Seoul diplomat said Tuesday.A total of 42 South Korean lawmakers, led by Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party, will arrive in Beijing on Thursday for a four-day visit expected to focus on further improving relations between the two nations.The diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the scale of the South Korean parliament
Feb. 18, 2014
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Left-wing lawmaker sentenced to 12-year prison term in treason case
Opposition lawmaker Lee Seok-ki was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Monday on conviction of plotting and instigating an armed rebellion against the South Korean government. Lee, the first to face treason charges in 34 years, was also found guilty of violating the National Security Law.In addition to the prison term, the 52-year-old lawmaker, affiliated with the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party, received a 10-year suspension of his civil rights after release.“It has been acknowledged
Feb. 17, 2014
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DP urges probe into prosecution over alleged spy case fabrication
Political controversy escalated on Monday over allegations the prosecution fabricated evidence in a high-profile espionage case, as the main opposition Democratic Party called for a special-counsel probe into it.The ruling Saenuri Party berated the DP for politically exploiting the case concerning national security to attack the state investigators and undermine public trust toward the government.The parties’ clash came after the Chinese Embassy in Seoul said last week that evidence the prosecut
Feb. 17, 2014
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Ahn begins mission to expand political base
Independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s new political party held its first meeting with its founding members in Seoul, Monday, as part of efforts to expand its political support base and lay the ground for its planned establishment in March.A total of 374 members from various fields of society officially adopted “New Political Party” as the party’s name and unanimously approved Ahn as the chairman of the central organizing committee of the envisioned party. “To make a just society that has no privilege
Feb. 17, 2014
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Park cautions against monopolies in broadcasting industry
President Park Geun-hye ordered broadcasting regulators Monday to ensure that the industry won't fall into the hands of a handful of conglomerates, saying diversity and fairness are key to revitalizing the broadcasting sector.Park issued the instruction during a joint policy briefing by the ministry of science and the Korea Communications Commission. She said the broadcasting industry strongly influences the economy and is directly related to people's everyday lives."Conglomerates, which have go
Feb. 17, 2014
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Rival parties spar over claims prosecution faked evidence
Rival political parties clashed Monday over allegations that the prosecution fabricated evidence to press charges against a former civil servant accused of spying for North Korea.The Chinese-born suspect, Yoo Woo-seong, was indicted last year on charges of handing over the personal information of more than 200 North Korean defectors to Pyongyang after disguising himself as a defector in order to enter South Korea.After a local court acquitted Yoo of espionage, prosecutors appealed the verdict an
Feb. 17, 2014
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Telling politicians what to do
After years of hard work, Lee Kang-won, a 31-year-old Korean who graduated from a U.S. law school, could have easily taken up a lucrative job in the legal industry. But he has foregone the security and wealth that comes with law to enter the political world, with advisory firm Min Consulting.The turning point came in 2010 when Lee, then a junior volunteer for the political consulting firm Government Insight Group, served as a telephone marketer seeking donations for Martha Coakley.Coakley, then
Feb. 16, 2014
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Ahn’s party named ‘New Political Party’
Independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s new party was named the New Political Party, his new political committee announced Sunday.“The name includes the meaning of the ‘new politics,’ which is well known to the people, and also the meaning of embracing the rational conservatives and introspective progressives,” said Keum Tae-sup, spokesman of the new party’s preparatory committee. The name will be officially adopted on Monday during a meeting planned to lay the groundwork for the launch of the new part
Feb. 16, 2014
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Ahn picks name for his new political party
Maverick lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo on Sunday announced that his political party to be launched next month will be named "New Political Party."The name will be officially adopted at a meeting on Monday when some 320 members joining him meet for the first time to initiate groundwork for the party's launch."The name contains the meaning of 'new politics,' that is well known among the people, as well as the meaning of embracing the rational conservatives and introspective progressives," said Keum Tae-s
Feb. 16, 2014
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S. Korea not discussing talks with Japan: official
South Korea's presidential office on Sunday reiterated that no communication is under way with Japan on holding a summit, denying a press report from Tokyo.Japanese daily Nihon Keizai reported on Saturday that Tokyo plans to propose holding a summit in March when South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe both attend the Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands."Tokyo is willing to take steps toward repairing relations with South Korea," the article, posted on
Feb. 16, 2014
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Park expresses shock at ‘salt farm slavery’
President Park Geun-hye expressed shock Friday after two handicapped people were rescued last week from a salt farm after years of slavery-like labor, saying she can’t believe such an incident happened in the 21st century.The two in their 40s, one of them mentally handicapped and the other visually handicapped, were coaxed with job promises into the salt farm on an island off the southwest coast in 2008 and 2012, respectively, and were forced to work like slaves with little sleep and no pay. Att
Feb. 14, 2014
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Park expresses shock at 'salt farm slavery'
President Park Geun-hye expressed shock Friday after two handicapped people were rescued last week from a salt farm after years of slavery-like labor, saying she can't believe such an incident happened in the 21st century.The two in their 40s, one of them mentally handicapped and the other visually handicapped, were coaxed with job promises into the salt farm on an island off the southwest coast in 2008 and 2012, respectively, and were forced to work like slaves with little sleep and no pay. Att
Feb. 14, 2014
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Barack Obama to visit Korea in April
U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Seoul in April to bolster the bilateral alliance and talk about North Korea’s nuclear program with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, the White House said Wednesday.Obama “will meet with President Park to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to a strong alliance, review recent developments in North Korea and our combined efforts to promote denuclearization, and discuss our ongoing implementation of the Korea-United States FTA,” the White House said in
Feb. 13, 2014
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Inexperienced minister nominee faces tough confirmation hearing
Controversy is enshrouding President Park Geun-hye’s latest decision to nominate ruling Saenuri Party Rep. Lee Ju-young as the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, with skeptics saying the new designee lacks expertise in marine affairs.The opposition warned they would “thoroughly” examine the four-time lawmaker in his parliamentary confirmation hearing before agreeing to Park’s latest cabinet decision.Park appointed Lee as her new fisheries minister on Wednesday after firing Yoon Jin-sook, who made
Feb. 13, 2014