Most Popular
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No plan to let doctors with foreign licenses practice here anytime soon: PM
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Ador CEO's dismissal to be decided on last day of May
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[Graphic News] Beer the most favored alcoholic drink by Koreans
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Science Ministry expresses regret over Japan’s pressure on Naver
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Haeundae Beach to become sand art museum in late May
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Medical professors set to take day off amid protracted walkouts by junior doctors
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Hostilities get out of hand as YouTuber murders another outside courthouse
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Police officer jumps barefoot into drainage tunnel to save man
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Yoon interacts with public for 1st time since election defeat
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Lee Sun-kyun's posthumuous film to hit theaters in August
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Opposition party to file resolution for Assembly speaker's resignation
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) plans to file a resolution next week calling for the resignation of National Assembly speaker Kang Chang-hee over his alleged violation of parliamentary laws in support of the ruling party, a DP spokesman said Friday.The move comes a day after Kang put to a vote the motion for the confirmation of Hwang Chan-hyon -- President Park Geun-hye's nominee for the head of the Board of Audit and Inspection -- amid objections from the opposition party.A plenary se
Nov. 29, 2013
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[Photo News] Opposition leaders
Nov. 29, 2013
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DP halts National Assembly over audit chief appointment
The National Assembly ground to a halt on Friday as the main opposition Democratic Party boycotted all procedures in protest of the Saenuri Party’s decision to push through Board of Audit and Inspection chief Hwang Chan-hyon. On Thursday, National Assembly speaker Rep. Kang Chang-hee put Hwang’s appointment up to a vote against strong opposition from the DP. The motion was approved with 154 of the 159 legislators who took part in the vote approving Hwang as the new BAI chief. The ruling party ho
Nov. 29, 2013
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Rival parties head for showdown
The ruling Saenuri Party bulldozed through the disputed nomination of the Board of Audit and Inspection chief Thursday, thrusting the heightened political tension into a familiar yearend showdown as next year’s budget remains held hostage.The confirmation of Hwang Chan-hyon as the new BAI head was approved by 154 of the 159 Saenuri Party and independent lawmakers that voted in the National Assembly’s plenary session in the afternoon. Three voted against and two were counted as invalid.Crying fou
Nov. 28, 2013
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U.S. NSC official visits Seoul to discuss China ADIZ: source
A senior White House official has visited South Korea to discuss Beijing’s unilateral drawing of an air defense zone over the East China Sea, a government official here said Thursday. Evan Medeiros, the senior director of Asian affairs at the National Security Council, was in Seoul on Wednesday and held talks with South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kyou-hyun and officials at the presidential office, ministry spokesperson Cho Tai-young told reporters.While Cho said his visit was “to get prepa
Nov. 28, 2013
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Park aide expresses displeasure over Japanese magazine’s derision
A presidential official on Thursday expressed displeasure after a Japanese magazine reportedly derided President Park Geun-hye as “imbecile of the week” for taking a tough stance on the former colonial ruler.The latest edition of the weekly Shukan Bunshun carried an article about Park’s stance on Tokyo, accusing her of “creating disturbances” with regard to rows over the sovereignty of the South’s easternmost islets of Dokdo and Japan’s enslavement of Korean women as sex slaves during World War
Nov. 28, 2013
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U.S. NSC official visits Korea to discuss China ADIZ: source
A senior U.S. White House official visited South Korea Thursday to discuss the unilateral drawing of Beijing‘s air defense zone over the East China Sea.Evan Medeiros, the senior director of Asian affairs at the National Security Council, was in Seoul and held talks with officials at the presidential office.Mederios explained Washington’s stance on the air defense identification zone and expressed concerns that such a move will likely exert a negative influence on U.S.-China relations and with ot
Nov. 28, 2013
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Court upholds conviction of UPP members
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the convictions of two Unified Progressive Party members for voting fraud in last year’s in-house primary. Only identified by their surnames Lee and Baek, the members of the minor opposition party were sentenced to one year in prison with three years suspended.They and other party members were put on trial for voting in place of other party members after receiving voting orders through phone text messages during last year’s elections to select UPP proportiona
Nov. 28, 2013
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Ahn to launch new party
Former independent presidential candidate Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo announced on Thursday that he would launch a new party in the coming months, potentially reshaping the political landscape currently dominated by two parties. Saying that inter-party conflict was holding back Korean politics, Ahn said that a tentatively named “new politics promotion committee” would be launched to lay the foundations for his party. “The aim is establishing a party. There exists a national demand for new politics. The n
Nov. 28, 2013
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Ruling party adopts confirmation report on chief auditor nominee
The ruling Saenuri Party unilaterally adopted a report Thursday on the confirmation of the nominee for Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) chief, defying strong objections from the main opposition party.The report was adopted in a vote by all seven ruling party members on the special parliamentary committee for handling nominee Hwang Chan-hyon's confirmation.The remaining six opposition party members boycotted the vote, but the report still passed with majority approval.The move is expected to d
Nov. 28, 2013
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Parties step further from breakthrough
The main parties on Wednesday moved further from compromise on the opposition’s demand for a special probe into the government’s alleged electioneering. They instead continued their bickering over the “pro-North” controversy fueled by an anti-Park Geun-hye campaign by progressive religious leaders.Party sources said the ruling Saenuri Party was near a decision not to accept the rival Democratic Party’s suggestion to set up a special committee to discuss the special parliamentary probe into the N
Nov. 27, 2013
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Main parties remain stuck on ‘pro-North’ controversy
Rival parties on Tuesday remained deadlocked over a “pro-North” controversy stoked by remarks by a Catholic priest last week seemingly defending North Korea’s deadly attack against South Korean territory in 2010.The National Assembly’s Defense Committee tussled over the idea of adopting a statement denouncing priest Park Chang-shin, while the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party pointed the finger at each other for resorting to politicized issues.The government, meanwhil
Nov. 26, 2013
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Budget proposal faces delay amid political wrangling
The National Assembly on Tuesday began deliberations on the government's budget proposal for next year, but appeared to make little progress as rival parties clashed over recent political controversies.The 357.7 trillion won ($337.6 billion) budget plan, drawn up by the government in September, is subject to parliamentary approval.A total of 11 parliamentary standing committees convened meetings to discuss the proposal, with the remaining committees scheduled to meet later in the week.However, t
Nov. 26, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Archbishop rebukes political activity
The Catholic Church is distancing itself from controversial remarks seen as sympathetic to North Korea made by a group of progressive priests.On Sunday, Archbishop of Seoul Andrew Yeom Soo-jung spoke out against priests’ involvement in politics, citing the church doctrine and guidelines issued by late Pope John Paul II.“The Catholic doctrine prohibits priests from making direct political and social intervention,” Yeom said at a Mass.“It is not the role of priests to directly intervene in politic
Nov. 25, 2013
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Saenuri mulls DP’s negotiation offer
The two main rival parties may form a four-member negotiating group to narrow their differences on outstanding issues, with the ruling Saenuri Party saying that it will decide on the matter in three to four days. The suggestion, proposed by Democratic Party chairman Rep. Kim Han-gil at a meeting with Saenuri Party leader Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, comes as the two sides seek a way out of months-long parliamentary deadlock. If agreed to, the group will also include Saenuri floor leader Rep. Choi Kyung-h
Nov. 25, 2013
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Rival party leaders to meet over parliamentary impasse
The top leaders of the ruling and main opposition parties agreed Monday to meet for talks on an ongoing parliamentary impasse over the state's alleged intervention in last year's presidential race.Rep. Kim Han-gil, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), proposed the talks with his ruling Saenuri Party counterpart Hwang Woo-yea earlier in the day, saying the two sides should work to prevent increasing political chaos.Hwang accepted the offer, and the two leaders agreed to meet
Nov. 25, 2013
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China begins work to set up monument for Korean independence fighter
BEIJING (Yonhap News) -- China has started work to set up a monument honoring a revered Korean independence fighter who assassinated a prominent Japanese colonial leader in 1909, a diplomatic source said Sunday.Ahn Jung-geun shot to death the Korean Peninsula's first Japanese governor-general, Hirobumi Ito, in Harbin, China, in October 1909. A year later, he was executed at a Japanese prison in the northern Chinese city of Ryojun, now called Lushun.South Korea and China have been working to set
Nov. 24, 2013
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Parties clash over priests’ remarks against Park
Controversial remarks by a group of progressive priests on Friday are adding fuel to ongoing political bickering between the ruling and opposition parties. The Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice, at a Mass in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, called on President Park Geun-hye to resign over the alleged irregularities in last year’s presidential election. Main opposition Democratic Party spokesperson Park Yong-jin in a statement on Saturday called for the ruling party and Cheong Wa Dae to hee
Nov. 24, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Priests stir row over Yeonpyeongdo, election
A left-wing Catholic priest sparked controversy with remarks that apparently sympathized with North Korea’s shelling of a South Korean border island three years ago. During a mass on Friday, the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice also demanded the resignation of President Park Geun-hye and called her election last year illegal. The priests club, based on voluntary membership, has been at the center of Korea’s pro-democracy movement since the 1970s. “We can only conclude that a president w
Nov. 24, 2013
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New evidence shows Japan’s violence against Koreans in 1923 massacre
Japanese vigilantes and some military personnel exercised extreme brutality during the massacre of Koreans after the 1923 earthquake in Kanto, Japan, newly found records show. According to the Independence Hall of Korea and the National Archives, the details were found in the lists of Korean victims of Japan’s 1910 to 1945 occupation of Korea. The documents, compiled in the 1950s, were found at the Korean embassy in Tokyo in June, as the mission prepared to relocate. The lists, divided into over
Nov. 24, 2013