Most Popular
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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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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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Why Korean crime stories typically feature nameless, faceless perpetrators
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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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Debate on 'no-seniors zones' heats up
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[Newsmaker] Progressives anxious about Sohn’s next move
For the beleaguered Democratic Party, its senior adviser Sohn Hak-kyu has become one of only a handful of members that hold the key for its political countermove against its rivals.Since losing last year’s presidential election, the DP has concentrated much of its resources on gaining leverage on the ruling party.However, despite numerous opportunities, the DP has so far managed only to paint itself into increasingly tighter corners.The issues surrounding the 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript
Oct. 6, 2013
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Dogfight over history roils politics
Rival parties are sharply divided over a new chief of the national history textbook screening body, who is seen to be less critical of Japan’s colonialism and explicitly eulogistic of controversial former national leaders.Conservative scholar Lew Young-ik took office last Tuesday as chief of the National Institute of Korean History amid protests by progressive academics and opposition politicians.The opposition Democratic Party accused President Park Geun-hye of committing herself to a “historic
Oct. 6, 2013
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Park’s approval ratings drop over health minister debacle
President Park Geun-hye’s approval ratings dropped 11 percent in three weeks last month in a period that saw her scale back her pension pledge and her health minister resign, survey showed.Of the 1,021 adults surveyed by Gallup Korea from Monday to Wednesday last week, 56 percent said they approved of Park’s administration, a 4 percentage point drop from the previous week.Her approval rating had hovered above 60 percent in September, reaching 67 percent in the second week of last month. But the
Oct. 6, 2013
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Lawmakers seek on-site audit of Gaeseong park
The National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee members are pushing to conduct an on-site audit of the inter-Korean Gaeseong industrial park later this month to seek measures to better help South Korean businesses there and improve ties between the two Koreas.“Through political agreement between the rival parties to visit the park where businesses are still suffering from difficulties, we expect to send a positive message not only in and outside of Korea but also to North Korea
Oct. 6, 2013
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No end in sight for summit transcript controversy
The developments surrounding the 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript appear likely to continue bogging down the National Assembly as the ruling Saenuri Party pushes for the disclosure of the voice recording of the meeting.Last week, the prosecutors’ office announced that the transcript was never transferred to the National Archives, and that they had found and reconstructed a deleted version that has “significant differences” to the copy in the National Intelligence Service’s possession and that
Oct. 6, 2013
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Korea concerned about U.S. stance on Japan’s military move
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― As it broadens its alliance with Japan, the United States should nonetheless consider the growing anxiety among neighboring nations over Tokyo’s apparent flexing of its military muscles, officials here said Thursday.Washington’s push for strengthening bilateral and trilateral alliances with Seoul and Tokyo is no news. But unnerving South Korea and China is the conservative Japanese administration’s stated goal of expanding the role of its self-defense forces.At a rare
Oct. 4, 2013
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Saenuri picks by-election candidate marred by corruption
The ruling Saenuri Party on Friday named Suh Chung-won, a long-time confidant of President Park Geun-hye and former chairman of the conservative party, as its candidate for the Oct. 30 parliamentary by-election.The Supreme Council said Suh is “the most credible candidate” to represent the party in the Hwaseong A constituency.The decision stirred angry reactions from younger lawmakers in the ruling party who have been opposing to his nomination citing his history of corruption.The main opposition
Oct. 4, 2013
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Political wrangling intensifies over Roh summit transcript
Political disputes escalated Friday over the handling of the transcript of the 2007 inter-Korean summit after the prosecution found that it was not transferred to the National Archives at the end of the Roh Moo-hyun administration.The ruling Saenuri Party stepped up its attack on former president’s aides in the opposition bloc. The party claimed that they might have intentionally deleted the minutes before transferring other presidential records, to conceal Roh’s remarks, which allegedly made a
Oct. 4, 2013
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Key Roh aides to be summoned
Prosecutors are expected to summon key aides and officials of the former Roh Moo-hyun administration from next week in an investigation into why the 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript was not transferred to the National Archives.Rival parties, meanwhile, continued to hurl invective over the transcript controversy, signaling a tougher National Assembly session already mired in disputes over a backtracked pension pledge and reform of the National Intelligence Service.Seoul Central District Prosec
Oct. 3, 2013
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[Photo News] Korea’s 4,346th birthday
Oct. 3, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Saenuri picks Suh as by-election candidate
Internal conflict within the ruling Saenuri Party is escalating over its choice for a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary by-election. On Thursday evening, Saenuri picked Suh Chung-won, its former chairman and President Park Geun-hye’s longtime confidant, as the party’s candidate for the Oct. 30 election.The announcement came a day after the 70-year-old politician declared his candidacy bid “for the success of the Park Geun-hye government.”The return of the former six-term lawmaker, however,
Oct. 3, 2013
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Unease builds over Park’s ‘unilateralism’
The latest blunder over the basic pension scheme and the resignation of the health minister is seen to make President Park Geun-hye’s crowd-pleasing pledge to share more power with the Cabinet members appear empty.Former health minister Chin Young’s reason for resigning opened up the crack within the administration, pointedly between President Park Geun-hye’s secretariat and the Cabinet over implementing the president’s key pledges.It triggered debate over the Park administration’s top-down, sec
Oct. 2, 2013
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Probe finds someone deleted inter-Korean summit transcript
The 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript was deleted from the Roh Moo-hyun administration’s presidential record system before data was transferred to the National Archives, the prosecutors’ office announced Wednesday. According to the prosecution, which has been investigating the case since late July, the document was not categorized as a presidential record and deleted from the e-Jiwon system. The e-Jiwon system was the archive system used during the Roh administration. The investigators said th
Oct. 2, 2013
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Park expresses hope for Papal visit to South Korea
President Park Geun-hye said Wednesday she eagerly hopes that Pope Francis will visit South Korea to help promote social cohesion in the nation.Park made the remark during a meeting with Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples at the Vatican. "I am well aware that the Pope has a very busy schedule, but I hope he will make sure to visit South Korea," Park said. "Not only Roman Catholics, but Christians are also hoping to see the Pope. I hope (he) wi
Oct. 2, 2013
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Prosecutors conclude 'no summit transcript' at national archives
The prosecution has concluded a 2007 inter-Korean summit transcript does not exist at the national archives, prosecutors said Wednesday.State prosecutors have been probing to determine whether the late South Korean liberal President Roh Moo-hyun seriously undermined the country's sovereignty during his 2007 summit with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il by offering to surrender the western maritime border with the North. After searching all presidential records of the Roh administration of 200
Oct. 2, 2013
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Scandal over former chief prosecutor gets uglier
The scandal surrounding former Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook’s private life is getting even muddier as ruling and opposition lawmakers Tuesday raised new allegations about his extramarital affairs and a conspiracy theory behind his resignation.Chae, who is alleged to have a son born out of wedlock, stepped down from office on Monday.On Tuesday, ruling Saenuri Party Rep. Kim Jin-tae alleged that Chae has had inappropriate relations with an opposition politician and that a senior Democratic Pa
Oct. 1, 2013
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Parties clash over basic pension
Rival parties clashed over the downsized basic pension program on Monday, the first day of the regular session of the National Assembly.The main opposition Democratic Party lambasted the government reneging on Park Geun-hye’s key election pledge by excluding the top 30 percent of seniors in terms of income from the proposed monthly subsidy of 200,000 won. “Failing to keep a presidential election pledge made for disadvantaged seniors and deceiving (the public) is unacceptable,” said DP lawmaker R
Sept. 30, 2013
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Park accepts health minister’s resignation
President Park Geun-hye on Monday accepted Health Minister Chin Young’s resignation over the pension controversy after a week of back-and-forth that left a sizable dent in her leadership and policy drive.Earlier in the day Prime Minister Chung Hong-won expressed deep regret about his “irresponsible” departure.“Offering to resign in such a manner right before the crucial time of the National Assembly’s regular session and the government audit is running away from responsibility as a Cabinet membe
Sept. 30, 2013
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Welfare minister defies president’s call to stay
Minister of Health and Welfare Chin Young on Sunday defied President Park Geun-hye’s order to stay in office after he offered to resign last week in an apparent feud over the government’s recent rollback of key welfare programs. He told reporters that he would not return to work because his conscience will not allow him to stay in office while the government reneges on its promise on the basic pension plan, in which he was actively involved.“How can I persuade the public, the parliament and the
Sept. 29, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Chin’s ups & downs as Park’s key ally
When Chin Young, one of the closest allies of President Park Geun-hye and a passionate advocate of broader welfare, was appointed to head the Ministry of Health and Welfare in March, it was considered an indication of her government’s greater commitment to caring for the poor and underprivileged. Six months later the minister is seeking to step down in what is seen as a symbol of the Park administration’s retreat in welfare and return to a growth agenda amid budget woes and a lackluster economy.
Sept. 29, 2013