Most Popular
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Over 80,000 millionaires, 20 billionaires in Seoul: report
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Korean battery makers heave sigh of relief over 2-year IRA reprieve
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Yoon apologizes over first lady’s Dior bag scandal, but accuses special probe attempt as political maneuvering
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Young Korean doctors seek plan B: cosmetic dermatology or overseas
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South Korea open to Indonesian proposal to cut KF-21 payments
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Coupang earnings hit hard by losses from ailing Farfetch
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Girl hanging on bridge, police trying to rescue her both fall off; rescued immediately
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[K-pop’s dilemma] Time, profit pressures work against originality
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Why femicide and dating violence are growing issues in S. Korea
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DP urges Yoon to accept proposal on cash handouts, special counsel probe over Marine's death
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Park meets former top Chinese diplomat
President Park Geun-hye met with a former top Chinese diplomat Friday as she prepares for her first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping that she plans to use to enlist Beijing’s help in pressuring North Korea to give up its nuclear programs.The meeting with Xi, set for June 27, comes after the new Chinese president and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed at a summit earlier this month that Pyongyang has to abandon its nuclear weapons aspirations, the latest indication that Beijing may be tou
June 14, 2013
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Former chiefs of NIS, Seoul police indicted over election interference
Prosecutors indicted former National Intelligence Service chief Won Sei-hoon without detention Friday on charges of meddling in last year’s presidential election. Announcing the results of its two-month-long probe, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Won ordered his agents to put up online comments and express opinions on Internet posts over political issues. Among 1,760 posts by the NIS agents with hundreds of fake IDs from Sep. 19 to Dec. 14 last year, 67 are confirmed to have
June 14, 2013
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DP increases pressure on justice minister to resign
The main opposition party ratcheted up pressure on top government officials accused of meddling in an investigation of a former intelligence chief over illegal political activities.Democratic Party lawmakers adopted a resolution on Thursday demanding the resignation of Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Kwak Sang-do. The party claimed that the two officials obstructed the prosecution’s plans to arrest Won Sei-hoon and charge him for election law vi
June 13, 2013
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Failed talks with N.K. spark partisan clash in Seoul
The collapse of the planned inter-Korean talks is igniting political fighting in the South over the proper approach to the communist neighbor. The two-day meeting, scheduled to open on Wednesday in Seoul, was aborted after the two sides failed to agree on the ranks of chief delegates. A senior presidential official said on Tuesday the North was trying to “force subservience and indignity (on South Korea) as it has done in the past.” His remark was also seen as a veiled criticism of the oppositio
June 13, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Progressive party leader highlights failings
Candid soul-searching by a progressive leader is reverberating around Korea’s political circles more usually criticized for defying public calls for reform. Rep. Sim Sang-jeung, chief of the minor opposition Progressive Justice Party, on Tuesday spoke out about the failings of progressive politics in her address to the parliament. The former union leader dedicated much of her 10-minute address to highlight her and colleagues’ radical views on North Korea and politics that were far removed from r
June 12, 2013
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State firms’ debts soar after Lee’s projects: BAI
The country’s major state-run enterprises are heavily in debt due to the previous administration’s massive, unviable construction and civil engineering projects, state auditors said Wednesday.The Board of Audit and Inspection said in a report that their combined debts surged from 128 trillion won ($113 billion) in late 2007 to 284 trillion won in late 2011 when they were under Lee Myung-bak administration. The state auditor inspected nine public firms and the three relevant ministries of finance
June 12, 2013
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Local public companies to face tighter regulation
The government and the ruling Saenuri Party decided on Wednesday to establish a new regulation to tighten supervision of local public enterprises. The envisioned law is expected to include clauses that close down companies in financial trouble due to lax management and executives’ misdeeds.Public firms more than half-owned by local governments are currently regulated under the Local Public Enterprises Act. However, there are no specific regulations for companies with government stakes of less th
June 12, 2013
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Principled approach faces test on N. Korea
The last-minute cancellation of inter-Korean high-level talks was seen to put a damper on President Park Geun-hye’s principled trust-building process, with critics questioning whether “inflexibility” cost an opportunity to defrost relations with the wayward North.Public sentiment in the South was largely split on the talks breakdown after the two Koreas failed to agree on the rank of chief delegates. Progressives criticized the government’s failure to negotiate with leeway in dealing with Pyongy
June 12, 2013
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Presidential office rejects criticism over cancellation of talks with N. Korea
The office of President Park Geun-hye bristled strongly at criticism Wednesday that not only North Korea but also the South is to blame for the cancellation of high-level inter-Korean talks.The two sides had been scheduled to open two days of talks in Seoul on Wednesday to discuss, among other issues, resuming joint economic projects, but the talks were called off at the last minute after they failed to reach agreement over the rank of top delegates from each side.The government-to-government ta
June 12, 2013
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Park slams past officials over ex-leader’s fines
President Park Geun-hye criticized previous administrations in an unusually strong tone Tuesday for turning a blind eye to vexing, longstanding issues, such as nuclear industry corruption and unpaid fines owed by former President Chun Doo-hwan.“The issue of the former president’s fines has been there for over 10 years, but previous governments failed to find a solution.Only now is the new government trying to resolve it,” Park said during a Cabinet meeting. “It is nonsense to ask the new governm
June 11, 2013
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DP threatens to seek minister’s dismissal
By Choi He-suk The main opposition Democratic Party on Tuesday threatened to push for the dismissal of Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, alleging that he interfered with the prosecution’s investigation into former spy chief Won Sei-hoon. The former head of the National Intelligence Service, who was a close aide to former President Lee Myung-bak, was accused of directing his agents to advocate government policies and to counter opposition claims online last year before the presidential election. Th
June 11, 2013
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Prosecutors to indict former spy chief
Prosecutors said Tuesday they will charge former spy agency chief Won Sei-hoon with illegally interfering in politics before last year’s presidential election.The longtime aide to former President Lee Myung-bak has been accused of directing his agents to advocate government policies and counter opposition claims online. Wrapping up two months of investigation, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office plans to indict him on charges of violating the laws on elections and the National Intelli
June 11, 2013
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Authorities tracking down Roh Tae-woo’s assets
Authorities are reportedly looking into suspicions that former President Roh Tae-woo may have as much as 9 billion won ($8 million) in cash and real estate held under borrowed names.The revelation comes as authorities step up efforts to collect outstanding fines from Roh and his predecessor Chun Doo-hwan. Roh, who served as president from 1988 to 1992, was sentenced to 17 years in prison and fined 262.8 billion won in 1997 on a number of charges, including revolt and bribery, of which 23 billion
June 10, 2013
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Park opposes plan to make her old home public park
President Park Geun-hye voiced opposition Monday to a local government’s project to establish a park around a former home of her family in Seoul in tribute to her father and late former President Park Chung-hee.Criticism has arisen over the project by Seoul’s Jung-gu district office to build a memorial park around the former Park family house in Shindang-dong in central Seoul, where the elder Park lived for three years before he seized power in a 1961 coup. The current president also stayed ther
June 10, 2013
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Saenuri open to parliamentary talks with Pyongyang: Choi
Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan expressed hopes for inter-Korean exchanges on the parliamentary level on Monday, in an apparent change of stance for the ruling party from only a day earlier. “If the inter-Korean ministerial talks are successful and once Park Geun-hye administration’s trust-building process takes off, more advanced exchanges including inter-Korean exchanges on the parliamentary level could be expected,” Choi said at the party’s supreme council meeting on Monday.Ch
June 10, 2013
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[Voice] Should Korea introduce substitute holidays?
Do Korea’s workers deserve more holidays? The Park Geun-hye government, having pledged at its inception to prioritize the happiness of the people, seems to think so. Along with a raft of other proposals floated by Park with the ostensible aim of improving people’s quality of life, the administration wants to provide an extra day off to workers for every public holiday that falls on a weekend. On paper, Korean workers, with 14 public holidays each year, enjoy more opportunities to unwind than the
June 10, 2013
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S. Korea, Russia maintain friendly relations
The following article was contributed by Russian Ambassador to Korea Konstantin V. Vnukov on the occasion of the National Day of the Russian Federation. ― Ed.The home and foreign policy of the Russian Federation is determined by the long-term goals of the modernization of the country, diversification of its economy, and its transition to the innovation model of development. The renewed concept of foreign policy of the Russian Federation, approved this February by President Vladimir Putin, noted
June 10, 2013
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Cheong Wa Dae upgrades website
Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday it has revamped its website (www.president.go.kr) for easier access to information and better promotion of the government’s state policies.The new site introduced a vertical user interface for easier browsing and was developed to focus on “user experience” that analyzes online visitors’ needs according to their age group.A bulletin board on the four state polices ― economic revival, people’s happiness, cultural prosperity and foundation of peace and unification ― is als
June 9, 2013
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Parties set to grill Cabinet on economy, inter-Korean relations
Political parties are set to question Cabinet members on economic democratization laws and inter-Korean relations in a four-day interpellation session that kicks off Monday.In addition, the opposition parties will hone in on political issues including allegations of the National Intelligence Agency’s interference in last year’s presidential election as they assess the Park Geun-hye administration’s first 100 days. The session will begin with political issues on Monday, followed by foreign affair
June 9, 2013
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Koreas agree on ministerial meeting in Seoul
South and North Korea agreed to hold a ministerial meeting in Seoul next week at their first government-level contact in more than two years, seeking to build mutual trust and ease uncertainties on the Korean Peninsula.In the morning session of the government-level talks held at Freedom House on the South Korean side of the joint security area of Panmunjom, the two sides exchanged views on the protocol, location, agenda and size of the delegation to attend Wednesday's ministerial meeting in Seo
June 9, 2013