Most Popular
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Yoon, Lee end first talks with differences, agree to meet more
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What is Hybe’s next move?
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China outpaces Korea in smaller OLED shipments for 1st time
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[Herald Interview] Mom’s Touch seeks to replicate success in Japan
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Police to open alleged stalking probe over pastor over Dior bag scandal
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'Queen of Tears' finale sets record viewership ratings as tvN's most-watched series ending
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[News Focus] Lee tells Yoon that he has governed without political dialogue
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Seoul to deploy more military doctors to fill med prof void
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Samsung chip business back on track, logs W1.9tr operating profit in Q1
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Liberal bloc moves to rewrite student rights ordinance
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National Assembly OKs retirement age change
The National Assembly on Tuesday approved plans to raise the retirement age to 60, and passed a key economic democratization measure that will bring into force tougher penalties for unfair subcontracting transactions.The measures are part of economic democratization efforts, which have been strongly opposed by pro-business lobbies that argue the changes will incur significant costs for businesses. On Monday, the deputy chiefs of the country’s five main pro-business lobbies including the Federat
April 30, 2013
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Prosecution raids spy agency office over scandal
Prosecutors on Tuesday raided the headquarters of the nation's main intelligence agency in connection with suspicions that the organization attempted to influence public opinion ahead of last year's presidential election. A team of some 25 prosecutors and investigators seized digital files, internal documents from an anti-North Korea psychological warfare team at the National Intelligence Service (NIS), they said.Allegations have been raised that the NIS extensively and systemically intervened i
April 30, 2013
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Ex-spy chief grilled over alleged intervention in politics
The former chief of the nation's main intelligence agency was allowed to return home Tuesday after around 14 hours of questioning by prosecutors over allegations that he attempted to influence public opinion ahead of last year's presidential election. "I sincerely responded to the prosecution's investigation," Won Sei-hoon told reporters as he emerged from the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office in southern Seoul past midnight.Won, who headed the National Intelligence Service (NIS) under
April 30, 2013
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Nat'l Assembly adopts resolution against Japan
South Korea's National Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution condemning Japan's recent moves to glorify its militaristic past despite strong protests from its Asian neighbors, including Seoul.Tensions between South Korea and Japan flared anew last week after several Japanese Cabinet ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, visited a shrine honoring Japan's war dead. The visits were seen in South Korea as a sign that Tokyo has not repented for its wartime atrocities and brutal colon
April 29, 2013
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Parties clash over extra holidays
The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party clashed on Monday over plans to introduce substitute holidays.Under the proposed plan, employers will be required to give employees a day off during the week when a public holiday falls on a Sunday.While the DUP pushed for the measure to be put to vote at the Security and Public Administration Committee’s general meeting on Monday, the ruling party resisted the motion, calling for further discussions. “Introducing the subst
April 29, 2013
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DUP proposes talks with Park over Gaeseong
Democratic United Party leader Moon Hee-sang on Monday proposed talks with President Park Geun-hye and his ruling Saenuri Party counterpart Hwang Woo-yea before this weekend over the suspended inter-Korean Gaeseong industrial complex.“Gaeseong industrial complex is a symbol of inter-Korean peace and reconciliation and the last remaining dialogue channel at present,” Moon said in a press conference at the National Assembly.“It is more important than anything to maintain the industrial park and we
April 29, 2013
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Assembly adopts resolution against Japan
The National Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution condemning Japan’s recent moves to glorify its militaristic past amid strong backlash in Seoul.The resolution passed a full Assembly session with near unanimous support. Out of a total of 239 lawmakers in attendance, 238 voted in favor of the resolution, while one abstained.“(The Japanese Cabinet’s) irrational and rash acts and words are a diplomatic provocation with serious negative consequences for future-oriented ties between South Korea an
April 29, 2013
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Park orders public firms to disclose debt information
President Park Geun-hye said Monday her government will disclose all information about debt situations at public agencies and firms as a first step toward resolving the worsening problem.“First of all, I will make it a principle to disclose all information about what debts at public firms and agencies rose,” she said during a weekly meeting with senior secretaries, according to presidential spokesman Yoon Chang-jung.“If this happens, agencies will be able to work harder with a greater sense of r
April 29, 2013
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DUP leadership election becomes two-person race
The election to pick the next leader of the main democratic Democratic United Party has become a two-person race on Sunday with the exit of Rep. Kang Gi-jung.Kang made his announcement to quit during a joint speech session of candidates for the top party post in Gwangmyeong. He said that he plans to support Rep. Lee Yong-sup in the party election as the champion of the mainstream faction.The decision leaves just Rep. Kim Han-gil and Lee in the race as the liberal DUP faces stiff challenges follo
April 28, 2013
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Disagreement holds up passage of extra budget
Disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties will likely hold up the passage of the government’s extra budget till mid-May, parliamentary sources said Sunday.The prediction comes as lawmakers had originally agreed to hold a plenary session on May 3 or May 6 to pass the 17.3 trillion won ($15.6 billion) supplementary budget aimed at countering tough economic conditions.Rep. Park Ki-choon, the floor leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party, told Yonhap News Agency that all
April 28, 2013
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[Photo News] New lawmakers
April 26, 2013
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Saenuri gears up for election of new floor leader, policy chief
A two-way competition is shaping up for the election of the ruling Saenuri Party’s new floor leader and policy chief slated for next month. Reps. Choi Kyung-hwan and Lee Ju-young are competing to replace current floor leader Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, whose term ends on May 30.Choi and Lee are teaming up respectively with Reps. Kim Gi-hyeon and Chang Yoon-seok, who both eye the post of the party’s committee policy chairman. Kim resigned as the party’s floor spokesman Friday before joining the race. Both
April 26, 2013
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Prosecution summons high-ranking spy agency agent
A senior official of South Korea's main intelligence agency has been questioned over allegations that the agency sought to sway public opinion in an attempt to influence last year's presidential election, prosecutors said Friday.The director of an anti-North Korea psychological warfare team at the National Intelligence Service is suspected of ordering other agents to post a slew of politically sensitive comments on the Internet prior to the Dec. 19 election, according to prosecutors.The official
April 26, 2013
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P.M. rejects calls for sending special envoy to N. Korea
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won on Thursday dismissed a suggestion that South Korea send a special envoy to North Korea on a mission to defuse cross-border tensions, saying it is not the right time to do so. During a parliamentary interpellation session, Chung said that past experiences show that "unilateral goodwill" alone cannot resolve problems between the two Koreas. That appears to mean Pyongyang should first soften its stance. Earlier Thursday, South Korea formally offered North Korea d
April 25, 2013
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Ahn, DUP likely to maintain rivalry for now
Independent politician Ahn Cheol-soo’s by-election victory has given the former academic a more secure footing for his “new politics” drive likely to pose a challenge to the powerful opposition Democratic United Party.On Wednesday, the former presidential candidate and software engineer took Seoul’s Nowon-C parliamentary constituency with 60.46 percent of the vote. In contrast to Ahn’s landslide win, all six DUP candidates who ran in the by-elections for regional government and council seats wer
April 25, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Veteran politician returns to Assembly
Upon his landslide win in the parliamentary by-election Wednesday, Saenuri Party veteran Kim Moo-sung is setting off ripples across the political arena.Kim received 65.7 percent of the vote in Busan’s Yeongdo constituency, beating his opposition party rival Kim Bi-oh who had 22.3 percent.Kim is a close ally of President Park Geun-hye and a seasoned politician now in his fifth parliamentary term. His return is considered by many to be a signal for a major shift in the balance of power within the
April 25, 2013
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Court upholds 8-year-term for Gwangju school sex offender
The nation’s top court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a faculty member at a school for the hearing impaired, who was found guilty of raping a disabled student. The 65-year-old former administrator at Gwangju Inhwa School in Gwangju, about 330 kilometers south of Seoul, was sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting an 18-year-old deaf student in April 2005. The administrator, only identified by his surname Kim, was also found guilty of physically abusing another 17-year-old
April 25, 2013
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P.M. opposes U.S. tactical nuke weapons redeployment
Prime Minister Chung Hong-won voiced opposition Thursday to ideas of redeploying U.S. tactical nuclear weapons here to deter North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.“The (South Korean) government remains committed to maintaining the principle of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Chung said during a parliamentary interpellation session.“While not pursuing independent nuclear sovereignty, I think (South Korea) can deter (the North’s) nuclear programs by managing the extended deterrence provided b
April 25, 2013
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EU can play crucial part for peace in Korea and region: experts
The European Union can play a crucial part in promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia based on its experience of building peace and unity, experts said Thursday. During a forum hosted by the HUFS-HRI EU Centre, a research institute run by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Hyundai Research Institute, researchers and officials offered a positive outlook of a multilateral peninsular peace process similar to the European initiatives in the 1970s.They dismis
April 25, 2013
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Park to unveil vision for Northeast Asia peace cooperation
President Park Geun-hye said Wednesday that she would unveil her vision for peace and cooperation in Northeast Asia during her visit to the U.S. early next month.“Northeast Asian countries and the U.S. can build trust first in non-political areas such as climate change, anti-terrorism and nuclear energy and forge a greater multilateral confidence based in it,” she said during a meeting with managing editors of local media outlets at Cheong Wa Dae.“North Korea can also participate in it,” she add
April 24, 2013