Most Popular
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‘Gimflation’ in S. Korea as dried seaweed prices grow on rising global demand
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S. Korea's gender pay gap worst in OECD
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Yoon to resume diplomatic activity via 3-way summit with Japan, China
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South Korea unveils W26tr support program for chip industry
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SM, YG Entertainment’s K-pop groups benefit from troubles at Hybe
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S. Korea to hold rotating presidency of UN Security Council next month
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Student nabbed for biking naked 'due to stress'
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Embryo activist: Baby's lawsuit takes on S. Korea climate inaction
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BOK holds rate at 3.5%, ups growth outlook
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Police arrest mastermind behind last year's palace vandalism
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Ex-party leader loses, hints at retirement
Rep. Hong Joon-pyo of the Saenuri Party was pushed out of his seat for the Dongdaemun-B constituency on Wednesday, breaking the 24-year hold that the conservatives have had on the area.Soon after the exit polls came out Hong accepted his defeat through his Twitter account and implied that he will be retiring from the political arena.“(I) end 30 years of life as a public official. Now, as a free person, I have gained freedom from taunts and from policies,” Hong said in the Tweet. Hong began his c
April 11, 2012
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Chung defeats veteran in capital’s bellwether
Rep. Chung Sye-kyun, former leader and senior advisor of the main opposition Democratic United Party, won the key electoral race in Jongno, the political core of the nation’s capital.The fourth-term liberal lawmaker defeated his powerful right-wing rival Rep. Hong Sa-duk by 6 percentage points, gaining 52 percent of respondents’ votes.His outstanding result in the area was a positive for the entire left wing bloc, not only because the battle was expected to be one of the fiercest but also becaus
April 11, 2012
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Cyber watch team on alert even after vote
The general elections may now be over for candidates and voters, but not for the nation’s election watchdog, especially its cyber observer team which is to operate 24 hours a day for another 10 days.“People hardly notice our existence except the official election campaign period,” said Park Sung-min, officer at Cyber Investigation Division of the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.“The team, however, is a permanent organization up and running throughout the year, keeping
April 11, 2012
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Koreans cast ballots in key elections
The make up of the new National Assembly looked likely to be a delicate balance between conservatives and liberals after parliamentary elections Wednesday, seen as a prelude to the presidential race at the end of the year. With final results still in the balance late Wednesday night, the governing Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic Party were waging a tight race, with neither likely to secure a majority in the 300-seat parliament. Many races in politically neutral Seoul and its vic
April 11, 2012
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Election too close to call: TV exit polls
Rival parties were neck-and-neck Wednesday in South Korea's closely contested legislative election, a key test of sentiment before December's presidential vote, according to exit polls conducted by three major TV stations.The polls showed a tight race between President Lee Myung-bak's conservative Saenuri Party and the main opposition centre-left Democratic United Party.An exit poll by public broa
April 11, 2012
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Illegal activities, lawsuits mar election campaign
Illegal election campaign activities continued to plague the run up to Wednesday’s general election.According to the National Election Commission, the number of Public Official Election Act violations stood at 1,239 on Tuesday.Although the figure was lower than during the 2008 general election, the number of more serious offences such as slander increased significantly.The election watchdog’s figures show that the number of cases of slander and spreading falsehoods increased 31 percent from four
April 11, 2012
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Broadcasters cover all constituencies for exit polls
The country’s three terrestrial broadcasters conducted exit polls in all 246 constituencies for the general elections on Wednesday.This is the first time the three terrestrial broadcasters -- KBS, MBC and SBS -- took exit polls in all constituencies.In addition, the exit polls were calculated using only data gathered near the polling stations. In the 2008 general elections, data gathered at the polling stations was given 40 percent weighting in calculating the figures. The remaining 60 percent w
April 11, 2012
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Election outcome sets ground for Dec. race
The end of the general election this year not only indicates the start of the next parliamentary term but also the beginning of an even bigger year-end political race.This is the first time in two decades that the parliamentary elections and the presidential election are taking place in the same year.Wednesday’s race was both a test of leadership for presidential potentials and a chance for parties to win a parliamentary majority and the upper hand in the December election.The top priority task
April 11, 2012
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Cyber watch team in full run after elections
The general elections may now be over for candidates and voters, but not for the nation’s election watchdog, especially its cyber observer team which is to operate 24 hours a day for another 10 days.“People hardly notice our existence except the official election campaign period,” said Park Sung-min, officer at Cyber Investigation Division of the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province.“The team, however, is a permanent organization up and running throughout the year, keeping
April 11, 2012
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Ruling party pulls off upset win in crucial election
The ruling Saenuri Party scored a surprise victory in the hotly-contested general election Wednesday. The National Election Commission estimated as of 1:20 a.m. Thursday the conservative party is likely to bag 152 seats in the 300-member parliament, one seat more than a simple majority required to pass bills alone. Saenuri Party chief Park Geun-hye (center) smiles while watching the election broad
April 11, 2012
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Election watchdog's Web site attacked before elections
The Web site of the national election watchdog came under a cyber attack on the eve of Wednesday's general elections, watchdog officials said.The Web site was hit by a so-called distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack late Tuesday between 10:27 p.m. and11:01 p.m., officials at the National Election Commission (NEC) said. A search engine on the Web site, which helps voters find their designated
April 11, 2012
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Voting begins in crucial parliamentary elections
Polls opened Wednesday in tightly contested general elections that are likely to strip President Lee Myung-bak's ruling party of its control of parliament and set a crucial tone for December's vote to pick his successor.An elderly citizen votes in Seoul during general elections on Wednesday. (Yonhap News)The quadrennial poll is to elect a new 300-member National Assembly, but it takes on extra sig
April 11, 2012
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Will opposition alliance take majority of Assembly seats?
Wednesday’s election is unlikely to produce a majority winner, with the Saenuri Party and the Democratic United Party locked in a tight race, political pundits said Tuesday. However, the main opposition DUP stands a fair chance of stealing control of the parliament from Saenuri through an alliance with the far-left Unified Progressive Party, the experts said. On April 11, voters will pick 300 members of the single-chamber parliament in an election widely seen as a prelude to a presidential race
April 10, 2012
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Koreans to vote for parliament
The day of decision has arrived for Korean voters after a messy race punctuated by mudslinging between the two main political parties. Voting to elect 300 members of the parliament will begin at 13,470 polling stations nationwide at 6 a.m. Wednesday, with more than 40 million people eligible to cast ballots. Polling stations will close at 6 p.m. Of the 300 seats, 246 are to be elected directly from precincts and 54 through proportional representation.A total of 927 candidates are vying for the 2
April 10, 2012
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Gangwon, Chungcheong races tight, Jeju leans left
While political attention has mostly fallen on the metropolitan area and the southeastern region, Gangwon Province also stands as a significant variable for both top parties in the general elections.The northeastern province has largely been a right-wing stronghold in the past, but it elected liberal Gov. Lee Kwang-jae in 2010, hinting at a progressive change.Also, experts find it difficult to predict the electoral results there as the region has often voted against national trends.In the 17th p
April 10, 2012
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Where will swing voters turn?
Lack of focus on policies keeps election outcome uncertainA self-professed “floating voter” Song Jeong-yeon, 39, admitted a day before the general election that he still had no idea who to pick, or whether he would vote at all. “It seems as if you have to either be an extreme progressive or a radical conservative, and there is no middle ground,” Song said.The fate of the 19th general elections now lies in the hands of the voters, and with opinion polls predicting a neck-and-neck race, Wednesday’
April 10, 2012
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[News focus] Where will swing votes go?
Mediocre policy battle keeps outcome uncertainA self-professed “floating voter” Song Jeong-yeon, 39, admitted a day before the general election that he still had no idea who to pick, or whether he would vote at all. “It seems as if you have to either be an extreme progressive or a radical conservative, and there is no middle ground,” Song said.The fate of the 19th general elections now lies in the hands of the voters, and with opinion polls predicting a neck-and-neck race, Wednesday’s election i
April 10, 2012
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Election battles too close to predict
The final countdown to the April 11 general election has begun but most crucial constituencies are still neck-and-neck, making it difficult for parties and experts to predict the outcome.The main opposition Democratic United Party had been seen as having the upper hand, especially because of the current government’s falling support in opinion polls and the civilian surveillance scandal.However, the public backlash against DUP candidate Kim Yong-min’s past foul remarks has seemingly narrowed the
April 9, 2012
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N.K. has little influence over voter sentiment
Voters get used to hackneyed security threats from PyongyangNorth Korea appears to have little influence over voter sentiment here ahead of Wednesday’s general election as many have grown tired of the hackneyed security issues involving the communist state, analysts said Monday.Some observers presumed that amid strident talk of Pyongyang moving to launch a long-range rocket and conduct a third nuclear test, voters could have jitters and seek stability in favor of the ruling bloc. But that predi
April 9, 2012
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Saenuri hopes to make inroads into Honam
Ruling party candidates, independents threaten DUP dominance in Jeolla provincesFrom bustling Gwangju to breezy Haenam, the southwestern provinces of Jeolla have safe liberal seats for decades. Races there have been dull in past elections, as voters gave almost unconditional support to late President Kim Dae-jung and the political parties that carried on his legacy.In Wednesday’s election, however, the electorate may break the mold and vote for the biggest surprises of all races, electing a key
April 9, 2012