Most Popular
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Do Korean doctors make too much money?
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Korean industries gauge impact of Biden's steep tariffs on China
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Court refuses injunction on medical school expansion
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Why Korean crime stories typically feature nameless, faceless perpetrators
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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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Debate on 'no-seniors zones' heats up
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S. Korea, Cambodia forge strategic partnership
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Rare mid-May heavy snow warning issued over mountainous areas of Gangwon
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Controversies grow on overseas voting
Registration rate remains below 6%; NEC, parties pledge to take measures by year-endControversy is growing over the nation’s first ever round of overseas voting as less than 6 percent of overseas Koreans have registered to vote in the upcoming April general elections.Among the 2.23 million eligible voters, 124,350, or 5.57 percent, registered from November until the deadline on Saturday, according to the National Election Commission Sunday.Of them, 104,314 maintained their residence registration
Feb. 13, 2012
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DUP candidates ahead of Saenuri rivals in key areas
The main opposition Democratic United Party’s likely candidates for the April 11 general elections are ahead of those of the ruling Saenuri Party in key districts in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province, an opinion poll showed Monday.The poll sounded alarm bells for the ruling party as it indicates that its voter support in its traditional southeastern stronghold has been eroded amid a series of corruption scandals involving key figures of the ruling bloc.The poll of some 500 people in 10 constit
Feb. 13, 2012
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Web-based ‘youth’ party to launch next month
A Web-based political party is to launch next month, aiming to represent youth voters on issues such as high college tuitions and bleak career prospects. The new group, tentatively named the Youth Hope Plan Party, held a founding ceremony in Seoul on Sunday, with about 250 founding members. Its official launch is slated for March 11. The members consist of young people and their “mentors,” including Woo Seok-hoon, a professor and author of the popular book “The 880,000-Won Generation,” which dep
Feb. 12, 2012
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New centrist party hopes to challenge mainstream parties
A new centrist party aiming to go beyond partisan rivalry and become a constructive alternative to largely distrusted politics will be launched on Monday, posing a fresh challenge to the existing parties ahead of April 11 general elections.Under the leadership of Park Se-il, a former lawmaker of the ruling Saenuri Party, and president of the non-profit think tank Hansun Foundation, the People’s Thought Party will hold a convention to mark the launch of its Seoul and central chapters in the capit
Feb. 12, 2012
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DUP takes election gamble on Korea-U.S. FTA renegotiations
The main opposition Democratic United Party has rejected claims that the domestic political atmosphere surrounding the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement now threatens FTAs with other countries or damages Korea’s international reputation.Public opposition to the Korea-U.S. trade pact has continued to simmer with DUP chairwoman Han Myeong-sook sending letters to U.S. President Barack Obama and the United States Congress, threatening to repeal the FTA unless changes are made. The letters claim that t
Feb. 12, 2012
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Lee’s key policies falling apart or face uncertainties
A series of President Lee Myung-bak’s achievements and pet projects have been marred as his political foes intensify their offensive against the conservative leader, who is already faltering under corruption scandals involving his close associates.His key project to refurbish the country’s four major rivers and so-called “resource diplomacy” have lost some of their legitimacy as a local court has ruled against part of the rivers project and a stock-rigging scandal undermined the diplomatic initi
Feb. 12, 2012
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Lee secures crude supplies, economic deals from Middle East
President Lee Myung-bak secured a tight safety net against any disruptions in crude imports and laid firm groundwork for a string of economic deals in a weeklong visit to Turkey and three major oil producers in the Middle East.The most pressing issue for the trip, which included stops in Saudi Arabi
Feb. 11, 2012
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S. Korea, Qatar agree to form cooperation mechanism
DOHA (Yonhap News) ― Leaders of South Korea and Qatar agreed Thursday to form a top-level cooperation mechanism handling all issues of cooperation between the two countries from oil and energy to science and technology, military and security, and green growth, officials said.South Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreed to the establishment of a “High-level Strategic Cooperation Committee” after Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani suggested the mechanism to expand the scope of bilateral
Feb. 10, 2012
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Ex-envoy to Cameroon summoned in CNK case
Prosecutors said Friday they summoned the former ambassador to Cameroon for questioning on whether he tried to cover up his name when sending an overblown report on the size of diamond reserves in a mine in the African country.Lee Ho-sung is one of the key figures involved in allegations that senior government officials and CNK International, a resources mining company, engaged in insider trading to boost the stock price of the company, which won diamond-mining rights in Cameroon.Earlier, indepe
Feb. 10, 2012
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Lee accepts senior aide's resignation offer
President Lee Myung-bak on Saturday accepted a senior aide's offer to resign over allegations of his involvement in a vote-buying scandal that has hit the ruling party hard ahead of general elections in April.Lee accepted the resignation after his return from a trip to four Arab nations, according to a key presidential official.Kim Hyo-jae, the president's senior political affairs secretary, offered to resign on Friday after news reports that prosecutors may summon him in their investigation of
Feb. 10, 2012
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US to raise trade, rights, and Syria with China VP
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said Friday it would raise concerns about trade, human rights and Syria during a closely watched visit by China's likely next leader next week, despite hopes to improve ties.White House officials said they would seek to send a message to Vice President Xi Jinping that the United States welcomes China's rise, but that Beijing was testing the patience even of supporters of the relationship."China needs to recognize that it needs to continue to take steps to liv
Feb. 10, 2012
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Police bust foreign currency trafficking ring
The Seoul police agency on Friday booked 16 Filipinos for illegally transporting foreign currency out of the country.According to the police, the 16, including flight attendants transported 3.2 billion won ($2.8 million) from Korea to the Philippines on behalf of migrant workers from the Southeast Asian country between January 2009 and December 2011.The police said that a 59-year-old Filipino operating an unregistered foreign exchange business, whose name was withheld, exchanged money for migran
Feb. 10, 2012
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Controversial judge denied reappointment
The Supreme Court made the final decision not to reappoint a Seoul court judge who set off controversy by posting vulgar words about President Lee Myung-bak on his social networking site.The top court’s personnel committee last week assessed the job performance of 180 judges who have served for the past 10 or 20 years as of 2012 and evaluated certain judges as “unfit” for their job.Only those who failed to be reappointed were notified by the top court, and Seo Ki-ho of the Seoul Northern Distric
Feb. 10, 2012
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Korea-U.S. FTA re-emerges as political issue
Experts say demand to scrap FTA pact would seriously damage Korea’s credibilityThe Korea-U.S. free trade pact has resurfaced as a hot-button issue ahead of the April 11 general elections as the liberal opposition parties vow to scrap it should disputed clauses not be renegotiated.Experts expressed concern that such a move to reverse it could undermine Korea’s international credibility and hurt the long-standing ties with Washington. The pact is expected to take effect later this month or early n
Feb. 9, 2012
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Assembly approves bill on DDoS special counsel
Also passes media rep bill, rejects Constitutional Court justice nominationThe National Assembly on Thursday passed a bill calling for a special counsel to probe allegations that high-ranking ruling party officials were involved in a hacking scandal during the October by-elections.It also passed the long-disputed broadcasting advertisement brokerage bill, referred to as the media rep bill.The nomination of new Constitutional Court justice Cho Yong-whan, however, was voted down.The individual cou
Feb. 9, 2012
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Speaker Park resigns amid bribery probe
Parliamentary Speaker Park Hee-tae resigned Thursday amid an ongoing investigation into claims he bribed fellow lawmakers in the 2008 ruling party leadership election.It is the first time a legislative chief has stepped down over an investigation by prosecutors into bribery.His resignation, however, is not an admission of guilt, officials said.“I apologize to the people. I decided to resign from my speaker post, feeling a great responsibility for the recent events which involved my name,” said h
Feb. 9, 2012
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Saenuri to protect small-sized firms from conglomerates
By Bae Hyun-jungThe ruling Saenuri Party, in an aim to protect small and middle-sized enterprises, decided to exclude large firms from specific business fields, officials said Thursday.The party’s interim council thus agreed to submit a revision of the Monopoly Regulations and Fair Trade Act to limit the conglomerates’ market share and to introduce a class action system for small firms.“Conglomerates have often been blamed for eating away at the business items of smaller firms,” said Rep. Lee Ju
Feb. 9, 2012
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U.S. says FTA would serve mutual economic interest
The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that the Korea-U.S. free trade pact is an agreement that would serve the interests of both nations.The remarks came a day after the liberal parties led by the opposition Democratic United Party conveyed a letter to the Washington government in which they threatened to scrap it should the U.S. reject their demands for renegotiations over disputed clauses.In an e-mail reply to the Yonhap news agency, the department stressed that the pact would serve as a hi
Feb. 9, 2012
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Parties in row over selection of candidates
Rival political parties faced internal criticism Wednesday over their candidate selection rules which favor fresh, young and female figures over incumbents. In the main opposition Democratic United Party, a decision by its leaders to nominate women in at least 15 percent of tconstituencies provoked uproar among male party members. “If the rule is kept unchanged, all of the female candidates who have registered their preliminary candidacy so far will be given the ticket,” said Kim Doo-soo, a form
Feb. 8, 2012
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Parliament panel passes bill on carbon emission cap
A special parliamentary committee on climate change on Wednesday approved a bill that will charge polluters for their greenhouse gas emissions from 2015, as South Korea joins a global drive to tackle climate change.The cap-and-trade scheme was introduced in 2009 by the Lee Myung-bak administration,
Feb. 8, 2012