Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
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Korean companies seek to drop job titles
Employees head to their offices in a building in Seoul. (Yonhap)One thing that surprised Tyler Kim when he joined a South Korean company last year after nine years of working in the U.S. was that his coworkers called him “chaekimnim,” a direct translation of his job title, manager.“It was a bit awkward at first,” he said, since it was the first time he was not called by his name at work.Hierarchy has been a key aspect of corporate governance worldwide. But it means more when it comes to the Kore
April 5, 2016
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Mother on trial for killing disabled daughter
A mother who strangled her disabled daughter to death has been put on trial.The Daegu Prosecutor’s Office said on Tuesday that the 38-year-old mother confessed to killing her 11-year-old daughter because it was “difficult for her to bring up a challenged child.” (123RF)The night before her crime, the mother went out for a drink. She returned home near 3 a.m. and strangled her daughter to death at around 4 a.m. The woman had divorced her husband many years ago. Her daughter had a congenital secon
April 5, 2016
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Questions on marital status ruled unfit for job interviews
Questions regarding relationship history and status are discriminatory in a job interview, according to a fresh report from a Seoul City human rights ombudsman, Tuesday. The report came in recognition of the claims of a human rights violation at a civil servant employment interview held in December 2015. (123RF)At the time, an interviewer had asked a female applicant whether she was married and if she had ever been in a romantic relationship. He also wanted to know the duration of her longest se
April 5, 2016
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Lonely young Koreans hire dates
The practice of hiring dates is gaining popularity among young Koreans as coddled young people find personal interactions increasingly difficult. Birds are chirping and flowers are beginning to bloom. Cherry blossom season has finally arrived in Korea, marking the start of spring. As lovely as these cherry blossoms are, it is a bittersweet season for some singles who feel pressured by the many couples that can be spotted enjoying the flowers together. Many Koreans, especially college students in
April 5, 2016
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Teenage mom wished the best for her dead baby
The 19-year-old Vietnamese mother who had discarded her dead newborn at a subway station a week ago, had no idea that her action was a criminal offense in Korea, the Uijeongbu Police said. The teenage mother had always been interested in Korean culture. Upon graduating from high school, she enrolled in a Korean language program in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul. Surveillance camera records helped the police in identifying the woman. (Yonhap)Her trouble began when she found out after registering in t
April 5, 2016
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Most Korean victims stay silent after sexual harasment
Almost 80 percent of South Koreans take no follow-up actions after being sexually harassed at work, while 45 percent of such cases involving female victims occur at drinking gatherings at the hands of those in managerial positions, a government study showed Tuesday.The study, which surveyed workers at 400 public institutions and 1,200 private firms, showed that a total of 6.4 percent of 7,844 surveyed workers had been sexually harassed at work. Among all surveyed women, 9.6 percent had been hara
April 5, 2016
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Ministry warns against using 'Sewol textbook' in schools
The Korean government on Tuesday stepped up its warning against a liberal teachers’ group for using a controversial textbook which it accuses of biasedly illustrating the Sewol ferry tragedy. The warning came after the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union vowed to push ahead with the use of the “416 textbook” that it published last month to mark the second anniversary of the tragedy that took the lives of 304 passengers who were mostly high school students on April 16, 2014. It was the
April 5, 2016
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Police's open letter to rape victim sparks fury
A week ago, Airdre Mattner mustered up the courage to come forward as a rape victim to the media in hopes of highlighting how Korea’s justice system had failed to protect her and mishandled her case. Mattner said that she was drugged, abducted and raped in late September in Seoul. She said that while the sexual assault haunted her, the botched investigation into her case by police further broke her down. (Airdre Mattner)After the story surfaced and consequent public attention was paid to the
April 5, 2016
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Seat belt mandatory for all passengers on all local roads
South Korea's traffic authority said Tuesday it plans to revise local regulations by year's end to make it mandatory for all passengers in automobiles to wear seat belts on local roads as well, in line with its efforts to reduce casualties from road accidents.Only those in the front seats are required to buckle up under existing regulations, with the exception being while on highways and expressways, where all passengers are already obliged to always wear seat belts.The Ministry of Land, Infrast
April 5, 2016
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Koreans with diabetes up 24.6 percent in 5 years
The number of South Koreans suffering from diabetes shot up 24.6 percent in 2015 from five years earlier, data showed Tuesday, emerging as one of the major burdens on public health care expenditures.According to the data compiled by the National Health Insurance Service, the number of South Koreans with diabetes reached 2.52 million, compared with 2.02 million posted in 2010. Around 55 percent of the patients were males.The state-run institution said diabetes-related medical expenditures also ad
April 5, 2016
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Prosecutors raid defense contractor over alleged corruption in arms dealing
Prosecutors on Tuesday raided a defense equipment contractor over alleged corruption involving the delivery of coastal surveillance equipment for the military.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it confiscated contract documents and computer hard drives from the company, identified only by its initial D, which supplied parts to the country's arms procurement agency to establish a complex surveillance system along the country's shoreline.The system that helps integrate existing ra
April 5, 2016
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Senior citizen nabbed for assault on 64-year old prostitute
A man was arrested early Tuesday morning for hitting a prostitute, claiming she had not kept her end of the bargain. According to the Busan Seobu Police, the 69-year-old man surnamed Kim had seized the 64-year-old escort, surnamed Lee, by her hair and slapped her across the face in a motel room. (123RF)Kim was arrested by the police while carrying out the act. They had arrived at the scene following reports of a woman screaming. Kim told the police he had paid Lee 250,000 won ($220) for a “long
April 5, 2016
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Man registers fictitious child for state subsidies
Police are seeking an arrest warrant for a man who registered a fictitious child to pocket government subsidies. According to the Busan Gijang Police, the suspect, a 35-year-old man surnamed Lee, reported a nonexistent child as his son in 2009 in order to receive state support for child rearing. The total sum he gained through the false report came to 7.7 million won ($6,600). (123RF)Lee hatched his plot when he helped his father register a son by another woman. In the process, he fabricated the
April 5, 2016
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Father of abuse victim hoped for ‘rebirth’ of murdered son
The father who neglected his son as he was abused and killed by his second wife had booked a vasectomy reversal surgery in hopes of getting a new son with the same name, according to the prosecution Tuesday. “I believed Won-young (the son) would be born again through my second wife’s body. I was going to give the new baby the same name,” said the 38-year-old father surnamed Shin. The 38-year-old Shin wanted vasectomy reversal after his abused son's death. (Yonhap)According to the Prosecutor’s O
April 5, 2016
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TV writer indicted over fraud charges
Prosecutors said Tuesday they have indicted a renowned South Korean broadcast script writer on charges of swindling some 7 billion won from her acquaintances, including a high-profile actor.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said the suspect, identified only by her surname Park, is accused of pocketing some 4.6 billion won from actor Jung Woo-sung between November 2008 and July 2009.Park fooled the victim into investing in a private equity fund, which did not exist, by claiming fami
April 5, 2016
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South Korea slaps 5 pastors with fines for unauthorized contact with North Koreans
South Korea's unification ministry said Monday it has slapped five pastors with 2 million won fines each for meeting North Koreans without the government's approval.The pastors belonging to the National Council of Churches in Korea met with their North Korean counterparts in China in late February without receiving the ministry's approval for their contact. The fines mark the first time Seoul has penalized the NCCK for breaking rules regarding the meeting of North Koreans.South Korean nationals
April 4, 2016
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5 Seoul eateries catering to Chinese fail sanitation standards
Five restaurants that cater to Chinese tourists out of 15 investigated by Seoul Metropolitan Government were found to have violated sanitation regulations. Out of the examined restaurants, three had employees that did not submit medical reports, one had kitchen staff without sanitary hats, while another had unhygienic cutting boards, the city government said Monday. Chinese tourists in Seoul (Yonhap)These restaurants failed to meet up to 26 standards out of 36 regarding hygienic cooking utensil
April 4, 2016
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The growing list of misbehaving ‘superrich’
Jeong Woo-hyun, the chairman of MPK group, came under fire Monday for allegedly slapping a building’s guard because he had sealed the front gates with Jeong still inside the building. Jeong Woo-hyun, the chairman of MPK Group (Yonhap)The incident has gone viral in Korea. It has become known as the “Mr. Pizza assault case,” named after MPK’s well-known pizza brand, Mr. Pizza.Although shocking, a businessperson mistreating others is nothing new in Korea. Here are some infamous incidents: Lee Hae
April 4, 2016
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[HERALD INTERVIEW] Balanced education helps liberal arts students thrive
Located east of downtown Los Angeles -- widely considered a liberal stronghold -- Claremont Mckenna College is often considered more conservative than its neighbors, given its middle-of-the road faculty members and prominent alumni including politicians from the Republican Party. But the CMC president Hiram Chodosh highlighted that “the balance” in the breakdown of its faculty, staff and students allows for a more effective liberal arts education for graduates in challenging various transformati
April 4, 2016
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Probe digs into disinfectant-maker's report
Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office will investigate the safety data sheet of Oxy Reckitt Benckiser, one of the toxic humidifier disinfectant makers blamed for the loss of 140 lives, on suspicions that it has fabricated the document. According to the special probe team, the prosecution summoned last week analysts from Seoul National University and Hoseo University -- who created Oxy humidifier disinfectant’s safety data sheet -- to investigate whether they manipulated the test results. Fa
April 4, 2016