Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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Two Thais arrested on drug charges
Police said Thursday they have arrested two Thais in regions near Daegu on charges of selling and taking illegal drugs.The Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency said a 23-year-old suspect is under custody, accused of selling Yaba, a popular drug in some Southeast Asian regions, since February 2015 and taking it regularly once or twice a month.The other man, aged 37, is suspected of taking the drug with his acquaintances after purchasing them from the 23-year-old suspect. The two suspects' identitie
Feb. 11, 2016
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Korea to cooperate with WHO to monitor Zika outbreak
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Thursday that the government should preemptively deal with the possible outbreak of the Zika virus by strengthening cooperation with international health authorities."The government should intensify cooperation with the World Health Organization and share information with Zika outbreak countries," Hwang said during a Cabinet meeting.The mosquito-borne illness, declared by the WHO as a global emergency, has spread to parts of Asia and Latin America. South Korea h
Feb. 11, 2016
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Man booked for selling Star Wars, Iron Man rip-offs
A man has been booked over suspicions of selling counterfeit merchandise of characters from popular movies like Star Wars and Iron Man, the culture ministry said Thursday.More than 18,000 character goods that infringe copyrights were discovered at a storage unit in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, last Thursday, investigators from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said, adding the items are worth a combined 200 million won.Some of them are deemed to be copies from Lego Legends of Chima and
Feb. 11, 2016
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Disabled most common victims of discrimination
More than half of the complaints about discrimination in South Korea were filed by disabled people, the nation’s human rights watchdog said Wednesday. According to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, a total of 2,179 petitions were sent to the state-run advocacy group last year. More than half -- nearly 52 percent of the complaints -- were about discrimination against disabled people at schools and work. The second-biggest number of complaints was related to sexual harassment at 9.3 p
Feb. 10, 2016
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Court orders ex-dictator’s son to pay fines on behalf of his father
A Seoul court ruled that the son of the former dictator Chun Doo-hwan should pay the fines unpaid by his father to the government through his company assets, legal sources said Wednesday. It marks the first victory for the government in a lawsuit against the 85-year-old ex-president since the prosecution launched a special investigation team in 2013 to collect the unpaid fines. Chun Doo-hwan (Yonhap)The Seoul Central District Court ordered the publishing company Sigongsa, founded in 1989 and r
Feb. 10, 2016
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Singles delay marriage for self-improvement: survey
Lee Sung-ah, a 27-year-old scriptwriter, has been in a serious relationship with her boyfriend for more than six years. Although the couple is ready to marry, Lee asked her boyfriend to postpone marriage, citing her career ambitions. A couple gets married in a wedding ceremony. (Yonhap)“I think I’m still too young to tie the knot. I have a dream to work as a documentary producer someday soon and have more studies I want to do. I would like to invest more time and energy to myself for now,” Lee t
Feb. 10, 2016
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Record numbers travel through Incheon airport over holiday
A record number of people traveled through Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway, over the Lunar New Year's holiday that ends Wednesday, the airport said.This year, the holiday lasted five days, including the weekend, prompting a large number of people to travel at home and abroad.Between Friday and Tuesday, more than 780,000 people passed through the airport, according to the Incheon International Airport Corp.On average, more than 160,000 travelers visited the airport per d
Feb. 10, 2016
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Half of Korean teens find marriage unnecessary
Over half of South Korean teenagers see marriage as not mandatory, data showed Wednesday, implying the country's low birthrate could worsen in the near future.Around 52.6 percent of South Korean teens said being single won't have a major impact on their lives, with more females agreeing to the belief than their male counterparts at 62.4 percent to 43 percent, the data compiled by Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs showed.The survey was conducted in October last year on 1,179 students
Feb. 10, 2016
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S. Koreans detained in Cambodia over online gambling site
More than 20 South Koreans were detained in Cambodia for allegedly opening an online gambling Web site, an official said Friday.Cambodia informed the South Korean embassy about the arrest of the 22 South Koreans, the foreign ministry official said.Police arrested the suspects and confiscated computers and other equipment when they raided two villas in the northwestern outskirts of Phnom Penh, according to local media reports.The South Korean embassy dispatched its diplomat to the area to provide
Feb. 5, 2016
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Chemical castration ordered to punish sex convict in South Korea
A district court ordered chemical castration to punish a sex convict for the first time in the country since the Constitutional Court upheld the law authorizing drug treatment for sex offenders last year. The punishment was first implemented in 2011 to introduce stronger measures against sexual assault crimes in the country. In 2013, the Daejeon District Court filed a request for constitutional review of the legislation, claiming it violates basic human rights. In a 6-3 vote, the Constitutiona
Feb. 5, 2016
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South Korean college students now allowed to get pregnant
South Korea’s education law has been revised to allow all undergraduate students to continue their studies and to take semesters off if they are married or become pregnant while at school, the Education Ministry announced Friday. Up until now, each university in the country had had different rules regarding marriages and pregnancies. Some universities had previously banned students from marrying and becoming pregnant while working on their degrees. Some schools would expel those who broke these
Feb. 5, 2016
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Koreans learn how to entertain for work
A 40-year-old man enters a hall full of graffiti and loud music. People in vibrant tracksuits throw curious glances at him. He strolls past and opens a door to his left -- where his crew awaits. When he greets them, they immediately stop and bow -- he is their boss.This is not a scene from a gangster flick. They belong to a financial company in Seoul, and they gather every weekend for a month each year to learn to dance, all in the name of team spirit. More Koreans have begun to learn entertainm
Feb. 5, 2016
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Korea has little chance of Zika virus
South Korea is now faced with little chance that the Zika virus may spread in the country, but no one knows what will happen down the line, the most prestigious local expert on the disease said Friday.The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus an international health hazard earlier in the week following an outbreak in Brazil. South Korea designated it a legal infectious disease late last month."At the moment, there is an extremely low chance of the virus spreading in South Korea, but
Feb. 5, 2016
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Two major labor unions in crisis: experts
The country's two umbrella labor groups have recently lost their organizational power and are faced with their own internal strives, labor industry experts said Thursday. The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions initially planned to go on an indefinite walkout in protest of the government's adoption of contentious labor guidelines. However, the KCTU's general strike has de-facto ended in February, the experts said, adding that there has not been a single rally despite its plan to hold it ever
Feb. 4, 2016
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Seongnam at forefront of expanding welfare
On Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myeong's Facebook page is a cover photo with a campaign slogan reading “South Korea cannot, but Seongnam can."The slogan might sum up a series of challenges Seongnam, the second largest city in Gyeonggi Province, has taken on to improve its citizens’ living standards through welfare programs aimed at helping those on the edge of society. Seongnam, some 20 kilometers away from Seoul, has drawn attention among other cities and provinces nationwide in recent months as the
Feb. 4, 2016
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More Koreans interacting less with family members
Kim Ji-eun (not her real name), a mother of two young school children and public servant in Seoul, has been living away from her husband for the past 18 months. Her husband, who lives in another province due to work, returns home on weekends. “When we were living together, we would spend at least an hour talking to each other every night. Now, we only talk about twice a week. Most of our phone conversations don’t last 30 minutes.”Kim belongs to an increasing number of South Korean married couple
Feb. 4, 2016
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Jobless Korean arrested for airport bomb scare
Police said Thursday that they have arrested an unemployed South Korean man for allegedly leaving a box suspected to contain explosive devices at the nation’s main airport. The 36-year-old man told police that he had left the box containing a butane gas canister and a warning message in Arabic in a men’s restroom at Incheon International Airport out of anger towards society. “I was irritated because I could not find a job and I was in need of money,” the man allegedly said, admitting to his crim
Feb. 4, 2016
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Police seek warrant for child-killer couple
Police on Thursday sought an arrest warrant for a couple who beat their 13-year-old daughter to death and kept the body hidden and mummified last year.According to Sosa Police in Bucheon, investigators charged a 47-year-old pastor surnamed Lee and his wife Baek, 40, with manslaughter due to child abuse. If convicted, the suspects face a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime in prison. The couple had admitted to beating the girl, but said her death was unintentional.Suspects in the death of
Feb. 4, 2016
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ACRC expands online petition service
South Korea’s state-run anticorruption watchdog is expanding its online petition to offer easier access to Koreans living overseas, from July, officials siad Thursday. It will also be offering the service in more foreign languages.The Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission said it has started operating the online petition e-People service via Korean.net as well as its own website (www.epeople.go.kr).The e-People site’s original Korean name was “Sinmungo” (Big Drum), which comes from a syste
Feb. 4, 2016
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Samsung heiress’ husband appeals against divorce ruling
Samsung heiress Lee Boo-jin’s husband on Thursday appealed against the court’s recent acceptance of divorce claims filed by her. Lim Woo-jae, the former vice president of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, told the media that he would like to keep his family. “I cannot accept the unfair ruling. (The ruling) is excessively cruel. I decided to appeal in order to secure my visitation and parental rights,” he said in a two-page note handed to the media in front of the court. Lim Woo-jae heads to submit the
Feb. 4, 2016