Most Popular
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Korean industries gauge impact of Biden's steep tariffs on China
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Do Korean doctors make too much money?
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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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Why Korean crime stories typically feature nameless, faceless perpetrators
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Coupang's Kim Bom escapes chaebol chief designation again
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Rare mid-May heavy snow warning issued over mountainous areas of Gangwon
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Debate on 'no-seniors zones' heats up
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Court refuses injunction on medical school expansion
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CIO chief nominee to explain allegations at confirmation hearing
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Public firms close cafeterias to help boost local economies
More of South Korea’s state-run organizations are joining the drive to shut down their in-house cafeterias at least once a week as part of efforts to spur the local economy amid the deepening economic downturn. Mostly municipalities, police stations and state-run organizations across the country are seen joining the campaign to boost spending at nearby restaurants once a week or twice a month. Among them is Seoul’s Seocho District Office, which decided to close its in-house cafeteria every Frida
July 14, 2016
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Korea to tighten asbestos controls
The government is set to strengthen the management of buildings with asbestos during their dismantling and reconstruction process to minimize health risks from exposure to the material. Asbestos were widely used in 1970s to build slate roofs, interior materials, soundproof walls and insulators at low costs. It is defined as a carcinogen by the World Health Organization, as exposure to worn out asbestos materials can cause diseases such as lung cancer and mesothelioma.The revised Asbestos Safety
July 14, 2016
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Court upholds ruling against sergeant for sexually harassing superior
A Seoul appeals court on Thursday upheld a lower court’s decision to order disciplinary action against a male sergeant for sexually harassing his female superior in 2014. The sergeant had claimed the decision was unfair and asked the disciplinary order to be revoked. The case is one of the relatively rare sexual harassment cases in Korea in which the victim was harassed by someone of a lower rank at work. The victim, an army captain and one of the sergeant’s superiors at his unit, filed a compla
July 14, 2016
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Int'l migrants decrease for first time in 6 yrs
The number of South Korean overseas travelers and foreign visitors here fell for the first time in six years last year amid a reduction in the number of people studying abroad, a government report showed Thursday.The number of international migrants, referring to those who stay in and out of South Korea for 90 days or more, stood at 1.3 million people in 2015, down 1.7 percent, or 23,000, from a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea. The number involves both foreigne
July 14, 2016
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Woman sentenced to 12-year jail term for setting lover on fire
A woman who burned her unfaithful lover alive has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in an appeals trial, the Seoul High Court said Thursday. The woman, 57, surnamed Jang, poured kerosene on the victim, 52, and lit him on fire after finding out he had an affair with another woman. (Yonhap)Jang and the victim had been in a 15-year-long adulterous relationship. The incident took place at Jang’s bar in Dongdaemun, central Seoul, in August 2013.The victim was hospitalized for five days before dyin
July 14, 2016
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Eating after 6 p.m. increases risk of growing fat: study
Eating after 6 p.m. could lead to more belly fat, said a health and nutrition study published Thursday.According to the Hallym University Medical Center research team, people who consumed 57 percent of their daily diet after 6 p.m. had a 1.3 percent higher risk of growing fat around the waist compared to those who ate only 18 percent of their meals after 6 p.m. (123RF)The research had divided some 15,000 participants into five groups according to how much of their daily diet was consumed betwee
July 14, 2016
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Google Korea CEO to stand trial over toxic sterilizers
The CEO of Google Korea who formerly headed the local unit of Oxy Reckitt Benckiser has been indicted over the British firm's toxic humidifier sterilizers which resulted in numerous deaths and illnesses here, prosecutors said Thursday.John Lee has been accused of playing a part in the deaths of 73 people and lung damage to another 108 victims, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. He headed the consumer goods company from 2005 to 2010 when sales of the problematic steriliz
July 14, 2016
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Teacher arrested in student molestation case
A 45-year-old male teacher, accused of molesting his student two years ago, has been handed over to the prosecution, according to Gyeonggi Province’s police on Wednesday. The Gyeonggi Namyangju Police said he had offered to drive a female pupil home in August 2014, taken her to a secluded road and touched her inappropriately. (123RF)He is being accused of repeating the offence over three times. The pupil had kept the incident to herself for two years before finally telling her parents recently.
July 13, 2016
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Jongno restaurant catches fire, 32 evacuate
A fire broke out at a restaurant in Jongno-gu, Central Seoul, at around 2:35 a.m. on Wednesday, forcing 32 people at the restaurant and an adjacent hotel to evacuate. Ten were foreign visitors to Korea. (123RF)The fire was extinguished a little over an hour later. There was no report of casualties.The fire department tentatively concluded that the fire started from an ignited gas stove. The affected area of Ikseon-dong, Jongno-gu has been featured on a number of Korean media outlets as being th
July 13, 2016
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Length of domestic highways to top 5,000 km by 2020
South Korea will increase the length of domestic highways to over 5,000 kilometers over the next four years to ensure faster and safer travel and ease traffic congestion, the government said Wednesday. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport unveiled the draft of the comprehensive road plan that calls for extending the combined length of nationwide highways from the current 4,193 km to 5,131 km by 2020.Once the 73.7 trillion-won ($64.2 billion) project is completed, the road construct
July 13, 2016
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Seongju residents stage anti-THAAD rally
Thousands of residents in the southern town of Seongju took to the streets on Wednesday to protest the government's designation of the town as a site for the deployment of an advanced U.S. antimissile system.Some 5,000 residents of the town in North Gyeongsang Province staged a massive rally, chanting slogans upbraiding the government for the decision to station a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery in the town.The residents argued that the decision by Seoul and Washington to bring in TH
July 13, 2016
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UNEP’s Korean committee hosts environment talk concert
A seminar gathering environment experts and artists will be held on July 22, the U.N. Environment Program National Committee for the Republic of Korea said Wednesday.The event, being held at Seoul City Hall, is jointly hosted by the Canadian Embassy in Korea and Seoul Metropolitan Government. Among the noted participants include Yoon Ho-seob, an honorary professor at Kookmin University renowned for his environment-friendly designs, architecture professor Henry Tsang of Keimyung University and Jo
July 13, 2016
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Spend your summer by the river
The return of the scorching summer sun and humid air is not always welcome, especially if you live in the big city surrounded by a concrete jungle and elbow-to-elbow crowds. The heat wave is expected to continue until August with occasional rain in July, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.Thankfully, the sprawling Hangang River that runs through the middle of the capital offers spacious relief for tired urban souls. Various festivals by the river are in store for the summer, ho
July 13, 2016
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Korean professor helps Chinese sex slavery victims
A South Korean professor has set out to help Chinese victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery in a bid to ease the suffering that so many of his compatriots also went through.Yang Pil-seung, honorary head of a research institute on Chinese businesses at Seoul's Konkuk University, recently launched a charity fund in China with the aim of supporting the few surviving victims of the Japanese military's sexual enslavement during World War II.In a phone interview with Yonhap News Agency, Wednesday,
July 13, 2016
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Voyeuristic public toilet signs in Seoul stir controversy
Back in March, Lee Da-kyung found something disturbing while dining with her boyfriend at a restaurant near Seoul National University in Seoul. It was the property’s bathroom sign -- it showed a stick figure animation of a male peeping tom looking into a female restroom. “I told the cashier -- who looked like the owner of the restaurant -- that the sign made me feel very uncomfortable and he should remove it,” the 23-year-old university student told The Korea Herald. “And his response was even m
July 13, 2016
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PM vows no tolerance of civil servants' wrongdoings
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Wednesday said the government will tighten oversight and take swift disciplinary action against civil servants who step out of line following a derogatory remark made by an education ministry official that has stirred public anger."It is hard to give excuses in regards to inappropriate remarks made by civil servants," Hwang said. "These mishaps are weighing down government's credibility and workers' morale."Last week, an education ministry official referred to peo
July 13, 2016
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Bullied teenager survives attempted suicide
A 16-year-old jumped from her fifth-floor apartment in Incheon, Gyeonggi Province on Saturday, in a suicide attempt after facing bullying in school. She survived the fall as she got caught in a plastic fence installed on the ground floor of the apartment. (123RF)Incheon Bupyeong Police said the teenager had left suicidal text messages to her mother and teacher before committing the act. The student’s message to her mother read, “I’m suffering too much to keep on living. I’m sorry, mom. I love y
July 12, 2016
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Korean men want women to bear more cost for housing
Shin Ji-hun has dated a number of women throughout his 30s, but none of them were very happy with his thoughts on how the cost of marital housing should be financed. He thinks that both the groom and the bride should share the cost. All of his ex-girlfriends, except just one, fiercely disagreed. “They said the groom’s family should provide the marital house as that’s the norm and the tradition,” The 36-year-old told The Korea Herald. “My parents have no such money, and I can’t really afford an a
July 12, 2016
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7-year-old abuse victim's food bowl, living quarters revealed
Prosecutors on Tuesday revealed photos of the food bowl used by fatally abused 7-year-old, Shin Won-young, and the bathroom where he stayed up until his death.The Pyeongtaek Branch of Suwon Prosecutors’ Office on Monday are seeking imprisonment of lifetime and 30 years in prison, respectively, for Shin’s stepmother, surnamed Kim, and father, whose 2-year-long abuse of the child eventually led to the his death in February. Where the victim lived until his death. (Yonhap)Their trial is ongoing.Bef
July 12, 2016
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Opposition parties, civic groups allign to reform chaebol
Opposition parties, labor unions and civic groups launched a committee on Tuesday to spearhead a movement to reform what they see as family-owned conglomerates’ abuse of power and illegal business practices. During a press briefing in central Seoul, the committee, consisting of the main opposition The Minjoo Party of Korea, the Justice Party, the nation’s two biggest umbrella labor unions and progressive civic groups, urged the government to abolish polices that favor the personal interests of f
July 12, 2016