Most Popular
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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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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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Is NewJeans headed for a long 'break'?
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[KH Explains] Hyundai-backed Motional’s struggles deepen as Tesla eyes August robotaxi debut
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Police raid popera singer Kim Ho-joong's house over hit-and-run suspicions
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Trump may like to 'solve' N. Korean nuclear problem if reelected: ex-official
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New Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office chief vows full-fledged probe into first lady
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Man cuts himself, files false report to win back ex
A 22-year-old man identified by his surname Kim cut himself and pretended to have been robbed in an attempt to win back his ex-girlfriend, police said. He was arrested for obstruction of official duties on Sunday. According to Seodaemun police, Kim thought that if he was a victim of crime, his ex-girlfriend would return to him out of pity.He purposefully visited Seodaemun-gu, the northwestern area of Seoul where his ex-girlfriend lives, and cut himself on the left side of the abdomen. (Yonhap)He
April 24, 2016
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Habitual drunk drivers to have vehicles confiscated
Prosecutors and police announced Sunday stronger punishments for drunk driving, including confiscating the vehicles of habitual drunk drivers.The measures, to be enforced from Monday, include intensified criminal charges against passengers and applying additional punishment against drivers that have killed or seriously injured others by driving under the influence. (Yonhap)The move comes as the number of accidents involving drunk driving remains high. According to the National Police Agency, whi
April 24, 2016
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Oxy suspected of watering down report
Oxy Reckitt Benckiser, which has been blamed for the deaths of at least 221 humidifier disinfectant users, was found to have countered the government’s health probe with their own research that suggested the deaths may have been caused by other factors, sources said Sunday.Victims of the toxic humidifier disinfectant, meanwhile, held a press conference followed by a closed-door meeting Sunday to discuss future measures and condemn the product manufacturers and distributors for their “manipulatio
April 24, 2016
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Park to hold talks with newspaper, TV editors, gauge public opinion
President Park Geun-hye will hold talks with chief editors of leading newspapers and TV stations in South Korea next month to better gauge public opinion following the parliamentary election, the presidential office said Sunday.Cheong Wa Dae said the luncheon meeting will be held Tuesday and will be the first such gathering since the chief executive met with senior editorial writers in July 2013. In April 2013, two months into her administration, Park met chief editors of major news outlets to e
April 24, 2016
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Gov't push to directly compensate companies forced out of Kaesong
South Korea's government is pushing to directly compensate firms that were forced out of the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex following the spike in cross-border tensions, an official source said Sunday.The government is considering direct compensation for finished goods and materials left behind by South Korean companies, instead of providing loans, the official said, declining to be identified.On Feb. 10, the Seoul government ordered the shutdown of the industrial park just north of the
April 24, 2016
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Police, prosecutors to intensify crackdown on drunk driving
South Korean authorities said Sunday they will cut the high number of alcohol-related driving accidents by implementing harsh measures, such as confiscating vehicles of habitual drunk drivers or those who cause fatal accident while under the influence of alcohol. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office (SPO) and the National Police Agency (NPA) said the measures, which will begin Monday, include confiscating vehicles of habitual offenders and strengthening punishment on fellow passengers.Prosecutors sa
April 24, 2016
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School swindles part-time teacher with offer of full employment
A private school administrator who took money from a staff member using a promotion as bait was sentenced to a year in prison with two years probation, Sunday. Changwon provincial court said the 63-year-old identified by his surname Jeon had convinced a part-time teacher to give 100 million won ($87,000) “for the school chairperson’s son’s business” in 2011, in return for which he promised a promotion to a full-time position. Changwon provincial court (Yonhap)Jeon’s influence peddling continued
April 24, 2016
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Taxi driver gets 3 years for sexually assaulting mentally disabled passenger
A taxi driver who sexually assaulted a mentally disabled female passenger was sentenced to three years in prison Sunday by the appeals court, a year shorter than the original sentence of four years.(Yonhap)According to the Daegu high court, the driver, who is in his 60s, sexually assaulted his passenger in her 20s after realizing her condition when she failed to clearly state her destination. She had a second-degree mental disability, the second most severe category. People in the second-degree
April 24, 2016
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Korea FM offers to halt nuclear tests if U.S. suspends military exercises with Korea
North Korea is ready to halt nuclear tests if the United States suspends military exercises with South Korea, Pyongyang's Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong was quoted as saying in a rare interview Saturday.Ri made the remark in an interview with The Associated Press while on a visit to New York for U.N. meetings, renewing the North's long-running claims that the country was compelled to develop nuclear weapons to cope with what it calls U.S. nuclear threats and hostile policy toward Pyongyang."Stop th
April 24, 2016
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Official seeks court injunction over alleged staged rally
A presidential official has sought a court injunction to ban the publication of a weekly magazine over its report that the official instructed a conservative civic activist to stage a rally in favor of the government, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.Sisa Journal reported that Huh Hyun-joon, an official handling communications with the public at the presidential office, sent a text message to Chu Sun-hee, secretary general of a conservative civic group, to hold a rally on Jan. 4 in support of South Kor
April 22, 2016
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1 dead, 8 injured in train derailment
A South Korean passenger train derailed early Friday in the southern port city of Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, leaving one engineer dead and eight passengers injured, according to the state-run railway operator.The overnight train was traveling from Seoul to Yeosu when its locomotive and four of the train’s seven passenger cars came off the tracks near Yulchon Station at around 3:40 a.m., the Korea Railroad Corporation said. Officials of state-run railway operator KORAIL perform rescues and res
April 22, 2016
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Oxy investigation widens to U.K. headquarters
Following Oxy Reckitt Benckiser’s first-ever public apology for its toxic humidifier disinfectant blamed for the loss of 103 lives, the prosecution said Friday that it will investigate related officials in the U.K.-based headquarters.According to the special probe team, executives and researchers at the U.K. headquarters were found to have ordered the Seoul office to destroy evidence related to the toxicity of the disputed humidifier disinfectant.The prosecution will closely look into emails exc
April 22, 2016
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Professor indicted over alleged attempted rape
Prosecutors said Friday they have indicted a South Korean professor who works at a renowned university in Hong Kong on charges of attempted rape and inflicting bodily harm on the victim.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said the 42-year-old professor, identified only by his surname Jung, is accused of beating and attempting to rape a graduate student at Seoul National University after having a drink with some colleagues.He dragged the victim, whose identity was withheld, to a constr
April 22, 2016
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Conservative critic indicted on charges of defamation
A conservative critic has been indicted without physical detention on charges of defaming pro-democracy fighters in a 1980 civil uprising, prosecutors said Friday.The prosecution said Jee Man-won, 74, referred to four citizens who appear in a photo taken in the bloody crackdown in the city of Gwangju, 330km southwest of Seoul, in May 1980 as members of the North Korean army's special forces in a Web site post in June last year.Tens of thousands of citizens rose up in Gwangju against the military
April 22, 2016
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Train derailment leaves one dead, eight injured in port city of Yeosu
A passenger train derailed in southern South Korea early Friday, leaving the engineer dead and eight passengers injured, police and rescue workers said.A total of 23 people were aboard the Mugunghwa train when it went off the track in the southern port city of Yeosu around 3:41 a.m., officials said. The number of those injured could rise, they said. Police said they are trying to determine what caused the accident.Korea Railroad Corp. said it has suspended operations of all rail services between
April 22, 2016
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Intelligence official acquitted of engaging in elections
A local court acquitted a South Korean intelligence official on Thursday over suspicions that he took part in political activities in violation of the National Intelligence Service Act.The Seoul Central District Court found the 42-year-old, whose identity was withheld, not guilty of engaging in unlawful election activities by posting articles and comments on a portal site and online community from 2011 to 2012.Under the country's law, government officials or policymakers are forbidden from suppo
April 21, 2016
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Fingerprint determines identity of slain Chinese woman: police
Police said Thursday they have been able to verify the identity of a Chinese woman found dead on South Korea's resort island of Jeju last week thanks to a fingerprint of her left index finger.Investigators at the Seogwipo Police Station said the fingerprint, about 1 centimeter and invisible to the naked eye, was lifted from the badly decomposed body of the woman, whose name has been withheld. The body of the dead woman, 22, was discovered by a man gathering bracken near a barley field in the cit
April 21, 2016
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Jeju murder suspect freed, investigation to continue
The suspect who had been arrested by the police on suspicion of murdering a Chinese woman whose body was found deserted on Jejudo Island was freed late Tuesday due to lack of evidence. The man had been a prime suspect as he had been a frequent visitor to the bar where the victim had worked. His cellphone showed records of text messages exchanged with the victim. He had also privately met with her at nighttime prior to her disappearance.(Yonhap)However, further police inquisition revealed the man
April 21, 2016
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Sex slavery victims offer funds for quake-hit Japan
Two South Korean victims of Japan’s sexual slavery during World War II on Thursday offered humanitarian assistance totaling 1.3 million won ($1,150) to quake-hit regions in Japan. Kim Bok-dong, 90, and Kil Won-ok, 87, offered the money to aid Japan’s rescue and restoration efforts for the disaster-stricken Kumamoto prefecture.The first quake on April 14 and the larger magnitude-7.3 quake 27 hours later left 48 people dead and more than 1,100 injured, with aftershocks continuing to strike the are
April 21, 2016
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[Newsmaker] Reckitt Benckiser apologizes, offers funds
Amid the prosecution’s widening probe into Oxy Reckitt Benckiser Korea and other companies related to their toxic humidifier disinfectants, the British firm apologized on Thursday to victims and unveiled a plan to offer an additional 5 billion won ($4.4 million) in humanitarian assistance. In a letter released Thursday afternoon, the company addressed its “social responsibility” in deaths and diseases caused by its humidifier sterilizers, saying it would cooperate with investigators to solve the
April 21, 2016