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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Rare mid-May heavy snow warning issued over mountainous areas of Gangwon
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S. Korea, Cambodia forge strategic partnership
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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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Textbook controversy spills over to selection of authors
With the government postponing the announcement of the criteria for government-issued history textbooks for the third time Monday, the dispute over the selection of authors fueled the debate over the plan that the Park Geun-hye administration had vowed to keep transparent.The National Institute of Korean History, in charge of the publication process of the history textbook, is unclear on when it will reveal the criteria, the Education Ministry said. The NIKH initially was slated to make the anno
Dec. 15, 2015
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Prosecution indicts 179 professors over copyright breach
In a rare move, Korean prosecutors indicted Thursday 179 professors across the country on charges of republishing existing books in their own names after replacing the covers. According to Uijeongbu District Prosecutors’ Office, 74 professors have been indicted in relation to the case while other 105 have been summarily indicted. They have been charged with copyright infringement and disrupting public duty. Out of the 105 who have been summarily charged, the professors who stole their peers’ wor
Dec. 14, 2015
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Depression symptoms gender-specific: study
Depression symptoms such as physical fatigue and loss of sexual desire have been shown to be significantly gender-specific in South Korea, according to a study on Monday.In the joint study by Seoul National University, Inha University and Kyungpook National University, the number of Korean women who experienced physical fatigue when clinically depressed was 2.8 times higher than their male counterparts. Meanwhile, the number of depressed men who experienced diminished sex drive was twice as high
Dec. 14, 2015
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Korea less peaceful than last year: report
South Korea is less peaceful than last year, due mainly to domestic political discord, a report showed Monday. According to the Global Peace Index released by the World Peace Forum, Seoul ranked 51st with 72.9 out of 100 points, down four notches from last year and 10 steps from 2013. The average of a total of 143 countries recorded 67.4 points, the lowest figure since 2000. In subrankings, Korea’s local political peace ranking plummeted from 29th to 51st while the military and diplomatic index
Dec. 14, 2015
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Prosecutors indict Indonesian follower of al-Qaida affiliate
Prosecutors said Monday that they have indicted an Indonesian illegal immigrant, who follows a terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaida. The 32-year-old, suspected of supporting the Syrian branch of al-Qaida known as al-Nusra Front, is charged with forging documents, as well as violating South Korea's immigration control act and control of firearms, swords, explosives, etc. act. The man had been arrested about a month ago in South Chungcheong Province, where he has been working in a small manu
Dec. 14, 2015
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Labor union chief arrested for ‘illegal rallies’
Seoul police on Sunday arrested Han Sang-kyun, leader of the nation’s second-largest umbrella labor union, on charges of leading what the police call illegal protests.Han, who leads the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, had been under police interrogation since Friday for his alleged involvement in multiple antigovernment rallies, including those on Nov. 14. He has so far exercised his right to remain silent, investigators said.The court issued the arrest warrant on grounds that the investig
Dec. 13, 2015
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Korea expected to speed up green drives for Paris deal
South Korea is expected to beef up its anticarbon moves in order to meet the targets of the Paris agreement approved by the global community Saturday. Envoys of 195 countries made a historical accord in Paris to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, which experts consider the threshold for catastrophic climate change.As part of efforts to scale up the countries’ commitment, their pledges will be reviewed every five years from 2023 under the agreement, officials said. In an effort to j
Dec. 13, 2015
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Labor union leader detained for alleged violent rallies
The leader of a labor union was detained for questioning Sunday on charges of leading violent rallies in downtown Seoul last month. Han Sang-gyun, the head of South Korea's second-largest umbrella labor union, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, was put behind bars after a Seoul court issued a warrant to detain him. "The details of his crime have been ascertained enough, and there is enough reason and need to detain him," Judge Kim Do-hyung said in issuing the warrant. Han was wanted on sus
Dec. 13, 2015
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Suspicious box found at S. Korean consulate in Japan
TOKYO/SEOUL--A suspicious-looking box with possible links to an anti-Korean group was found at the South Korean consulate general in Yokohoma Saturday, officials said.The box, which is 35 centimeters long, 15 centimeters wide and 5 centimeters tall, was discovered by a consulate official in the parking area outside the building, according to the consulate officials.A note on the box read, "This is revenge for the blast in Yasukuni," together with the name of a Japanese organization that has led
Dec. 12, 2015
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Most South Koreans short on retirement savings
Shin Yu-hee (not her real name), a 29-year-old office worker, is worried whenever she thinks about her parents’ postretirement years. Having graduated from a private women’s colleges in Seoul, she currently makes about 2.5 million won ($2,120) a month working at a marketing firm. As she lives alone and supports herself in Seoul while her family is in Daejeon, she doesn’t have much opportunity to save. “I know my parents don’t have anything ready for their postretirement expenses,” she told The K
Dec. 11, 2015
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Arrest warrant sought for labor union chief
Police on Friday requested the court issue an arrest warrant for Han Sang-kyun, chief of the nation’s second-largest umbrella labor union, a day after he was detained on charges of leading illegal rallies. Han, chief of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, was taken to Namdaemun Police Station for questioning Thursday as he voluntarily walked out of Jogyesa Temple in central Seoul, where he had been taking sanctuary to avoid arrest for 24 days. (Yonhap) Police questioned Han overnight for
Dec. 11, 2015
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Life sentence sought for senior woman suspected of poisoning soft drink
Prosecutors sought life imprisonment on Friday for an 82-year-old woman who is believed to be involved in a poisoning case that killed two senior women and injured four others. Prosecutors demanded a life sentence for the defendant, identified only by her surname Park, at a trial at the Daegu District Court, citing the brutality of the crime and a lack of effort to make amends for her actions."Despite enough evidence, (Park) denied the allegations, and we also took into consideration that the to
Dec. 11, 2015
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Mayor threatens to bring allowance dispute to Constitutional Court
Seoul City on Thursday warned it would approach the Constitutional Court against the central government’s attempt to block its youth welfare policy in an escalating controversy over its plans to subsidize unemployed youth. As an alternative, it proposed creating a social consultative body to discuss the differences.On Dec. 1, the central government passed an ordinance that would allow the state to cut subsidies for municipalities if they do not consult it before introducing or changing welfare-r
Dec. 10, 2015
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City Hall to spend W2.3b to promote ‘I·SEOUL·U’
Seoul City will inject about 2.3 billion won ($2 million) to promote its new slogan “I·SEOUL·U” starting next year with a variety of events, including a large-scale K-pop concert, officials said Thursday. The capital’s new slogan was picked in October through a series of public votes and is set to replace “Hi Seoul,” which had been used for 13 years. The budget is currently being reviewed by the Seoul City Council.The city has spent approximately 1.4 billion won to develop the new brand and for
Dec. 10, 2015
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Park calls for drastic efforts to boost birthrate
President Park Geun-hye called on Thursday for drastic efforts to raise South Korea's low birthrate as she blamed delayed marriage and a lack of jobs for the situation.South Korea has tried to address the issue of its low birthrate by spending about 80 trillion won ($68 billion) since 2005, when its total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- stood at 1.08.The efforts paid off a bit as the total fertility rate edged up to 1.2 in 2014, one of the lowest
Dec. 10, 2015
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Labor union chief leaves temple, arrested by police
Han Sang-kyun, the head of the nation’s second-largest umbrella labor union, ended 24 days of hiding at Jogyesa Temple on Thursday and appeared before police to be arrested on charges of leading illegal rallies.At around 11:20 a.m., the chief of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions voluntarily walked out of the temple in central Seoul, where he had been taking sanctuary to avoid arrest.(Yonhap)The police officers immediately handcuffed him and took him by van to Namdaemun Police Station for q
Dec. 10, 2015
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Labor union chief to leave temple voluntarily
Han Sang-kyun, the chief of the nation’s second-largest umbrella labor union wanted by police, decided Thursday to voluntarily leave Jogyesa Temple, where he has been hiding for 24 days. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions chief will hold a press conference before leaving the temple, upon which he is to be immediately questioned by police. Police had set a noon deadline for him to surrender himself, warning they would raid the temple if he refuses to come out. (Yonhap)Han had been on the
Dec. 10, 2015
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Police delay arrest of labor union chief
A major collision was averted Wednesday, as the police temporarily delayed their operation to arrest the head of the nation’s second-largest umbrella labor union taking sanctuary at a Buddhist temple to evade arrest on charges of leading illegal rallies.Police were on standby to force their way into the Jogyesa Buddhist Temple in central Seoul at around 4 p.m. to arrest Han Sang-kyun, the head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, on charges of leading a series of what they labeled as ill
Dec. 9, 2015
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Education, welfare ministries rank low on transparency list
The Ministry of Education and the Welfare Ministry were found to be the most corrupt among government agencies in the annual integrity scale, the state-run anticorruption watchdog said Wednesday.According to the Anticorruption and Civil Rights Commission, the Welfare Ministry scored the lowest among “type 1” government agencies with 2,000 or more employees while the Education Ministry finished at the bottom among “type 2” organizations that employ less than 2,000 people.The annual scales combine
Dec. 9, 2015
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‘My country pimped me to U.S. soldiers’
UIJEONGBU, Gyeonggi Province -- Near one of the U.S. military camps in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, there is an old, white cement building that now serves as a shelter for former sex workers for U.S. soldiers in the region. For Min Su-hwa (not her real name), it is also where she was forced to get weekly checkups with painful treatments for sexually transmitted diseases in the 1980s. The building used to be a state-run health clinic for Korean sex workers who served U.S. troops, including her.
Dec. 9, 2015