Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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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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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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[Graphic News] Number of coffee franchises in S. Korea rises 13%
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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Public backlash against division of Gyeonggi Province under 'corny' name
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KORAIL receives license to establish Suseo KTX affiliate
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Friday issued a license for the state-run rail operator to establish an affiliate to run a new branch of the KTX line, despite fierce opposition from labor unions and others.The issuance is expected to increase pressure on the 27 percent of KORAIL’s 20,443 employees who have been on strike since Dec. 9 against what they claim to be a move to privatize the railroads.“The Daejeon District Court on Friday evening approved the registration of the
Dec. 27, 2013
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Sending off a year with a bang
The final day of the year is a big day in most cultures but Koreans take things a step further, seemingly dedicating the entire month of December to wrapping up the year. In the run up to the Dec. 31 ringing of the Boshingak bell, December is packed with year-end events that range from heavy drinking with colleagues and friends to fortune-telling. The Korean word for end of year events “songnyeonhoe” literally means “send off for the year” and many choose to send the year off in a sea of alcohol
Dec. 27, 2013
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No year-end excitement for police officers
Peaceful silence is broken. The two police officers, Han Ji-hyun and Choi Jong-min turn on their patrol car’s siren and accelerate to an old building near Hongik University as the navigation system directs them to the scene of the crime. They quickly run up to the jewelry shop to see if someone broke into the shop. It was a false alarm. “When reports come in one after another at night, we are actually thankful for false alarms because then we can quickly move on and handle the next report,” 28-y
Dec. 27, 2013
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Peak season returns for fortune-tellers
Kim Ye-ji, a 26-year-old job-seeker worriedly looks at eight Chinese characters and carefully listens to what the fortune-teller tells her. The predictor stares at the characters with a serious face and contemplates for awhile. “Around March and April next year, you’re going to find a job. Until then, no good news,” the fortune-teller says. “And you’re likely to meet a guy around autumn. He will probably be younger than you.” Kim finally feels relieved.Their discussion, which lasted for an hour,
Dec. 27, 2013
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Looking for a New Year to sing for: Minorities in Korea
The New Year is about wishing for a better year, or perhaps, about repeating a good one. But it is also about saying goodbye and letting go of the year past. For those on what some call the outskirts of Korean society, however, sending away the year means, for the most part, wanting a better year than the one gone by. And so, for these minorities ― North Koreans living in the South, foreign laborers who work in Korea’s burgeoning factories, or 20-somethings striving to beat over-competitive nati
Dec. 27, 2013
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Winding up the year with more value, less alcohol
Korea is beginning to see new trends emerge for “sending the year off,” perhaps to complement the nation’s health habit trends, some analysts have said.Year-end celebrations in Korea, which have been traditionally dominated by drinking, are now embracing various cultural, artistic and recreational activities. Similar to the drinking campaigns that quickly caught on among domestic firms to help moderate excessive indulgence in alcohol at their year-end gatherings, more people each year are pursui
Dec. 27, 2013
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N.K. recalls Jang’s aide from Sweden
BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) ― North Korean ambassador to Sweden, Pak Kwang-chol, was called back to Pyongyang on Friday, a diplomatic source said, marking the latest recall of North Korean diplomats following the recent execution of leader Kim Jong-un‘s uncle. Pak, one of close aides to the purged uncle, Jang Song-thaek, returned to North Korea via an Air Koryo flight after making a brief stopover in Beijing earlier in the day, the source said on the condition of anonymity. Escorted by North Korea
Dec. 27, 2013
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Celebrities get suspended terms for illegal sports gambling
Three celebrities, including TV personalities and a former K-pop singer, received suspended prison sentences Friday for betting on illegal sports gambling websites.The Seoul Central District Court sentenced comedian Lee Soo-geun, singer Tak Jae-hoon and Tony An, a former member of the popular 1990s boy band HOT, to six months in prison, suspended for one year.The three were found guilty of wagering hundreds of millions of won (hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars) on football teams in the Engli
Dec. 27, 2013
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KORAIL, union talks deadlocked
Negotiations to end a drawn-out rail walkout broke down Friday, with the state-run rail operator issuing an ultimatum for thousands of strikers to get back to work by midnight or face punitive measures.Labor and management of the state-run Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) gathered at the negotiating table earlier in the day after resuming the second round of their working-level negotiations to discuss key issues, including a government plan to establish a subsidiary to run some high-speed train ser
Dec. 27, 2013
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Rail workers join temple-brokered talks
Korea Railroad Corp. and its union resumed talks Thursday, raising hopes to resolve the railway workers’ strike that has crippled the nation’s cargo transport for 18 days. The first working-level negotiation in 13 days was arranged during a meeting between its chief executive Choi Yeon-hye and union deputy chief Park Tae-man at Jogyesa Temple, where union leaders have holed up since Tuesday.Both labor and management expressed optimism after the 30-minute meeting brokered by Ven. Dobeob., chief o
Dec. 26, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Jogye back in spotlight over rail strike
The country’s largest Buddhist order Jogye on Thursday took the side of railway workers in their ongoing strike, putting the government in a dilemma after last week’s botched police raid on the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. “(The Jogye Order) cannot look away when laborers have come in to the folds of the Buddha in desperation,” the order said in a statement on Thursday. The statement also said that helping and protecting those who are seeking refuge was the only right thing to do. “(The
Dec. 26, 2013
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‘Comfort women’ seek injunction against Kyohak’s history textbook
The oldest surviving former “comfort woman” and other victims of Japan’s colonial rule (1910-1945) sought an injunction to ban a new history textbook authored by conservative scholars.The 96-year-old Kim Bok-dong, who was forced into sex slavery for the Japanese military during World War II, is one of nine who requested a local court to block Kyohak Publishing Co.’s textbook from high school useOthers include Kil Won-ok, an 84-year-old former comfort woman, descendents of independence activists,
Dec. 26, 2013
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Constitutional Court throws out large retailers’ petition
The Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed large retailers’ petition to review regulations allowing limitations to their operations.The nine constitutional justices reached a unanimous decision that the issue was not eligible for review as the Distribution Industry Development Act cannot be considered an infringement of large retailers’ basic rights in itself. The petition was filed by four large retailers including Homeplus and E-mart, which claimed that their basic rights were violated as
Dec. 26, 2013
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Ex-KT chief summoned again over alleged graft
The former head of local telecom giant KT Corp. was called in for questioning by prosecutors on Thursday for the third time for alleged managerial misconduct and creating slush funds.Lee Suk-chae, who resigned early last month over the allegations, appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul at around 10 a.m. to undergo questioning.Prosecutors previously questioned him twice last week over suspicions that he stashed around 2 billion won ($1.8 million) worth of se
Dec. 26, 2013
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Prosecution demands 9-year sentence for Hanwha chief in retrial
(Yonhap) -- The prosecution on Thursday demanded nine years in prison and 150 billion won (US$141 million) in fines for Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn for embezzlement.In a retrial held three months after the top court sent the case back to the appeals court, prosecutors asked for the same sentence as in the previous trials, noting the seriousness of his crime.The Supreme Court in September reversed a lower court's ruling on Kim on embezzlement charges and sent the case back to an appellat
Dec. 26, 2013
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Webtoon artists removes satirical cartoon after controversy
South Korean webtoon artist Jeong Cheol-yeon on Thursday removed a cartoon that satirized current affairs including disputes about the privatization of public firms and the alleged election meddling of the National Intelligence Service.“The dispute (concerning the cartoon) was more serious than I’ve anticipated, which led me to remove the cartoon. From now on, I will post such ‘rebellious pieces’ only on my blog,” Jeong said on his personal blog Thursday.In the latest edition of his webtoon "Maj
Dec. 26, 2013
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KORAIL to hire substitute workers to cope with strike
The state-run railway operator said on Thursday it is recruiting hundreds of substitute workers to cope with a protracted strike by its union members.The Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) said it has put out a public notice to hire 660 workers -- 280 train attendants and 380 drivers -- and that they will be placed to work after receiving job training."We plan to hire more workers if the strike is protracted further," said Jang Jin-bok, a spokesman of the rail company.More than 8,700 KORAIL workers w
Dec. 26, 2013
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Progressive professor cleared of plagiarism
Cho Kuk, a progressive law professor, has been cleared of suspicions of plagiarism that were raised by conservative activists, according to his school.Seoul National University announced Tuesday that its research ethics committee concluded there is lack of evidence to support the allegations against Cho.Cho has been under investigation by the university since February after conservative columnist Byun Hee-jae filed a claim that Cho plagiarized a research paper published in 2008 from one of his p
Dec. 25, 2013
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[Photo News] Catholic celebration
Dec. 25, 2013
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Robot scientist pushes limits of virtual reality
In a remote hospital, a patient waits in bed for an operation. Standing bedside is not a surgeon but a human-faced machine, equipped with three-dimensional cameras, high-precision sensors and ultra-tiny instruments. A large screen projects the face of a doctor, who controls the procedure through the robotic surgeon to check on the patient’s condition in real time using the latest telepresence technologies.The virtual operation, already in use in some parts of the world, is only a part of changes
Dec. 25, 2013