Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Commerce that cares at Beautiful Store
College student Kim Min-kyong, 21, is known as “Miss Donation” in her neighborhood. Since 2006, she has collected and donated more than 100,000 items to Beautiful Store, one in a pioneering chain of secondhand shops that raise money for charities in Korea and overseas. Starting with her own things, her collection grew bigger and bigger as people in her neighborhood come to her whenever they had things to give away. She is not a millionaire donor. However, in recognition of her hard work and pass
Nov. 9, 2012
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Rise of social enterprises
Aiming to provide jobs for the socially vulnerable and build a sustainable welfare system, social enterprises have been sprouting up in Korea in recent years.Around 720 such companies are running, a 20-fold increase from 36 in 2007 when the government started supporting their operations under the Social Enterprise Promotion Act. They currently hire around 17,410 people and made 521 billion won ($48 million) in revenue in 2011.The government is considering diversifying its support from next year
Nov. 9, 2012
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Financial independence, public trust key
A growing number of entrepreneurs are jumping on social businesses that help the poor and socially vulnerable by creating jobs and returning profits. But devotion and hard work are not enough. Even with government support, many social enterprises in Korea have folded after failing to find a sustainable financial model and firm trust from the public. “Entrepreneurship is prerequisite to achieving success. Social enterprises should become financially independent first to carry on their will aimed
Nov. 9, 2012
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Special counsel seeks more time to investigate
The independent counsel probing President Lee Myung-bak’s retirement home scandal sought more time Friday, asking the president to allow them an extension to investigate the first family. “We plan to send the application to Cheong Wa Dae this afternoon for the extension of the investigation period,” assistant special counsel Lee Chang-hoon said during a press briefing. “Despite a month’s investigation, there are points that need to be made clear,” he said.A high-ranking Cheong Wa Dae official wa
Nov. 9, 2012
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Senior prosecutor accused of taking conman bribes
Seoul police are investigating a senior prosecutor on allegations that he received tens of millions of won in bribes from a notorious pyramid scheme ring, police officials said Friday. The National Police Agency’s Intelligence Investigative Unit suspects that the prosecutor, surnamed Kim, took 200 million won around 2008 from the side of Cho Hee-pal, the nation’s most wanted con artist, who purportedly died last year while hiding out in China. It plans to summon Kim for questioning. Kim, about a
Nov. 9, 2012
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Violent crimes by teens on the rise
A 12-member theft ring consisting entirely of teenagers was nabbed by police in South Gyeongsang Province on Wednesday. The ring stole about 100 million won ($91,000) using a stolen Mercedes, and even used female members to lure men into motels before robbing them.Recent reports and statistics appear to suggest that the number of teenagers committing violent crimes is on the rise. According to “2012 Statistics on Teenagers” by Statistics Korea, the proportion of violent crimes perpetrated by tee
Nov. 9, 2012
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Japanese group place ad degrading comfort women
A Japanese far-right group ran a ad in a U.S. newspaper, claiming that the imperial Japanese government was not responsible for forcing Korean women to serve as sexual slaves in the military. The ad titled “Yes, We Remember the Facts” was published in the Star Ledger daily in New Jersey on Monday, and was sponsored by the Committee for Historical Facts, an extreme right-wing group in Japan.The ad argued that comfort women ― a euphemism used to describe the victims of Japan’s wartime military sex
Nov. 9, 2012
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Police to grill high-ranking prosecutor over suspected bribery
A high-ranking prosecutor is expected to be summoned by police for questioning on suspicions of taking large sums of money in kickbacks from a notorious con artist and a major conglomerate, a police officer said Friday. The prosecutor, surnamed Kim, is accused of taking some 200 million won ($183,908) from a man surnamed Kang who is close to famous swindler Cho Hee-pal, the National Police Agency (NPA) officer said. The prosecutor is also suspected of receiving 600 million won from an officia
Nov. 9, 2012
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OECD calls for mental health reform in Korea
Korea needs to overhaul its mental health care system and end its long-accepted practice of isolating the mentally ill in hospitals, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report Thursday. The current system, dominated by hospitals and other long-term facilities and a high proportion of involuntary admissions, requires a thorough investigation of its cost-effectiveness as well as potential for human rights abuses, it added. “As in other OECD countries, Korea should s
Nov. 8, 2012
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Seoul sees rise in number of couples living apart
One in 10 married couples in Seoul City do not live together due mainly to work and the education of their children, according to Seoul’s demographic data from the past 15 years to 2010 unveiled on Thursday.The number of married couples who live separately in the metropolitan city jumped 61 percent to 210,000 households from 1995 to 2010. Such couples accounted for 9.5 percent of all households in 2010, up from 5.8 percent in 1995.Meanwhile, married couple-households fell as a proportion of the
Nov. 8, 2012
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S. Korea falls silent as students sit key exam
Military training was suspended, flights rescheduled and emergency calls reserved for latecomers Thursday as hundreds of thousands of South Korean students sat a crucial college entrance examination.As every year, the focus of the education-obsessed country narrowed for one day to ensuring the smooth running of the exam, seen as a defining moment that can hold the key to everything from future careers to marriage prospects.Police cars and motorbikes in cities across South Korea were on standby,
Nov. 8, 2012
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Over 660,000 students take college entrance exam
More than 660,000 high school students and graduates in South Korea took the state-administered annual college entrance exam on Thursday, the most crucial test seen as a deciding factor in an applicant's choice of college and subsequent career.A total of 668,522 people applied for the day-long standardized College Scholastic Ability Test, of which about three-quarters were high school students, the ministry said, adding this year's number of test takers dropped by about 4 percent from last year.
Nov. 8, 2012
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Forum to discuss sustainable development
More than 80 officials from governments and international organizations will gather in South Korea next week to discuss environment-friendly policies and sustainable development, organizers said Wednesday.The United Nations Office for Sustainable Development said it will hold a three-day international workshop from Nov. 14 in Songdo in Incheon, west of Seoul, with a focus on strengthening planning and implementation capabilities for sustainable development.“The workshop will provide opportunitie
Nov. 7, 2012
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Korean student in Melbourne suffers racist assault
SYDNEY (Yonhap News) ― A South Korean student staying in Melbourne was severely wounded after being assaulted by a group of Australian adolescents there, consular officials said Wednesday.The 33-year-old South Korean man surnamed Chang was attacked on Sep. 27 at a park near his school in the southern Australian city by several local teenagers, who cut off a joint of his little finger and broke his left arm, according to the officials.“When I was sitting in the park with my friend, more than 10 w
Nov. 7, 2012
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Korea ships used military goods to Mongolia
South Korea has shipped used military equipment and personal gears to Mongolia as part of efforts to expand defense cooperation between the two nations, the defense ministry said Wednesday.Seoul officials handed over a total of 1,565 items of personal gear and military vehicles in the Mongolian capital to support U.N. peacekeeping troops in Afghanistan and Sudan, the ministry said in a release. The support came after the defense chiefs of the two countries agreed to expand military cooperation i
Nov. 7, 2012
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School workers to go on strike over pay, status Friday
More than 50,000 short-term contract school workers will go on strike Friday, demanding improvement in pay and employment status, according to the workers’ union.Their unprecedented walkout is expected to cause disruption in school operations, especially in meal services, in which nearly 70 percent of the workers are involved.The alliance of unionized irregular workers at elementary, middle and high schools nationwide announced Wednesday that their members overwhelmingly approved its call for th
Nov. 7, 2012
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Hangeul Day becomes public holiday again
The Ministry of Public Administration and Security on Wednesday released an advanced notice that Hangeul Day on Oct. 9, which celebrates the Korean alphabet, will be re-designated as a public holiday. The reinstatement was made at the Cabinet meeting 21 years after it was scrapped as a the public holiday due to complaints from businesses that the number of bank holidays was damaging productivity. Hangeul Day was first designated as a public holiday in 1946 honoring the promulgation of the writin
Nov. 7, 2012
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670,000 to take college entry test
undreds of thousands of students will sit the day-long college entrance exam nationwide on Thursday. The College Scholastic Ability Test for the 2013 school year will be taken at 11,191 places from 8:40 a.m. to 5:35 p.m. Applicants must arrive 30 minutes before the test starts, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said.The number of applicants dropped some 3 percent from a year earlier to 668,522. The government plans to increase operation of the subway and buses in the morning rush
Nov. 7, 2012
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S. Korean student in Melbourne suffers racist assault
A South Korean student staying in Melbourne was severely wounded after being assaulted by a group of Australian adolescents there, consular officials said Wednesday.The 33-year-old South Korean man surnamed Chang was attacked on Sep. 27 at a park near his school in the southern Australian city by several local teenagers, who cut off a joint of his little finger and broke his left arm, according to the officials."When I was sitting in the park with my friend, more than 10 white teenagers came to
Nov. 7, 2012
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Lee: Keep N. Korea from affecting Dec. election
President Lee Myung-bak instructed the Cabinet on Tuesday to ensure South Korea is thoroughly prepared not only for armed provocations by North Korea, but also any attempts by Pyongyang to affect next month’s presidential election.North Korea is one of the most divisive issues in South Korean society, with liberals calling for greater reconciliation efforts and conservatives calling for stands on principle, and Pyongyang often attempts to influence elections in the South by criticizing or praisi
Nov. 6, 2012