Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Teachers’ group cries foul on school violence probe
The country’s largest teachers’ group on Thursday visited the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to denounce the escalating investigation of teachers over allegedly lax management of student violence on campus. The visit by the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Association is expected to deepen conflict between the two parties over whether teachers bear sole responsibility for school violence that has been blamed for student suicides.According to the conservative teachers’ group, its president Ahn Ya
Feb. 9, 2012
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Vote-buying probe reaching Lee’s senior aide
Speaker’s ex-aide confesses he reported returned bribe to then campaign strategistPublic prosecutors probing an alleged vote-buying scheme by one of the ruling Saenuri Party’s former chiefs during its internal leadership race have reportedly secured a statement implicating Kim Hyo-jae, a senior aide to President Lee Myung-bak. With the statement, made by Koh Myung-jin, a former aide to the former party chief, Rep. Park Hee-tae, investigators were expected to accelerate their probe to shed light
Feb. 9, 2012
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Ministry to give work permits to 16,300 more migrant workers
The government decided Thursday to give work permits to an additional 16,300 foreign workers in the first half of this year to meet an acute shortage of labor at small workplaces. The country has already given E-9 visas to 29,700 workers so far this year, using up all of its quota for the first half. The E-9 visa is issued to migrant workers under the work permit system. Every year, the government sets the quota. Under the system, those with E-9 visas can work here for up to five years if they e
Feb. 9, 2012
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Prosecutors confirm new findings in ruling party bribery scandal
Prosecutors investigating the election bribery suspicions engulfing National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae have confirmed that Park's election camp cashed 50 million won ($44,830) worth of checks right before he was elected as the ruling party's chairman in 2008, a new piece of evidence which could
Feb. 8, 2012
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KF to hold third Global Seminar
The Korea Foundation said it will host the third Global Seminar from Feb. 9-12 at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul, inviting scores of international experts to discuss reforming global economic governance and achieving sustainable growth.Under the theme “Reforming Global Economic Governance: Concerted Efforts for International Cooperation,” the forum will gather more than 60 experts from 18 countries as well as South Korean government officials.Participants include the Brookings Ins
Feb. 8, 2012
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CIA chief to visit Seoul to discuss N.K., security
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus will visit South Korea to discuss developments regarding North Korea after the death of Kim Jong-il.According to reports, Petraeus is scheduled to visit Seoul at the end of the week and meet President Lee Myung-bak and South Korean intelligence officials. Government officials Petraeus is reportedly planning to meet include National Intelligence Service Chief Won Sei-hoon, Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin and Senior Presidential S
Feb. 8, 2012
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Seoul mayor visits Japan’s disaster prevention facilities
By Lee Woo-young Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon began a tour of disaster prevention centers and new renewable energy facilities in Japan to learn from its disaster preparedness and efficient use of energy, which he plans to use in developing a safety plan for Seoul.Park embarked on a three-day official visit on Wednesday, arriving in Yokohama. He will visit Tokyo on Thursday and Friday. He observed the flood control reservoir on the Tsurumi River in Yokohama. The reservoir stores rainwater during rai
Feb. 8, 2012
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Seoul to collect used cooking oil to make bio-diesel fuel
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday it plans to collect used cooking oil from across the city to produce bio-diesel fuel as part of efforts to protect the environment and cut sewage treatment costs.Bio diesel, a liquid fuel composed from renewable substances like soybean oil, is emerging as an alternative energy source to fossil fuels. It burns cleaner than fuels derived from fossil fuels, while emitting no carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.Under the envisioned plan, the city gover
Feb. 8, 2012
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teacher investigated
Another teacher investigated for allegedly ignoring school violencePolice have opened an investigation into another local teacher on suspicions of neglecting a bullied student, police said Wednesday, two days after launching an unprecedented investigation into a teacher on similar suspicions. The Gangseo Police Station in western Seoul said the investigation was launched after the father of a middle school student submitted a petition for the investigation into the teacher, who the father said
Feb. 8, 2012
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Court overturns conviction for ‘murder without corpse’
An appellant court on Wednesday found not guilty a woman formerly convicted of homicide in a sensational case known as “the murder without a corpse.” The 40-year-old woman was arrested in June last year for killing a 26-year-old woman and cremating the body in Busan. She disguised the corpse as hers to receive money from her life insurance, which would have amounted to 2.4 billion won ($2.1 million). She signed up to the insurance policy two months before the alleged crime.She admitted she faked
Feb. 8, 2012
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Over 5,000 cases of alien objects in food detected
The state food safety agency detected a total of 5,631 cases of alien objects including mold, metals, bugs or plastic materials in food last year. It marked a 34.5 percent decrease from the previous year, according to the Korea Food and Drug Administration. Bugs accounted for 50.3 percent of the incidents, followed by mold at 9.9 percent, metals at 9.8 percent and plastics at 5.5 percent.Processed noodle products made up 24.4 percent of the total with 10.3 percent of detections in coffee, 10.1 p
Feb. 8, 2012
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Military to screen all mobile apps
The Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday that it would screen all smartphone applications and renew the blacklist of pro-North Korean or anti-government mobile apps.It will be the first full-scale crackdown by military authorities on smartphone programs. The ministry said it would base its list on the Korea Telecommunications Commission’s guidelines. It will either have to find technological methods to block soldiers from accessing such applications or forcibly delete the applications from
Feb. 7, 2012
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Average Korean child starts English studies at age 4.3
Korean children start learning English at age 4.3 on average, and the more educated the mother the earlier a child begins, according to a survey by Yoon’s English School, a local private English institute, on Tuesday. A poll of 667 mothers conducted from Dec. 28 to Jan. 5 found that 42.7 percent said they started their children’s English education when they were between the ages of three and four.About 28.6 percent said they had their children begin learning English at between five and six years
Feb. 7, 2012
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Seoul mayor seeks pardon for evictees
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon asked President Lee Myung-bak to pardon residents arrested for violently defying eviction in Yongsan in 2009, city officials said Tuesday. Park sent an official letter to President Lee, asking for the pardon of all eight people arrested amid a deadly standoff between then-tenants and police over the forced eviction from Yongsan District 4 three years ago. The conforontation led to a fire that killed five evictees and one police officer. Park, who took office last year,
Feb. 7, 2012
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S. Korean hotels ignorant of ban on shark fin dishes
South Korean hotels are not heeding international calls to ban shark fin dishes on their menus that may cause local animal rights groups to stage a boycott, sources said Tuesday.The country’s top-rated hotels including the Lotte, Shilla, Westin Chosun, Sheraton Walker Hill and Plaza all serve the delicacy at their respective Chinese restaurants, a source in the hotel industry said.He said the ingredients are all imported from Hong Kong with some non-soup dishes costing up to 100,000 won ($90) pe
Feb. 7, 2012
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Seoul to build public hobby farm on Han River island
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday it will create public farmland on the central Seoul island of Nodeul, overturning its earlier plan to build an opera house there.Under the new plan, the municipal government will transform about one third of the uninhabited island located in the middle of the Han River into farmland before renting it out to the public starting in May. The island, covering 60,818 square meters, has long been deserted with some part of it once used as a tennis court.
Feb. 7, 2012
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Teacher booked for neglecting bullied student until suicide
Education authorities and teachers‘ associations raised skepticism on Tuesday over an unprecedented police investigation into a local teacher on suspicions of neglecting a bullied middle school student until she jumped to her death. The Yangcheon Police Station in western Seoul said a day earlier they booked a 40-year-old middle school teacher in order to begin an official investigation into suspicions that the teacher, whose identity was withdrawn, did not take proper action to stop continued s
Feb. 7, 2012
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Tough measures set on school violence
The government announced a wide range of measures against school violence Monday, focused on united action by all members of society.The measures call for strengthening the role of teachers and headmasters in resolving school violence, zero-tolerance toward bullying and more protection of and care for victims, as well as expanding character education for all school ages.“Every member of society including teachers, schools, parents and the government should act to eradicate school violence. The g
Feb. 6, 2012
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English institute caught copying exam questions
Prosecutors are investigating Hackers Education Group, a local English education franchise, on suspicion of illegally copying and redistributing copyrighted English test questions.Investigators of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Monday that they had indicted six management members of the company including chairman identified by his surname Cho without detention on charges of copyright violation. The group’s language education and research units have also been indicted on the
Feb. 6, 2012
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Carcinogens found in chip factories
Trace amounts of leukemia-linked carcinogens were found in semiconductor-producing factories of Samsung Electronics Co. and other chipmakers, a governmental authority said Monday. “We found that cancer-causing substances are present inside the chip factories,” said Park Jung-sun, head of the state-run Korea Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, announcing the results of its three-year study of potential cancer risks at chip-manufacturing lines. The study, conducted between 2009 and
Feb. 6, 2012