Most Popular
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Controversy rekindled over when to name criminals, suspects
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Hybe-Ador CEO conflict gets messier
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Battery makers ramp up efforts to diversify graphite supply chain
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[KH Explains] Hyundai Motor’s plan for new landmark keeps hitting bumps
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Seoul vows action over Naver's Line, Yahoo dispute
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Prosecutors to summon pastor who allegedly gave Dior bag to first lady
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‘Monk’ DJ spreading Buddhism goes global
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[LLG] Unseen inheritance: Trauma of transnational adoption 'trickles down' to adoptees' children
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Court's ruling set to shape path of medical school expansion
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Loans of self-employed swell 50% in four years
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State pension payouts rise 18% in 10 years
State pension payouts increased by about 18 percent over the last 10 years. According to the National Pension Service, this is because the consumer price index was used to calculate the amounts to be paid out in each successive year. Korea has seen positive inflation rates of 0.8 percent in 1999, 3.6 percent in 2003, 4.7 percent in 2008, 1.3 percent in 2013, 1.3 percent in 2014, 0.7 percent in 2015, 1 percent in 2016, 1.9 percent in 2017 and 1.5 percent in 2018.The NPS will increase this year&rs
Jan. 6, 2020
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Schools unite, call Moon's anti-elitism policy 'unconstitutional'
Sixteen of Korea’s elite private high schools have united to oppose the Moon Jae-in administration’s plan to strip them of their administrative autonomy, calling it “unconstitutional” in a joint statement to be submitted to the government Monday.“Abolishing the private school system undermines the diversity and autonomy of education -- a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution -- and forces students into a uniform educational system without r
Jan. 5, 2020
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Law enforcement adopts measures to protect children of prisoners
Law enforcement authorities are introducing measures to better protect the rights of children of incarcerated people.The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said Sunday the Supreme Court, the National Police Agency and the Ministry of Justice have decided to implement the commission’s instructions for protecting children of prisoners.Last May, the state human rights commission issued a set of recommendations advising the highest court to take into account defendants’ children i
Jan. 5, 2020
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S. Korea records lowest-ever December snowfall due to warm weather
Last month, relatively warm weather led South Korea to record the lowest monthly snowfall on record for December, the meteorological agency said Sunday.The amount of snowfall reached 0.3 centimeter in December 2019, the lowest since weather authorities began to compile December data, the Korea Meteorological Administration said.The previous record-low snowfall was 0.5 cm in December 1998.The data was compiled by measuring the depth of the most accumulated snow over the past 24 hours.The agency s
Jan. 5, 2020
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[News Focus] South Korea’s population declines in December
SEJONG -- State demographic data for last month indicates that South Korea is on the threshold of the era of population decline.According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the nation’s population fell by 1,566 to record 51.849 million as of December, compared to the previous month’s figure of 51.851 million.This marked the first time in more than 10 years since April 2009 (when it posted minus 2,716) that the monthly figure fell. While the drop in April 2009 was a sporadic occu
Jan. 5, 2020
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UN panel regrets S. Korea having no timeframe for ratifying key ILO conventions
A United Nations committee on social rights has pointed out that South Korea has no specific timeframe in ratifying key international labor conventions, government officials said Sunday.The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights made the assessment in its response to the government's report on its efforts to implement the panel's April 2017 recommendations on labor issues, including the approval of core International Labor Organization conventions.The committee assessed South Kor
Jan. 5, 2020
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Chinese boat seized for alleged illegal fishing
South Korea seized a Chinese fishing boat on charges of illegal fishing in its waters in the Yellow Sea, the Korea Coast Guard said Saturday.The 15-ton fishing boat invaded the Northern Limit Line by 4 kilometers near the South Korean border island of Yeonpyeong. The Coast Guard said it will carry out further investigations on seven Chinese fishermen on board.Another 22 Chinese fishing boats were also evicted from the area.Chinese fishing boats are often caught poaching in South Korean waters, a
Jan. 4, 2020
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Prosecutors raid Ulsan gov‘t office amid election-meddling scandal
Prosecutors raided the Ulsan government office on Saturday amid rising allegations that the city’s vice mayor colluded with the presidential office to help the president‘s close friend in the 2018 mayoral election.The raid of Ulsan Metropolitan City Hall, some 400 kilometers southeast of the capital city, came amid suspicions that Song Byung-gi, Ulsan’s vice mayor for economic affairs, conspired with several presidential aides to influence the city‘s mayoral poll last yea
Jan. 4, 2020
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S. Korea 'closely watching' safety of some 1,600 S. Koreans in Iraq
South Korea is keeping close tabs on the safety of some 1,600 South Koreans staying in Iraq, where political instability is rising after the death of the top Iranian defense commander, the foreign ministry here said Friday.The Iranian commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, was killed early Friday in a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport upon the authorization of United States President Donald Trump. The Iranian commander was leading the powerful Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary
Jan. 3, 2020
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[Newsmaker] 2 dead, 1 injured in Incheon crane collapse
INCHEON -- Two workers were killed and one other was injured when a 30-meter-high tower crane collapsed at a construction site in Incheon, west of Seoul, on Friday, police said.In the 8:32 a.m. accident at the site for the construction of a cutting tool manufacturer's headquarters, a 58-year-old worker and a 50-year-old worker, both from a crane installment company, were killed. Another worker, 34, from the same company sustained an injury on his left arm and was taken to a nearby hospital. The
Jan. 3, 2020
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New justice minister says prosecution reform ‘demand of times’
Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae pledged to reform the prosecution as she took office Friday, calling it the “demand of the times.”“Reforming the prosecution, which is (seen) as the most difficult (task), has become a demand of the times that nobody can resist,” Choo said in her inaugural speech at the ministry building in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul. President Moon named on Dec. 5 the five-term lawmaker from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea to succeed Cho Kuk, who stepp
Jan. 3, 2020
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[Newsmaker] Court declines to issue arrest warrant for conservative pastor
A Seoul court on Thursday rejected a request for a warrant to arrest a conservative pastor for his alleged role in a violent anti-government rally.Following a hearing that lasted over two hours, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed the prosecution's request to arrest Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon."At the current stage, it is difficult to recognize the need, reason for detention," the court said in its decision.Prosecutors had requested the Seoul Central District Court detain Jun for allege
Jan. 3, 2020
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Complaint filed against pink toys for girls, blue for boys
A civic group filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, taking issue with baby products that come in pink for girls and in blue for boys, a civic group said Thursday. From clothing to stationery and toys, retailers have traditionally assigned blue to boys and pink to girls when they design products, which the civic group Political Mamas says deprives infants and their parents of rights to choose. They also took issue with playhouse toys, such as pretend kitchen ranges
Jan. 2, 2020
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S. Korea confirms 56th case of African swine fever
South Korea on Wednesday confirmed the country's 56th case of the African swine fever after a wild boar found dead near the border with North Korea tested positive for the deadly virus.The wild boar carcass was found in Paju, bringing the number of such cases to 20 in the western border town alone, according to the National Institute of Environmental Research.South Korea has mobilized hundreds of soldiers and civilians to hunt down wild boars near the border in recent months to try to contain th
Jan. 1, 2020
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Koreans take new year’s celebrations to outdoors despite chilly temperatures
The cold spell did not deter Koreans from welcoming the new year outdoors.Mountains around the country drew early morning hikers seeking to catch a glimpse of the rising sun.Making New Year’s wishes, resolutions while watching the sunrise is a Korean tradition.Retiree Lee Young-gi, 72, said he has spent the first dawn of the year at the nearby mountains of Cheonggye and Gwanak for the last 10 years.“This year, I watched the sunrise from Gwanaksan, had a cup of coffee and came back ho
Jan. 1, 2020
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[What the 2020s will hold for Korea] More immigrants, multinational families
A new decade has dawned. Unprecedented challenges await Korea from an aging and shrinking population to accelerated warming of the peninsula. The Korea Herald has prepared a four-part series looking into some of the changes and challenges facing the nation in the 2020s. -- Ed.As South Korea enters a new decade with a looming demographic crisis, immigrants make up only 4 percent of the country’s total population of 51.7 million. The proportion looks set to rise in the 2020s, but the co
Dec. 31, 2019
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[What the 2020s will hold for Korea] Generation Z comes to the fore
A new decade has dawned. Unprecedented challenges await Korea from an aging and shrinking population to accelerated warming of the peninsula. The Korea Herald has prepared a four-part series looking into some of the changes and challenges facing the nation in the 2020s. -- Ed. Come 2020 and those born in 2001 -- the first year of the third millennium -- will be children no more. They are the first batch of post-millennium babies to reach adulthood, the kids of the smartphone era.As with the
Dec. 31, 2019
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Koreans to greet new year with bell-ringing ceremonies nationwide
Traditional bell-ringing ceremonies are to take place in Seoul and other cities nationwide at midnight Tuesday to welcome the new year.The most attention-grabbing bell-ringing ceremony will be at Bosingak Belfry in Jongno, central Seoul, as several national celebrities will ring the bell 33 times amid cheers from tens of thousands of citizens gathered to celebrate the beginning of the new year.This year, the celebrities invited to take part in the Bosingak bell-ringing ceremony include South Kor
Dec. 31, 2019
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[Newsmaker] Cold snap grips Korea
The season’s strongest cold wave hit South Korea on Tuesday, New Year’s Eve, with temperatures in many parts of the country dropping below minus 10 degrees Celsius. Cold wave alerts or advisories were issued for most parts of the country as of 7 a.m., except for the resort island of Jeju. Temperatures dipped to the season’s record lows, reaching minus 11.7 C in Seoul and minus 9.8 C in Incheon as of 8:30 a.m., according to the nation’s weather agency. In the mountainous r
Dec. 31, 2019
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[What the 2020s will hold for Korea] Aging time bomb ticking louder
A new decade has dawned. Unprecedented challenges await Korea from an aging and shrinking population to accelerated warming of the peninsula. The Korea Herald has prepared a four-part series looking into some of the changes and challenges facing the nation in the 2020s. -- Ed.School classrooms and homes go empty in rural areas. Deaths greatly outnumber childbirths. The economy, once the region’s most dynamic, loses its vigor with fewer workers, fewer taxpayers and fewer consumers. This, ac
Dec. 31, 2019