Most Popular
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Controversy rekindled over when to name criminals, suspects
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Seoul transit pass for travelers to be available starting July
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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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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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FM Cho says he will have 'frank, in-depth' talks with Wang
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Loans of self-employed swell 50% in four years
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Korea to ban poultry farms in AI-prone areas
South Korea will prohibit poultry breeding in areas vulnerable to avian influenza to prevent outbreaks of the highly contagious animal disease, the government said Wednesday.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it will apply strengthened qualifications for stockbreeders under revised regulations, which ban new chicken and duck farms in areas deemed prone to bird flu outbreaks.(Yonhap)The new rule also prohibits additional poultry farms within a radius of 500 meters from exist
Jan. 2, 2019
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Forced labor victims file for asset seizure against Japanese firm
Victims of Japan's wartime forced labor have filed for an asset seizure against Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. as the Japanese firm has not carried out the top court's order to compensate them.A legal counsel representing the four victims and their descendants has recently asked a local court to seize assets in South Korea held by the Japanese firm. This photo, taken on Dec. 4, 2018, shows a Japanese activist and two South Korean lawyers representing the four victims of Japan`s wartime forc
Jan. 2, 2019
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[Graphic News] Number of naturalized S. Koreans nears 190,000 over last 70 years
Nearly 190,000 foreign nationals have become naturalized South Korean citizens over the past seven decades, government data showed. The Ministry of Justice said the number of people naturalized here since the enactment of the Nationality Act on Dec. 20, 1948, reached 189,193 as of the end of November. The nation’s first naturalization occurred on Feb. 8, 1957, when a then Taiwanese citizen who changed his name to Son Il-seung acquired South Korean nationality.
Jan. 1, 2019
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Actress Lee Young-ae to join consortium to take over hospital
Actress Lee Young-ae will join a consortium to take over South Korea’s first obstetrics-focused hospital, which is suffering financial difficulties as a result of the declining birth rate, local media outlets reported Tuesday.According to the report, Lee is planning to participate in a consortium that would take over the Cheil General Hospital & Women’s Healthcare Center. Lee reportedly delivered her twins at the hospital and continues to go there. After the birth of the twins, Lee donated 1.5 m
Jan. 1, 2019
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13 Samsung employees indicted on charges of interfering with labor union
Samsung tried to interfere with the activities of its labor union by creating a company union and by following union members and their families, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Tuesday.A total of 13 Samsung employees, including Kang Kyung-hoon, a vice president of Samsung Electronics Co., and executives of its subsidiary Samsung Everland, were indicted without detention on allegations of violating the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act. (Yonhap)According to the pr
Jan. 1, 2019
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Patient stabs psychiatrist to death
A 30-year-old man has been arrested for stabbing his psychiatrist to death in a hospital in Seoul on Monday.The unidentified man used a sharp object to attack a psychiatrist at 5:44 p.m. after an in-person consultation in Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul. The 47-year-old psychatrist was immediately taken to the emergency room, but was declared dead at around 7:30 p.m. (Yonhap)The assailant was subdued by hospital staff, who reported the killing to the police. The police said Monday
Dec. 31, 2018
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Group denounces Lee Hae-chan’s remarks about people with disabilities, calls for his resignation
Despite Democratic Party leader Lee Hae-chan’s apology for an inappropriate remark about people with disabilities, critics continue to call for his resignation.Incorporated Korea Family Association for the Mentally Disabled held a press conference Monday and urged Lee to step down from his position. “Lee’s remarks suggested that mentally disabled people are abnormal, and they are more pitiful than physically disabled people,” said Cho Sun-deuk, the chairman of the organization.“The remark shows
Dec. 31, 2018
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Cabinet approves revised Minimum Wage Act
The revised enforcement decree of the Minimum Wage Act takes effect starting Tuesday, following its approval by the Cabinet on Monday. Amid a strong backlash from the business sector, the government decided to include hours of paid rest in working hours when calculating the minimum wage.The enforcement decree was revised in a bid to eliminate the confusion surrounding the definition of working hours, the Labor Ministry said. The government had planned to pass the decree Dec. 24, but its passage
Dec. 31, 2018
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Korea nullifies passports of 3 nationals in Libya
South Korea has invalidated the passports of three nationals refusing to leave Libya, a government official said Monday.A total of 13 South Koreans are staying in the nation ridden with unstable security conditions.The government has strongly requested that they depart the country for security reasons. (Yonhap)A South Korean man remains held hostage by an unidentified armed group there after he was kidnapped in July."(We) have taken the step of nullifying the passports of three (of the South Kor
Dec. 31, 2018
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Annual salary of civil servants to rise 1.8% in 2019
The annual salaries of South Korean civil servants will rise 1.8 percent in 2019, the smallest hike since 2014 when an increase of 1.7 percent was recorded, the Ministry of Personnel Management said Monday.The ministry said the Cabinet meeting approved the salary increase plan for civil servants in the morning, while noting all high-ranking government officials above Grade 2 have decided to voluntarily forego their salary increases for next year in consideration of economic difficulties. (Yonhap
Dec. 31, 2018
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Moon’s office forced issuance of gov’t bonds worth W4tr: ex-official
A former official at the Ministry of Economy and Finance claimed that President Moon Jae-in’s office forced the issuance of deficit-covering bonds worth 4 trillion won late last year despite opposition from the ministry.Shin Jae-min, 32, alleged that the move was a political attempt to make the Park Geun-hye administration look bad by increasing government debts for the year 2017. Moon took office in May last year. Shin Jae-min (Yonhap)Shin also claimed that Cheong Wa Dae had attempted to repla
Dec. 31, 2018
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Group protests against coal briquette price hike
The leader of a welfare group that offers coal briquettes for heating began a one-person protest against a briquette price hike in front of the presidential office Monday.Heo Ki-bok, chief of the Babsang Community Foundation and Briquette Bank, started what the group said would lead to a series of one-person protests by other members of the foundation. (Yonhap)In an online petition filed on the Cheong Wa Dae website on Dec. 13, the group said the price of coal briquettes, known locally as yeonta
Dec. 31, 2018
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Korea to ban use of disposable shopping bags at supermarkets
South Korea is to ban big-time supermarkets and retailers nationwide from using disposable plastic bags in an attempt to conserve natural resources and reduce recyclable waste, government officials said Monday.The ban will come into effect on Tuesday as part of a revised law on conserving resources and encouraging the reuse of recyclable waste. (Yonhap)Subject to the ban are 2,000 outlets of major discount chains and 11,000 supermarkets with sales floor spaces of 165 square meters or more where
Dec. 31, 2018
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Taxi representatives boycott meeting with govt. on shared mobility
The heads of four taxi associations boycotted a meeting with the government and the ruling party on Friday over shared mobility, an official said, showcasing the uphill battle to overhaul South Korea's transportation sector.The meeting was meant to lay the groundwork for the creation of a social dialogue body on carpooling services by Kakao Mobility Corp., the operator of South Korea's largest taxi-hailing app."A social dialogue body can get off the ground once taxi officials join a meeting," sa
Dec. 28, 2018
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Woman gets 6 months for putting shampoo in mother-in-law’s milk
A woman has been sentenced to six months in prison for putting lice shampoo into her mother-in-law’s personal-sized milk carton.Incheon District Court on Friday slapped the assailant, who is from the Philippines, with a six-month sentence suspended for two years. The woman will be on probation for one year and is unlikely to actually see the inside of a cell. (Yonhap)The woman was confirmed to have committed the crime after being constantly talked down to by her mother-in-law. She lived with the
Dec. 28, 2018
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Cho Kuk to answer lawmakers’ questions about investigator
Cho Kuk, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, is set to answer questions from lawmakers about a case involving a former investigator under his supervision, among other issues, in his first official appearance at the National Assembly on Monday. Rival parties agreed to put Cho on the stand at the meeting of the Steering Committee of the National Assembly.Cho has come under fire due to Kim Tae-woo, whom he had supervised while the latter was part of the Cheong Wa Dae special inspection
Dec. 28, 2018
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South Korea hit by this winter's strongest cold wave
The coldest weather yet this winter hit South Korea on Friday, with temperatures dipping below minus 10C in many parts of the country.The Korea Meteorological Administration issued a cold wave alert for much of the northeastern province of Gangwon, where the mercury fell as low as minus 23.5C in mountainous areas.Temperatures in the province's Cheorwon, Daegwallyeong, Chuncheon and Wonju plunged to minus 23.4C, minus 18.9C, minus 15.4C and minus 12.5C, respectively. (Yonhap)The mercury dropped t
Dec. 28, 2018
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Conscientious objectors to serve at correctional facilities for 36 months
South Korean men who refuse to join the military due to religious faith will be subject to three years of alternative duty at local correctional facilities, nearly double the length of service for Army draftees, the defense ministry announced Friday.The ministry put on public notice the proposed revision to the Military Service Act and a new bill on introducing the program in 2020, capping months of heated debate that pitted rights advocates against critics, mostly conservatives.In June, the Con
Dec. 28, 2018
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Key murder suspect commits suicide while detained in southern S. Korea
HAENAM, South Jeolla Province -- A 59-year-old wanted by police in connection with the death of a man died Friday after an apparent suicide in the southwestern town of Haenam, South Jeolla Province, police said.The body of the man, who is suspected of murdering a 58-year-old man last week, was found inside a bathroom at a jail in the Haenam Police Station in the town on the south coast around (Yonhap)6:21 a.m. Police had taken custody of the suspect, who is identified only by his surname Kim, t
Dec. 28, 2018
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Govt. marks up purchase price of rice for emergency reserves by 27.5%
The South Korean government said Friday it has decided to mark up the purchase price of rice set aside for emergency reserves to better help local farmers.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it decided to set this year's price for a 40-kilogram sack of rice at 67,050 won ($59.76), up 27.5 percent from last year's 52,570 won. (Yonhap)The government purchased rice from farmers over the October-December period by initially providing 30,000 won per sack in line with its standing
Dec. 28, 2018