Most Popular
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Jimin of BTS, actor Song Da-eun suspected to be dating, again
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Police raid popera singer Kim Ho-joong's house over hit-and-run suspicions
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What's next for the government's push in quota hike?
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Trump may like to 'solve' N. Korean nuclear problem if reelected: ex-official
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Woman falls to death from acquaintance's home after exhibiting ‘unexplained' behaviors
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N. Korea slams planned S. Korea-US military drills, warns of 'catastrophic aftermath'
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N. Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: JCS
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‘Malice should not undermine the system, social order,’ says Hybe's Bang
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[Robert J. Fouser] Social attitudes toward language proficiency
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[Graphic News] How much do Korean adults read?
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EU lauds Paris climate deal
The adoption of the historic agreement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris on Dec. 12 was an “unprecedented political victory” and “turning point” toward sustainable international development, the French Embassy announced last week. Publicizing a statement from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, the diplomatic mission stressed that the legally binding accord among 195 participating nations ― to cap global warming at 2 degrees Celsius above
Dec. 28, 2015
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Syrian student on mission to help refugees
When the world mourned over dead Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi, who washed up on a Turkish beach in early September, one Syrian man was not tormented. He had lost three children in an air strike some time before. “The boy looked like a sleeping angel. I wish my children had died like that,” the grief-stricken father told Abdul Wahab Almohammad Agha, the director of humanitarian organization Help Syria, at a refugee camp in Jordan in September. “Aylan’s father is a lucky guy compared to me. I died e
Dec. 28, 2015
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Park at the vanguard of cultural diplomacy
The strains of “Arirang,” Korea’s unofficial national anthem, filled the air as President Park Geun-hye smiled at the National Marionette Theatre in Prague early this month, followed by Czech folk song “Humoresques.“Titled “In the Attic,” the puppet show was the product of collaboration between the two countries’ artists ― traditional Korean pansori piece “Sugungga” formed the central music and story line under the command of a Korean director, while the rabbit and turtle marionettes playing the
Dec. 27, 2015
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Korea, Japan strive to narrow gap on sex slavery
Seoul and Tokyo are inching toward a compromise on Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women by holding a director-general-level meeting on Sunday, a day before the ministers were set to sit down for talks. Japese Foreign Ministry`s Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Kimihiro Ishikane walks into the building of Seoul`s Foreign Ministry on Sunday. (Yonhap)The 12th round of working-level talks were held for two hours to settle one of the thorniest issues that has lo
Dec. 27, 2015
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Korea, Japan to hold working-level talks on 'comfort women' issue
South Korea and Japan are set to hold a working-level meeting Sunday on the issue of former Korean sex slaves for Japan's World War II soldiers, officials said. Lee Sang-deok, director-general handling Northeast Asian affairs at the Foreign Ministry, is scheduled to meet with his Japanese counterpart, Kimihiro Ishikane, around 3 p.m. in Seoul, officials said. The two sides are expected to try to work out differences to ensure their top diplomats can produce a deal on wartime sexual slavery, th
Dec. 27, 2015
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'TPP will spur erosion of China’s manufacturing edge’
This is the 11th and last installment in a series of interviews with scholars and experts on China as a resurgent Asian power that is changing the regional order. This installment looks into China’s economic issues. -- Ed. If the Trans-Pacific Partnership is ratified, it will spur the movement of the world’s manufacturing center from China to countries in Southeast Asia where the labor cost is cheaper and investments will flow in, China expert Jee Man-soo said. Jee Man-sooJee, a research fellow
Dec. 24, 2015
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China denies media report that it offered to rent S. Korean port
China on Wednesday denied a Japanese media report that Beijing had proposed renting a port facility on a South Korean island in 2013. Japans Asahi newspaper reported earlier this week that China had asked South Korea to let a Chinese company rent a port facility on Koje Island off the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula.But, the proposal was rejected by South Koreas defense ministry, according to the report. "I have never heard of such a plan and the relevant report is not worth commenting
Dec. 23, 2015
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Korea to offer $1.5 million to 3 African nations
South Korea has decided to provide three African countries with $1.5 million in humanitarian assistance, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, as Seoul is aggressively pushing for "humanitarian diplomacy."South Korea plans to offer $500,000 each to the Central African Republic, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.The three have long suffered severe humanitarian crises due to civil war, poor security and governance and climate change, said the ministry.There are more than 6 million r
Dec. 23, 2015
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FM Yun expects 'wise' court ruling on Korea-Japan ties
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se expressed hope Wednesday for a "wise" verdict by the Constitutional Court, just hours before its ruling on a 1965 deal between South Korea and Japan.The court is scheduled to deliver a verdict later in the day on whether or not the bilateral Claims Settlement Agreement is constitutional.Japan claims that the deal, signed to normalize their diplomatic relations, settled all issues of compensation to victims of forced labor during Japan's colonial rule of Korea from 1
Dec. 23, 2015
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Korea, China hold first talks on EEZs in 7 years
South Korea and China opened the first talks Tuesday on their overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs) in seven years but skepticism is rampant over an early deal.Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and his Chinese counterpart Liu Zhenmin began the negotiations here in an amicable mood as they cited good relations between Seoul and Beijing these days.Cho said the two sides are bracing for "difficult and lengthy" talks due to legal and technical issues."The negotiations are very difficult and im
Dec. 22, 2015
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Saenuri lawmaker Yoo tapped as finance minister
President Park Geun-hye tapped Saenuri Party Rep. Yoo Il-ho to lead the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and double as deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs, in a Cabinet reshuffle that affected six high-level posts, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.Park also named Lee Joon-sik, former vice president of Seoul National University, as the education minister and deputy prime minister in charge of social affairs.Yoo Il-ho, Lee Joon-sik (Yonhap)For the post of the interior minister, the presid
Dec. 21, 2015
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Seoul, Beijing hold EEZ talks Tuesday
The vice foreign ministers of South Korea and China will hold maritime demarcation talks in Seoul on Tuesday for the first time since 2008, as the two neighbors remain poles apart over how to address their overlapping exclusive economic zones.The talks were arranged after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proposed the early resumption of the official talks during his summit with President Park Geun-hye in Seoul on Oct. 31. The talks, which used to be director-general-level, have been elevated to the vi
Dec. 21, 2015
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Korea, Israel to provide $4 mln in R&D funding to SMEs
South Korea and Israel will provide $4 million in research funds to small and medium enterprises in 2016 to promote close economic cooperation, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Seoul and Tel Aviv will each foot $2 million to support joint projects by SMEs from the two countries.The money will be used in areas like electronics, machinery, biotech and renewable energy. Companies picked can expect upwards to three years of support with maximum funding set a
Dec. 21, 2015
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U.S. should more forcefully intervene in resolving Seoul-Tokyo tensions: expert
The United States should intervene more forcefully in improving relations between South Korea and Japan, an American expert said, stressing that tensions between the two key allies are hindering the U.S.'s ability to deal with North Korea, China and other challenges.Mark Manyin, an Asian affairs specialist at the U.S. Congressional Research Service, made the point in a paper to the Council on Foreign Relations, arguing that forceful intervention carries risks, but the "costs of nonintervention a
Dec. 21, 2015
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Denmark marks 150 years since C. Nielsen’s birth
The Danish Embassy teamed up with communications company Jabra to hold a concert Tuesday to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Danish composer Carl Nielsen. The event at the Seoul National University Museum of Art attracted 150 guests from diplomatic missions, cultural industries, educational institutions and business communities, part of worldwide performances celebrating the occasion. Danish-Korean group “Trio con Brio Copenhagen” ― comprised of Korean sisters, violinist Hong Soo-jin and cell
Dec. 20, 2015
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French language gets boost in Korea
The International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF), an agency dedicated to popularizing French language and culture worldwide, launched a support group in Seoul last week to widen collaboration with Korea.The Council of Promotion of Francophonie in Korea is comprised of diplomats with networks in Tokyo, Hanoi, Bangkok and Jakarta. The agency will support cultural events, academic conferences and business partnerships, meeting once or twice a year.“We are here to celebrate Francophonie’s es
Dec. 20, 2015
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Tunisian Embassy celebrates quartet’s Nobel Peace Prize
The Tunisian Embassy on Tuesday held a reception to commemorate the awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, a coalition of unionists, employers, lawyers and human rights activists that brokered peace and forestalled a civil war.The quartet is credited with preventing violence in 2013, following the Jasmine Revolution that overthrew longtime president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and ended six decades of dictatorship. By facilitating compromise between dive
Dec. 20, 2015
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Indonesia honors Korean Army general
The Indonesian Embassy on Friday awarded a former Korean military chief for his contributions to strengthening the bilateral alliance and Indonesia’s defense capacity. Former ROK Army Chief of Staff Kim Yo-han was awarded the Order of Service Medal, an honor bestowed to individuals who made distinguished achievements benefiting the Indonesian government or military. The medal is conferred by Indonesian President Joko Widodo. “The Indonesian government and army express deep gratitude to Gen. Kim
Dec. 20, 2015
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Kazakhstan, Korea deepen partnership
The Kazakh Embassy on Tuesday marked the country’s founding on Dec. 16, 1991, and burgeoning ties with Korea at a reception in Seoul that featured photographs of the country’s remotest regions. The pictures, part of the exhibition “Undiscovered Kazakhstan,” were selected by the Foundation of the First President of Kazakhstan, a public organization supporting young scientists, artists, students and researchers. “Within a span of 24 years, Kazakhstan and Korea pushed our close relations to a compr
Dec. 20, 2015
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Pentagon rejects accusations that USFK lied about anthrax shipments
The U.S. Defense Department rejected accusations that U.S. Forces Korea lied about a record of anthrax shipments to South Korea, claiming that the first anthrax-involved training mentioned in a May press release meant the first such training only at Osan Air Base. USFK came under fire after a joint Korea-U.S. working group found that USFK brought anthrax test samples into South Korea 16 times since 2009 as part of its bio-defense tests in South Korea, including the latest shipment in April of p
Dec. 20, 2015