Most Popular
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Korean industries gauge impact of Biden's steep tariffs on China
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Do Korean doctors make too much money?
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Is FTC's conglomerate listing a boon or bane for Hybe?
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NewJeans to headline palace show
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Coupang's Kim Bom escapes chaebol chief designation again
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Why Korean crime stories typically feature nameless, faceless perpetrators
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Rare mid-May heavy snow warning issued over mountainous areas of Gangwon
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CIO chief nominee to explain allegations at confirmation hearing
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Yoon vows to run country 'rightly' on Buddha's birthday
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Debate on 'no-seniors zones' heats up
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Seoul to ease visa rules for Chinese, SE Asian tourists
The Seoul government said Sunday that it would ease visa rules for visitors from China, Southeast Asian countries and foreign patients, as part of efforts to promote the local tourism industry and offer convenience to travelers from neighboring nations.Starting next month, the Justice Ministry will expand the issuance of multiple visas for Chinese nationals to their spouses and children. Seoul will also issue multiple-entry visas to Chinese nationals who have memberships in condominiums in Korea
Aug. 11, 2013
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S. Korea seeks to host U.N. maritime law center
South Korea is seeking to host a new United Nations regional center for maritime law that will promote better understanding of sea boundaries and use of underwater resources, the government said Sunday. The Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea has proposed establishing three centers in the Asia-Pacific, Africa and Latin American regions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.DOALOS director Sergei Tarassenko approached South Korea and asked if it wanted to host the Asia-Pacific cente
Aug. 11, 2013
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Korean language course boosts Southeast Asian tourism
The ASEAN-Korea Center and the Philippine Department of Tourism organized a 10-day Korean language course for tourism and hospitality professionals through Aug. 20 in a city in the Philippines. The lectures are especially designed to familiarize the participants with expressions commonly used at airports, hotels and other tourist sites in Angeles City, the Philippines, so that these expressions could be put to practical use in their day-to-day work. The Philippines is home to world-renowned tour
Aug. 11, 2013
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Envoy lauds role of Korean diplomats in Ivorian election
The Ivorian ambassador to South Korea underscored the assistance that two Korean diplomats provided in safeguarding democracy in the West African nation during a reception celebrating his country’s 53rd anniversary of national independence at a hotel in Seoul on Thursday.The two Korean diplomats that Ivorian Ambassador to South Korea Sylvestre Kouassi Bile was referring to were United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Choi Young-jin, the Korean diplomat who led the U.N. Operation in Ivor
Aug. 11, 2013
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Irish Ambassador McKee completes Korea posting
Irish Ambassador to South Korea Eamonn McKee finished his four-year posting here, departing on Thursday to his next assignment as his country’s top diplomatic representative in Israel. He arrived here in 2009.“Adjusting to operating in a country with so little exposure to Ireland and with such a different culture, in sharp contrast to my previous postings in the U.S., was a tremendous learning experience,” he said in a statement on Wednesday about his experience here in South Korea. “Making an i
Aug. 11, 2013
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Afghan minister recounts Taliban’s destruction of Buddhist statues
The international community did not make a sincere effort to stop the Taliban from destroying 7th-century Bamiyan Buddhist statues in 2001, Afghanistan’s minister of culture said during a four-day visit here on Wednesday.Overcoming initial difficulty, the Taliban eventually toppled the 120-feet and 170-feet tall statues ― some of the tallest in the world ― with anti-aircraft canons, tanks and dynamite in March 2001.The statues were hewn out of the side of a mountain in Bamiyan, about 100 miles w
Aug. 11, 2013
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Egypt, Korea seek close nuclear ties
While international mediators warn political stalemate risks more bloodshed and the interim government says diplomacy is over, Egypt’s top diplomat in South Korea defended the military’s decision to oust Mohammed Morsi as president describing it as a necessary move to prevent “civil war.”“The polarization in the country before June 30 was such that Egypt was really in danger of civil war. People were so pitted against each other that it could have been a civil war. So, the army had to intervene,
Aug. 11, 2013
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Lawmaker stresses Korea-Japan ties
A visiting Japanese ruling-party lawmaker stressed Friday the importance of keeping friendly ties with South Korea as the two neighbors have been facing unusually icy relations over historical issues.“Close neighbors are more important than distant relatives,” Yoshitada Kounoike from the Japan‘s Liberal Democratic Party cited a Japanese proverb in a lunch meeting with South Korean lawmakers held in the local parliament building in Yeouido, western Seoul.The proverb was picked as Kounoike emphasi
Aug. 9, 2013
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Civic group to seek injunction against Japan’s claim over Dokdo
A local civic group said Friday it will seek a court injunction to stop Japan’s recurring territorial claim over Dokdo, the easternmost South Korean islets.The Dokdo promotion movement solidarity based in the east coastal city of Sokcho, 213 kilometers east of Seoul, said it plans to file for the injunction with a Japanese court on Feb. 22 next year. If fulfilled as planned, the injunction application will mark the first legal suit filed in a Japanese court by a South Korean civic group. The loc
Aug. 9, 2013
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Visiting Japan lawmaker stresses importance of S. Korea-Japan ties
A visiting Japanese ruling-party lawmaker stressed Friday the importance of keeping friendly ties with South Korea as the two neighbors have been facing unusually icy relations over historical issues. "Close neighbors are more important than distant relatives,"Yoshitada Kounoike from the Japan's Liberal Democratic Party cited a Japanese proverb in a lunch meeting with South Korean lawmakers held in the local parliament building in Yeouido, western Seoul. The proverb was picked as Kounoike em
Aug. 9, 2013
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Korea-Japan tension rises over history
Tension between Korea and Japan is quickly escalating as they gear up to commemorate the 68th anniversary of the end of World War II. Seoul and Beijing are heaping pressure on Tokyo officials not to worship on Aug. 15 at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japanese war dead including colonial leaders in charge of massacres, sex slavery and forced labor. That same day in 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies after nearly six years of war. For Korea, the day marks its long-awaited libe
Aug. 7, 2013
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Korea, U.S. to boost ties to combat transnational crimes
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― South Korea and the United States signed an agreement Tuesday to strengthen cooperation between their major law-enforcement authorities in fighting transnational crimes.Top officials from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement‘s Homeland Security Investigations and the Korean National Police Agency signed a six-page memorandum of understanding aimed at supporting the exchange of law-enforcement information, the sharing of relevant techniques and cooperative inves
Aug. 7, 2013
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Over 90% of Chinese, Japanese have negative views of each other
More than 90 percent of Chinese and Japanese people have unfavorable feelings toward each other, a poll showed. China Daily and Genron NPO, a Japanese nonprofit think tank, unveiled their joint survey of 1,000 Japanese and 1,540 Chinese conducted between June and July, Yonhap News reported. According to the annual poll, 92.8 percent of those surveyed in China replied that they harbor unfavorable opinions of Japan, an increase of 28.3 percentage points from last year. Among Japanese respondents,
Aug. 6, 2013
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Korea warns Japan against visiting war shrine on Aug. 15
South Korea warned Japanese politicians Monday against paying homage to their war dead at the Yasukuni shrine next week in response to Japanese leaders‘ reported plans to visit the major symbol of an imperialistic Japan’s wartime atrocities.Japanese media reported Sunday that ruling Liberal Democratic Party‘s policy chief Sanae Takaichi will join other politicians in paying respect at the Shinto shrine on Aug. 15, the 68th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.South Korea celebrates i
Aug. 5, 2013
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Amid tension, TCS soars as key platform for regional cooperation
Driven by a growing need for collaboration, Korea, China and Japan joined forces in 2011 in launching a permanent office here to support their summits and other key three-way dialogues, map out joint projects and conduct related research. Despite skepticism about its feasibility due to territorial and historical tension, the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat has emerged as a core platform for networking and teamwork. The three countries agreed to beef up the secretariat’s budget and their equal
Aug. 4, 2013
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FTA talks with New Zealand no sure thing, says government
Claims made by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key that he secured a commitment from South Korea to resume talks in October on a free trade agreement were exaggerated, according to multiple sources here close to those long-stalled talks.The government did not promise to restart formal talks in October at all, contrary to claims made by the prime minister, but it did agree to an informal sit down between chief negotiators of the New Zealand and South Korean sides, according to three different sou
Aug. 4, 2013
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ASEAN envoys, LG seek ways to expand business partnership
The ASEAN-Korea Centre, through its ASEAN Committee in Seoul, facilitated a meeting between ambassadors of 10 Southeast Asian nations and top executives of LG Electronics at LG’s Seocho R&D campus in southern Seoul on Tuesday.The meeting was organized to look for ways Korean global brands like LG can further penetrate the Southeast Asian market and, for the countries there, increase technology and know-how sharing and receive foreign direct investment.The foreign envoys were briefed by Kim Ki-wa
Aug. 4, 2013
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Peru celebrates 10 years of growth on Independence Day
Peru’s Ambassador to Korea Jaime Pomareda underscored a slew of economic benchmarks his country had achieved over the last 10 years during a reception Monday to celebrate 192 years of Peruvian independence. Peru has been flush with a decade of economic growth, with eight years of growth averaging 7 percent a year ― a stronger expansion than anywhere else in Latin America. Pomareda rattled off a number of statistics illustrating the benefits of such economic success during a speech at the recepti
Aug. 4, 2013
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Kenya’s Safari Cats mark coffee house opening
The Kenyan Embassy in Korea showcased traditional cuisine and the country’s signature cabaret and acrobatic team the Safari Cats Dancers at the opening of a gourmet coffee house and pizzeria, Two Point, in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday.Ties between South Korea and Kenya have surged since Kenyan opened its chancery in Seoul in 2007. Proof of it was offered by Kenyan Ambassador to Korea Ngovi Kitau: Kenyan imports to Korea are up 126 percent and Korean investment in Kenya, up over 3,000 p
Aug. 4, 2013
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Budding envoys feel pressure under new exam regime
Seoul National University graduate Park Seol-hee (not her real name) was so nervous her hand quivered as she struggled to describe on Thursday her preparation for the second round of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ intensive new exam for selecting prospective diplomats. Some 450 Koreans mostly in their late 20s took the two-day test over the weekend, less than half of the 900-odd hopefuls that took the first round in April. Many of the hopefuls spend years preparing for South Korea’s Foreign Se
Aug. 4, 2013