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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Afghanistan envoy returns to join presidential campaign
Afghan Ambassador to South Korea Yunos Farman abruptly left South Korea on Tuesday to join the presidential campaign of former Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah as a senior aide in the war-torn country’s first ever democratic transition of power. Farman said he felt sorry he could not properly say good-bye to his friends and colleagues here, during an exclusive interview with The Korea Herald at his office in Hannam-dong in Seoul just hours before he was to catch a flight to Kabul, addin
Dec. 29, 2013
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‘Africa still not on Korea’s mind’
Sylvestre Bile, the ambassador of Cote d’Ivoire, knows South Korea well. After all, this is his second posting here. His first was for eight years when he opened the West African nation’s embassy in 1997.His current posting as ambassador started almost exactly one year ago. After more than a decade, one thing has not changed for the career diplomat: Putting his country on the map in the minds of South Koreans remains a singular ― perhaps even frustrating ― challenge.“South Korea has a very low p
Dec. 29, 2013
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Envoy lauds liberation fighters on Jamhuri Day
Kenyan Ambassador Ngovi Kitau celebrated the pioneers of African liberation and pointed out the implications of the current economic boom in Africa during the 50th anniversary of Kenyan independence from colonial rule at a hotel in Seoul on Dec. 16.One of the pioneers Kitau lauded during the reception for Kenya’s Independence Day, called Jamhuri Day by Kenyans around the world, was anti-Apartheid activist and former South African President Nelson Mandela, who passed away on Dec. 5.Others he paid
Dec. 29, 2013
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Abe’s shrine visit freezes Asia ties, rattles U.S.
Tension is escalating in Northeast Asia in the wake of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s trip to a controversial war shrine, putting the U.S.’ strategic refocus toward the economically vital region to the test. Abe on Thursday became the country’s first leader to visit the Yasukuni Shrine in nearly eight years to mark the first anniversary of his second premiership. It instantly incited strong condemnation from Korea and China with which Japan’s relations are already snowed under in festering
Dec. 27, 2013
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S. Korean parliament likely to adopt anti-Abe resolution
South Korea's National Assembly is expected to adopt a resolution next week to denounce Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for paying his respects at a war shrine in what was seen as an attempt to glorify the country's militaristic past.Leaders of the ruling Saenuri and the main opposition Democratic parties called in unison Friday for an anti-Abe resolution after the Japanese leader paid homage at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine that honors the country's war dead, including class A war criminals.South
Dec. 27, 2013
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U.S. response to Abe's Yasukuni visit re-examined
Amid speculation about how the Obama administration has responded to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to a highly controversial war shrine, the State Department reiterated Washington's explicit disappointment Thursday."The United States is disappointed that Japan's leadership has taken an action that will exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbors," Jen Psaki, the department's spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.Her four-paragraph statement contained exactly the same wording as t
Dec. 27, 2013
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S. Korean relief troops arrive in Philippines
A contingent of South Korean relief troops arrived in the Philippines on Friday to start their one-year mission to support the typhoon-stricken Southeast Asian nation's restoration efforts, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) here said. A total of 520 troops, mostly composed of engineers and medics, will carry out relief missions and provide humanitarian support in Tacloban, an area hardest-hit by Typhoon Haiyan last month. The unit is named "Araw," which means blessing and hope in Filipino. Two amp
Dec. 27, 2013
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Abe’s war shrine visit enrages Japan’s neighbors
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe became the country’s first leader to visit the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in almost eight years on Thursday, prompting strong condemnation from Korea and China.The U.S. expressed “disappointment,” calling on the Northeast Asian countries to find “constructive ways” to deal with historical issues. Seoul called Abe’s visit “deplorable and outrageous” and summoned a senior Japanese Embassy official to lodge a protest. “Prime Minister Abe’s worship at the Yasuku
Dec. 26, 2013
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No more fighting near S. Korean base in South Sudan
No more fighting is taking place near a U.N. peacekeeping base in South Sudan where the South Korean contingent of military engineers is stationed, a day after two mortar rounds struck the base, officials in Seoul said Thursday.The mortar attack came as South Sudan’s government troops and rebel forces clashed near the U.N. camp in the town of Bor, some 170 kilometers south of the capital Juba. The rounds struck the Nepalese camp inside the U.N. base, only 300 meters from the South Korean camp. S
Dec. 26, 2013
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Korea taking initiative in global antipiracy campaign
WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The U.S. government on Tuesday noted South Korea‘s role in global efforts to counter piracy in waters off Somalia.South Korea is among more than 80 member states of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, a voluntary ad hoc forum created in 2009 under a U.N. Security Council resolution.The Contact Group has five working groups aimed at drawing on a wide range of international expertise and taking a problem-solving approach to piracy in cooperation with So
Dec. 25, 2013
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Seoul, Beijing agree to deepen joint high-level security talks
BEIJING (Yonhap News) ― Amid worries over instability in North Korea following the purge of leader Kim Jong-un’s uncle, China said Tuesday it agreed to deepen “strategic cooperation” with South Korea in the first high-level security talks between the two countries.Senior diplomats and defense officials of South Korea and China held their first “two-plus-two” talks in Beijing on Monday. The Dec. 12 execution of Kim’s uncle, Jang Song-thaek, topped the agenda, a Seoul diplomat said earlier. Chines
Dec. 25, 2013
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S. Korea taking initiative in global anti-piracy campaign
The U.S. government on Tuesday noted South Korea's role in global efforts to counter piracy in waters off Somalia.South Korea is among more than 80 member states of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, a voluntary ad hoc forum created in 2009 under a U.N. Security Council resolution.The Contact Group has five working groups aimed at drawing on a wide range of international expertise and taking a problem-solving approach to piracy in cooperation with Somali officials.South Korea
Dec. 25, 2013
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Virginia's legislature to discuss East Sea name bills
Virginia's state legislators next month will begin discussing bills on naming the waters between South Korea and Japan, which are at loggerheads over their shared history.There are three pending bills which require public schools in the state, just south of Washington D.C., to use textbooks identifying the East Asian body of water as the East Sea, as well as the Sea of Japan. Shortly after convening next year's session on Jan. 8, Virginia's legislature is expected to start discussing the bills,
Dec. 25, 2013
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S. Korea to complete return of remains of Chinese war dead by June 2014
Work to excavate the remains of Chinese soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War will take several months, a Seoul diplomatic source said Tuesday, adding South Korea aims to repatriate all of the remains to China by the end of next June. South Korea started excavating the remains of 425 Chinese soldiers buried at a military-controlled cemetery in Paju, a border city with North Korea, last week under an agreement reached with China earlier this month."Excavation began last week as a preparat
Dec. 24, 2013
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S. Korea, China hold first diplomatic-defense talks
Senior diplomats and defense officials of South Korea and China on Monday exchanged views on recent developments in North Korea after the stunning execution of leader Kim Jong-un's uncle, in their first high-level security talks, a Seoul diplomat said. The so-called "two-plus-two" talks in Beijing had been planned for months, but the North's internal situation following the Dec. 12 execution of Kim's uncle, Jang Song-thaek, topped the agenda, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity
Dec. 23, 2013
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Korea to send more arms to its peacekeeping troops in S. Sudan
South Korea is moving to beef up its peacekeeping forces in South Sudan amid growing threats of a civil war in the African country. The Defense Ministry said Monday it would send cargo planes carrying firearms, ammunition, food and other supplies as early as Wednesday to its contingency in Bor, some 170 kilometers north of the capital Juba. Seoul has also requested Japanese Self Defense Forces in South Sudan to provide 10,000 rifleshots, officials said. South Korea’s Hanbit unit, consisting of 2
Dec. 23, 2013
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NSC faces fast-evolving security landscape in N. Korea, region
The planned reorganization of the National Security Council reflects Seoul’s efforts to better tackle daunting diplomatic challenges and react quickly to the fast-evolving security dynamics involving North Korea and the region. President Park Geun-hye approved plans to install the NSC’s standing committee and secretariat on Friday. Headed by national security office chief Kim Jang-soo, the panel is to gather once a week to fine-tune foreign and security policies and make policy recommendations
Dec. 22, 2013
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China names new ambassador to Seoul
China’s Foreign Ministry has tapped Qiu Guohong, director general for external security affairs, as its next ambassador to South Korea, officials here said. Qiu, a Japan expert, is expected to succeed Zhang Xinsen in February. The incumbent has served in Seoul since March 2010 and held a farewell ceremony Thursday.Since entering the foreign affairs service in 1981, Qiu worked in Tokyo and Osaka for about 15 years and was deputy director general for Asian affairs from 2006-08. After a stint as Ch
Dec. 19, 2013
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UNESCAP cuts growth outlook for Asia-Pacific to 5.6 percent
The U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific pared its growth expectations next year for the Asia-Pacific region to 5.6 percent on Thursday on the back of persistent slow recovery, policy uncertainty and protectionism in emerging markets. In a year-end update to its yearly economic and social survey, UNESCAP forecast a moderate rebound in the regional economy next year compared with an expected 5.2 percent expansion in 2013. But the revised outlook reflects a 0.4 percentage p
Dec. 19, 2013
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Kazakhstan goes East to Korea
Kazakhstan’s top diplomat here is celebrating his country’s 22nd Independence Day on Monday after a milestone three-day visit by the country’s new prime minister, Serik Akhmetov.That visit, a first for a sitting prime minister, could very well underscore the nature of two-way ties between South Korea and the Central Asian behemoth over the past few years. Kazakhstan is twice the size of the other four “stans” combined, and hugely wealthy in oil, gas and uranium. Although the country needs South
Dec. 15, 2013