Most Popular
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Over 80,000 millionaires, 20 billionaires in Seoul: report
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Korean battery makers heave sigh of relief over 2-year IRA reprieve
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Yoon apologizes over first lady’s Dior bag scandal, but accuses special probe attempt as political maneuvering
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Young Korean doctors seek plan B: cosmetic dermatology or overseas
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South Korea open to Indonesian proposal to cut KF-21 payments
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Girl hanging on bridge, police trying to rescue her both fall off; rescued immediately
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Coupang earnings hit hard by losses from ailing Farfetch
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[K-pop’s dilemma] Time, profit pressures work against originality
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Why femicide and dating violence are growing issues in S. Korea
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Korea projected to outpace Taiwan in chip production by 2032: US report
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Tillerson promises NK regime security, appeals for trust: envoy
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday Washington has no intention for a regime change or invasion of North Korea, urging it to abandon its nuclear program in return for regime security and an end to hostility, according to Seoul’s special envoys.Tillerson made the remarks during his meeting with Hong Seok-hyun, a former chairman of JoongAng Media Network who is visiting Washington as President Moon Jae-in’s special envoy. During the 40-minute talks, Tillerson expressed the country’s
May 19, 2017
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Top organizer for PyeongChang 2018 offers to open land route for N. Korea
The top organizer of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea has offered to open the land route for North Korean athletes if they decide to compete south of the tense border.In a meeting with journalists at the South Korean Embassy in London on Thursday (local time), Lee Hee-beom, head of the organizing committee for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, said South Korea will welcome North Korea with open arms.Lee has repeatedly stated that all peace-loving nations have an obligation to participate
May 19, 2017
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Xi hopes to get ties with Korea back on normal track
BEIJING-- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Friday that he hopes to get the ties with South Korea back on normal track, emphasizing the importance of the bilateral relations between the Asian neighbors. Xi made the remarks during his meeting with Lee Hae-chan, who was in Beijing as a special envoy that South Korean President Moon Jae-in sent to deliver his letter to the Chinese leader and lay the groundwork for future cooperation.Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with South Korea's p
May 19, 2017
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Korea's special presidential envoy meets with US congressional leaders
WASHINGTON -- A special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a series of meetings with US congressional leaders on Thursday as he forged ahead with his mission to reaffirm and further strengthen the alliance between the two countries under the new government in Seoul.Special envoy Hong Seok-hyun arrived in Washington on Wednesday and paid a visit to President Donald Trump at the White House. During the meeting, Trump expressed hope for working closely together with Moon to strengthen
May 19, 2017
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Nominee for US ambassador to Japan says he will speak up if Tokyo engages in acts contradicting US values
WASHINGTON -- The nominee for US ambassador to Japan said Thursday he will have no problem speaking up to Tokyo if the ally engages in acts contradicting American values, such as government leaders paying homage to a shrine honoring war criminals.William Hagerty made the remark during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing when ranking member Ben Cardin (D-MD) asked if he's willing to speak out against certain acts, such as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to a Tok
May 19, 2017
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Diplomat slams retirees’ return as political appointees
With a growing number of former diplomats making their foray into politics, an incumbent senior ambassador has stoked internal debate after openly criticizing retirees’ comeback to the diplomatic service as political appointees, sources said Thursday. Kim Yong-ho, the ambassador to Belarus who has been serving at the Foreign Ministry since 1986, posted his view about the civil servants’ political neutrality on the agency’s intranet last Saturday. In it, he criticized the trend over the past deca
May 18, 2017
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Trump willing to engage NK, but stresses ‘right conditions’: envoy
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is willing to engage North Korea, but emphasized the “right conditions” as a prerequisite, Seoul’s special envoy said. Hong Seok-hyun, a former chairman of JoongAng Media Network who also served as an ambassador to the US, met with Trump on his first day of a visit as President Moon Jae-in’s special envoy. During the 15-minute talk, the sides discussed what would be the first summit between the two leaders, slated for late June in Washington. They are
May 18, 2017
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Abe vows to build future-oriented ties with Korea
TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday that South Korea is the "most important" country that shares strategic interests, adding he will move toward building future-oriented ties between the Asian neighbors.Abe made the remarks during a meeting with Moon Hee-sang, a special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who was sent to deliver his letter to Abe and discuss summit talks. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes.South Korean President Moon Jae-in's special envoy, Moon H
May 18, 2017
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Korean rice to be sent to Cambodia, Myanmar as int'l aid
Hundreds of tons of South Korean rice will be shipped to Southeast Asian developing countries as part of an international food aid program for the first time in history, the agriculture ministry said Thursday.A container vessel carrying 250 tons of rice will depart for the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville on Thursday, while 500 tons will go to Myanmar on Friday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. An official packs a 40-kilogram rice sack for the APTERR food aid prog
May 18, 2017
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Moon's special envoy arrives in China for talks on summit, N. Korea
A special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in China on Thursday for discussions on a summit between the countries' heads of state and ways to contain North Korea.Also high on the agenda for the special envoy, Lee Hae-chan, was a prolonged row between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of the US missile defense system THAAD in South Korea, officials from Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae noted.President Moon Jae-in (left) shakes hands with his special envoy to China,
May 18, 2017
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Korea's presidential envoy meets with Trump
WASHINGTON -- A special envoy of South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, an official said.Special envoy Hong Seok-hyun held the meeting with Trump at the White House for 10 minutes from 3:50 p.m. and handed him a letter from Moon, the official said. Also in attendance were National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, the official said. US special envoy Hong Seok-hyun (Yonhap)It was the first time Tru
May 18, 2017
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With envoy dispatch, Moon kick-starts summit diplomacy
With a trade of phone calls and special envoys, President Moon Jae-in is kick-starting top-level diplomacy, bringing an end to a monthslong vacuum that sparked concerns about Seoul’s weakened voice on North Korea and other pressing foreign policy and security issues. Moon’s messengers to the US and Japan, former Chairman of JoongAng Media Network Hong Seok-hyun and senior Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Moon Hee-sang, respectively embarked on their trips early Wednesday.President Moon Jae-in
May 17, 2017
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Korea-Japan sex slavery deal comes under pressure for revision
The long-standing dispute over wartime sexual slavery has resurfaced to strain South Korea-Japan relations, as the government change in Seoul and a UN experts panel's recommendation lent momentum for redressing a 2015 deal aimed at resolving one of the trickiest issues between the two nations. President Moon Jae-in, who took office last Wednesday, called for the renegotiation of the much-criticized agreement during his campaign. In a telephone conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
May 17, 2017
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S. Korea calls for reopening inter-Korean communication channel
South Korea's unification ministry on Wednesday expressed a need to reopen an inter-Korean communication hotline, which was severed early last year following North Korea's nuclear and missile tests.In February 2016, North Korea cut off two inter-Korean communication channels as it expelled remaining South Koreans from a joint industrial park in response to South Korea's closure of the Kaesong complex.The Ministry of Unification (Yonhap)One of them is a hotline at a liaison office located at the
May 17, 2017
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Merry-go-round festivities of ASEAN cultures
The ASEAN-Korea Center has organized various cultural events throughout May and June, which have been designated as ASEAN Months to mark the 50th anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year. To uplift and strengthen bilateral relations between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea -- strategic partners since 2010 -- this year has been named the ASEAN-ROK Cultural Exchange Year. The intergovernmental organization will host academic lectures on the regional bloc’s diverse culture
May 16, 2017
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Poland honors birth of modern Constitution
The Polish Embassy last week marked the birth of the country’s modern Constitution, the second of its kind in the world following the US Constitution of 1787.On every May 3 in Poland, people celebrate the creation of the supreme law in 1791, which has been credited with ushering in modern democracy and national development in the Central European country. Next year will be the centenary of Poland’s independence and in 2019, Poland and Korea will mark 30 years of diplomatic relations. “Our Polish
May 16, 2017
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[Herald Interview] Norway shows way to thrive outside European Union
When Norway voted for the second time not to join the European Union through a referendum in 1994, the country had just brokered the Oslo peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians and hosted the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Confidence was in the air, recalled Norwegian Ambassador to Korea Jan Grevstad. Norway, an affluent, benevolent and confident country always “on the doorstep” of the EU, but adroitly outside, had since moved on without regrets, the envoy said in an interview.“T
May 16, 2017
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Korea reviewing UN recommendation to modify 'comfort women' deal
South Korea's foreign ministry said Tuesday that it is reviewing a UN panel's recent recommendation that a 2015 deal reached with Japan on its wartime sexual slavery be modified to sufficiently help and support the victims. South Korea and Japan agreed to the deal in December 2015 under which Tokyo provided 1 billion yen ($9.1 million) to support the lives of South Korean victims. Critics, however, have accused it of lacking any prior consultation with the victims, as well as Japan's sincere apo
May 16, 2017
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Moon, Trump to hold first summit in June
President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart Donald Trump are expected to hold their first summit next month in Washington, as they seek to coordinate North Korea policy following their respective leadership transitions, officials said Tuesday. A visiting delegation of White House officials in charge of Korea affairs met with a group of foreign affairs and security advisers for Moon, chaired by former Ambassador to Geneva Chung Eui-yong. The representatives, led by Matt Pottinger, senior directo
May 16, 2017
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Korea, China moving toward mending ties strained over THAAD: experts
South Korea and China appear to be moving toward mending their strained ties over the installation of a US missile defense system here as exchanges and contacts in diverse areas have apparently been gaining traction since the inauguration of liberal President Moon Jae-in, experts said Tuesday.The recently wrapped-up international forum hosted by China, in particular, served as a "good starter" for the two Asian neighbors' push to keep their ties back on track and maintain a unified approach to t
May 16, 2017