Most Popular
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Han Kang speaks up on Nobel Prize, thanks ‘enormous wave’ of blessing
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Han Kang declines press conference, not to celebrate, citing global wars
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Former Ador CEO gains ground in legal battle with Hybe, as whistleblower reveals plagiarism evidence
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BTS’s V and RM celebrate Han Kang’s Nobel Prize in literature win
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Han Kang drives readers to bookstores both online and offline
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Han Kang: From blacklist to Nobel laureate
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BOK cuts key rate by quarter point to 3.25%
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No South Korean military drone entered Pyongyang skies: JCS
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Aunt sentenced to 15 years for throwing 11-month-old nephew from high-rise apartment
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Novelist Han Seung-won says daughter's historic Nobel win feels surreal
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[Photo News] Making and sharing Kimchi
Nov. 13, 2013
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Organizations volunteer to deliver charcoal bricks
As winter sets in, a variety of organizations have donated charcoal bricks to poor residents across the country. Korea Zinc executives and employees participated in the event held by the Seoul chapter of the Korean Red Cross to deliver 10,000 charcoal bricks to 50 households in the Nowon-gu district of Seoul on Monday. The company workers and Red Cross volunteers lined up to relay the bricks as well as blankets and ramen.In Busan, a regional Buddhist volunteering group joined a philanthropic eve
Nov. 12, 2013
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NGO ‘I Love Africa’ launches service corps to drill wells
“I Love Africa,” a nongovernmental organization dedicated to improving the lives of people in Africa, launched a service corps Monday to drill 15 wells in Tanzania. The volunteers will leave for the East African country on Saturday to dig 15 fresh water wells in elementary school yards over a seven-day period. I Love Africa began a campaign in 2011 to explore springs in Africa. It has already set up 22 wells in Tanzania. An additional 15 wells, if dedicated this time, will supply drinking water
Nov. 12, 2013
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After growing up on the streets, center founder feeds hungry seniors
In the basement of an old, unnamed building in central Seoul, about 70 seniors line up for free lunch. A man wearing a green apron brings meal to them one by one. This has been the daily routine for Kim Jong-eun, 78, president of Hangil Volunteer Community, for the past 10 years.Kim, now a garment firm owner, was a street beggar himself following his blind mother in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province. “I still vividly remember the days my mom and I suffered from hunger on the streets. Have you ev
Oct. 29, 2013
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Insurance firms do diverse pro bono work
Private insurance companies have spent the recent chilly days doing pro bono work and giving back to local communities.About 30 workers from Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance threw a party on Friday afternoon for the 100-day-old celebrations for the baby boy of a poor, single mom living in a welfare shelter in the Seodaemungu district of Seoul.They invited some 100 colleagues and shelter dwellers to the event to brighten up the atmosphere. The party was held in the cafeteria of the insurer’s hea
Oct. 29, 2013
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Retired Samsung CEO turns shutterbug for charity, multiculturalism
Han Yong-oe, former president of Samsung Electronics’ home appliance unit and Samsung Community Services, immediately began doing what he loved when he retired in 2009.That year he founded Inclover, a social welfare foundation for multicultural families, with 1 billion won ($935,000) of his own money.Social services and multicultural families were not strange words to Han. He had done a lot of social work for those in need, including multicultural families, when he headed corporate philanthropy
Oct. 15, 2013
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High school student forms ensemble to help hearing impaired
Early this month, a deaf teenage boy received a hearing aid, thanks to donations from a handful of fellow teens who used their musical talents to raise money. The seed of their philanthropic act was planted about two years ago when a young clarinetist visited a welfare center as a member of a student volunteer club at his school.“As I talked about helping the physically challenged with my friends while doing volunteer work there, I started to wonder what it would feel like if I wasn’t able to he
Sept. 24, 2013
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Textbook sharing program gains popularity
College students in South Korea are running a free textbook rental program as part of efforts to reduce the burden of buying increasingly expensive academic books used in classes. The program named “Dream Library” has become a representative textbook-sharing channel for Sogang University in Seoul, with more students joining the project that spurs used textbooks to be used more effectively and extensively on campus. The free textbook lending program, organized by Sogang’s Student Club Union, allo
Sept. 24, 2013
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Actor’s fans donate rice to homeless
Fans of Kim Jeong-hoon, a Korean singer and actor also known in Japan as “John Hoon,” donated 1.12 tons of rice to the homeless, his agency said last Wednesday.They sent the rice to congratulate Kim on landing a role in an upcoming drama series of on a local cable television channel on July 30. The rice was delivered to a theater in Dongdaemun, Seoul, on that day, where the channel presented the show and its cast members to news media. Then, at his fans’ suggestion, the rice was later delivered
Aug. 20, 2013
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Homeless baristas brew hope
Won, 59, makes more than 100 cups of coffee every day at a small take-out shop in Yeongdeungpo, southwestern Seoul.For the fledgling barista, Cafe Espresso of My Life is not merely a workplace, but where he started over after years spent on the streets.“I used to live in the darkness but now I feel like I’m waking a bit,” said Won, who declined to give his full name. The cafe, established by the city government, is staffed by two homeless people who have been trained through Seoul’s self-support
Aug. 20, 2013
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Gov't to expand tax on plastic surgeries
The government said Friday it will impose tax on more plastic surgeries starting next year, in line with its tax code overhaul aimed at broadening the tax revenue base.Starting in March of 2014, Seoul will expand its 10 percent value-added tax on plastic surgeries to include more procedures such as jaw reconstruction surgery, pimple treatment and hair removal, the country's health and finance ministries said.Current rules on tax have only applied to a limited number of operations, such as liposu
Aug. 9, 2013
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Woman returns fortune to society
Earning money is not just about acquiring personal wealth for You Hyun-ju. The self-made businesswoman returned her 7 billion won ($6.3 million) poultry business to society in 2011 in the form of social enterprise. She uses 70 percent of its profits for charity and public causes. Nearly half of her employees are poor, elderly and social vulnerable people. “There is no such thing as ownership over money. We can only keep it temporarily,” the chief executive of Doome Sangol Farming told The Korea
July 16, 2013
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Hyundai Department donates W100m for children
Hyundai Department Store Co. donated 100 million won ($89,400) to Save the Children on Monday. The fund was raised from savings in treatment costs for food waste from restaurants and employee cafeterias in 13 branches across the nation. The retailer campaigned to reduce food waste for 100 days. Under a matching grant program, it chipped in 120 won for every 120 kilograms of food waste reduced. The donation will be spent to buy snacks and foods for less fortunate children who will stay at welfare
July 16, 2013
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Youngsters to offer services in Uzbekistan
Korean youngsters and college students will provide community services in Uzbekistan, Friend Asia, a local nonprofit organization that supports central Asia, said Tuesday. A service corps of 40 volunteers aged 15 to 24, divided in two groups, will visit two villages in the country on July 23 and offer services there until Aug. 3. Their trip is being paid for by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.They will work at a children’s center and an IT education facility, both built by South Korea
July 16, 2013
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LG Electronics provides free vaccinations in Ethiopia
LG Electronics has launched a vaccination campaign in Ethiopia that will run until the end of this year. Commencing on International Day of the African Child on June 16, the company has promised to do collaborative projects such as increasing public awareness and providing free vaccinations with International Vaccine Institute to reduce acute diarrhea in major cities in the Oromia region of Ethiopia where there is a high risk of cholera. As part of its efforts, they invited around 50 children an
June 18, 2013
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Actress Kim Jung-eun campaigns for children awaiting adoption
Celebrated actress Kim Jung-eun and the Social Welfare Society on Monday held a charity bazaar to promote domestic adoption at the organization’s back garden in southern Seoul. The actress, currently the face of Ttasamo, an entertainers’ charity group, promoted the sales kiosk of baby goods company 0to7. The kiosk sold 250 million won ($220,000) worth of items on the day. The proceeds will go to feed and provide comfortable living environments for infants waiting to be adopted. Ga Hee, former le
June 18, 2013
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‘Love before you try to help’
Dr. Choi Kyung-sook has a special tip for medical volunteers: Listen to patients’ stories first, hold their hands and empathize with them. “A human being consists of a body, mind and soul. To treat someone, we need to reach out to all three aspects, not just the body,” the 63-year-old veteran volunteer told The Korea Herald. Realistically, volunteers cannot provide much medical service in one day. But they can love their patients and make their day happy, Choi explained.“Caring heals their souls
June 18, 2013
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Comfort women overcome their suffering by easing others’ pain
Two Korean former sex slaves during the Japanese colonial era are raising funds to support other victims of wartime sexual violence around the world. The so-called Butterfly Fund was formed by 87-year-old Kim Bok-dong and 84-year-old Kil Won-ok to support female victims of the Vietnam War and civil wars in Africa, the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan said Monday. The fund sent $6,000 and $4,000 to 43-year-old Euguyen Ban Luang and 43-year-old Euguyen Ti Kim,
June 18, 2013
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Tiny social enterprise aims big
Nanum Mill is a tiny rice-cake maker employing only nine people and earning 130 million won ($116,000) in sales. But all in the shop are proudly committed to their goal ― setting an example of how public, private and social sectors can work together to alleviate poverty and cure social ills.The company in Seoul was launched in 2010 with government subsidies and philanthropic support from various institutions. Its revenue has jumped 100 percent each year and employees nearly doubled for the past
May 21, 2013
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[Photo News] Cabbies's service
April 16, 2013