Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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[Music in drama] An ode to childhood trauma
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[Editorial] Health insurance reform
The nation’s health insurance will not be sustainable if nothing is done to improve its finances. Losses are destined to snowball. As the losses are covered by government subsidies, they will put an enormous strain on the nation’s budget.That is why the government needs to take drastic action before it is too late. Last year alone, it had to make up for a deficit of 1.3 trillion won. Compulsory social insurance, which benefits the entire population, must be made to support the system on its own
Nov. 17, 2011
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[Editorial] Vision and commitment
Park Won-soon set himself apart from his predecessors when he held his inaugural as new Seoul mayor on Wednesday. The inaugural, which was belatedly held in his office, was more of an occasion to connect with citizens than a ceremony.Park, who had started to administer city affairs shortly after being elected Seoul mayor in the Oct. 26 by-election, invited no guest to the inauguration and spent little money on the event. Instead, he himself performed what he nonetheless purported to be a ceremon
Nov. 17, 2011
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[Editorial] No more delay on FTA
The main opposition Democratic Party has rejected President Lee Myung-bak’s proposal that he would seek renegotiation with Washington on a contentious clause in the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement if the DP cooperates in ratifying the trade pact.Lee made the offer at a meeting with leaders of the ruling Grand National Party and the DP on Tuesday. He made a rare visit to the National Assembly to break the impasse over the ratification of the KORUS FTA.He was quoted as saying that “if the Assembly
Nov. 16, 2011
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[Editorial] Growth in self-employment
Korea’s self-employment rate is one of the highest in the OECD. In 2008, self-employment accounted for 31.3 percent of the nation’s total employment, almost double the OECD average of 15.8 percent.In most OECD countries, self-employment rates have been falling since 1990. The higher a country’s per capita GDP, the lower its self-employment rate tends to be.In Korea, self-employment had been on the decline since 1998. In particular, the pace of decline accelerated during the 2008-09 global financ
Nov. 16, 2011
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[Editorial] Political regrouping
It is again the time for political regrouping. The half century of the Republic of Korea’s modern political history has recorded repeated realignment of political parties ahead of major elections, even during the military-backed authoritarian rule. But history also shows that hurriedly assembled new parties have not done well in elections. This time, there is an unusual factor. Parties are scrambling to regroup after reading the writing on the wall in the mayoral by-election in Seoul last month.
Nov. 15, 2011
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[Editorial] Ahn’s donation
The Ahn Cheol-soo phenomenon took a new turn as the potential presidential candidate made a commitment for a 150 billion won ($135 million) donation to charity Tuesday. His surprise action encouraged his supporters in the vast ranks of Korean society and further alerted political parties. The donation makes clearer his intent to enter the 2012 presidential race.In a press conference at the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, where he is the dean, Ahn
Nov. 15, 2011
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[Editorial] Overseas residents’ voting
Registration started Sunday for overseas Korean residents who want to vote in the parliamentary elections next April. On the first day, about 600 people visited designated Korean missions abroad for registration. We cannot predict how many of the 2.24 million eligible Koreans living abroad will have registered by the Feb. 11 deadline and how many of those registered will actually cast their votes two months later, each time taking the trouble of travelling to Korean offices. But we can make a gr
Nov. 14, 2011
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[Editorial] Entertaining but disturbing
Weekly podcast “Nakkomsu” is entertaining, as most gag programs and politically tinted talk shows are. It ridicules President Lee Myung-bak, Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee and others that stand for power in today’s Korea. Its hosts and guests, often including political bigwigs, amuse their audience of millions with sarcasm and piercing criticism at conservative politicians and the mainstream media. The problem is it mixes speculations and unfounded rumors with credible comments, and the bigg
Nov. 14, 2011
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[Editorial] The specter of blackouts
As winter approaches, the specter of blackouts looms again. On Sept. 15, Korea suffered rolling blackouts. The cause of the disaster was heavy use of air conditioning due to an unseasonable heat wave. A sudden spike in power demand overshot the nation’s supply capacity, forcing the grid operator to cut electricity supply to avert a total blackout. The chances of such a disaster taking place in winter are greater than in summer with the widespread use of electrical heating appliances. According t
Nov. 13, 2011
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[Editorial] New honor for Jeju Island
Jeju Island has been voted as one of the new seven wonders of nature by people across the world. The scenic island was chosen along with the Amazon Rainforest and River (in Brazil and several other countries), Halong Bay (Vietnam), Iguazu Falls (Argentina and Brazil), the Komodo National Park (Indonesia), the Puerto Princesa Underground River (the Philippines) and Table Mountain (South Africa).The list of the seven natural wonders was announced Saturday by the New7Wonders Foundation, a nonprofit
Nov. 13, 2011
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[Editorial] Arab Spring and N. Korea
Self-imposed isolation from the outside world has long been a hallmark of North Korea, a destitute, reclusive communist state, in which individuals are denied basic freedoms. Yet the walls of separation have been raised higher since the Jasmine Revolution started to shake despotic Arab countries.One of the latest such cases is the recent suspension of direct flights between North Korea and Kuwait. North Korea has recently canceled the weekly flight of its flag carrier, Air Koryo ― an unmistakabl
Nov. 11, 2011
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[Editorial] Drive against reelection
One of the first things a politician elected to the National Assembly does when his election euphoria recedes is to tailor all his public behavior in such a way as to ensure his reelection four years later. To him, nothing else counts as much.This explains why moderate lawmakers affiliated with the main opposition Democratic Party stopped talking one day after they proposed a compromise over the stalled process of ratifying the Korean-U.S. free trade agreement. The lawmakers became the target of
Nov. 11, 2011
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[Editorial] Enhancing SME productivity
Controversy is growing over a government-backed private commission’s campaign to restrict the entry of large corporations into certain markets in its bid to protect small and medium-sized enterprises.A week ago, the Commission on Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies, which was established in September last year to promote win-win cooperation between big firms and SMEs, categorized 25 products as “SME-suitable” items, urging large companies currently producing them to scale back their outp
Nov. 10, 2011
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[Editorial] Employment jackpot?
Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan described the October job data as an “employment jackpot.” On the surface, the minister’s description is justified ― according to Statistics Korea, the economy gained 501,000 more jobs last month compared with a year ago, while the jobless rate fell to 2.9 percent.The job growth in October is notable as it more than offset the on-year population growth of 454,000. The gain was the largest since the economy added 586,000 in May 2010. Bahk valued the October gain more
Nov. 10, 2011
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[Editorial] Party’s survival at stake
Predictability is a rare commodity in Korean politics. Change in voter sentiment is so abrupt, as seen during the recent Seoul mayoral election, that correct predictions are elusive.Few would have believed several months ago that a social activist trained in law would gain so much popularity so swiftly and grab the post of Seoul mayor as an independent. Nor would it have been thought that a university professor with no party affiliation would be mentioned as one of the most powerful potential ca
Nov. 9, 2011
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[Editorial] Botched burials
When millions of animals exposed or presumed to be exposed to foot-and-mouth disease were culled and buried late last year and early this year, the potential leakage from the burial sites and its pollution of ground water were of great environmental and health concern.That fear has become a reality. Moreover, the Ministry of Environment, which conducts tests on 300 new sites each quarter, is accused of attempting to cover up its discovery of the leakage. Quoting a report from the ministry, the p
Nov. 9, 2011
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[Editorial] GNP blame game
Every weekday morning, executive members of the Grand National Party gather at the party headquarters in Yeouido near the National Assembly to start their daily meeting along with the heads of departments. Party chairman Hong Joon-pyo sits at the center, flanked by floor leader Hwang Woo-yea and the other executive members, Yoo Seung-min, Na Kyung-won, Won Hee-ryong and Nam Kyung-pil. Korea’s most unproductive “partisan politics” starts here.For years and decades, party executives have behaved a
Nov. 8, 2011
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[Editorial] Seoul mayor and FTA
It is natural that Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, now in his second week in office, does not have a full grasp of the bounds of his duties and powers, let alone the scope of his public mission. So, he needs to be reminded that while Seoul is the political, economic and cultural center of the Republic of Korea, it is still just one of the 16 major divisions of the country and that there is a categorical difference between the central and local governments.In this sense, Park’s “statement of opinion”
Nov. 8, 2011
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[Editorial] Lawlessness in Assembly
Members of the five opposition parties continued their “seizure” of the National Assembly’s foreign affairs committee chamber for a full week. They were trying to deter the ruling Grand National Party from passing the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement bill through the legislative panel. Lawmakers and staff from the opposition parties are joining in the illegal obstruction of the legislative procedures in violation of the National Assembly Law as well as Criminal Code provisions regarding the perfo
Nov. 7, 2011
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[Editorial] Truths, half-truths and lies
In 2008, government authorities fought a losing battle against the campaign of misinformation about mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease that fueled demonstrations against U.S. beef imports. Blogs and mobile phone text messages were widely used by the protesters. Two and a half years later, opposition parties and leftist civic groups have even more effective weapon in their fight against the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement. They are liberally using social networking services, which have
Nov. 7, 2011