Most Popular
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[Grace Kao] American racism against Stray Kids
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Key S. Korean, USFK special operations officials to hold rare meeting amid NK threats
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Jennie, Stray Kids's Met Gala attendance puts them on 'digital guillotine' blacklist
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Controversy brews over shakeup of prosecutors amid probe of first lady
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OpenAI gives ChatGPT new powers to see, hear
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Another suspect behind murder of Korean tourist in Pattaya arrested in Cambodia
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[KH Explains] Naver’s Line dilemma: Lose global footing for cash?
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S. Korea to inject $70m into AI-powered public education
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[Herald Interview] Carbon breakthrough in Korea: Making diamonds at atmospheric pressure
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Korean industries gauge impact of Biden's steep tariffs on China
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[Editorial] Imminent FTA action
Few would be surprised if the ruling Grand National Party resorted to its majority power to ram the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement bill through the National Assembly at any time. The GNP must believe it has accumulated enough justification to do so while the main opposition party has weak logic to ask for public support for its rejection of the bill. Rep. Chung Dong-young is in the center of the DP’s illogical and unreasonable behavior in the KORUS FTA tussle. By early last week, the two partie
Oct. 31, 2011
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[Editorial] Another white elephant?
Extremely contrasting economic and environmental forecasts for the new “Ara Canal” between Incheon on the West Sea and Gimpo at the mouth of the Han River make it hard for the public to assess the project. When the 18-kilometer waterway opened Saturday after on-and-off construction work over nearly two decades, the minister of homeland and marine affairs and the chiefs of Gyeonggi and Incheon provincial governments joined in celebrations. A cruise boat was launched with hundreds of curious sight
Oct. 31, 2011
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[Editorial] Communication is key
One surprising aspect of the Oct. 26 Seoul mayoral by-election was young voters’ massive support for the unified opposition candidate, Park Won-soon. Exit polls showed he received support from 69.3 percent of voters in their 20s, 75.8 percent of voters in their 30s and 66.8 percent of voters in their 40s. This contrasted with 43.1 percent support he received from voters in their 50s and 30.4 percent from voters aged 60 and older. Young voters in Korea have traditionally preferred liberal candida
Oct. 30, 2011
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[Editorial] Push for software industry
The government has rolled up its sleeves to foster the domestic software industry. On Thursday, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy unveiled a package of measures that called for, among other things, banning large system-integrating companies affiliated with chaebol groups from participating in public-sector information system projects.The ministry’s plan caused an immediate uproar in the system-integration industry as it would prohibit starting next year the 65 SI units of the nation’s 55 largest
Oct. 30, 2011
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[Editorial] Back to budget work
The Korean economy is losing vitality fast, making it impossible to attain this year’s growth target that has already been revised downward to 4.3 percent. The year-on-year growth dropped to 3.4 percent in the third quarter, the lowest since the third quarter of 2009.Given that the three-quarter average stood at 3.7 percent, the nation’s economy would have to push up the final quarter’s growth beyond the 6 percent level to attain the 2011 growth target. That would be an impossible job, with the
Oct. 28, 2011
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[Editorial] Dubious jobless stats
One quote popularized by Mark Twain says: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” This quote should undoubtedly appeal to well educated young Korean people with no jobs, who question the validity of official statistics about youth unemployment.A young man fresh out of university may find that half his former classmates have yet to land jobs. But he is told by Statistics Korea that the unemployment rate among young people stood at a mere 6.3 percent in September. What h
Oct. 28, 2011
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[Editorial] Parties in disarray
For too long, Korea’s political parties have failed to meet the people’s needs, engaging in endless conflict with each other and within themselves and neglecting their legislative missions. In elections, voters resignedly swung from one party to another, but in the latest Seoul mayoral by-election, they had an alternative; a “people’s candidate” emerged and the frustrated electorate chose him. The victory of lawyer-activist Park Won-soon meant the defeat of the two major parties to people power
Oct. 27, 2011
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[Editorial] Korea-U.S. defense talks
The chief defense officials of Korea and the United States hold their annual security talks in Seoul today with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta at the head of each side. Ministers and top generals of the two allies have got together each year without interruption for over four decades to review the security situation on and around the Korean Peninsula and discuss efforts to meet common challenges. The Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting not only sign
Oct. 27, 2011
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[Editorial] Time to act on U.S. FTA
With the important Seoul mayoral by-election over, rival parties are now required to tackle a still more important issue without further delay ― the ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement. To thrash out the differences among the parties, the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee organized four rounds of intensive debate from Oct. 20-24. Lawmakers and experts from the government and academia discussed the merits and demerits of the trade deal for more t
Oct. 26, 2011
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[Editorial] War against gangsters
Cho Hyun-oh, commissioner general of the National Police Agency, has declared war on organized crime. The police chief told a press conference on Tuesday that he has launched a sweeping crackdown on the 220 gangs that operate in the nation. The members of these factions are estimated at some 5,500.Cho said he has ordered police officers to use all devices and equipment available, including firearms, to round up these gangsters.The war against organized gangsters was prompted by the failure of po
Oct. 26, 2011
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[Editorial] Moment of truth
When Seoul citizens go to the polls today, their minds will be more focused on which way the Republic of Korea should be directed rather than what the capital city administration should do.Both candidates Na Kyung-won from the conservative ruling Grand National Party and Park Won-soon supported by a coalition of opposition parties and liberal civic groups had jurist careers and no experience in municipal administration. They debated over some welfare and city development policies, but their two
Oct. 25, 2011
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[Editorial] Libya and North Korea
By all accounts, 99 percent of the North Korean people are not aware of what happened in Libya last week, let alone the violent pro-democracy movements in other Middle East and North African nations since last spring. The other 1 percent are the top-level party and administration officials and businesspeople who travel to China and other parts of the world. Agencies monitoring the North’s print and broadcast media reported that they have been completely silent about the death of Moammar Gadhafi
Oct. 25, 2011
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[Editorial] A last chance
The new Japanese government is showing a subtle change in approach to its responsibility for the “comfort women” during World War II ― one of the most troubling issues between Japan and South Korea. If Tokyo has any sincerity, they should first consider the short time left to resolve the problem. The issue must be settled before all the victims pass away. New debates started in Tokyo over remarks by Seiji Maehara, a former foreign minister and present chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of J
Oct. 24, 2011
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[Editorial] Back in Geneva
As U.S. and North Korean envoys began talks in Geneva on Monday to resume the six-party talks in Beijing, many Koreans recalled the bilateral accord signed by the two countries 17 years ago in the same Swiss city to halt North Korea’s then-nascent nuclear program. The 1994 “Agreed Framework,” which had a title chosen to evade the Senate ratification procedure in the U.S. and was thus legally non-binding, was a product of extraordinary circumstances on the Korean Peninsula ― the death of DPRK fou
Oct. 24, 2011
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[Editorial] Zero-interest student loans
The trade union of Korea Exchange Bank surprised many on Thursday by announcing that it would promote a 1 trillion won interest-free loan program for college students. The union’s plan calls for KEB to provide 5 million won interest free to a total of 200,000 students over five years starting next year. It also proposes to cover the interest costs of the program, which would total 150 billion won, with contributions from the bank’s 6,500 employees and the bank’s profits.If implemented as planned
Oct. 23, 2011
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[Editorial] Global currency swaps
Korea is reportedly seeking to ramp up its currency swap line with China from the present $26 billion to the level of the recently expanded Korea-Japan foreign exchange swap deal. In their summit on Oct. 19, President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda agreed to boost their swa
Oct. 23, 2011
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[Editorial] Consumer protection
The global financial crisis in 2008 highlighted the need to tighten oversight of greedy financiers. At the same time, it also brought into the spotlight the importance of protecting financial consumers, as it was millions of individual households that bore the brunt of the devastating financial tsun
Oct. 21, 2011
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[Editorial] White elephant in Yongin
The prosecution is investigating allegations of corruption surrounding the light rail transit project in Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province. Prosecutors have already banned some 30 people involved in the project, including two former mayors of the city, from leaving the country. The project started in 2
Oct. 21, 2011
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[Editorial] Compensating war dead
It was an utterly senseless act for the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to deliver 5,000 won to the sister of a soldier killed in the Korean War as “compensation” for war dead. Officials came down to the amount, not enough to buy a bowl of noodles, by quoting the fixed 50,000-whan governme
Oct. 20, 2011
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[Editorial] Stronger leadership
When new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda visited Korea on his first overseas trip since taking office 50 days ago, he must have known perfectly well that issues between the two neighboring countries extend to both the past and the future. He touched on the past only a little by bringing with
Oct. 20, 2011