Most Popular
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No plan to let doctors with foreign licenses practice here anytime soon: PM
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Ador CEO's dismissal to be decided on last day of May
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[Graphic News] Beer the most favored alcoholic drink by Koreans
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Science Ministry expresses regret over Japan’s pressure on Naver
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Haeundae Beach to become sand art museum in late May
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Hostilities get out of hand as YouTuber murders another outside courthouse
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Medical professors set to take day off amid protracted walkouts by junior doctors
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Police officer jumps barefoot into drainage tunnel to save man
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Yoon interacts with public for 1st time since election defeat
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Lee Sun-kyun's posthumuous film to hit theaters in August
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[Editorial] Return of artifacts
Yet another joint government-civic committee is about to be formed to take charge of identifying Korean cultural articles overseas and start working for their return home. President Lee gave the instruction upon the return of Joseon era books last week from France after they were plundered from a royal archive on Ganghwa Island during an attack a century and a half ago.Like the 296-volume Joseon “
April 18, 2011
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[Editorial] By-elections
The April 27 by-elections to pick National Assemblymen for three districts in Gyeonggi, South Gyeongsang and South Jeolla provinces, the governor of Gangwon Province and to fill vacancies at several local autonomous bodies are about a week away. Neither the ruling nor the opposition party sees a clear lead in any of the parliamentary and gubernatorial contests, and both consider these polls as a b
April 18, 2011
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[Editorial] On the mend
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, driven into chaos by four student suicides this year, now appears to be recovering from the initial shock and looking for solutions to stressful campus life. KAIST will do well to take time in determining what to do to avoid similar tragedies, as advised by its board of directors.Last week, the board of directors, after being briefed on remedial
April 17, 2011
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[Editorial] Judicial reform
When asked about judicial reform last week, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik was noncommittal. He apparently did not want to be drawn into a conflict over the thorny issue when he said, “There is no right answer to the question. I hope considerate debate (on the issue) will proceed in a way that will be of help in advancing the nation in the future.”But the administration will have to get itself activ
April 17, 2011
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[Editorial] Disregard for security
Many of the 30 million customers of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, or Nonghyup, suffered inconveniences for four days from Tuesday as the bank’s computer network broke down. It was the worst accident of its kind in Korea and fueled unease among the public over the security of online financial transactions as it came just several days after a serious hacking incident at Hyundai C
April 15, 2011
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[Editorial] Chain bankruptcies
Fears of chain bankruptcies are mounting among domestic construction companies following Sambu Construction Co.’s filing on Tuesday for a court-protected rehabilitation process. Holder of Korea’s first construction business license, Sambu placed 34th among the nation’s top 100 builders last year. It applied for court protection as financial companies refused to roll over the 427 billion won projec
April 15, 2011
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[Editorial] Revised target
The central bank was more realistic than before when it abandoned its policy goal of keeping this year’s inflation at 3.5 percent or lower, raising the target rate to 3.9 percent this week. Still, the bank took no action to convince the public that the new goal was attainable.In revising the targeted rate of inflation upward, the Bank of Korea maintained its earlier growth outlook for this year ―
April 14, 2011
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[Editorial] Jet exports
Indonesia has recently selected Korea Aerospace Industries as the preferred bidder for its trainer jet project ― a deal which is brightening the prospects for exporting Korean-made supersonic T-50 trainer jets. As the KAI chief executive officer says, it will take some time to conclude negotiations on a final contract regarding the price, the time of delivery, the provision of parts, assistance in
April 14, 2011
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[Editorial] Offshore tax evasion
According to the National Tax Service, a shipping magnate is under investigation by the prosecution on charges of offshore tax evasion. The case draws our attention because the fine imposed on him is 410.1 billion won, the largest ever levied on an individual for stashing away personal wealth abroad.The NTS said the shipping tycoon, who is little known to the public, operates a fleet of 160 vessel
April 13, 2011
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[Editorial] Chaebol’s responsibility
Under the incumbent Lee Myung-bak government, domestic business groups have expanded their assets and operations at an alarmingly fast clip, and concerns have been rekindled about excessive concentration of economic power.According to data recently released by the Fair Trade Commission, the top 20 business groups increased their asset holdings by 54.2 percent and the number of subsidiaries by 36 p
April 13, 2011
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[Editorial] Bills of evil
In this age of plastic cards, keeping a few 50,000-won bills in wallet would not make one feel particularly comfortable. In everyday life, you rarely need to use the light brown note graced by the elegant portrait of virtuous Joseon era lady Shin Saimdang, which was first issued in June 2009. Yet, the Bank of Korea reports that some 400 million 50,000-won notes are “in circulation,” believe it or
April 12, 2011
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[Editorial] Suh’s choice
Suh Nam-pyo, a Korean-born professor emeritus at MIT with more than 70 patents in mechanical engineering and experience as vice president of the U.S. National Science Foundation, assumed presidency at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in July 2006. At the time, he set the goal of making KAIST one of the 10 best research universities in the world. He followed up with reform mea
April 12, 2011
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[Editorial] After one month
When rain fell last week, workers at some potable water reservoirs were busy covering their large facilities with vinyl sheets to prevent “radioactive” rainwater from being mixed with the drinking water. Cynics remarked, “Why don’t we cover the whole Han River?” This reveals the great psychological impact Korea had from the natural disaster that hit Japan a month ago. The magnitude-9.0 earthquake
April 11, 2011
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[Editorial] Hacker’s paradise
In the best-selling crime novel “Millennium Series” by Swedish journalist-writer Stieg Larsson, the heroine Lisbeth Salander freely breaks into the computers of individuals and organizations for her private investigative work and even makes a fortune by penetrating into the domain of a corrupt media magnate. She is a member of the international hacker community called the “Hacker Republic.”Technol
April 11, 2011
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[Editorial] Party in crisis?
Bundang B in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, has been a conservative electoral district. One of Seoul’s wealthy suburbs, it has been carried by the ruling Grand National Party in the past. Is the conservative ruling party assured of another win in the April 27 parliamentary by-election?The answer is hardly, as evidenced by the latest opinion poll. The liberal Democratic Party’s chairman, Sohn Hak-kyu
April 8, 2011
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[Editorial] Pork barrel
If a person wishes to succeed as a politician, one of the first things he needs to do is appeal to the concerns of those who have elected him into public office and convince them that he has their best interests at heart. Few can afford to ignore their concerns no matter how mundane or absurd they may appear.Thomas Phillip “Tip” O’Neill, Jr., a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives,
April 7, 2011
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[Editorial] Twisting refiners’ arms
In January, President Lee Myung-bak said there was something fishy about domestic gasoline prices. When international crude prices soared, he said, domestic prices of gasoline seemed to go up correspondingly without delay, but when crude oil costs dropped, retail gasoline prices appeared to fall slowly and by a smaller margin.The president’s comment was a signal that the government would step up p
April 7, 2011
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[Editorial] Die-hard practices
Old business practices die hard. For an example, look no further than the pharmaceutical industry. Some unscrupulous drug producers are unable to quit the bad habit of offering kickbacks to doctors and pharmacists to boost the sales of their products.According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, it has received more than 100 tip-offs about illegal kickbacks since November last year when the rel
April 7, 2011
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[Editorial] Money in envelopes
The prosecutor general has 18.9 billion won earmarked for “special activities” this year ― activities related to gathering information on crime and criminal investigations. He is not required to submit receipts with his claims on the grounds that they may reveal confidential information. As such, he may be tempted to spend the money for other purposes.Given that much of the prosecutorial work must
April 6, 2011
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[Editorial] Desperate lawmakers
If a first-term National Assemblyman is banned from running for reelection because of his wife’s illegal campaigning for him, what should he do? He may try to complete his tenure honorably with exemplary legislative activities and prepare to return to his original profession. Rep. Kim Choong-hwan of the Grand National Party had a different idea; he decided to rewrite the law with the support of sy
April 5, 2011