Most Popular
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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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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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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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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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Lawmakers move to raise penalties on rapes of children, disabled
SEOUL, Oct. 25 (Yonhap) -- Lawmakers on Tuesday moved to raise penalties for rapes of children and disabled people in a bid to curb sex crimes against the most vulnerable.A sub-committee of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee passed a revision bill lifting the statute of limita
Oct. 25, 2011
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Despite some progress, parties still split on FTA
Opposition rejects proposal for special parliamentary address by LeePolitical parties made some progress Monday in talks over the proposed free trade agreement with the U.S., but key differences remained. Two committees of the National Assembly began the handling of all 14 bills that need to be approved for the FTA to take effect. The bills would revise local rules to abolish tariffs and import barriers between the two countries.Members of the National Assembly’s foreign affairs and trade commit
Oct. 24, 2011
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Will Ahn’s backing be decisive factor in Seoul election?
DP predicts win, while GNP denies Ahn effect on raceProfessor Ahn Cheol-soo finally responded to the liberal bloc’s repeated calls on Sunday and announced he would campaign for candidate Park Won-soon ahead of Wednesday’s Seoul mayoral election.The Seoul National University professor expressed his intent to support the civic activist, according to sources in Park’s camp. “Ahn called Park this evening and offered his hand, saying that he shall specify and confirm his decision tomorrow,” said Park
Oct. 24, 2011
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Lee promotes career bureaucrat to vice unification minister
President Lee Myung-bak on Monday promoted Kim Chun-sig, one of his chief negotiators with North Korea, to vice minister of unification, on the advice of his close friend who became minister a month ago.Lee is also expected to name later this week, after Wednesday’s by-elections, successors to the knowledge economy minister and chief of the Presidential Security Service who resigned last month and last week, respectively. Lee was mulling former and incumbent police chiefs, one of his aides said
Oct. 24, 2011
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Lee to meet Medvedev in St. Petersburg, attend Cannes G20
President Lee Myung-bak will fly to St. Petersburg next week for a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and an annual Korea-Russia dialogue before heading to Cannes to attend the G20 Summit.Lee is scheduled to arrive at St. Petersburg next Tuesday and hold summit talks with Medvedev on Wednesday during which the two leaders are expected to deal with the envisioned project to pipe Siberian gas to South Korea via North Korea.Talks are under way between the South’s Korea Gas Corp. and Russ
Oct. 24, 2011
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Ahn decides to back liberal candidate Park in Seoul mayoral race
The rival candidates for Seoul mayor ratcheted up their last-minute campaigns Monday, two days ahead of the vote, closely eyeing how star IT expert Ahn Cheol-soo's call for support for the opposition candidate would affect the close race.Ahn Cheol-soo (Yonhap News)Ahn, who had previously been consid
Oct. 24, 2011
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Candidates campaign for swing votes
The two frontrunners for Wednesday’s Seoul mayoral race braced themselves over the weekend for the last two days of their election campaign, aiming at attracting a maximum number of swing votes.According to recent public polls, the number of undecided swing votes greatly rose, especially among the moderate 40s group, reflecting the public’s disapproval of the mudslinging between the candidates.Na Kyung-won of the ruling Grand National Party focused on getting in direct contact with the voters by
Oct. 23, 2011
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Parliament to vote on U.S. FTA ratification Monday
The Korean parliament is expected to vote on the ratification of a free trade pact with the U.S. on Monday, after a last round of discussions over the long-delayed deal. The U.S. Congress passed the deal as President Lee Myung-bak was visiting Washington for summit talks with President Barack Obama
Oct. 23, 2011
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Tight races forecast in Busan, Chungju
Local by-elections hotly contested in prelude to major elections next yearThe Seoul mayoral contest, where independent Park Won-soon and the ruling Grand National Party’s Na Kyung-won are running a tight race, is by far the most intense and important in Wednesday’s by-elections. But several provinci
Oct. 23, 2011
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Obama signs FTAs with S. Korea, Colombia, Panama
WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law a free trade agreement (FTA) with South Korea, completing a long-delayed process in Washington to put the accord, expected to help create jobs, into effect.The FTA still requires ratification by South Korea's National Assembly, embr
Oct. 22, 2011
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Ruling camp agrees to pass U.S. FTA next week
The government and ruling Grand National Party agreed Friday to work together to pass the long-delayed free trade pact with the United States later this month and to prepare strong safeguards for local industry before endorsing the deal, party officials said.The GNP and the government have been step
Oct. 21, 2011
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President Lee calls opposition leaders seeking support for KORUS FTA ratification
President Lee Myung-bak on Friday placed calls to senior representatives of opposition political parties, seeking their cooperation in ratifying South Korea's free trade agreement with the U.S., sources said.They said Lee spoke on the phone with five opposition members: Kim Jin-pyo, floor leader of
Oct. 21, 2011
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N.K. shows signs of cutting in on overseas voting
National security officials detected signs that North Korea has attempted to influence overseas voting in next year’s general and presidential elections by sending out agents into overseas Korean societies, according to a local newspaper Thursday.The communist state especially targeted Japan, where
Oct. 20, 2011
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Lee: Protecting ’socially weak’ top government priority
President Lee Myung-bak said Thursday that one of his government’s top priorities is to protect "socially weak" people, amid calls from small merchants for further cuts in the commission rates that credit card firms levy on retailers.“We believe we have to protect the socially weak and the governmen
Oct. 20, 2011
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SNS battle rages in mayoral race
Park ahead of Na in cyber campaign; Twitter users criticize online crackdownWith the Seoul mayoral by-election looming next Wednesday, the online campaigns are heating up, with independent candidate Park Won-soon taking a visible lead over Na Kyung-won of the ruling Grand National Party.The SNS batt
Oct. 20, 2011
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Court rejects arrest warrant for ex-vice culture minister
A Seoul court on Thursday turned down a request by state prosecutors to arrest Shin Jae-min, former vice minister of culture, who is accused of having received bribes from a local businessman.Prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for Shin, a close confidant to President Lee Myung-bak, earlier this we
Oct. 20, 2011
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Korea, Japan expand currency swaps
Lee-Noda summit addresses FTA, N.K., but not comfort womenSeoul and Tokyo agreed to expand their currency swaps to $70 billion from $13 billion for stronger financial cooperation amid global economic uncertainties during President Lee Myung-bak’s summit meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yos
Oct. 19, 2011
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Mayoral runners strive for public poll lead
Rival camps battled on Wednesday to take the lead in the last public polls for the Oct. 26 Seoul mayoral by-election.According to the election law, public survey results may not be made public during the last six days of campaigning, which is next Wednesday.Also, the increasing number of swing votes
Oct. 19, 2011
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N.K. speeds up work to spruce up Pyongyang
Major construction works set to mark Kim Il-sung’s centennial birthdayNorth Korea is carrying out a slew of construction works in Pyongyang despite its economic woes, in an apparent move to cosmetically improve the capital ahead of its self-imposed 2012 deadline to become a “strong and p
Oct. 19, 2011
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Obama to sign FTAs on Friday
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama will sign the free trade accords with South Korea, Colombia and Panama on Friday, completing Washington's long-delayed legislative and administrative procedures necessary for the implementation of the deals, according to the White House.Oba
Oct. 19, 2011