Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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Defense chiefs of US, Australia, Japan decry NK-Russia military cooperation
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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Prosecution, police agree on gov't mediation on criminal law reform
SEOUL, June 20 (Yonhap) -- The prosecution and police on Monday agreed to end their long-standing disputes over the rights to open criminal investigations through government arbitration, officials said.According to the compromise agreement announced in the attendance of Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, both parties agreed to the revision of the Criminal Procedure Code, which calls for granting police
June 20, 2011
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Ministry mulls earlier hours for public sector
The government will consider changing the working hours of public sector employees and splitting up the long school winter vacation into several breaks in an effort to spur domestic demand, officials said Saturday.The measures were among a package of proposals discussed at a meeting of Cabinet and other top government officials that President Lee Myung-bak presided over to brainstorm ideas on how
June 19, 2011
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Reformists dominate GNP race
Hong Joon-pyo puts self forward as anti-factional candidateThe race to become the new chief of the governing Grand National Party is shaping up to be a competition among young, reform-minded members from the capital area, with no clear frontrunner, political observers said Sunday. With about two weeks to go before the July 4 party convention, three lawmakers threw their hat in the ring on the day,
June 19, 2011
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Punishment for corrupt officials soars over five-fold
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- The number of government officials punished for bribery has jumped more than five-fold over the last five years due to a tighter crackdown on bureaucratic corruption, the home ministry said Sunday.Civil servants who were dismissed or disciplined for accepting kickbacks numbered 624 last year, 5.5 times more than the figure in 2006, according to the Ministry of Public Adm
June 19, 2011
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PM: Ending corruption in bureaucracy top priority for S. Korea
SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- Corruption is widespread in South Korean society and ending irregularities in the bureaucracy is a top priority for the country if it wants to become an advanced nation, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said Saturday.Kim made the remarks at a meeting of all Cabinet ministers and other top officials, a day after President Lee Myung-bak chided officialdom in harsh language ove
June 19, 2011
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Unification minister: N. Korea has nothing to gain from provocations
SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has nothing to gain from provocations against South Korea, Seoul's Cabinet minister handling inter-Korean relations said Saturday, urging the communist nation to carry out reform and open up to the outside world.Unification Minister Hyun In-taek accused Pyongyang of launching "reckless political provocations after military provocations," referring to the Nort
June 19, 2011
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Gov't to consider changing public-sector working hours to spur domestic demand
SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- The government will consider changing the working hours of public-sector employees and splitting up the long school winter vacation into several breaks in an effort to spur domestic demand, officials said Saturday.The measures were among a package of proposals discussed at a meeting of Cabinet and other top government officials that President Lee Myung-bak presided over
June 19, 2011
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Lee calls for ending corruption
In an emotion-charged speech against corruption, President Lee Myung-bak called for a sweeping overhaul of the way the government works, imploring top officials Friday to end long-ingrained irregularities in officialdom.Speaking at a brainstorming meeting that brought together all Cabinet ministers, vice ministers and other top officials, Lee expressed deep frustrations about the bureaucracy, repr
June 17, 2011
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GNP in identity crisis amid reform calls
Ruling party shelves additional tax cut plan, scrambles to cut tuitionThe ruling Grand National Party has gone to great lengths to renew its image, even defying the policies of the current administration, but many still regard its moves with a doubtful eye.In a general meeting held Thursday, a majority of GNP lawmakers agreed to withdraw the additional tax cut plan for corporations, which has so f
June 17, 2011
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Ex-prosecutor says he treated Roh with respect
An ex-prosecutor who led the investigation into bribery allegations surrounding former president Roh Moo-hyun said Thursday he treated the late president with respect, rebuking a Roh aide’s claim that he didn’t.Roh killed himself during a prosecutorial probe in 2009 into suspicions that his associates and family took kickbacks from a Busan-based businessman named Park Yeon-cha. As then chief of th
June 16, 2011
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Judicial reform panel disbands with little resolved
Members see no reason to continue after plan to close key prosecution unit derailedThe special parliamentary committee on judicial reform decided to end its 16-month term, without any of its major issues being solved.The committee will continue until the end of the month, as originally planned, and the pending issues will be handed over to the legislation and judiciary committee, officials said Mo
June 16, 2011
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GNP finds no answers to tuition debate
Free-for-all forum fails to reach agreement on cutting cost of collegeLawmakers, government officials, university presidents, professors and students gathered on Wednesday for a forum on tuition cuts hosted by the Grand National Party but failed to reach any agreement.“We are running against the clock as the Education Ministry is to submit its budget bill to the Finance Ministry by the end of the
June 15, 2011
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Sohn most favored but Park most likely to be president: SNU students
Students of the prestigious Seoul National University favor opposition leader Sohn Hak-kyu as the next Korean president, but think female conservative politician Park Geun-hye is most likely to win the race, a poll released Tuesday shows. According to the survey of 660 students conducted by the Seouldae Journal, a student newspaper at the university, Sohn, the chairman of the Democratic Party, was
June 14, 2011
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Ex-USFK commander slams China for N.K. ‘strategic error’
China has made a “terrible strategic error” by failing to rein in North Korea, a former U.S. Forces Korea commander said Monday, stressing the need for it to assume a responsible role for regional peace and stability.In a meeting with reporters in Seoul, Burwell B. Bell, who served as USFK commander from February 2006-June 2008, also said that the risk of military provocations by the North remains
June 14, 2011
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DP attacks Lee over tuition cut project
Opposition says president’s call for patience an attempt to derail fee reductionsParties in Tuesday’s parliamentary education committee general meeting quarreled over the president’s call for more time on the controversial university tuition fee cuts.Lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party accused the presidential office of attempting to pressure the National Assembly to abandon their mo
June 14, 2011
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Concerns mounting over political populism
Protests over tuition cuts signal partisan race to woo voters with populist policiesOpposition leader Sohn Hak-kyu hoped that his party’s plan to cut college tuition fees would appeal to students when he attended their rally early last week.“I am not here to add fuel to your anger but to share your concerns,” Sohn told about 200 university students holding a candlelight vigil in downtown Seoul for
June 14, 2011
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President vows to end practice of offering favors to ex-officials
President Lee Myung-bak on Monday stressed he would root out the widespread practice among government officials and judges of giving favors to their retired colleagues.The “jeon-gwan-ye-woo” practice, which means giving “honorable treatment to former officials,” refers to the custom of private companies offering high-paying jobs to retired senior government officials in exchange for their connecti
June 13, 2011
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Sohn suggests meeting with Lee this month
The opposition leader and president may meet in an inter-party summit as early as this month to discuss pending economic issues concerning people’s livelihoods here. “Students and parents are out in the streets, asking for a tuition cut, and we may not blame them because they are indeed under great economic strain,” said the main opposition Democratic Party chairman Sohn Hak-kyu at the party’s Sup
June 13, 2011
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Lee meets religious leaders after detente with Buddhists
President Lee Myung-bak met with religious leaders Monday, a week after South Korea’s largest Buddhist sect announced that it was normalizing relations with the government after half a year of standoff over a budget dispute.It marked the first time that Lee has met with Ven. Jaseung, head of the Buddhist sect Jogye Order, in more than a year. Jogye’s relations with the government have been tense a
June 13, 2011
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Opposition leader offers to talk with president over economy
The opposition leader proposed a rare meeting with President Lee Myung-bak, saying Monday that he wants to discuss a string of challenges the country faces in efforts to improve people's livelihood.The offer from Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) comes as the government is grappling with growing calls for lowering college tuition costs and rising home rental prices, an
June 13, 2011