Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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‘Comfort women’ seek injunction against Kyohak’s history textbook
The oldest surviving former “comfort woman” and other victims of Japan’s colonial rule (1910-1945) sought an injunction to ban a new history textbook authored by conservative scholars.The 96-year-old Kim Bok-dong, who was forced into sex slavery for the Japanese military during World War II, is one of nine who requested a local court to block Kyohak Publishing Co.’s textbook from high school useOthers include Kil Won-ok, an 84-year-old former comfort woman, descendents of independence activists,
Dec. 26, 2013
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Constitutional Court throws out large retailers’ petition
The Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed large retailers’ petition to review regulations allowing limitations to their operations.The nine constitutional justices reached a unanimous decision that the issue was not eligible for review as the Distribution Industry Development Act cannot be considered an infringement of large retailers’ basic rights in itself. The petition was filed by four large retailers including Homeplus and E-mart, which claimed that their basic rights were violated as
Dec. 26, 2013
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Ex-KT chief summoned again over alleged graft
The former head of local telecom giant KT Corp. was called in for questioning by prosecutors on Thursday for the third time for alleged managerial misconduct and creating slush funds.Lee Suk-chae, who resigned early last month over the allegations, appeared at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul at around 10 a.m. to undergo questioning.Prosecutors previously questioned him twice last week over suspicions that he stashed around 2 billion won ($1.8 million) worth of se
Dec. 26, 2013
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Prosecution demands 9-year sentence for Hanwha chief in retrial
(Yonhap) -- The prosecution on Thursday demanded nine years in prison and 150 billion won (US$141 million) in fines for Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn for embezzlement.In a retrial held three months after the top court sent the case back to the appeals court, prosecutors asked for the same sentence as in the previous trials, noting the seriousness of his crime.The Supreme Court in September reversed a lower court's ruling on Kim on embezzlement charges and sent the case back to an appellat
Dec. 26, 2013
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Webtoon artists removes satirical cartoon after controversy
South Korean webtoon artist Jeong Cheol-yeon on Thursday removed a cartoon that satirized current affairs including disputes about the privatization of public firms and the alleged election meddling of the National Intelligence Service.“The dispute (concerning the cartoon) was more serious than I’ve anticipated, which led me to remove the cartoon. From now on, I will post such ‘rebellious pieces’ only on my blog,” Jeong said on his personal blog Thursday.In the latest edition of his webtoon "Maj
Dec. 26, 2013
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KORAIL to hire substitute workers to cope with strike
The state-run railway operator said on Thursday it is recruiting hundreds of substitute workers to cope with a protracted strike by its union members.The Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) said it has put out a public notice to hire 660 workers -- 280 train attendants and 380 drivers -- and that they will be placed to work after receiving job training."We plan to hire more workers if the strike is protracted further," said Jang Jin-bok, a spokesman of the rail company.More than 8,700 KORAIL workers w
Dec. 26, 2013
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Progressive professor cleared of plagiarism
Cho Kuk, a progressive law professor, has been cleared of suspicions of plagiarism that were raised by conservative activists, according to his school.Seoul National University announced Tuesday that its research ethics committee concluded there is lack of evidence to support the allegations against Cho.Cho has been under investigation by the university since February after conservative columnist Byun Hee-jae filed a claim that Cho plagiarized a research paper published in 2008 from one of his p
Dec. 25, 2013
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[Photo News] Catholic celebration
Dec. 25, 2013
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Robot scientist pushes limits of virtual reality
In a remote hospital, a patient waits in bed for an operation. Standing bedside is not a surgeon but a human-faced machine, equipped with three-dimensional cameras, high-precision sensors and ultra-tiny instruments. A large screen projects the face of a doctor, who controls the procedure through the robotic surgeon to check on the patient’s condition in real time using the latest telepresence technologies.The virtual operation, already in use in some parts of the world, is only a part of changes
Dec. 25, 2013
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Police surround Jogyesa Temple in rail strike standoff
Tensions mounted around Jogyesa Temple in Seoul on Thursday as police surrounded the headquarters of the country’s largest Buddhist order to apprehend four railway strike leaders who took refuge there.Railway union members, including deputy chief Park Tae-nam, wanted for his involvement in leading the strike, entered Jogyesa Temple late Tuesday. Police deployed some 250 officers to surround it and operate checkpoints on its grounds. The railway union has staged the general strike since Dec. 9 in
Dec. 25, 2013
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Progressive educational chiefs reject ministry’s anti-poster directive
Local education offices led by progressive superintendents rejected the Education Ministry’s recent directive to curb the spread of political posters at middle and high schools. The ministry last Wednesday sent out guidelines to provincial education offices expressing concerns that the academic atmosphere may be damaged by the wave of the so-called daejabo movement. Daejabo, or hand-written posters dealing with various issues, have been appearing across the country after a Korea University stude
Dec. 24, 2013
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Koreas, China in modern conflict over ancient kingdom
JIAN, China (AFP) ― Centuries ago Gwanggaeto the Great ruled over a mighty empire stretching from south of Seoul deep into Manchuria in China’s northeast, but his Goguryeo dynasty is now at the center of a historical tug-of-war.He is revered as a Korean national hero on both sides of the divided peninsula, while Chinese attempts to claim Goguryeo as its own have provoked fury among its neighbors.One of Goguryeo’s capitals, now the modern Chinese city of Jian, stands on the Yalu river on the fron
Dec. 24, 2013
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Amnesty International slams raid on union office
Amnesty International criticized South Korea Tuesday for a police raid on the office of a militant umbrella labor union, saying it breached international human rights and labor standards.Hundreds of policemen stormed the headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in central Seoul on Sunday to arrest striking rail union leaders believed to be holed up there, sparking controversy over the excessive use of police force.“The entry of police forces into the KCTU building is a clear viol
Dec. 24, 2013
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Number of traffic deaths in Seoul drops 15%
The number of deaths caused by traffic accidents in Seoul fell nearly 15 percent on-year in the July-November period thanks to facility improvements, data showed Tuesday.According to the data compiled by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, a total of 156 people were killed by traffic accidents in the capital city in the five-month period, down 14.8 percent from 183 cases a year earlier.A city official attributed the decline to the completion of traffic facility improvements. “We’ve completed work
Dec. 24, 2013
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Military faces backlash over probe into cyber command
Opposition lawmakers accused the military Monday of trying to cover up more pervasive election meddling in last year's presidential poll by purposely carrying out a shoddy investigation into an alleged online smear campaign by the cyber warfare command.The defense ministry last week announced that military prosecutors will indict the director of the psychological warfare unit and 10 other cyber warfare officials for posting political writings in connection with last year's presidential election.
Dec. 23, 2013
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[Newsmaker]Tension adds to labor group unity
Escalating labor strife is giving new momentum to Korea’s major labor group crippled by internal splits and its links with alleged pro-North Korea politicians.On Sunday, police stormed the headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in Seoul for the first time since its launch in 1995.The raid was conducted to arrest railway strike leaders believed to be holed up inside the building. None of them were caught in the nearly nine-hour search that triggered a violent clash between polic
Dec. 23, 2013
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Tighter admission rules sought for overseas Korean students
The state anti-corruption body on Monday called for the government and universities to plug loopholes in preferential admission rules for overseas Korean students.Currently, applicants who hold foreign citizenship or who studied at least three years in a foreign country can apply for the special quota system without competing with ordinary applicants.But the rule is believed to be widely exploited by affluent parents to gain admission of their unqualified children into prestigious schools, espec
Dec. 23, 2013
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Comedian under fire for nightclub photo with ‘teenage girls’
Comedian and movie director Shim Hyung-rae came under a hailstorm of criticism on Monday after a picture emerged of him sitting at a nightclub with supposedly underage girls.Earlier in the day, a young woman uploaded a photo that she said was of herself with Shim. The photo shows Shim and scantily-clad girls sitting in what appears to be a private room at a nightclub with alcohol and food placed on the table in front of him.There was a furor among netizens when it was learned that the person who
Dec. 23, 2013
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[Graphic News] Cancer remains top cause of Korean deaths
Cancer remained the most common cause of death in 2012 while cerebrovascular diseases replaced heart diseases as the second leading cause, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Dec. 22, 2013
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Striking rail workers taken into custody in police raid
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- More than 100 striking railway workers were taken into custody Sunday after the police forced their way into a union office with tear gas to round them up for questioning.Some 600 police officers were deployed to raid the headquarters of a militant labor umbrella group, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), in central Seoul around 11 a.m. to arrest union leaders of the state-run Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) who have been defying summons by prosecutors. The
Dec. 22, 2013