Most Popular
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Korean labor force to shrink by 10 million by 2044: report
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[AtoZ Korean Mind] Does your job define who you are? Should it?
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Allegations surrounding BTS resurface, enraged fans demand apology
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Students with history of violence will be barred from becoming teachers
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Top prosecutor pledges 'speedy, strict' probe into first lady's luxury bag allegations
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Medical feud leaves hospitals in financial crisis
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Samsung mocks Apple over iPhone alarm glitch
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'Queen of Tears' riding high on Netflix chart
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'Super Rich in Korea' will leave viewers appreciating Korea more: producers
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Chip up cycle won’t stay long: SK chief
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Panel scales down Park’s new pension scheme
President Park Geun-hye’s ambitious drive to expand welfare benefits to the elderly was forced to retreat on Wednesday in the face of budgetary pressure. An advisory panel assigned to seek consensus on the new plan said it had agreed to cut the scale of the pension scheme substantially from the campaign pledges Park made late last year. Wrapping up its four-month discussion, the panel said it would exclude the richest 20 to 30 percent of elderly citizens, scrapping Park’s original plan to offer
July 17, 2013
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Free semester for students to pursue talents, dreams
Korea has no shortage of rags-to-riches stories, many of which are about rural students coming to Seoul, going to prestigious universities and becoming a doctor or lawyer. But now we have more diverse ways toward success. One can have as many chances as one wants to enjoy life through various careers. The free semester is a system to help students pursue their dreams, develop a career path and grow into the creative, competent talent of the future.Ireland, Britain and Denmark have carried out a
July 17, 2013
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College students upset by misuse of tuition
Students across the country are up in arms after recent reports that hundreds of billions of won in college tuition was subsidizing the pensions of employees at some of the country’s most expensive private universities.The Korea Association of Student Council, which represents some 100 student bodies, held a demonstration outside the Education Ministry last week, demanding full reimbursement of the money. The demonstration came after a special audit by the ministry revealed recently that dozens
July 17, 2013
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‘Fictional’ nightclub abuse video meant as ‘work of art’: crew member
A third man claiming to have been involved in a video appearing to show a Korean woman being harassed by a group of Western men has said the footage was staged. The video, which has caused outrage online worldwide in recent days, appears to show a number of men sexually harassing and insulting an intoxicated Korean woman. The men are shown cursing at the woman, filming her chest and legs and forcing her own finger up her nose and into her mouth.A Korean film studies graduate told The Korea Heral
July 17, 2013
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Professor reprimanded for berating foreign students
A Korean professor captured on video berating two Indonesian exchange students and calling one a “low animal” and “not human” has been reprimanded by his university.The disciplinary committee of Gyeongsang National University ruled on June 26 that Bae Myung-whan, a mechanical engineering professor at the university in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, had “undermined GNU’s reputation and demeaned himself as a professor” in his confrontation with Elvira Fidelia Tanjung and Merisha Hastarina. Lee
July 17, 2013
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Prosecutors find more cases of Younghoon admissions fraud
The prosecution on Tuesday indicted nine officials from a popular international middle school in Seoul on charges of fabricating grades to grant admission to certain students in return for receiving bribes from their parents.The Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office said it has indicted Kim Ha-joo, chairman of the board of Younghoon International Middle School, and the chief administrator identified only by his surname Yim. The two were indicted with physical detention, prosecutors said.Th
July 16, 2013
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[Graphic News] Employees’ declining working hours
According to a recent survey conducted by Job Korea, an online job portal, working hours per day for Korean workers averaged 9 hours and 26 minutes, a decrease of about 40 minutes from the 10 hours and 6 minutes found in a similar poll in 2008.
July 16, 2013
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Ignorance blamed for reservoir deaths
A deadly accident at a water facility construction site in Seoul on Monday sparked criticism about the lax enforcement of safety protocol. One worker was killed and six others went missing after the Hangang River suddenly flooded the underground water distribution reservoir in Noryangjin located near the river.The workers were replacing old water pipes in the 48-meter-long tunnel.Construction managers came under fire for failing to evacuate the workers while heavy rain hit the city. “After I got
July 16, 2013
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Hankook Ilbo chairman ignores summons
Chang Jae-ku, chairman of the Hankook Ilbo, a Korean-language newspaper, did not respond to the prosecution’s summons for questioning on Tuesday.The prosecution summoned Chang over allegations that he used the company’s money for personal use and inflicted huge financial losses on the media group. But the chairman requested a delay in the summons until the end of July, saying he needed more time to collect the required documents.The labor union filed a lawsuit against Chang in April, alleging th
July 16, 2013
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N. Korea presumed to be behind Cheong Wa Dae hacking: officials
North Korea was most likely behind the cyber attacks carried out between June 25 and July 1 this year on the websites of Cheong Wa Dae and the Office of Government Policy Coordination as well as multiple newspaper companies, the government said on Tuesday.“North Korean IP addresses were found and the hacking methods, such as the same malware found in the past North Korean cyber attacks, are the same,” said Chun Kil-soo, the director of Internet Incident Response at the Korea Internet and Securit
July 16, 2013
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Video of expats abusing Korean woman ‘staged’
An online video showing a Korean woman apparently being harassed by a group of Western men in a nightclub was staged, two men who say they acted in the video have claimed. The video, which has caused outrage online in recent days and appeared in Korean and foreign media including the Washington Post webpage, appears to show a number of men sexually and verbally harassing an intoxicated Korean woman. The men are shown cursing at the woman, filming her chest and forcing her own finger up her nose
July 16, 2013
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Prosecution raids ex-president's house over unpaid fines
State prosecutors on Tuesday raided the residence of former President Chun Doo-hwan as part of their move to collect a massive amount of unpaid fines levied on him for amassing large sums of secret funds during his presidency in the 1980s.Chun was ordered by a court in 1997 to return to the state coffers the 220 billion won (US$195 million) he was found to have illegally accumulated during his term. But he refused to make the payment, saying he was almost penniless.He has so far paid only a quar
July 16, 2013
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One worker killed, six others missing in flooding during underground work
One worker was killed and six other workers are missing after being swept away by swift currents on Monday while removing old water pipes inside a water distribution reservoir near the Han River, police said. Cho Ryong-geun, 57, who was killed in the incident, is known to be Chinese. Work to rescue the six others -- including three workers also believed to be Chinese -- is currently underway. Water from the rain-swollen Han River, which flows through the center of Seoul, rushed into the nearby 4
July 16, 2013
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Conglomerates to invest to control toxic leaks
Nine conglomerates have pledged to invest 2.8 trillion won ($2.4 billion) by 2015 in industries to prevent toxic leaks as part of joint measures to prevent environmental disasters at factories, the government said Friday.Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and others will be injecting the funds to improve old facilities, enhance safety installations and build up toxic gas monitoring systems. All industries will be required to adopt the leak detection and repair system, which currently only appli
July 15, 2013
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‘Yoon’s sexual assault investigation nears end’
South Korean diplomats in Washington expect the local police to conclude a sexual abuse investigation into former presidential spokesperson Yoon Chang-jung as early as this month, a report said Monday. Yoon is alleged to have inappropriately touched a South Korean embassy intern at a local bar and later to have called her to his hotel room during President Park Geun-hye’s visit to the U.S. in May. He was initially accused of misdemeanor sexual abuse.South Korean Embassy officials told Yonhap New
July 15, 2013
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[Photo News] Forestalling flood
July 15, 2013
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Discussions on new pension scheme end without progress
An advisory panel on the government’s new pension scheme for elderly citizens ended four months of discussions without reaching consensus on major issues. The committee, consisting of representatives from the government, civic groups, labor and business, decided to implement the new pension system from July next year, but not for all elderly citizens. The government will use taxpayers’ money to support the elderly, officials said after the meeting. But they failed to reach agreement on who shoul
July 15, 2013
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Rights watchdog urges greater protection for illegal migrants’ kids
An independent human rights body called on the government Monday to overhaul the existing law on immigration to prevent children of immigrants living here illegally from being deported without due regard to their right to education.The National Human Rights Commission made the request to Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn after a 17-year-old boy surnamed Kim from Mongolia was forcibly repatriated to his home country last November, a move condemned by human rights activists as a violation of the Unit
July 15, 2013
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Courts will treat Asiana passengers differently
The potential compensation payouts for people aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 214 will probably be very different for Americans and passengers from other countries, even if they were seated side by side as the South Korean jetliner crash-landed.An international treaty governs compensation to passengers harmed by international air travel. The pact is likely to close U.S. courts to many foreigners and force them to pursue their claims in Asia and elsewhere, where lawsuits are rarer, harder to win an
July 15, 2013
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SNU to use plagiarism detection software
Seoul National University is mulling over installing a plagiarism detection program amid a series of scandals involving several professors.There are several detection programs, such as Turnitin, that check for duplication of content by comparing submitted papers and theses through an online database.The school announced on Sunday that it was looking to purchase plagiarism-tracking software and to start using it from next year.All master’s and doctoral degree theses as well as professors’ publica
July 14, 2013