Most Popular
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10-man S. Korea lose to Indonesia to miss out on Paris Olympic football qualification
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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Second Gimpo civil servant found dead, after apologizing for not finishing work
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DP leader says he will meet Yoon without conditions
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First-ever meeting of president, opposition chief set to finally happen
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NewJeans' singles, Japanese debut to proceed as planned, despite Hybe-Ador feud
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Experts raise concerns about Japan putting pressure on Naver over Line
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Samsung mobile chief, Google device head meet in Seoul
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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Ship linked to NK arms shipments to Russia is moored in China: State Dept.
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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
PoliticsOct. 24, 2011
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Foreigners learn Korean ways at work
Seoul City’s classes teach Korea’s unique social, organizational cultureJune Acuna from the Philippines has been working at an ink cartridge factory in Seongsudong, eastern Seoul, for two and a half years. Still, he has to guess the hidden meaning of what his boss or Korean colleagues say to him, and is often offended by direct commands from superiors. “I am here to learn Korean ways at work and appropriate ways to deal with them,” said Acuna at the fifth lecture on the Whys and Hows of Korean W
Social AffairsOct. 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
PoliticsOct. 24, 2011
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S. Korea ranks 28th among OECD nations in ‘social quality’: survey
South Korea lags far behind other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) economies in “social quality,” a survey said Monday.South Korea ranked 28th among 30 OECD member nations in the survey conducted by the Seoul National University Institute for Social Development and Policy Research.The survey showed Korean society was relatively good in education and an ability to provide jobs, but one of the bottom-ranked nations in social cohesion (23rd), people’s participation in po
Social AffairsOct. 24, 2011
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Foreigners learn Korean ways at work
Ranks, titles meaningful; communication with Koreans is importantJune Acuna from the Philippines has been working at an ink cartridge factory in Seongsudong, eastern Seoul, for two and a half years. Still, he has to guess the hidden meaning of what his boss or Korean colleagues say to him, and is often offended by direct commands from superiors. “I am here to learn Korean ways at work and appropriate way to deal with them,” said Acuna at the fifth lecture on the Whys and Hows of Korean Ways last
Social AffairsOct. 24, 2011
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No S. Korean casualties in Turkey quake, ministry says
No South Korean casualties have so far been reported in Turkey where a massive earthquake struck its southeastern region killing at least 100 people, the Foreign Ministry here said Monday. A 7.2-magnitude quake hit the Turkish province of Van on Sunday, killing some 140 people and injuring another 350, according to overseas news reports that quoted Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The death toll could reach 1,000, reports say. Two South Korean nationals, who reside in Van Province,
Foreign AffairsOct. 24, 2011
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Half of non-regular workers hired for less than 6 months
Half of non-regular workers in Korea were employed for less than six months, earning about half the wages of regular staff during that time. According to a report released Monday by the Korea Labor Institute, the average duration of employment for non-regular workers, including temporary, part-time and subcontract workers, came in at 23.6 months as of August last year, less than a third of that for regular workers, which was 77.3 months. Employment lasted for less than six months for 50.6 percen
Social AffairsOct. 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
PoliticsOct. 24, 2011
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Independence fighter acquitted after 49 years
A Seoul court has acquitted South Korea’s oldest living independence fighter of sympathizing with North Korea, overturning a 49-year-old conviction.Along with four other members of his now-defunct Unification Society Party, Gu Ik-gyun, 103, was convicted of supporting the North by opposing the then anti-communist law and espousing “ideologically neutral reunification.”Gu was given a suspended sentence as the court took into account his previous fight against Japan’s colonial rule (1910-45) of th
Social AffairsOct. 24, 2011
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Speculation rises over possible reduction of U.S. troops here
Attention is being drawn to whether there would be any U.S. troop drawdown here on the Korean Peninsula should the U.S. slash its defense budget as part of a deficit reduction plan.As U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is to come here for the annual South Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting slated for Friday, speculations abound that discussions over it could take place.The U.S. defense budget faces cuts of up to $350 billion over the next decade. Observers have thought that Washington mig
DefenseOct. 24, 2011
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N. Korea, U.S. hold 2nd round of bilateral nuclear talks
GENEVA (Yonhap News) -- North Korea and the United States on Monday started a second round of bilateral talks in less than three months to see whether the North is indeed prepared to take concrete steps toward denuclearization before the stalled six-nation negotiations can resume. While South Korea and the U.S. consider the discussions “exploratory,” they remained cautious, with the North showing no signs of accepting terms set by Seoul and Washington for a resumption of the six-party talks. Nor
North KoreaOct. 24, 2011
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Samgyeopsal favorite food of Seoul expats
Foreigners in Seoul think samgyeopsal, or Korean pork belly meat, is the most delicious food in the city, followed by kimchi and tteokbokki, a survey by the Seoul Metropolitan Government showed Monday. The city government polled 1,984 foreigners about their favorite Korean dishes in Seoul via the city government website, social networking sites such as Facebook, Japanese blog websites and the Chinese microblogging site Weibo for five weeks from Sept. 3 to Oct. 2.Samgyeopsal ranked first with vot
Social AffairsOct. 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
PoliticsOct. 24, 2011
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U.S. military presence in Asia to remain firm despite budget cut: Panetta
BALI, Indonesia, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- Making his first trip to Asia as U.S. defense chief, Leon Panetta sought to dispel concern that Washington's plan to slash its defense budget in the coming years would diminish its military presence and operations in Asia."Our goal is to try to strengthen the all
DefenseOct. 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
PoliticsOct. 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
PoliticsOct. 23, 2011
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Number of ethnic Koreans in Japan obtaining S. Korean citizenship falls
The number of ethnic Koreans in Japan acquiring South Korean citizenship is declining after a surge in the 2000s, a government report said over the weekend. Currently, there are about 700,000 Koreans living in Japan, a legacy of Japan’s colonial occupation of the Korean Peninsula from 1910-45. Of th
North KoreaOct. 23, 2011
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Colombia rescues 4 Koreans adrift in Caribbean
BOGOTA (AFP) ― The Colombian Navy has rescued four Koreans from their catamaran after it suffered a breakdown while sailing across the Caribbean, a Colombian official said Saturday. “We responded to a call from the Korean embassy, which alerted us to a boat with four of its nationals aboard,” Comman
Social AffairsOct. 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
PoliticsOct. 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
PoliticsOct. 23, 2011