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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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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S. Korea lowers COVID-19 warning level, lifts last-remaining antivirus mandates
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Households' school costs hit 6-year low in 2012: data
South Korean households' spending on education declined to a six-year low last year due to an economic downturn and increased government subsidies, data showed Sunday. The ratio of education expenditures to consumption spending in a household with two or more family members reached 12 percent, the lowest level since 2006 when it was 11.5 percent, according to the data by Statistics Korea. Households' education expenditure-to-consumption spending ratio rose at double-digit rates in 1997, posting
Feb. 24, 2013
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Teenager confesses to raping, beating 46-year-old woman to death
Police said Saturday they have detained a teenager on charges of raping and beating to death a 46-year-old woman he met in a nightclub in southern South Korea.The 18-year-old, identified only by his surname Suh, admitted to the crime, saying he was angry as the woman refused to have sex with him, police said. The victim's identity was withheld.According to police, Suh met and drank with her in a nightclub in the southern city of Jinju, some 285 km southeast of Seoul. He allegedly raped and beat
Feb. 23, 2013
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S. Korean man under investigation for hurling bottle of human feces into Japan Embassy
A South Korean man is under investigation for hurling a bottle of human feces into Japan's Embassy in Seoul in anger over Tokyo's claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, police said Saturday.The 49-year-old day worker threw the 750-milliliter plastic bottle containing his own feces over the wall of the embassy in central Seoul around 8:50 p.m. Friday after Japan held an annual event claiming its sovereignty over Dokdo earlier in the day.The man from the southeastern city of Ulsan, i
Feb. 23, 2013
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7 nabbed for international organ trafficking
A total of seven people have been arrested or booked in two separate incidents for their alleged involvement in illegal overseas organ transplants, police said Monday.A suspect only identified by his surname Kim, is accused of taking 180 million won ($165,600) as a brokerage fee from a liver transplant patient surnamed Seo and coordinating an illegal transplant in Tianjin, China for him, according to the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency. Kim allegedly pocketed a total of 600 million won after o
Feb. 23, 2013
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Police arrest man after ‘Gangnam style’ binge
A South Korean man who embezzled more than $4.0 million and had plastic surgery to evade capture, has been arrested after a hostess bar spending spree in Seoul’s upmarket Gangnam district.The 33-year-old, identified as Yoon, was finally tracked down after two of his accomplices were arrested, police said Friday.The head of the accounting department at a semi-conductor manufacturer, Yoon transferred 4.7 billion won ($4.3 million) of company funds to a series of secret bank accounts, police said.F
Feb. 22, 2013
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Pastor arrested for defaming Park
A local pastor has been arrested on charges of defaming incoming South Korean President Park Geun-hye by falsely claiming that she bribed late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, prosecutors said Friday.On two video clips posted on the Internet, Reverend Cho Woong claimed that Park had handed over tens of billions of won, equivalent to tens of millions of U.S. dollars, to Kim during her visit to Pyongyang in 2002, prosecutors said. The videos spread quickly on social networking sites, topping more
Feb. 22, 2013
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Labor officials raid E-Mart headquarters again over alleged anti-union efforts
Labor Ministry officials on Friday again raided the headquarters of E-Mart Co. as they broadened their investigation into allegations the country’s biggest discount chain operator illegally monitored its employees to prevent them from joining a union.The Ministry of Employment and Labor has been looking into suspicions that the retail giant systemically attempted to undermine the organization of the union, such as by illegally using workers’ resident registration numbers to check if they had joi
Feb. 22, 2013
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Park pulling back on welfare pledges
President-elect Park Geun-hye is scaling down some of her costly welfare programs amid budgetary concerns. The presidential transition committee on Thursday announced key policy agenda for the incoming government, including pension, health care and poverty relief packages, some of which were substantially reduced after two months of discussion. Other earlier proposed schemes were left out.Differing from Park’s original plan, the transition team said the next government would differentiate the am
Feb. 22, 2013
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2 South Koreans, 1 Chinese killed in sinking of fish-transporting vessel in East Sea
A fish transportation vessel with 12 crewmembers on board sank Monday in waters between South Korea and Japan, killing three, including two South Koreans, officials said.The third crewman killed was identified as Chinese, said the South Korean Coast Guard officials.The 296-ton, Cambodian-registered vessel was on its way from the northern Japanese port of Aomori to South Korea's eastern port of Sokcho when it went down amid high waves around 7 a.m. about 548 km west of the Korean island of Ulleun
Feb. 21, 2013
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[Photo News] Miracle workers
Feb. 21, 2013
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Worsening trust in government, inequality fuel social divide
A government survey showed Thursday that Koreans harbor a deep distrust of the nation’s public institutions with the legislature rated the least trustworthy. According to the survey released by the Presidential Committee on Social Cohesion, only 5.6 percent of 2,000 adults said they trusted the National Assembly while 72.8 percent said they did not. Only 15 percent said they trusted the government while 46 percent said it did not do the right things, up nearly five percentage points from the pre
Feb. 21, 2013
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Activist teachers indicted for alleged pro-N.K. activities
Four members of a radical teachers’ association have been indicted for alleged pro-North Korean activities, said the prosecution on Thursday. The teachers were charged without detention for violating the National Security Act. The Seoul Central District Prosecution said they founded an organization called “New Era Education Movement” and taught young students with pro-North Korean materials.One elementary school teacher posted a quote by former communist leader Kim Jong-il at the back of his cla
Feb. 21, 2013
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Educational programs at forefront of sex crime prevention
In the wake of a series of high-profile sexual assaults against women and children last year, the government plans to expand education programs to prevent crimes and ensure better care of victims. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family plans to discuss the plan with experts from various fields on Feb. 22, the government-designated day for eradicating sexual violence against children.Amid public outrage about sex crimes, the government and the parliament took measures last year to increase st
Feb. 21, 2013
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Public sector lacks public trust: study
Koreans largely do not trust the public sector and class conflict is still deemed to be the key factor hindering social cohesion, a study by the presidential committee on social cohesion said Thursday.The study, published in the committee’s annual report of 2012, surveyed 2,000 adults on social integration.Among the six groups mentioned in the survey, the National Assembly received the lowest grade, with only 5.6 percent of those surveyed expressing trust in the institution. The reliability rate
Feb. 21, 2013
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Fire breaks out at department store in Daegu
A fire broke out in a department store in Daegu on Wednesday, leaving five people hospitalized, police said. The fire started at an outdoor clothing storage center on the eighth floor of the Donga Department Store at around 6:30 p.m., according to police. Right after the fire began to spread, firefighters and 49 fire trucks were dispatched to the site, containing the blaze in 16 minutes. The fire killed no one but five people were injured, including three children who inhaled gas and two employe
Feb. 21, 2013
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Parents get suspended terms for admissions fraud
A total of 21 parents received suspended prison terms on Tuesday for securing unlawful admission for their children to foreigner-only schools in South Korea based on fraudulent documents, according to court officials.The Incheon District Court delivered guilty verdicts to the parents for illegally putting their children in schools for children of foreign residents with fabricated passports and foreign citizenship papers which they bought from brokers.South Korean students, in principle, can be e
Feb. 20, 2013
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Updated CIA factbook keeps Sea of Japan name
The updated World Factbook published by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency still refers to the body of water separating the Korean Peninsula and the main Japanese islands as the Sea of Japan, local diplomatic observers said Wednesday.They said the geographical name contested by Seoul was used in the reference book with information about the countries of the world. Koreans call the same body of water the East Sea.The South Korean government has persistently insisted that the International Hydro
Feb. 20, 2013
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‘N.K. may need several weeks to prepare for nuke tests’
Though North Korea has threatened to take stronger measures to protect its sovereignty following its Feb. 12 nuclear blast, experts say the isolated country may need several weeks to prepare for additional atomic tests.The diplomatic source in Beijing, who did not wished to be identified, claimed Pyongyang is very conscious of China and about concerns of radioactive contaminants from its underground test.“After the latest test, the North seems to be carefully checking the condition of the tunnel
Feb. 20, 2013
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Large firms caught dumping toxic waste
A total of 164 companies including some of the nation’s largest electronics, chemicals, automotive and food makers were found to have dumped waste water tainted with toxic materials, the Environmental Ministry said Wednesday. The ministry unveiled the result of its two-month investigation of 318 companies that discharge 2,000 tons of water per day.The probe found that waste water from nearly half of them contained harmful chemicals, including phenolphthalein, copper, cadmium, chloroform, cyan an
Feb. 20, 2013
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Global science and education in Korea for the 21st century
Science and education are worldwide enterprises, and all highly developed countries invest heavily in science and education. Korea is developing strong research to grow its economy, enhance public good and develop world-class universities that will be outstanding centers of research and learning. Korea already has a well-developed scientific infrastructure and university system, and is well positioned to achieve these goals. Three areas will have a positive impact on scientific research and educ
Feb. 20, 2013