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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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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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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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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131 foreign workers rehired in new scheme
One hundred and thirty one foreign workers with re-employment permits thanks to their “exemplary” working records re-entered South Korea on Thursday in accordance with a revised law, the Labor Ministry said.The revised law, which took effect in July, allows “exemplary” foreign manual workers who have not left their designated workplaces for a certain period of time to be re-employed by the same employers three months after leaving the country.Those 131 workers left South Korea in July after rece
Oct. 11, 2012
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Tokyo court orders disclosure of Korea-Japan treaty
A lower court in Tokyo on Thursday ordered the Japanese government to disclose part of the classified 1965 Korea-Japan normalization treaty dealing with the issue of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery. The Tokyo District Court ruled in favor of 11 Korean and Japanese civic activists representing formerly enslaved sex workers, known as “comport women.”The pact covers compensation rights for the victims of the 1910-45 colonial rule.The Japanese government has been insisting that the sexual slavery iss
Oct. 11, 2012
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Water treatment firm aims to go global
Ilshin Environmental Engineering sharpens technological edge, readies for global advanceThe Korea Herald, in collaboration with the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute, is presenting a series of articles introducing small but promising environmental tech firms. The following is the fifth installment. ― Ed.From a small technology venture to one of Korea’s top 10 green innovators, the story of Ilshin Environmental Engineering Co. much resembles the history of Korea’s environmental
Oct. 11, 2012
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Sex trafficking ring members arrested
Police have caught three members of a sex trafficking ring who smuggled Korean women to the United States and forced them to work as prostitutes, the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency said Thursday.Police requested an arrest warrant for 47-year-old man on charges running the sex trafficking ring and booked two of his accomplices without physical detention. The remaining six members of the ring have been put on the wanted list.Yu and the others allegedly arranged for the illegal entry of five Kor
Oct. 11, 2012
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Fears of unintended consequences as adoption tightened
Striving to shed its reputation as a major exporter of children overseas, Korea recently tightened its law on adoption to ensure stricter state control, a transparent process and better protection of adoptees.While the new regulations are hoped to help stem the child trade in disguise and human rights abuses, concerns are growing over their unintended consequences in a society that highly values blood relations and deems out of wedlock births shameful.Some fear that the new law will lead to ille
Oct. 10, 2012
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Prosecutors raid Korea’s biggest drug company
Prosecutors raided Dong-A Pharmaceutical Wednesday as part of an investigation into suspicions that the largest drug company in Korea bribed hospital officials to purchase of its products. Investigators confiscated transaction records, accounting documents, and computer hard drives from the firm in Seoul.The investigative team was tipped off that the firm had provided illicit favors to officials at hospitals, clinics and drug stores through agencies. Dong-A Pharmaceutical was called an innovativ
Oct. 10, 2012
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Female judge tapped to top court
Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae on Wednesday nominated a woman to fill the last remaining seat on the Supreme Court’s 14-member bench, long considered as a share of public prosecutors. The selection of Kim So-young, a senior judge at Daejeon High Court, follows the resignation in July of Kim Byeong-hwa, a senior prosecutor and one of the four that Yang chose to replace four retiring justices, amid doubts over his ethics. The new designate must go through a parliamentary hearing and confirmation proc
Oct. 10, 2012
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Obesity rate doubles in 12 years
The percentage of seriously obese Koreans has nearly doubled in the last 12 years, the government said in a report Wednesday, attributing the problem mainly to Westernized eating habits.The Ministry of Health and Welfare said the rate of very obese people in the overall population jumped from 2.4 percent in 1998 to 4.2 percent in 2010. By gender, the proportion of extremely obese men surged to 3.7 percent from 1.7 percent, while the obesity rate in women increased to 4.6 percent from 3 percent i
Oct. 10, 2012
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Court dismisses appeals by netizens who libeled Tablo
The Seoul Central District Court dismissed Wednesday the appeals of eight online community members convicted of libel for spreading false rumors that hip-hop artist Tablo falsified his academic background at Stanford University.Online cafe “We Demand Tablo Tell the Truth,” known as “Tajinyo” in Korean, began operating in May 2010, accusing the Epik High member of lying about his academic achievement to court popularity. As malicious comments snowballed online, Tablo filed a lawsuit against 22 me
Oct. 10, 2012
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Safety negligence led to gas leak accident: police
GUMI, South Korea, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- Police said Tuesday that workers not properly following safety guidelines caused the gas leak at a chemical factory last month that killed five employees and sickened thousands of nearby villagers.On Sept. 27, some eight tons of hydrofluoric acid, an acute poison that can damage lungs and bones and affect the nervous system, leaked from a chemical factory in G
Oct. 9, 2012
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Solomon Islanders to adopt Hangeul to keep spoken language alive
The inhabitants of the Solomon Islands will adopt Hangeul, the Korean alphabet, to preserve their spoken languages, officials announced on Tuesday.Two provinces, Guadalcanal and Malaita, which have a population of some 60,000, recently designated Hangeul their official written system to transcribe their spoken languages, the Center for Humanities Information of Seoul National University said.The SNU center, with support from United Nations Global Compact in Korea, developed textbooks, and also h
Oct. 9, 2012
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Online Korean dictionary goes on trial run
A new Internet-based Korean language dictionary began a trial service amid growing demand for Korean language study among foreigners at home and abroad.The National Institute of the Korean Language said the dictionary became available at http://krdic.korean.go.kr, on Tuesday, the national day for commemorating King Sejong’s creation of Korean alphabet known as Hangeul.The digital dictionary has some 50,000 entries of basic Korean words explained in simple Korean language as well as other informa
Oct. 9, 2012
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Surviving as a Korean native in international environment
You wake up with the sun rise and get up. Looking around, you find three guys from different countries: Nepal, the U.S. and Germany. It makes you think that you are not in South Korea but somewhere international. However, you are in Korea.I have lived my entire life in Korea. I do not have any experience in any foreign countries using English. The only traveling experience abroad I have is to Japan for five days about 20 years ago. As a native Korean, I attend Handong Global University, and this
Oct. 9, 2012
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Foreign schools show Korea’s social divide
Elitism coupled with obsession with English learning and lack of regulations create highly expensive schoolsAbout 60 parents were recently summoned by prosecutors on suspicion of acquiring forged documents to enroll their children in a special international school in Korea.They are said to have paid some 50 million won ($45,000) to brokers in Latin American countries including Guatemala to obtain fake citizenship certificates and passports. Under the current law, only children who have lived ove
Oct. 9, 2012
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Second-hand luxury dealer caters to status-conscious customers
During the economic boom of the late 1990s, Koreans developed a taste for things very expensive although unnecessary, and high-end clothes and accessories became ways to broadcast new wealth. As people say, timing is everything in business, and Lee Sang-kwon couldn’t have picked a better time to hop on the boom.After finishing his military service in 1997, Lee went into business for himself, trading toys and other goods. He soon moved to luxury goods like handbags and watches, right when the pop
Oct. 9, 2012
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Shame hampers struggle against suicide
South Korea’s efforts to curb its alarming suicide rate are being undermined by a deep-rooted belief that seeking help for mental problems leads to social and professional exclusion, health experts say.Suicide, fuelled by an intense pressure for academic and career achievement, has become a perennial blight on a country whose rapid economic development has otherwise raised living standards and encouraged social mobility. Figures released by the Health Ministry earlier September showed South Kore
Oct. 9, 2012
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Acid-hit region will take over 5 years to recover
Government designates area a disaster zoneThe government on Monday designated the area in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province hit by an acid leak a disaster zone amid criticism over its belated response to the incident.Experts said it may take more than five years for the town to fully recover its agricultural land and crops, which are the main source of income and food for residents in the area.The tardy response of the government and miscalculation by the state-run scientific institute is being bl
Oct. 8, 2012
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Acid-hit region will take over five years to recover
Government designates area a disaster zoneThe government on Monday designated the area in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, hit by an acid leak a disaster zone amid criticism over its belated response to the incident.Experts said it may take more than five years for the town to fully recover its agricultural land and crops, which are the main source of income and food for residents in the area.The
Oct. 8, 2012
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Hundreds evacuate as public incensed over acid leak response
Public anger is growing over perceived government nonchalance in the face of an acid leak almost two weeks ago in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province.The accident at a factory owned by Hube Korea, a local manufacturer of hydrofluoric acid used for the production of displays, has claimed five lives. More than 2,000 residents have also suffered from the effects of the acid on their skin, eyes and respiratory system, while some 300 local residents have opted to temporarily relocate.Despite growing call
Oct. 7, 2012
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One in six sex offenders is 50 or older
One in six sex offenders is aged 50 or above, data from the Ministry of Justice shows.The number of sex offenders aged 50 and above marked 8,885 out of the total 51,876 convicted between 2010 and the first six months of this year, or 17.1 percent.The number has seen a steady increase, from 3,460 in 2010 to 3,834 in 2011.In the first half of this year, 1,591 seniors were charged for sexual crimes. Sex offenders in their 60s recorded 5.1 percent (805) of the total in 2010, 5.4 percent (887) in 201
Oct. 7, 2012