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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'Super Rich in Korea' will leave viewers appreciating Korea more: producers
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'Queen of Tears' riding high on Netflix chart
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Samsung mocks Apple over iPhone alarm glitch
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Chip up cycle won’t stay long: SK chief
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Seoul, Beijing agree to deepen joint high-level security talks
BEIJING (Yonhap News) ― Amid worries over instability in North Korea following the purge of leader Kim Jong-un’s uncle, China said Tuesday it agreed to deepen “strategic cooperation” with South Korea in the first high-level security talks between the two countries.Senior diplomats and defense officials of South Korea and China held their first “two-plus-two” talks in Beijing on Monday. The Dec. 12 execution of Kim’s uncle, Jang Song-thaek, topped the agenda, a Seoul diplomat said earlier. Chines
Dec. 25, 2013
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S. Korea taking initiative in global anti-piracy campaign
The U.S. government on Tuesday noted South Korea's role in global efforts to counter piracy in waters off Somalia.South Korea is among more than 80 member states of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, a voluntary ad hoc forum created in 2009 under a U.N. Security Council resolution.The Contact Group has five working groups aimed at drawing on a wide range of international expertise and taking a problem-solving approach to piracy in cooperation with Somali officials.South Korea
Dec. 25, 2013
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Virginia's legislature to discuss East Sea name bills
Virginia's state legislators next month will begin discussing bills on naming the waters between South Korea and Japan, which are at loggerheads over their shared history.There are three pending bills which require public schools in the state, just south of Washington D.C., to use textbooks identifying the East Asian body of water as the East Sea, as well as the Sea of Japan. Shortly after convening next year's session on Jan. 8, Virginia's legislature is expected to start discussing the bills,
Dec. 25, 2013
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S. Korea to complete return of remains of Chinese war dead by June 2014
Work to excavate the remains of Chinese soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War will take several months, a Seoul diplomatic source said Tuesday, adding South Korea aims to repatriate all of the remains to China by the end of next June. South Korea started excavating the remains of 425 Chinese soldiers buried at a military-controlled cemetery in Paju, a border city with North Korea, last week under an agreement reached with China earlier this month."Excavation began last week as a preparat
Dec. 24, 2013
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S. Korea, China hold first diplomatic-defense talks
Senior diplomats and defense officials of South Korea and China on Monday exchanged views on recent developments in North Korea after the stunning execution of leader Kim Jong-un's uncle, in their first high-level security talks, a Seoul diplomat said. The so-called "two-plus-two" talks in Beijing had been planned for months, but the North's internal situation following the Dec. 12 execution of Kim's uncle, Jang Song-thaek, topped the agenda, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity
Dec. 23, 2013
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Korea to send more arms to its peacekeeping troops in S. Sudan
South Korea is moving to beef up its peacekeeping forces in South Sudan amid growing threats of a civil war in the African country. The Defense Ministry said Monday it would send cargo planes carrying firearms, ammunition, food and other supplies as early as Wednesday to its contingency in Bor, some 170 kilometers north of the capital Juba. Seoul has also requested Japanese Self Defense Forces in South Sudan to provide 10,000 rifleshots, officials said. South Korea’s Hanbit unit, consisting of 2
Dec. 23, 2013
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NSC faces fast-evolving security landscape in N. Korea, region
The planned reorganization of the National Security Council reflects Seoul’s efforts to better tackle daunting diplomatic challenges and react quickly to the fast-evolving security dynamics involving North Korea and the region. President Park Geun-hye approved plans to install the NSC’s standing committee and secretariat on Friday. Headed by national security office chief Kim Jang-soo, the panel is to gather once a week to fine-tune foreign and security policies and make policy recommendations
Dec. 22, 2013
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China names new ambassador to Seoul
China’s Foreign Ministry has tapped Qiu Guohong, director general for external security affairs, as its next ambassador to South Korea, officials here said. Qiu, a Japan expert, is expected to succeed Zhang Xinsen in February. The incumbent has served in Seoul since March 2010 and held a farewell ceremony Thursday.Since entering the foreign affairs service in 1981, Qiu worked in Tokyo and Osaka for about 15 years and was deputy director general for Asian affairs from 2006-08. After a stint as Ch
Dec. 19, 2013
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UNESCAP cuts growth outlook for Asia-Pacific to 5.6 percent
The U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific pared its growth expectations next year for the Asia-Pacific region to 5.6 percent on Thursday on the back of persistent slow recovery, policy uncertainty and protectionism in emerging markets. In a year-end update to its yearly economic and social survey, UNESCAP forecast a moderate rebound in the regional economy next year compared with an expected 5.2 percent expansion in 2013. But the revised outlook reflects a 0.4 percentage p
Dec. 19, 2013
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Kazakhstan goes East to Korea
Kazakhstan’s top diplomat here is celebrating his country’s 22nd Independence Day on Monday after a milestone three-day visit by the country’s new prime minister, Serik Akhmetov.That visit, a first for a sitting prime minister, could very well underscore the nature of two-way ties between South Korea and the Central Asian behemoth over the past few years. Kazakhstan is twice the size of the other four “stans” combined, and hugely wealthy in oil, gas and uranium. Although the country needs South
Dec. 15, 2013
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Envoy promotes French business education, networking in Seoul
French Ambassador to South Korea Jerome Pasquier hosted on Monday a networking meetup at his residence for graduates of three of his country’s most prestigious business schools to boost French business education, people-to-people exchanges, and commercial connections with South Korea.“The idea of this reception is to give an opportunity to the several hundred alumni to meet one another, discuss things and maybe get an opportunity to establish links with their French counterparts if they are Kore
Dec. 15, 2013
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Georgia seeks Korean Embassy at 2-way talks
The Georgian Embassy here has been pressing the government to open an embassy in its capital of Tbilisi ever since it opened an embassy-level diplomatic mission in Seoul two years ago.Georgia is on the short list for the opening of new South Korean embassies, Tblisi’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Jalagania said Monday.Jalagania was in Seoul on a three-day visit from Sunday for the second annual bilateral political consultations between Georgia and South Korea with his counterpart Ha
Dec. 15, 2013
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Concert highlights anniversary of Korean-German ties
The German Embassy organized a slew of special events this year to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Germany and South Korea, and Dec. 16, marks the last important day in a year full of important commemorative events.On Dec. 16, 1963, an agreement between South Korea and then West Germany went into force and led to thousands of South Korean miners and nurses traveling halfway across the world to work in German mines and hospitals.“On Dec. 16,
Dec. 15, 2013
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British envoy hosts holiday charity, W70m goes to needy
Greeting guests with lilting Christmas carols sung by the Seoul Foreign British School senior choir and freshly baked pie, British Ambassador to South Korea Scott Wightman and his wife, Anne, hosted an annual charity event organized by the British Association of Seoul (BASS) at their residence in Seoul on Tuesday. BASS raised about 70 million won for nine charities that provide a variety of services and material support to thousands of people belonging to underserved communities here.The chariti
Dec. 15, 2013
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Envoy celebrates ‘New Russia’ on Constitution Day
Russian Ambassador to South Korea Konstantin V. Vnukov celebrated the 20th anniversary of the constitution of the Russian Federation with foreign envoys, government officials and friends of Russia at the Russian chancery in Seoul on Thursday.Dec. 12, 1993 became the starting point for what some observers describe as the “New Russia.” After the successful public referendum on the constitution, Russians then voted in representatives to the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament.“The consti
Dec. 15, 2013
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Parliamentary committee adopts resolution against Japan's 'collective self-defense'
A South Korean parliamentary committee adopted a resolution on Friday against Japan's push for "collective self-defense," expressing concern over Tokyo's efforts to expand the role of its military beyond its borders.The resolution, adopted by the National Assembly's special committee against the distortion of Northeast Asian history, urges Japan to stop its pursuit of the right to use force against any military attack on its allies.Japan's move has won support from its ally, the United States, b
Dec. 13, 2013
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S. Korea readjusts its overseas aid target
South Korea has practically lowered its goal of future overseas development aid due to budget constraints, the foreign ministry said Friday. The government has vowed to increase its official development assistance (ODA) level to 0.25 percent of the country's gross national income (GNI) by 2015 as part of efforts to give back after receiving help from the international community to rebuild its economy following the 1950-53 Korean War. Under the plan set up in 2010, the government has annually inc
Dec. 13, 2013
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Korea slams Japan’s Dokdo video
South Korea on Thursday condemned Japan for releasing a video in 10 languages challenging its sovereignty over Dokdo, and demanded that Tokyo remove it.“We gravely protest and demand that Japan remove the videos immediately,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young told reporters. “Such provocative behavior casts doubt over Japan’s sincerity regarding the improvement of bilateral ties.” The film, posted Wednesday by the Japanese foreign ministry on its own website and on YouTube, insists the is
Dec. 12, 2013
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Korea vows support to rebuild Syria
South Korea on Thursday expressed its willingness to render financial and other support for Syria to rebuild its economy devastated by a civil war that has raged for more than two and a half years.South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se was responding to a call for international help by the leader of the Syrian opposition forces during an international meeting in Seoul.The Seoul meeting, the third of its kind called by the Working Group on Economic Recovery and Development for Syria, brought
Dec. 12, 2013
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[Newsmaker] GM’s CEO change features cut in Korean unit
In a move both groundbreaking yet also very traditional, General Motors Company CEO Dan Akerson will be replaced by GM “lifer” and global product chief Mary Barra. But GM Korea chief Sergio Rocha has probably just shrugged his shoulders. Though the ranks of top women executives at top global brands gets a bump with Barra’s appointment, not much has changed for GM in South Korea. Barra will surely follow through with the expected downsizing of GM Korea’s presence in South Korea. GM gets about 20
Dec. 11, 2013