Most Popular
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Will tug-of-war between doctors, government end soon?
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Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth
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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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[KH Explains] Hyundai's full hybrid edge to pay off amid slow transition to pure EVs
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North Korea removes streetlights along cross-border roads with South
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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Farming households dip below 1m for first time in 2023
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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Over 90% of Chinese, Japanese have negative views of each other
More than 90 percent of Chinese and Japanese people have unfavorable feelings toward each other, a poll showed. China Daily and Genron NPO, a Japanese nonprofit think tank, unveiled their joint survey of 1,000 Japanese and 1,540 Chinese conducted between June and July, Yonhap News reported. According to the annual poll, 92.8 percent of those surveyed in China replied that they harbor unfavorable opinions of Japan, an increase of 28.3 percentage points from last year. Among Japanese respondents,
Aug. 6, 2013
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Korea warns Japan against visiting war shrine on Aug. 15
South Korea warned Japanese politicians Monday against paying homage to their war dead at the Yasukuni shrine next week in response to Japanese leaders‘ reported plans to visit the major symbol of an imperialistic Japan’s wartime atrocities.Japanese media reported Sunday that ruling Liberal Democratic Party‘s policy chief Sanae Takaichi will join other politicians in paying respect at the Shinto shrine on Aug. 15, the 68th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.South Korea celebrates i
Aug. 5, 2013
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Amid tension, TCS soars as key platform for regional cooperation
Driven by a growing need for collaboration, Korea, China and Japan joined forces in 2011 in launching a permanent office here to support their summits and other key three-way dialogues, map out joint projects and conduct related research. Despite skepticism about its feasibility due to territorial and historical tension, the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat has emerged as a core platform for networking and teamwork. The three countries agreed to beef up the secretariat’s budget and their equal
Aug. 4, 2013
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FTA talks with New Zealand no sure thing, says government
Claims made by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key that he secured a commitment from South Korea to resume talks in October on a free trade agreement were exaggerated, according to multiple sources here close to those long-stalled talks.The government did not promise to restart formal talks in October at all, contrary to claims made by the prime minister, but it did agree to an informal sit down between chief negotiators of the New Zealand and South Korean sides, according to three different sou
Aug. 4, 2013
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ASEAN envoys, LG seek ways to expand business partnership
The ASEAN-Korea Centre, through its ASEAN Committee in Seoul, facilitated a meeting between ambassadors of 10 Southeast Asian nations and top executives of LG Electronics at LG’s Seocho R&D campus in southern Seoul on Tuesday.The meeting was organized to look for ways Korean global brands like LG can further penetrate the Southeast Asian market and, for the countries there, increase technology and know-how sharing and receive foreign direct investment.The foreign envoys were briefed by Kim Ki-wa
Aug. 4, 2013
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Peru celebrates 10 years of growth on Independence Day
Peru’s Ambassador to Korea Jaime Pomareda underscored a slew of economic benchmarks his country had achieved over the last 10 years during a reception Monday to celebrate 192 years of Peruvian independence. Peru has been flush with a decade of economic growth, with eight years of growth averaging 7 percent a year ― a stronger expansion than anywhere else in Latin America. Pomareda rattled off a number of statistics illustrating the benefits of such economic success during a speech at the recepti
Aug. 4, 2013
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Kenya’s Safari Cats mark coffee house opening
The Kenyan Embassy in Korea showcased traditional cuisine and the country’s signature cabaret and acrobatic team the Safari Cats Dancers at the opening of a gourmet coffee house and pizzeria, Two Point, in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province on Wednesday.Ties between South Korea and Kenya have surged since Kenyan opened its chancery in Seoul in 2007. Proof of it was offered by Kenyan Ambassador to Korea Ngovi Kitau: Kenyan imports to Korea are up 126 percent and Korean investment in Kenya, up over 3,000 p
Aug. 4, 2013
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Budding envoys feel pressure under new exam regime
Seoul National University graduate Park Seol-hee (not her real name) was so nervous her hand quivered as she struggled to describe on Thursday her preparation for the second round of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ intensive new exam for selecting prospective diplomats. Some 450 Koreans mostly in their late 20s took the two-day test over the weekend, less than half of the 900-odd hopefuls that took the first round in April. Many of the hopefuls spend years preparing for South Korea’s Foreign Se
Aug. 4, 2013
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S. Korea protests Japan over Dokdo opinion poll
South Korea issued a formal protest to Japan on Friday over Tokyo’s first opinion poll on Seoul’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, calling on the neighboring country to stop such provocative actions. The protest came one day after Japan’s Cabinet Office released the results of the public survey showing that six out of 10 Japanese view Dokdo as Japanese territory in terms of history and international law. “Our government sternly protests Japan’s renewed provocative actions taken under the mask of a p
Aug. 2, 2013
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Seoul OKs Hyundai Asan group’s visit to Mount Geumgangsan
South Korea gave the nod Thursday for a group of business people to visit the Mount Geumgangsan resort on North Korea’s east coast to hold a memorial service for late Hyundai Group chairman Chung Mong-hun.The Ministry of Unification said it authorized the visit of Hyundai chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, Chung’s widow, and 38 other company executives who will cross over the demilitarized zone at 10:40 a.m. Sunday. The group will hold a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of Chung’s death and return
Aug. 1, 2013
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Declassified documents to be available online from 2014
South Korea will start to allow online browsing of declassified diplomatic documents from next year as it tries to boost public accessibility to historic records, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.Currently, the foreign ministry annually releases major diplomatic documents for public browsing permitted only at the Diplomatic Archives in southern Seoul. Documents that are over 30 years old are subject to public viewing. From 2014, the ministry will provide abridged versions of the diplomatic dos
Aug. 1, 2013
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Eco-groups urge halt to imports of Japanese fishery products
South Korean environmental and civic groups urged their government Thursday to stop importing fishery products from Japan until it can assure the public that the marine life is safe to eat.Last month, Tokyo Electric Power Co. acknowledged for the first time that its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant is still leaking contaminated water into the ocean, a problem many experts had suspected.“The Japanese government and related organizations should make a public apology for lying about the radio
Aug. 1, 2013
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Japan deputy PM says could 'learn' from Nazis on reforms
TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan's gaffe-prone deputy prime minister has said Tokyo could learn from Nazi Germany when it comes to constitutional reform, prompting a rebuke from a Jewish human rights group.In a statement on its website late Tuesday, the US-based Simon Wiesenthal Center called on Taro Aso to clarify his comments that Tokyo, which is mulling a change to its pacifist constitution, should look to the way the Nazis quietly adopted reforms."First, mass media started to make noises (about Japan's
July 31, 2013
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[Newsmaker] Nationalists further sour Korea-Japan ties
Buoyed by a recent election sweep, high-flying Japanese officials are again churning out inflammatory remarks and backing visits to a controversial war shrine, posing another stumbling block to defrosting relations between Seoul and Tokyo. At a lecture on Monday, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Taro Aso called for a swift constitutional amendment, citing how the Nazis neutralized Germany’s Weimar Constitution in the 1930s. “It is a mistake to think that crying for a protection of the Constit
July 31, 2013
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Government to conduct worldwide image survey
The government plans to conduct a public image survey of Korea targeting citizens in major countries for the first time, Foreign Affairs Ministry officials said Sunday. More than a thousand citizens of 10 countries in four continents including India, Germany, Canada and Egypt will be asked their impression of Korea over the course of two months. The purpose of the survey is to collect preliminary data for the state’s goal of creating an “attractive Korea trusted by the world” by reflecting the r
July 28, 2013
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Colombian Independence Day event shows region’s rise
The Colombian Embassy here celebrated the country’s 203rd Independence Day with a throng of revelers, including Korean VIPs and foreign envoys, during a reception at a Seoul hotel on July 17.Colombia gained its independence from Spain on July 20, 1810. The dinner reception was enjoyed by hundreds of high-profile guests and Colombian expatriates living and working in Korea, and featured traditional cuisine and a musical performance.The celebration marked South America’s increasingly prominent pro
July 28, 2013
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Mexican Embassy offers scholarships, language classes
The Mexican Embassy announced it was accepting applications for five full scholarships to any of the 69 institutions of high learning in Mexico. A number of seats are also still available for Spanish language classes offered at its chancery in Hannam-dong in Seoul starting Thursday. Graduate and post-graduate students are eligible for the scholarships for studies in medical and other advanced science-oriented areas.Only one Korean student benefited from the scholarships last year due to the limi
July 28, 2013
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France pledges 100,000 euros for Korean War memorial
The French Embassy in Korea committed 100,000 euros to help pay for the maintenance of a recently refurbished war memorial in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, dedicated to French volunteers who fought alongside other United Nations soldiers during the Korean War.The memorial honoring the French military and the support France lent to South Korea during the Korean War was originally built near the place where French troops were stationed during the war in Jangan-gu, on a modest hill close to Yeongdong E
July 28, 2013
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Israeli Embassy brings tender family film to Ewha
Eleven-year-old Igor and his ornithologist father Peter witness the birth of a crane in the wilds of Russia. Igor christens the young hatchling Karl and vows to watch over him. In director Evheny Ruman’s debut film “Igor and the Cranes’ Journey,” the innocent Igor makes an analogous journey of his own when he and his mother migrate from Russia to Israel. Though his parents are divorced, Igor never imagined he would move so far from his father and the cranes. The Israeli Embassy screened this ten
July 28, 2013
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Georgia invites Korean election observers for October presidential poll
The Georgian charge d’affaires here invited Korean election officials to visit the Caucasus country as observers for its presidential election on Oct. 27, during a press briefing at the country’s chancery in Seoul on Friday. “Georgia’s legislature recently enacted a number of political reforms that bolster the country’s democratic institutions and ensure the coming presidential poll would be free and fair,” said Georgian Charge d’Affaires George Khabelashvili.The election commissions of South Ko
July 28, 2013