Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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[Music in drama] An ode to childhood trauma
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'The Roundup: Punishment' becomes fastest 2024 film to top 2 mln admissions
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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La Francophonie, now and forever
The French-speaking foreign missions in Korea observed International Francophonie Day on March 20 and will celebrate the French language and French identity through a series of events through March and April.The month-long festival of French includes a concert by Swiss-French duo Laurent Brunetti & Mario Pacchioli and an opening set by Raoul and the Xpats on the 6th floor of the music faculty of Sookmyung Women’s University on April 5 at 5 p.m.“Francophonie” refers to countries and regions where
March 24, 2013
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Libyan prospects are mixed 2 years after revolution
Libya’s diplomatic mission here held a reception in Seoul on Monday to mark two years since Libyan youth took up arms and defied a deadly crackdown by strongman Moammar Gadhafi.The demonstrations were part of a wave of popular discontent dubbed the “Arab Spring,” which toppled long-standing despotic regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, before spreading to Libya on Feb. 17, 2011. Gadhafi was shot dead in October of the same year. It is estimated that some 30,000 Libyans died in eight months of fighting.
March 24, 2013
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Kenya one step closer to African nuclear dream
Korea and Kenya forged ahead with plans to build a nuclear power plant and make the East African nation the second to have nuclear power on the continent.Kenyan Ambassador to Korea Ngovi Kitau participated in a ceremony lauding the 2013 incoming class of Kenyan nuclear engineers and other professionals on March 4 at KEPCO’s school for nuclear power professionals in Ulsan.Kenyan-Korean cooperation on development in the East African country has led to the opening of this new school to train future
March 24, 2013
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Foreign Ministry set for personnel shake-up
The Foreign Ministry is expected to undertake a major personnel shake-up in the coming few weeks including ambassadors to key partners such as the U.S., China and Japan, officials said Friday. The ministry recently instructed the heads of all 158 overseas missions to submit their resignation, they said. This is considered to be part of a customary post-presidential election process under which new President Park Geun-hye will decide whether to reappoint or replace them.In the past most incumbent
March 22, 2013
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‘Korea Caucus’ begins activity for ongoing U.S. congressional session
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers keenly interested in Korean affairs launched a "Korea Caucus" Thursday for the 113th session of Congress.It is co-chaired by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL), Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA).Attending a ceremony at Capitol Hill, they noted the development of the South Korea-U.S. alliance since the 1950-53 Korean War."Many times it’s called the forgotten war, but it’s not forgotten for those of us who appreciate freedom," Roska
March 22, 2013
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U.S. moves to offer more work visas to Koreans
The U.S. Congress plans to expand the annual quota for South Korean professionals who want to work in the United States. According to news reports, two U.S. congressmen jointly introduced a bill that would increase the number of E-3 visas issued annually to Korean professionals from the current 3,500 to 10,500.Eni Faleomavaega, who proposed the bill and is a member of the foreign affairs subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, said that “Korea is the seventh-largest trading partner and strategic a
March 21, 2013
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Cyprus fails to win Russia's help amid banking chaos
MOSCOW, (AFP) -- Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris failed to reach progress after two rounds of talks in Moscow on assistance from Russia after his island's rejection of an EU bailout that slapped a painful levy on bank deposits.Sarris met his Russian counterpart Anton Siluanov before holding talks with First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov about a possible new Moscow loan.Cyprus also hopes to ease the terms of a 2.5-billion-euro loan Moscow afforded Nicosia in 2011 that matures in 20
March 20, 2013
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Senior editor of British newspaper charged over payoffs
LONDON (AP) -- Prosecutors say that The Sun newspaper's Deputy Editor Geoff Webster has been charged with authorizing thousands in illegal payoffs to government officials.The charges are among the most serious so-far leveled against journalists caught up in Britain's wide-ranging media ethics scandal, which has seen newspaper executives, senior journalists, and high-profile police figures get dragged before the courts.Rupert Murdoch's News International confirmed Wednesday that Webster is still
March 20, 2013
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Obama in Israel for first trip as president
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- President Barack Obama is declaring common cause with Israel, highlighting the bonds between the United States and its Mideast ally. He says he has made Israel the first stop of the first trip of his second term to restate his commitment to Israel's security.Obama arrived Wednesday in Tel Aviv, joking to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that he was "getting away from Congress."Israeli President Shimon Peres welcomed Obama, declaring that "A world without America's lead
March 20, 2013
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Ex-Korean diplomat tapped deputy head of U.N. office
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named Kang Kyung-wha, a former South Korean diplomat, as deputy head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Ban's office announced Monday. Kang will replace Catherine Bragg of Canada as assistant secretary general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, it added.Kang has served as the deputy U.N. high commissioner for human rights since January 2007.Prior to joining the U.N., she worked as chief
March 19, 2013
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Korea pitches for Arctic Council membership
Korea is seeking to boost its role in the Arctic by sharing research assets and technological knowhow on coping with climate change, energy, shipping and other key issues, Seoul officials said Monday. Nearly 100 policymakers, diplomats, scientists and industry officials from Korea and the Arctic region took part in an international symposium in Seoul to discuss their policy, research and other activities. Titled “Arctic Research & Policy in the New Age of Opening Arctic,” the one-day event was j
March 18, 2013
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Foreign Ministry to regain recruitment powers
The Foreign Ministry is expected to regain authority of some of its special recruitment programs that were taken away upon a nepotism scandal involving the daughter of a then-top diplomat in 2010.The Foreign Ministry will exclusively oversee the recruitment process for sixth- and seventh-grade diplomats starting this year, an official told Yonhap, citing improvement in its program operation capability and transparency. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security will continue to monitor t
March 17, 2013
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Envoys express pride in first Latin American pope
“God is an Argentine, and so is the Pope,” read the headlines of one Buenos Aires newspaper. With the elevation of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the Roman Catholic Church’s first pontiff from Latin America, the pride etched on the faces and sown in the words of not only Argentines everywhere, but of Latin Americans everywhere was palpable.Among South American envoys in Korea, that positive reaction to news of the new pope slipped out from under the usual diplomatic verbiage.“I feel proud and
March 17, 2013
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Czech Embassy marks opening of Brno Conservatory in Seoul
The Czech Republic marked the expansion of cultural relations with Korea by opening a new music conservatory in southern Seoul on Wednesday. The Czech Embassy in Korea marked expanding cultural ties in the field of music during an opening ceremony for the Korean branch of the country’s Brno Conservatory in the Yeoksam-dong neighborhood of Seoul. “We are a cultural country and it is important that we establish the first branch of the Brno Conservatory in Korea. It will be an important tool for ex
March 17, 2013
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U.S. envoy lauds free trade on trip to Busan
United States Ambassador to Korea Sung Kim lauded the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement during a visit to the southern port city of Busan on Thursday and Friday to mark the first anniversary of the trade pact that continues to divide politics here.The Korea-U.S. FTA went into effect on March 15 last year, reducing or removing trade barriers between the two countries.A considerable debate still rages between proponents of the agreement and its detractors, but one report by the Ministry of Strategy
March 17, 2013
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Ireland celebrates St. Patrick’s by honoring its veterans
The Irish Embassy celebrated Saint Patrick’s Day, the nation’s official National Day, with a reception at the Regency Room of the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Thursday. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17. One focus in this year’s National Day celebration was a state visit by Irish Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar, who met with Park Sung-choon, the minister for patriots and veterans affairs, to discuss the coming inclusion of a group of Irish veterans of the Korean
March 17, 2013
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ASEAN-Korea Center sends trade mission to Thailand
Southeast Asia and Korea promoted the local home furnishings sector by dispatching a trade mission to Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday and Thursday.Organized in cooperation with Thailand’s Department of International Trade Promotion and the ASEAN-Korea Center, the two-day trade mission aimed to strengthen trade and business networks between Korea and Thailand.The trade trip included representatives from major Korean furniture companies, hoping to drum up business opportunities by conducting market r
March 17, 2013
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Canada gives a taste of future craft beer imports
The Canadian Embassy may soon provide your palate a welcome respite from the customary Korean quaffs of Cass, OB and Hite.Canada’s foreign ministry is leveraging its diplomatic muscle behind something truly worthwhile: bringing quality beers to Korea. Lovers of Canadian beer, and curious local and expatriate palates thirsting for something beyond the local grog, got a taste of what could soon be available at local bars at a beer and cider tasting event at the Palace Hotel in southern Seoul, Wedn
March 17, 2013
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Japan PM hopes to meet China, S. Korea heads to ease ties
TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday he hoped to meet the Chinese and South Korean leaders soon to improve relations strained by separate territorial rows.But his ruling party also pledged the same day to push for changes to Japan's pacifist constitution -- a move likely to stir unease in both the countries, which were among victims of Tokyo's 20th century militarism."I am in the same generation as the two new leaders," Abe told an annual convention of his Liberal Democra
March 17, 2013
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Korea revs up campaign to join Arctic Council
South Korea will hold an international conference early next week to discuss policy issues for environment-friendly development of the Arctic, an official said Friday, as part of its latest push to join the Arctic Council. The Monday conference will bring together South Korean Second Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul; ambassadors from Sweden, Denmark and Norway; and experts, including David Hik, a professor at the University of Alberta, the foreign ministry official said. Entitled “Arctic Resear
March 15, 2013