Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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[Newsmaker] Boko Haram ordeal keeps girl from school
BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) -- One of the teenagers who escaped from Islamic extremists who abducted more than 300 schoolgirls said Sunday the kidnapping was “too terrifying for words,” and she is scared to go back to school. Science student Sarah Lawan, 19, told the Associated Press that more of the girls could have escaped but that they were frightened by their captors' threats to shoot them. Lawan spoke in the Hausa language in a phone interview from Chibok, her home and the site of the mass abduct
World NewsMay 11, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Thailand’s first female leader ousted
BANGKOK (AFP) ― Ultimately undone by Thailand’s courts, Yingluck Shinawatra labored under claims she was a stooge for her exiled brother. Yet the kingdom’s first female prime minister also displayed unexpected resilience during a turbulent stay in office.Propelled to power in July 2011 by her family’s electoral base in the poor north and northeast, Yingluck was pilloried by foes as a political lightweight armed with little more than a winning smile and a hotline to her elder brother Thaksin Shin
World NewsMay 8, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Medical aid comes late after diver's death
The government on Wednesday said it had allocated military medical staff to aid divers in the continued search for missing people in the sunken Sewol ferry. But criticisms are mounting over why the much-needed help came only after a civilian diver died during the mission. The 53-year-old diver, identified by his surname Lee, was found unconscious Tuesday morning only 11 minutes after entering the water. He died while being treated at a hospital in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province. Lee was working wi
Social AffairsMay 7, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Ruling party nomination race turns ugly
Former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and “Park-sim” continue to muddy the waters for the ruling Saenuri Party, with less than a week until the party picks its Seoul mayoral candidate.The term “Park-sim,” which literally translates as “Park’s heart,” refers to President Park Geun-hye’s intentions or having her support.Kim’s tenure as prime minister was relatively uneventful and uncontroversial, which allowed him to hold the post for record-breaking two years and five months.His time as a potential
PoliticsMay 6, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Citibank Korea union may strike
The labor-management dispute at Citibank Korea appears to be deepening.The union has now voted for a strike to protest the bank’s restructuring plans that would inevitably include layoffs. The walkout would mark the first in three years for local banks, since the union of Standard Chartered Bank Korea went on strike in 2011. It seems to be an indication that the situation has reached breaking point.The last strike at Citibank Korea was in 2004 when the U.S.-based citibank took over KorAm bank.Ci
May 1, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Rescue firm blamed for favoritism, slow work
Undine Marine Industries Co., the company leading the search for the Sewol’s missing, is turning up more controversy than results. Undine has been leading the search for the Sewol’s missing, which now stands at 90, since April 17, the day after the ship sank off the coast of Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province. Undine, however, has not only taken the center role in the painfully slow search but also in the growing controversies stemming from the tragedy that has so far generated a confirmed deat
Social AffairsApril 30, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Obama hits back at foreign policy critics
MANILA (AFP) -- U.S. President Barack Obama’s frustration is spilling over as he makes the most strident defense of his foreign policy yet, rebuking critics who say his diplomacy is haphazard, weak and blurs U.S. national security red lines. The U.S. president’s patience snapped several times during his tour of Asia which wrapped up in the Philippines Tuesday, when confronted by arguments that he has failed to put his stamp on a world increasingly flouting U.S. power. His four-nation trip was me
World NewsApril 29, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Hwang Pyong-so new in N. Korean power circle
Over the last few weeks, a notable change was spotted within the core of the reclusive North Korean ruling elite: Hwang Pyong-so, formerly the first vice director of the ruling party’s organization guidance department, was elevated to the rank of four-star general and then to the rarefied, coveted rank of vice marshal. The decision was made Saturday by the powerful National Defense Commission and the Workers’ Party’s Central Military Commission, the official Korean Central News Agency announced
North KoreaApril 28, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Resignation attempts to stem Sewol fallout
Chung Hong-won, the nation’s second-in-command, made a bombshell announcement early Sunday that he would step down as Korea’s prime minister. He said he wanted to take responsibility for the recent sinking of the ferry Sewol that claimed over 180 lives, and that he did not want to burden President Park Geun-hye’s administration by clinging on to his post. Later in the day, Park said she would accept his resignation, but only after the ferry disaster has been brought under control.Observers are s
PoliticsApril 27, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Volunteers share pain at Jindo
Jindo Island is being flooded with thousands of volunteers from across the country who have come to hold the hands, wipe the tears and share the pain of families still waiting for signs of their loved ones.From college students and parents to foreign residents, volunteers have set up kitchens, supply centers and clinics outside of Jindo Gymnasium, which is serving as a shelter for the families, and at Paengmok Port, where they are waiting for the bodies of the victims. Others have been washing d
Social AffairsApril 24, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Scandalous owner family of Sewol
The Sewol sinking has opened up a long, shady scandal surrounding the ferry operator’s de facto owner, a 73-year-old mysterious businessman Yoo Byung-eon.In the 1980s, Yoo established Semo Marine Co. after securing the business rights to operate ferries on the Hangang River, thanks to his reportedly close ties with then-President Chun Doo-hwan. But the business went bankrupt in 1997 in the wake of a series of highly publicized scandals, including the mass suicide of 32 followers of a Christian c
IndustryApril 23, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Thin line between G-men and Mafia
Government men and women ― affectionately called G-men in the past ― had once been looked upon with respect and often portrayed in movies as heroes and protagonists who take on bad guys such as gangsters and thieves to protect and serve the public.This no longer seems to be the case, as hostility grows and spreads toward the government following the devastating ferry accident that has so far claimed more than a hundred lives, mostly high school kids.The officials, especially including those work
Social AffairsApril 22, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Key suspects revealed in deadly Sewol sinking
Behind the tragic ferry tale engulfing the country and its people in despair lies two key characters wanted as suspects for questioning over the sunken ship off the southwest coast.They are the owners of a company that owns Chonghaejin Marine Co., the owner and operator of the Sewol ferry, in which hundreds of passengers, mostly high school students, remain trapped and missing.They are brothers, surnamed Yoo, who have a combined 38.88 percent stake in I-One-I Holdings, a management consulting fi
Social AffairsApril 21, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Divers risk lives to find, save missing passengers
Hundreds of civilian, Coast Guard and Navy divers are putting their lives on the line to search for the missing passengers of the capsized ferry Sewol.Late Saturday, divers successfully entered the wreckage after four days of efforts that were frustrated by dangerous conditions. The rescue divers are taking on the daunting task despite the potentially life-threatening circumstances, in the hopes of finding survivors inside the vessel.Many of the civilian divers view the matter as if the victims
Social AffairsApril 20, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Heroes risked their lives to save others
Amid screams and shouts for help and the fear of death, there were heroes who helped others escape first from the country’s worst maritime disaster since 1993.Park Ji-young, a 22-year-old crewmember of the Sewol, was among them. She lost her life while struggling to ensure that all passengers on the third and fourth floors of the vessel wore life jackets and found their way out.“I repeatedly asked her why she did not first wear a life jacket. Park just said that she would get out of the ship af
NationalApril 17, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Dispute flares on why game addict killed son
The Daegu District Court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for a 22-year-old surnamed Jeong, a day after he confessed to police that he suffocated his 28-month-old son to death. As the nation was shocked with the brutality of the crime, experts are debating the underlying factors.Jeong, who was known as a serious game addict, told the police he committed the murder because he grew angry at the child for not going to sleep as he prepared to go to an Internet cafe to play video games. He then
Social AffairsApril 16, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Opposition lawmaker touches off drone furor
A lawmaker of the main opposition party in South Korea has once again found himself at the center of a spiraling dispute ― this time over spy drones presumably from North Korea. Rep. Jung Cheong-rae of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, known as one of the party’s more prominent hard-liners, has taken a leading role in controversial issues such as the developments surrounding state agencies’ alleged meddling in elections. On Friday, Jung argued that there was a “high probability” that the
PoliticsApril 15, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Health agency kicks off tobacco lawsuit
The state-run health agency launched a high-profile lawsuit against three tobacco makers on Monday, aiming to cover rising medical costs that it claims stem from smoking-related diseases. The National Health Insurance Agency kicked off its legal fight with KT&G, Philip Morris Korea and British American Tobacco Korea, marking the first case in which a South Korean public agency is seeking compensation from tobacco makers. Japanese tobacco maker Japan Tobacco International ― originally included on
Social AffairsApril 14, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Samsung Financial arms face restructuring
It had long been obvious that the hard-pressed financial companies suffering from a continued fall in profits would drastically downsize at some point, and it was Samsung Group that triggered the restructuring tide in the financial sector. A rumor has been circulating that the nation’s top conglomerate is trying to slim down its financial sectors for the sake of heir apparent Lee Jay-yong, who is expected to take over the group’s financial affiliates, as well as the lucrative electronics busines
April 13, 2014
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[Newsmaker] Ahn Cheol-soo’s leadership totters
The main opposition leader Ahn Cheol-soo and his vision of new politics face an uphill battle in and out of the party as his key proposal to abolish the existing candidate nomination system ran aground without making progress.The maverick lawmaker along with the party’s cochairman Rep. Kim Han-gil said Tuesday they will conduct a survey and a party vote to decide on the candidate nomination system for the June 4 local election. The decision was widely seen as an “exit strategy” to curb growing i
PoliticsApril 9, 2014