Most Popular
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Seoul, Tokyo reboot joint maritime resource talks after 40-year freeze
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Host of Miss Korea apologizes for 'inappropriate question' about deepfake
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Korea to face another massive shortfall in tax revenue
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Who's lying? Hybe vs. Min conflict continues to intensify
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[Contribution] Turkmenistan celebrates the 33rd anniversary of its Independence
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[Photo news] Faker Mercedes
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Seoul should engage Kim Jong-un’s elites for change, ex-North Korean diplomat says
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SK hynix outpaces Samsung, Micron with more powerful AI chips
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Power of nostalgia brings K-pop legends back together
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North Korea unveiling uranium enrichment site a US election-conscious move: NIS
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China urges restraint as S. Korea, U.S., Japan plan joint anti-missile drills
China called for calm and restraint on Monday, responding to planned joint drills by South Korea, the United States and Japan aimed at tracking North Korean missiles.The planned drills, set for late next month, will be held on the sidelines of the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise, or RIMPAC, off Hawaii, a U.S.-led biennial multinational naval exercise. In the latest sign of strengthening defense cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, it will be the first time that the three nat
InternationalMay 16, 2016
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[Editorial] Cosmetic change
The Blue House appointments President Park Geun-hye made Sunday are more evidence that she will not be swayed by the ruling party’s defeat in the April 16 parliamentary election. Park had already expressed her reluctance to admit her wrongdoing -- that she and her associates interfered with the candidate nominations for the election -- and take due steps, such as a sizable shakeup of the Cabinet and the Blue House. Accordingly, the appointment of Lee Won-jong, chief of the Presidential Commissio
EditorialMay 16, 2016
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[Editorial] One month after defeat
The ruling Saenuri Party plans to hold a national committee Tuesday to launch two panels that will lead reform efforts in the party that have been necessitated by the devastating defeat in the April 16 parliamentary election. The national committee is expected to endorse the launch of an “emergency” leadership body to be headed by floor leader Chung Jin-suk and a reform committee to be headed by Kim Yong-tae, a three-term lawmakers from western Seoul. Party officials say the caretaker leadership
EditorialMay 16, 2016
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Seoul, Tehran to sign environmental MOU
South Korea and Iran will sign a memorandum of understanding on environmental cooperation in Seoul later this week, the environment ministry here said Monday. To that end, Iranian Environment Minister Masoumeh Ebtakar will visit the country to sign the MOU at a Seoul hotel on Tuesday, the ministry said. Ebtakar, also the incumbent vice president of Iran, was named one of the seven Champions of the Earth by the United Nations Environment Program as a prominent environmental leader in 2006.The MOU
Foreign AffairsMay 16, 2016
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Daegu Int’l Musical Fest celebrates 10th anniversary next month
The annual Daegu International Musical Festival, the world’s first established international musical festival, is celebrating its 10th year with more than 20 productions from Korea and abroad. Hosted by the city of Daegu and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the annual event was first established in 2006 to promote the city of Daegu as a musical hub in Asia. This year’s festivities will be held from June 24 to July 11 and will feature 22 musicals from five countries: th
PerformanceMay 16, 2016
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KOICA supports public health improvement in Ethiopia, Kenya
GURAGE/KITENGELA, Ethiopia/Kenya -- Fatima Surel, 30, walks four hours twice daily to get water, carrying her 2-year-old son Fuad on her back far away from her small village in Adoshe, some 170 kilometers southwest of Addis Ababa. Yet the water that filled her two 1-gallon (3.8 liters) bottles was barely transparent, tainted with red clay, dirt and other indiscernible substances. She knows the water cannot be safe, but it is the only source she can access. “It’s really heavy to carry these, and
Foreign AffairsMay 16, 2016
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NGOs condemn court for ruling on disabled teenager
More than 175 members of civic groups for women and children on Monday condemned a district court’s recent decision to dismiss a compensation suit filed by a minor with disability accusing six adult men of sexual assault.The Seoul Western District Court had ruled last month that the minor -- now 15-years-old -- was not a “victim” as she voluntarily engaged in sexual activity with the adults. The court instead treated the case as illegal prostitution.The teen, who had run away from home in 2014 t
Social AffairsMay 16, 2016
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South Korea near bottom of world survey of air quality
South Korea ranked 173rd out of 180 countries in terms of air quality, the Environmental Performance Index 2016 rankings showed Monday.Scoring 45.51 out of 100 in the air quality category, South Korea was one of the poorest performers among Asian countries, according to the EPI survey done by Yale University and Columbia University. The EPI evaluates countries’ performance on high-priority environmental issues based on 20 indicators such as air quality, health impact, climate and energy. The res
Social AffairsMay 16, 2016
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98% of chemicals ingredients in South Korea untested: data
Nearly all, or 98 percent of chemicals used in products distributed in South Korea have not gone through government safety tests, data showed Monday.According to data provided by the National Institute of Environmental Research, the Environment Ministry conducted chemical toxicity tests on about 600 chemicals out of 37,000, as of 2015. The Toxic Chemicals Control Act took effect in 1991.The ministry reportedly explained that the rest of the chemicals were not tested as they were “general chemica
Social AffairsMay 16, 2016
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Oxy knew of ingredient toxicity: report
The prosecution said Monday it has found additional evidence to prove that Oxy Reckitt Benckiser sold its problematic humidifier disinfectant in the market while being aware of its ingredient toxicity, based on a state report made four years ago. Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said they had found the Korea Fair Trade Commission’s chemicals labeling report which showed that the company – now formally renamed Reckitt Benckiser Korea -- had received material safety data sheets (MSDS) on
Social AffairsMay 16, 2016
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[Newsmaker] Activist song roils nation
Over the past decade, South Korea has faced ideological debates every May over the song “March for Our Beloved” -- whether it should be an official song during a ceremony to honor the victims of the pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju and whether it should be left up to the participants to sing-along.The dispute is likely to be repeated this year -- and perhaps even intensified -- in the run-up to the May 18 ceremony as the government on Monday rejected a call to designate the controversial song a
PoliticsMay 16, 2016
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Korea, Japan, U.S. to hold missile defense drill
South Korea said Monday it will hold a joint missile warning exercise with the U.S. and Japan prior to this year’s biennial international maritime warfare exercise in June.The military drill will be held near the U.S. island state of Hawaii around June 28, before the Rim of the Pacific Exercise takes place from June 30 to Aug. 8.“South Korea, U.S. and Japan have held joint search and rescue drills numerous times in the past, but this marks the first time we hold a missile warning exercise,” a hi
DefenseMay 16, 2016
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Korea orders Nissan recall over rigging
The Environment Ministry said Monday that it will order a recall of Japanese automaker Nissan’s Qashqai compact crossovers, as the company manipulated its emissions result.The ministry is set to charge Nissan Korea 330 million won ($280,000) in fines and suspend sales of the emissions-faked model. A total of 814 cars sold since November have been ordered to be recalled. The company should submit its recall plan within 45 days. According to the ministry, Nissan faked its emissions test results by
Social AffairsMay 16, 2016
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Triumph of democracy in Philippines
It has been a triumph of democracy in the Philippines, more specifically the victory of the Aquino legacy that was bequeathed to the country exactly 30 years ago (February 1986). Yet in the moment of almost euphoric celebrations, there is a whiff of cynicism across the nation not least because of the President-designate, Rodrigo Duterte’s reckless bombast and direly controversial utterances on emotive, even personal, matters, most particularly his remarks on sex and expressed pledges to kill cri
ViewpointsMay 16, 2016
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[Kent Harrington] Trump owes his rise to U.S. broadcast journalism
ATLANTA -- Conventional wisdom lays much of the blame for the rise of Donald Trump on angry American voters, who have allowed him to break every rule in the political playbook without paying a price. But more responsibility arguably lies with the American broadcast journalists who amplified his schoolyard name-calling and bizarre policy views.All along Trump’s march to becoming the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, partisan commentators spun and re-spun his countless outrageous statements
ViewpointsMay 16, 2016
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[Andrew Sheng] The alchemy of money
Money makes the world go round, so you would have thought that economists understand what money is all about. The former governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King, has just published a book called “The End of Alchemy,” which made a startling claim that “for over two centuries, economists have struggled to provide rigorous theoretical basis for the role of money, and have largely failed.” This is a serious accusation from a distinguished academic turned central banker. Alchemy is defined as th
ViewpointsMay 16, 2016
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[Cynthia M. Allen] Politicians are mean, like us
According to custom, the government and opposition benches in the British House of Commons are separated by a length equivalent to “two swords and one inch.”The practice harks back to a time when members of Parliament regularly carried blades.Presumably, the distance was meant to guard against the possibility that verbal sparring could easily erupt into physical confrontation -- an event that wasn’t unknown on the floor of the U.S. House in past centuries, either.The tradition remains intact tod
ViewpointsMay 16, 2016
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[Andres Oppenheimer] Mexicans are fighting back against Trump
Mexicans have silently begun a campaign to debunk presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s bigotry, xenophobia and economic isolationism in an area where he is most vulnerable: the realm of accurate facts and figures.To confront Trump’s daily Mexico-bashing, the Mexican government will launch a U.S. public-relations campaign in early June. Meantime, a group of Mexican-American businesspeople is launching a lobbying group named American Mexico Public Affairs Committee, modeled a
ViewpointsMay 16, 2016
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Toxic chemical fears shift to other firms
Amid growing concerns over the health risks of household chemical products, a fresh round of speculation is brewing over other manufacturers of cleaning supplies in Korea that may have been using harmful substances without indicating their toxicity. The Environment Ministry on Sunday demanded a local branch of global consumer goods company Procter & Gamble release the list of chemical substances used for its fabric refresher Febreze. The request came after local reports drawing concerns over the
IndustryMay 16, 2016
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Seoul shares end 0.05 percent higher
Korean stocks edged up Monday as investors appeared to become cautious following improved U.S. indicators that might signal a U.S. rate hike. The local currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 0.05 percent or 0.92 point to close at 1,967.91. Trade volume was 510 million shares worth some 4.64 trillion won ($3.94 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 452 to 352. Traders monitor share prices at a local bank. (Yonhap)Investors apparently
May 16, 2016