Most Popular
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Who's lying? Hybe vs. Min conflict continues to intensify
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Seoul should engage Kim Jong-un’s elites for change, ex-North Korean diplomat says
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Most teen sex offenders get away with slap on wrist
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Ex-Trump official calls for S. Korea to raise defense spending to 3 or 3.5% of GDP
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Man sentenced to 1 year, 8 months for stealing from elementary school classrooms
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Thousands rally in Seoul to call for Yoon resignation
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FM champions multilateralism, stresses S. Korea's vision as 'global pivotal state'
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Same-sex couple denied insurance clearance despite landmark ruling
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Panmunjom tours for select Korean nationals may resume in October
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Young Poong says no better offer for Korea Zinc
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China unlikely to send delegation to N. Korea‘s rare party congress
China is unlikely to send a delegation to North Korea's rare ruling party congress early next month, diplomatic sources said Wednesday, as the North's nuclear ambition and missile launches have soured political ties between the allies. North Korea announced earlier in the day that the Workers' Party Congress will start on May 6, the first such congress in 36 years. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to use the rare congress as a venue to solidify his reign and take credentials for his p
North KoreaApril 27, 2016
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Hundreds of Chinese fishing boats catching crabs near tense inter-Korean border
A large number of Chinese fishing boats are catching crabs in waters near the Yellow Sea border between South and North Korea, the Korea Coast Guard said Wednesday, as crab season is in full swing until next month.According to the coast guard, an average of 200 Chinese fishing boats have been catching crabs every day in waters close to the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto sea border between the two Koreas.Some of them often cross into South Korean waters in search of abundant fish stocks, regul
Social AffairsApril 27, 2016
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‘A seder goes hilariously wrong in author Brenda Janowitz’s novel
“The Dinner Party” By Brenda Janowitz St. Martin’s Griffin (288 pages, $15.99 paper) Sylvia Gold, an upwardly mobile doctor’s wife in Greenwich, Conn., is in a tizzy. Her overachiever med student daughter Becca finally has a boyfriend -- and he’s a Rothschild. Of the Rothschilds, the richest and most powerful Jewish family on earth. And he and his parents are coming for dinner. Not just any dinner, but Passover seder. Quick, she has to redecorate the entire house, hire a chef, buy new table lin
BooksApril 27, 2016
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Polish women prisoners of Nazi camp were no lilacs
“Lilac Girls” By Martha Hall Kelly Ballantine Books (496 pages, $26) Martha Hall Kelly stumbled on the idea that would lead to her debut novel, “Lilac Girls,” when she decided to take a tour of the Bellamy-Ferriday house and garden in Bethlehem, Connecticut The historic home got the Bellamy part of its name from a reverend who gained fame through his role in the Great Awakening, America’s religious revival of the mid-18th century. About 150 years later, the 40.5-hectare farmstead was purchased
BooksApril 27, 2016
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Miami author bakes her way through life
“Life without a Recipe” By Diana Abu-Jaber Norton (272 pages, $26.95) Diana Abu-Jaber has spent years carving out a life as a successful writer, struggling to reconcile the competing voices in her head, one from a tough-minded German grandmother and the other from her exuberant Arab father. Through it all, she baked. Cookies and cakes, tarts and scones, a blizzard of confectioners’ sugar blanketing all difficulties, smoothing out rough edges, sweetening the bitter. In the kitchen and in life, s
BooksApril 27, 2016
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Chilean poet Neruda reburied at his coastal home
ISLA NEGRA, Chile (AP) -- The remains of Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda were reburied on Tuesday at his favorite home in a Chilean town overlooking the Pacific Ocean, despite lingering questions surrounding his mysterious death. The writer died in the chaos following Chile’s 1973 right-wing military coup, and some have speculated he was poisoned. His body was exhumed in 2013 to determine the cause of his death. Forensic tests showed no toxic agents in his bones. But Chile’s government sai
PeopleApril 27, 2016
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LA Film Festival announces 42 world premieres
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The LA Film Festival announced 42 world premieres in its competition lineup on Tuesday, boasting strong representation by women and ethnic minorities among the featured directors. The nine-day event, hosted by Film Independent, the producer of the pre-Oscar Spirit Awards, features five categories for feature films – U.S. fiction, documentary, world fiction, “Nightfall” and “LA Muse.” Organizers said 43 percent of the directors of the features in competition are women and 38 p
FilmApril 27, 2016
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MSCI’s inclusion of Chinese shares won’t affect Korea: analyst
MSCI’s likely inclusion of Chinese mainland-listed shares in its main emerging index will have limited impact on the Korean stock market in terms of foreign capital exodus, an analyst said Wednesday.In early June, the index provider is scheduled to make a decision on including 5 percent of China’s A-shares in its emerging equity benchmark, after discussions with investors, MSCI said earlier in March.The inclusion could bring a bigger proportion of global capital into Chinese shares from passive
April 27, 2016
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Kia’s operating profit jumps 24% in Q1
In contrast with Hyundai Motor, its sister automaker Kia Motors saw its operating profit jump 23.8 percent to 633.6 billion won ($554 million) in the first quarter from the same period last year, boosted by sales in its sport utility vehicle lineup, according to the company Wednesday. Hyundai Motor’s operating profit fell 15.5 percent to 1.34 trillion won on-year in the first quarter, hit by sales drop in China. Kia’s net profit also increased 4.6 percent to 944.6 billion won during the January-
MobilityApril 27, 2016
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Consumer sentiment inches up in April
Korea’s consumer sentiment improved, albeit slightly, to reach the highest level this year in April, with more people expecting better conditions for their livelihood down the road, data showed Wednesday.The Bank of Korea’s composite consumer sentiment index came in at 101 for April, up from 100 the previous month. Bank of Korea (Yonhap)A reading above 100 means optimists outnumber pessimists, while a reading below the benchmark means the opposite. The index had moved from 100 in January to 98 i
April 27, 2016
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Workers' length of service at big firms grows despite slump
The average length of service for employees of Korea's leading companies has been steadily rising in recent years despite a prolonged economic slump and wave of restructuring, data showed Wednesday.According to the data by market researcher CEO Score, the average years of service for workers of 322 major companies grew to 11.6 years in 2015 from 11.3 years a year earlier. The figure stood at 11.1 years in 2013.The duration of service for workers of the nation's top 30 family-controlled conglomer
April 27, 2016
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Kia Motors Q1 net grows 4.6%
Kia Motors, Korea's second-largest automaker, said Wednesday that its first-quarter net profit increased 4.6 percent from a year earlier, driven by strong demand for its SUVs and newly-launched models.Net income came to 944.6 billion won ($822.7 million) during the January-March period compared with a profit of 903.2 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. (Yonhap)Operating income also jumped 23.8 percent on-year to 633.6 billion won and sales rose 13.2 percent to 12
MobilityApril 27, 2016
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Samsung Group rules out further reorganization of businesses
A high-ranking Samsung Group official said the conglomerate will not roll out further reorganizations of affiliates, amid the rising rumor that the family-controlled giant will offload its credit card and construction businesses."There are no more affiliates or businesses that will be offloaded," said Kim Jong-joong, an official from the control tower of Samsung Group on Tuesday. "We can say that (the reshuffle of Samsung's portfolio) has now ended."The remark came amid the market's rumor that S
IndustryApril 27, 2016
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Seoul to celebrate 100-day countdown to Rio Olympics by lighting
Seoul will mark the 100-day countdown to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics on Wednesday by illuminating its landmark tower in the Brazilian colors, the South American country's mission here said.The Brazilian Embassy said N Seoul Tower on Mount Namsan in central Seoul will be lit up in yellow and green from 6:30 p.m. to midnight.The embassy said landmark monuments in major cities around the world will also be illuminated in those Brazilian colors.This year's Olympics will be held on Aug. 5
Olympic GamesApril 27, 2016
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Korea, U.S. sign space cooperation agreement
South Korea and the United States on Wednesday signed an agreement on space cooperation, paving the way for the allies' enhanced collaboration in the exploration of outer space.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert signed the "Framework Agreement for Cooperation in Aeronautics and the Exploration and Use of Airspace and Outer Space for Civil and Peaceful Purposes."With the signing, South Korea became the first Asian country to ink a pact on space cooperati
TechnologyApril 27, 2016
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U.S. to look at ‘other options’ against N. Korea in case of fifth nuclear test: State Department
The United States will look at "other options" to increase pressure on North Korea and strengthen defense of allies if Pyongyang conducts yet another nuclear test, a State Department spokesman said Tuesday.South Korean President Park Geun-hye said earlier Tuesday that the North has "completed preparations for a fifth nuclear test and it is in a situation in which it can carry out the test at any time. She also warned of stronger sanctions against Pyongyang."We're going to look at other options a
DefenseApril 27, 2016
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N. Korea to hold first party congress in over three decades on May 6
North Korea said Wednesday that its ruling Workers' Party of Korea plans to hold its first party congress in more than three decades late next week, a move expected to reaffirm North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's tight grip on power.The political bureau of the WPK's central committee has decided to open the seventh party congress in Pyongyang on May 6, the Korean Central News Agency said.It will be the first party congress since October 1980, when the WPK last convened the meeting of the party's h
North KoreaApril 27, 2016
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Obama: U.S. could ‘destroy Pyongyang’ but proximity to Seoul should be considered
U.S. President Barack Obama said the U.S. could "destroy North Korea with our arsenals," but its proximity to ally South Korea should be considered in addition to humanitarian costs associated with such action.Obama made the remark in an interview with CBS that aired Tuesday, talking about difficulties handling the communist regime that he described as "a massive challenge." Obama also called the North "erratic enough" and the country's leader, Kim Jong-un, "irresponsible enough that we don't wa
DefenseApril 27, 2016
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Korean shares open lower ahead of FOMC meeting
Korean stocks opened lower Wednesday as investors digested mixed earnings reports, awaiting the rate decision from U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 1.01 point, or 0.05 percent, to 2,018.62 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Federal Reserve officials started a two-day policy meeting in Washington, D.C., and are set to announce the rate decision late Wednesday (local time). Top market cap Samsung Electronics edged down 0.46 percent
April 27, 2016
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Oil prices in modest rebound
Oil prices rose Tuesday, rebounding slightly from sharp losses sparked by a report that Saudi Arabia was close to completing an oilfield expansion.Analysts said the gains, partly prompted by a slightly weaker dollar, would likely be short-lived due to lingering worries about a global supply glut.At around 11:00 GMT, New York's benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in June was up 41 cents at $43.05 a barrel.Brent North Sea crude for June delivery gained 66 cents to $45.14 a barrel
World NewsApril 26, 2016