Most Popular
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Seoul should engage Kim Jong-un’s elites for change, ex-North Korean diplomat says
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Thousands rally in Seoul to call for Yoon's resignation
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Most teen sex offenders get away with slap on wrist
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FM champions multilateralism, stresses S. Korea's vision as 'global pivotal state'
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Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is killed in Beirut strike, Israel's military says
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Man sentenced to 1 year, 8 months for stealing from elementary school classrooms
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Suicide attempts spike among youth in Korea
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[Weekender] How Seongsu, once an industrial zone, has become ‘Seoul’s Brooklyn’
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Panmunjom tours for select Korean nationals may resume in October
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Delta Air Lines to launch new Incheon-Salt Lake City route in June next year
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Korean Air dismisses pilot refusing overtime work
Korean Air, the nation’s largest air carrier, dismissed a pilot who refused to work overtime citing the company’s protocol that bans them from operating flights more than 12 hours a day, according to a group of unionized workers Wednesday.The pilot, surnamed Park, landed in Manila from Incheon on Feb. 21 and was scheduled to operate a returning flight after a recess. But as the operation to Manila took longer than scheduled, he refused to fly the returning flight saying it violates the company’s
IndustryApril 6, 2016
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Woman who killed nephew claims victim was her son
The woman who was arrested for killing her three-year-old nephew has claimed that the victim was her child born as a result of rape. On Wednesday, the woman claimed that she had gotten pregnant after years of being raped by her brother-in-law. (123RF)The 27-year-old aunt, whose identity was withheld by the police, alleges she was raped by her older sister’s husband multiple times since 2008. According to her statements, she was 19 years old at the time of his first assault.The woman claims she c
Social AffairsApril 6, 2016
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N. Korea mobilizing its people ahead of key party event: sources
North Korea is mobilizing all of its people ahead of a key party congress in May by pressing them to work hard even at night and on weekends, sources said Wednesday.The North has been pushing its people, including those in Pyongyang, to put in long hours in a bid to achieve short-term goals before the ruling Workers' Party of Korea holds its congress early next month, according to sources familiar with the isolationist country."North Koreans are working every day from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. as t
North KoreaApril 6, 2016
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Corporate debt ratio inches down amid weak investment
Korea's corporate debt ratio edged down in 2015 from the previous year due mainly to decreased capital expenditures amid an economic slump, data showed Wednesday.Local companies' debt-to-equity ratio averaged 111.1 percent last year, compared with 112.7 percent a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Capital Market Institute (KCMI) and based on reports by local financial information provider FnGuide, the U.S. statistical agency and Japan's finance ministry.The ratio, or total
April 6, 2016
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Corporate investment up in 2015 driven by top 3 groups: data
Investment by Korea's 30 major business groups grew about 18 percent on-year in 2015, led mostly by Samsung and the other two top conglomerates, industry data showed Wednesday.According to the data by CEO Score, a market research company, a total of 261 subsidiaries of the country's 30 largest business groups invested a combined 76.03 trillion won ($65.8 billion) in 2015, up 17.9 percent from the previous year's 64.48 trillion won.The figures did not include spending on research and development.
April 6, 2016
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Financial holding firms' 2015 net drops 12%
Korea's seven financial holding companies suffered a 12 percent decline in combined net profit last year due to a base effect, government data showed Wednesday.The seven financial holding groups -- Shinhan, Hana, KB, NH, BNK, JB and DGB -- posted a net profit of 5.595 trillion won ($4.8 billion) in 2015, down from 6.383 trillion won a year earlier. Given that 1.312 trillion won worth of one-off gains were reflected in their bottom lines in 2014, they fared well last year, the Financial Superviso
IndustryApril 6, 2016
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Korea's stock loans jump amid relief rally
Korean retail investors have sharply increased their borrowings to buy stocks amid a recent relief rally in the local bourse, market data showed Wednesday.According to the data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association, the so-called margin debt for local stocks stood at 6.88 trillion won ($5.95 billion) as of Monday, up 10 percent from the yearly low of 6.27 trillion won recorded on Feb. 29. A lending section of a commercial bank branch in Seoul (Yonhap)The amount of margin loans t
April 6, 2016
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Gov't opts not to disclose radiation test result of Japanese fishery goods
The government has rejected calls to disclose the results of radiation level checks conducted on fishery goods caught near Japan, a civic group said Wednesday.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Tuesday dismissed the information disclosure request filed by the Lawyers for a Democratic Society, the group said."As the information is related to a case pending at the World Trade Organization, (the disclosure) could lead to a leakage of our strategy to Japan," the ministry was quoted by the group
Foreign AffairsApril 6, 2016
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Sales of used cars in Korea hit record high in February
Transactions of used cars in Korea hit a record high in February, government data showed Wednesday, amid a protracted economic slump.A total of 283,875 second-hand cars were registered in February, marking the largest number in any past February results, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.For the first two months of the year, total registrations of used cars reached 572,599, up from 542,225 units tallied over the same period last year.The number
MobilityApril 6, 2016
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1 in 7 parliamentary candidates booked for election law violations
One in seven candidates for next week's parliamentary elections have been booked for election-related offenses, prosecutors said Wednesday.A total of 133 of 944 candidates registered to compete for the April 13 polls, or 14.1 percent, have been booked for charges related to irregular election campaign activities, according to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.Of the 133 candidates booked for allegedly violating the Public Official Election Act, 125 are being investigated, SPO officials said.Some 4
PoliticsApril 6, 2016
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SK affiliate fined in China for forex violation
An affiliate of Korean energy and telecom conglomerate SK Group has been fined 5.53 million yuan ($853,000) in China for violating foreign exchange rules, industry sources said Wednesday.SK Global Chemical International Trading, an affiliate of SK Innovation, the group's refining unit, was slapped with the fine by China's foreign currency authorities, according to the sources. SK headquarters in Seoul (Yonhap)The SK company is reportedly accused of failing to endorse checks in some of its transi
IndustryApril 6, 2016
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Korean ambassador to Japan offers to resign
South Korea's top envoy to Japan said Wednesday he has offered to resign upon completing his duty of mending frayed bilateral ties.Ambassador Yoo Heung-soo told Yonhap News Agency by phone that he wanted to step down this year after the two countries agreed in December to settle their decadeslong dispute over Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women.The ambassador said he postponed his resignation offer to handle the aftermath of North Korea's nuclear test in January but recently tende
Foreign AffairsApril 6, 2016
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Korea in debate about developing own nuclear weapons: CRS report
South Korea is in a debate about developing its own nuclear weapons, despite the United States' assurances to extend its "nuclear umbrella" to protect the Asian ally, a congressional report said Tuesday.The Congressional Research Service also said in the report on U.S.-South Korea relations that such a move by the South could result in a series of negative consequences, including economic sanctions on Seoul and a nuclear arms race in the region."In the wake of North Korea's recent nuclear weapon
DefenseApril 6, 2016
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N.K. cyber capabilities pose serious challenges to U.S.: cyber command chief
North Korea's cyber capabilities pose serious challenges to the United States, the U.S.cyber commander said Tuesday, emphasizing the communist nation has steadily been bolstering its capabilities and has been "quite active" in the cyber domain.Adm. Michael S. Rogers made the assessment in a statement submitted for a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, saying the North is one of the countries that his command is watching "most closely," along with Russia, China and Iran."Iran and North Korea
North KoreaApril 6, 2016
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N. Korea could have already started harvesting plutonium from spent fuel: U.S. think tank
North Korea could have already started reprocessing spent nuclear fuel to harvest weapons-grade plutonium in a process that could give Pyongyang enough fissile material for up to three nuclear bombs, a U.S. research institute said Tuesday.The Institute for Science and International Security, a think tank in Washington that specializes in the Iranian and North Korean nuclear issues, raised the possibility, citing an unidentified "government official who monitors the situation closely."The report
North KoreaApril 6, 2016
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Korean shares open higher on tech gains
Korean stocks started higher on Wednesday, led by gains in tech firms and automakers, bucking overnight falls in Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 7.04 points, or 0.36 percent, to 1,969.78 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Market heavyweights traded mixed, with top player Samsung Electronics rising 2.14 percent.Hyundai Motor, the nation's leading automaker, rose 0.69 percent. State-run Korea Electric Power Corp. suffered 0.62 percent fall, and top steelmak
April 6, 2016
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Facebook programs computers to describe photos for the blind
MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) -- Facebook is training its computers to become seeing-eye guides for blind and visually impaired people as they scroll through the pictures posted on the world‘s largest online social network. The feature rolling out Tuesday on Facebook’s iPhone app interprets what‘s in a picture using a form of artificial intelligence that recognizes faces and objects. The iPhone’s built-in screen reader, VoiceOver, must be turned on for Facebook‘s photo descriptions to be read. For n
World BusinessApril 5, 2016
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China restricts trade with North Korea over nuclear tests
BEIJING (AP) -- China imposed restrictions Tuesday on imports of coal from North Korea and exports of jet fuel to the North in a potentially significant increase in pressure on Pyongyang following U.N. sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests. China is the impoverished and politically isolated North‘s main trading partner, making its cooperation essential for penalties approved by the U.N. Security Council last month to succeed. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has intensified nuclear ac
North KoreaApril 5, 2016
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[Graphic News] Koreans spend big overseas
Lackluster consumer spending has been a headache for policymakers striving to reinvigorate the sluggish economy, but recent data show that Koreans are spending more than ever before overseas. According to Bank of Korea data, Korean households’ total expenditure abroad grew 13.7 percent on-year in 2015 to a record high of 26.27 trillion won ($22.7 billion). Overseas spending has risen for four consecutive years, with the pace of growth far exceeding that of domestic expenditure. Last year, househ
April 5, 2016
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[Song Jong-hwan] North Korea must keep its promises
A famous Latin saying “Pacta sunt servanda,” meaning “agreements must be kept,” forms the basis of international law and international relations. Therefore, states that sign and ratify international agreements should be bound by them. While concealing its nuclear program for decades, North Korea has signed agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (1985), South Korea (1992) and the U.S. (1994) not to pursue nuclear weapons. It also signed a joint statement to abandon nuclear weapons
ViewpointsApril 5, 2016