Most Popular
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Ex-presidential official’s leaked phone call rattles conservative bloc
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Pay debate plagues foreign nanny pilot
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K-pop star lip-syncing controversy flares up again
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35% of S. Koreans view unification 'unnecessary'
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Man escapes DUI charges by downing bottle of soju while pulled over
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Pianist Lim Yunchan double winner at Gramophone Awards
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[Reporter’s Notebook] Was Netflix film opening BIFF really a bad thing?
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N. Korean leader's sister derides Seoul's Hyunmoo-5 missile as 'useless'
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Controversial cult leader’s sentence reduced to 17 years
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S. Korea, US clinch 2026-30 defense cost-sharing deal in pre-election push
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Hotel Shilla CEO seeks to attract Chinese tourists in Shanghai
The CEO of South Korea's Hotel Shilla Co., Lee Boo-jin, held a travel fair in Shanghai on Wednesday to attract Chinese tourists ahead of China's National Day holiday. The growing popularity of Korean pop culture and beauty products were part of the sales pitch at the travel fair, which drew about 600 Chinese tourism executives and bloggers, Hotel Shilla officials said. Popular Korean boy band SHINee performed at the fair. Earlier in the day, Lee and Liang Jianzhang, CEO of a Chinese online trave
IndustrySept. 9, 2015
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S. Korea's wage gap between native, foreign workers biggest in OECD
South Korea has the largest wage gap between native and foreign workers among the world's leading developed economies with high income, data showed Wednesday.The 2015 employment outlook by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that South Korean employees get paid 1.55 times more than foreign-born workers on average.It is the highest wage gap among OECD members that compile related data, which analysts said can be interpreted as a sign that South Korea remai
Sept. 9, 2015
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Hyundai Motor workers vote on walkout, 3 shipyards launch joint strike
Unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co., the country's largest automaker, on Wednesday began their vote on whether to launch a strike as their leaders have failed to narrow differences on raising wages and other benefits in previous negotiations with the management.The outcome of the vote will be due early Thursday, the labor union with some 48,000 members said. If they vote to launch a strike, it would mark the fourth straight year that the automaker's workers walk off their jobs.Hyundai Motor w
IndustrySept. 9, 2015
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Netflix to tap into S. Korean market in 2016
A high-ranking Netflix official said Wednesday the popular U.S. video service provider will tap into South Korea early next year, a move which is anticipated to bring significant changes to the local online contents industry."We are very excited about the opportunity more than anything else. There are great opportunities to bring contents from Korea to rest of the world, and bring global contents to consumers (here)," Greg Peters, a partnership official in Netflix, told Yonhap News Agency.Netfli
IndustrySept. 9, 2015
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China's economic growth sustainable: AIIB president-designate
The Chinese economy is becoming "more mature," and will usher in an era of sustainable growth, the inaugural chief of a China-led regional investment bank said Wednesday, dismissing concerns that the world's No. 2 economy is losing its growth momentum."The Chinese economy, I think, is moving towards to the new norm," Jin Liqun, president-designate of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, said in a press conference in Seoul."When we talk about slowing down, I hope we would have no misundersta
InternationalSept. 9, 2015
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Red Cross picks 1st batch of candidates for family reunions
The Korean Red Cross said Wednesday it has conducted a computer-based selection for the first batch of 500 candidates for the upcoming reunions for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.The move came as South and North Korea agreed Tuesday to hold the reunions for 100 separated families each from both sides on Oct. 20-26 at Mount Kumgang on the North's east coast.Out of about 66,000 surviving family members, 500 candidates were randomly picked by using a computer program based on principl
North KoreaSept. 9, 2015
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Air France-KLM digital baggage tracking system launch delayed again
Air France-KLM’s electronic bag tag and baggage tracker will not be available to its customers by end of this year, the airline group’s general manager for Korea said. “I don’t think we will be able to launch the digital tag technology service in Korea and elsewhere within this year,” Celine Balmelle, head of the Franco-Dutch group’s Korean operation said on Sept. 2 in an interview with The Korea Herald. It has been widely expected that the Europe’s second-largest carrier will unveil the permane
IndustrySept. 9, 2015
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Protesters in candlelight movement lose damage suit against gov't
A Seoul court dismissed a suit Wednesday against the government filed by several people who claimed to have been illegally arrested during street rallies opposing imports of U.S. beef in 2008.Eight people filed the lawsuit seeking 36 million won ($30,000) in compensation for suffering caused by what they said was illegal arrest and detention.They argued the police unlawfully detained them for a long period of time when it wasn't necessary. Rejecting the claims, the Seoul Central District Court s
Social AffairsSept. 9, 2015
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Samsung rules out workforce reduction
South Korea's No. 1 tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it is relocating a small portion of its workforce, denying rumors that it plans to reduce its management-related staff amid a slowdown in earnings."It will only be relocations of workers," a high-ranking Samsung Electronics official said, denying the market's rumor that the company will seek to cut 10 percent of its management staff in departments such as sales and public relations.Samsung currently employs 320,000 workers wor
IndustrySept. 9, 2015
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Hyundai launches all-new Avante to target global customers
Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top automaker, launched the sale of its all-new Avante subcompact on Wednesday, aiming to appeal to global customers with upgraded safety, better fuel efficiency and driving performance. The latest edition of the Avante is the sixth generation of Hyundai Motor's popular subcompact which debuted in 1990. The last edition of the car rolled out five years ago.Since its first generation was launched, cumulative sales at home and abroad topped 10 million units in Octo
IndustrySept. 9, 2015
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Household loans keep growing at fast pace in July
Household loans extended by South Korean financial institutions continued to grow at a fact clip in July, central bank data showed Wednesday, adding to growing concerns over the country's bulky household debt.Outstanding household lending by local lenders and non-banking institutions totaled 763.3 trillion won ($639.1 billion) as of the end of July, up 3.3 trillion won from the previous month, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.The July reading excludes the 6.2 trillion won that was tran
Sept. 9, 2015
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S. Korea, Australia seek to strengthen security ties
South Korea and Australia will seek to expand security ties to emerging issues, such as epidemics and natural disasters, when their foreign and defense ministers meet in Sydney this week, a government official said Wednesday.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Defense Minister Han Min-koo, and their Australian counterparts, Julie Bishop and Kevin Andrews, are scheduled to meet for their second 2+2 talks on Friday.Following their talks, the ministers plan to announce a "blueprint" for cooperation in s
InternationalSept. 9, 2015
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Recent inter-Korean tensions call for tighter S. Korea-U.S. alliance: 8th U.S. Army commander
The recent military tensions between South and North Korea, which were settled through a last-minute deal, stressed the importance of strengthening the military alliance between Seoul and Washington, the commander of the Eighth U.S. Army said Wednesday.Following the detonation of wooden-box land mines on the South Korean side of the demilitarized zone on Aug. 4, which was blamed on North Korea, the two Koreas exchanged live fire on Aug. 20 and put their militaries on a war footing. Tensions had
InternationalSept. 9, 2015
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Hyundai Motor's Accent keeps best-selling status in Russia
Hyundai Motor Co.'s Accent subcompact maintained its status as the best-selling model in Russia last month despite tough market conditions there, industry data showed Wednesday.Hyundai Motor, South Korea's top automaker, sold 10,581 units of the Accent, also known as the Solaris in Russia, in August, maintaining its top spot for the second straight month, according to the data by the Association of European Business.The vehicle kept the position in Russia in July when its sales came to 10,251 un
IndustrySept. 9, 2015
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Major floods killed 89 people in N. Korea last month: Red Cross
Two major floods caused by heavy rainfall killed 89 people and left 10 people missing in North Korea last month, the International Federation of the Red Cross said Wednesday. North Korean authorities and the IFRC had previously reported that flash floods killed at least 40 people in the northern part of North Korea on Aug. 22-23, but the latest report by the IFRC revealed that the North suffered more extensive damage from flooding. The new IFRC report, citing information offered by North Korean
North KoreaSept. 9, 2015
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Former POSCO chief summoned again over alleged corruption
The former chief of the country's top steelmaker, POSCO, appeared before prosecutors Wednesday to face questioning over alleged corruption. Chung Joon-yang showed up at the Seoul Central Prosecutor's Office in southern Seoul to undergo interrogation for the second time since last week.For the past six months, the prosecution has been investigating suspicious deals and alleged slush funds created while Chung headed the firm from 2009 to 2014.Prosecutors said they will grill Chung on whether he is
Social AffairsSept. 9, 2015
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FM Yun calls for 'political will' to enhance health security
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se stressed the need Wednesday for collecting the "political will" worldwide to counter infectious disease threats.Addressing a Seoul meeting of the Global Health Security Agenda, he said South Korea's fight against MERS, a respiratory disease, earlier this year demonstrated the importance of international partnerships."This year, we overcame the MERS cases swiftly and successfully through cooperation with the World Health Organization, the United States, and other par
PoliticsSept. 9, 2015
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S. Korea's home transactions reach new high for Aug.
South Korea's home transactions climbed to a new high for the month of August, the government said Wednesday, in the latest sign of recovery in the real estate market here.The number of home transactions came to 94,110 last month, up 23.2 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.The figure marks a 15 percent drop from a month earlier, but it is the largest number for the month of August since the government began compiling such data i
Sept. 9, 2015
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S. Korea's tourism income falls 11 pct in H1
South Korea saw its profit from tourism slump 11 percent in the first half of this year as the number of visitors plummeted following an outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, central bank data showed Wednesday.Foreign visitors to the country spent 6.6 trillion won ($5.5 billion) in the January-June period, down 10.8 percent from the 7.4 trillion won spending posted in the second half of last year, according to the data by the Bank of Korea.The data covers the spending of foreigners w
Sept. 9, 2015
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Activity significantly increases at N. Korea's nuclear site: 38 North
Activity at North Korea's main nuclear reactor and reprocessing plant has significantly increased, suggesting that Pyongyang is trying to produce new weapons-grade plutonium, a U.S. research institute said Tuesday.Satellite imagery taken on Aug. 22 shows brisk vehicular traffic "not previously observed" in front of the five-megawatt nuclear reactor and the nearby reprocessing plant at the country's Yongbyon nuclear complex, the website 38 North said."Significant vehicular traffic involving both
North KoreaSept. 9, 2015