Most Popular
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Ex-presidential official’s leaked phone call rattles conservative bloc
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Man escapes DUI charges by downing bottle of soju while pulled over
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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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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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Slew of top K-pop stars ready to return from military
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N. Korean leader's sister derides Seoul's Hyunmoo-5 missile as 'useless'
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S. Korea, US clinch 2026-30 defense cost-sharing deal in pre-election push
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S. Korea urges Japan to take action over sex slave issue
South Korea urged Japan on Sunday to take concrete steps to resolve the issue of Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II. Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il made the call in a statement marking four years since the Constitutional Court deemed the government's lack of action over the dispute unconstitutional. "As we stressed in the Aug. 15 Liberation Day address, the Japanese government must show a more enthusiastic attitude to swiftly res
InternationalAug. 30, 2015
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Samsung Electronics' market cap slips to 13th on global IT chart
Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest handset maker, slipped to the world's 13th most valuable IT company by market cap as the tech giant's shares suffered losses this year due to a bleak business outlook, a report showed Sunday. Samsung, South Korea's most valuable company, had remained in the top 10 IT companies since 2005, but it was left out of the league this year as investors found its shares less attractive amid the toughening competition with Apple's iPhone and cheaper Chinese h
IndustryAug. 30, 2015
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Honda to recall over 18,000 crossovers in S. Korea
Honda Motor Co., a Japanese carmaker, will voluntarily recall more than 18,690 crossover vehicles sold in South Korea due to manufacturing defects, the transportation ministry said Sunday. Subject to the recall are 18,690 CR-V vehicles produced between May 24, 2006, and March 29, 2011, according to the ministry. In the event of a collision, the powerful force needed to allow the car's air bags to deploy also causes some metallic fragments to fly out, putting the driver at risk of injury, the
IndustryAug. 30, 2015
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Biz bodies urge quick parliamentary approval of FTAs
More than 40 South Korean business bodies urged parliament Sunday to quickly approve free trade agreements with China, Vietnam and New Zealand to help prop up Seoul's slumping exports. South Korea's exports, the country's key growth engine, have fallen for the seventh consecutive month this year, buffeted by a global economic slowdown, falling international oil prices and currency fluctuations. "With South Korea facing such unfavorable factors and its economic growth rate feared to drop below
Aug. 30, 2015
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September biz outlook grim on China woes: survey
A majority of companies in South Korea are pessimistic about business conditions for next month as fears of China's weakening growth and its stock market rout cloud the outlook for the global economy, a survey showed Sunday. According to the poll conducted on the country's top 600 companies by the Federation of Korean Industries, the business survey index for September stood at 95.1. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists about business conditions down the road. The figu
Aug. 30, 2015
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Photographer captures captivating Singapore
A veteran Korean photographer has organized an exhibition that puts Singapore’s attractions in the limelight and exposes hidden layers of its ethnically diverse culture. “Five Days in Singapore” at Seoul Auction Gangnam from Aug. 26-Sept. 1 presents 40 photographs by Kim Jung-man, 61, who visited Singapore earlier this year to publish the tourism guidebook “Splendid Singapore.” During his five-day trip, Kim took 14,000 photographs of the city’s vibrant landscapes and landmarks. The “Five Days in
Foreign AffairsAug. 30, 2015
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N. Korea's Kim marks death anniversary of Unification Church founder
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has sent a message of condolence to the family members of Unification Church founder Moon Sun-myung on the third anniversary of his death, state media reported Sunday. "On the occasion of the third anniversary of (the) death of Mr. Moon Sun Myung, former president of the World Peace Federation, I express profound sorrow to President Han Hak Ja and bereaved family members," Kim said in the message, according to an English dispatch by the North's Korean Central New
North KoreaAug. 30, 2015
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Foreigners continue selling Korean stocks in Aug.
Foreigners have continued their sell-off of Korean stocks this month in the wake of growing uncertainties in the Chinese economy and the timing of the U.S. interest rate hike weighing down on the local equity market, the bourse operator said Sunday. Foreigners offloaded shares traded on the main KOSPI market for 17 consecutive trading days from Aug. 5 to Friday, with the net amount worth 4.13 trillion won ($3.5 billion), the Korea Exchange said. The losing streak, the sixth-longest period, was
Aug. 30, 2015
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Over 50 public firms adopt wage peak system in Aug.
More than 50 state-run companies and organizations introduced the so-called wage peak system in August amid the government's push for the system in an effort to create more jobs for young people, the finance ministry said Sunday. As of Friday, 65 out of all public-sector firms and institutions adopted the novel wage system, up 54 from a month earlier and at a much faster clip than expected by the government. The government had earlier expected some 43 public-sector companies to introduce the w
Aug. 30, 2015
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Regular parliamentary session to open this week
The National Assembly is set to kick off its regular session this week as the rival parties push to achieve their political agenda ahead of next year's general elections. The 100-day session will begin Tuesday, just a few days into the second half of President Park Geun-hye's single, five-year term. The ruling Saenuri Party has vowed to pass a set of bills aimed at reforming the labor market and increasing jobs to help President Park Geun-hye's reform drive centered on the labor, public, finan
PoliticsAug. 30, 2015
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S. Korea's suicide rate ranks first among OECD members
South Korea has the highest suicide rate among the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and its people were less confident about their health, a report showed Sunday. An average of 29.1 people per 100,000 in South Korea took their own lives in 2012, far surpassing the OECD average of 12, according to the OECD Health Data 2015. Hungary followed with 19.4 and Japan came next with 18.7, it said. The suicide rate in Asia's fourth-largest economy has sharply incr
Social AffairsAug. 30, 2015
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N. Korea agrees to hold Red Cross talks on Sept. 7
North Korea has accepted the South Korean Red Cross' offer to hold working-level talks on Sept. 7 to discuss the issues of reunions for families separated by the Korean War, the Unification Ministry here said Saturday. On Friday, the Korean Red Cross proposed that the two sides meet at its "House of Peace" in the village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Koreas. The ministry said it received a letter from the North through a contact channel in Panmunjom around 1 p.m
North KoreaAug. 30, 2015
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Pay gap between regulars, tempos widens this year
The wage gap between regular and temporary workers in South Korea widened in 2015 from a year earlier due mainly to the country's economic slowdown, government data showed Sunday. The inflation-adjusted monthly wage of non-regular workers hired by companies with a work force of five or more averaged 1.28 million won ($1,087) in the first half of this year, up 0.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea and the labor ministry. In comparison, the monthly pay of re
Social AffairsAug. 30, 2015
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Myanmar approves first-ever national minimum wage
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) – Myanmar‘s government has approved the country’s first-ever national minimum wage, state media reported on Saturday, August 29, after months of bitter negotiations with labour groups and employers. The wage has been set at 3,600 kyat ($2.80) “for a standard eight-hour work day” and takes effect from Tuesday, said the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper. It will apply to workers “across all sectors and industries” but small businesses employing less than 15 pe
World NewsAug. 29, 2015
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Seoul to fund N. Korean scholars' studies in Germany
Seoul plans to provide funding for North Korean forestry specialists to study in Germany, a U.S. news report said Saturday, in its latest effort to restore deforested mountains in the North. Under the plan, South Korea will help around 30 North Korean experts study in Germany by providing US$70,000, according to the Voice of America (VOA), which cited the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The specialists will visit Germany in four batches between September and Nov
Social AffairsAug. 29, 2015
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The Latest: Jamaica advances fastest in both 4x100 relays
The Latest from the IAAF world championships (all times local): ——— 12:40 p.m. The Jamaican teams advanced fastest in both men‘s and women’s 4x100-meter relay heats at the world championships on Saturday. Usain Bolt, who won the 100-200 sprint double, didn‘t run in the Jamaican team that won the second heat in 37.41 seconds. France surged into second place with a strong anchor leg from Jimmy Vicaut to finish in 37.88, narrowly ahead of China, which qualified in an Asian record 37.92. The Ame
World NewsAug. 29, 2015
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Malaysia braces for protests against embattled PM
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) – Malaysia‘s capital braced for possible confrontations Saturday, August 29 between demonstrators seeking the premier’s ouster over corruption allegations and police who have declared their planned two-day street rally illegal. The country‘s leading civil society alliance vows to turn out tens of thousands of people in Kuala Lumpur and two other cities for the weekend demonstration, which is due to kick off at 0600 GMT on Saturday. The demonstrations by pro-reform
World NewsAug. 29, 2015
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7 killed, 2 injured in China paper mill accident
Authorities in central China authorities say seven workers were killed and two injured after exposure to poisonous gasses at a paper mill. A statement from the Anxiang county government in Hunan province say the accident occurred Friday after an employee fell into a pool filled with poisonous waste paper pulp during a cleaning operation. It says his co-workers rushed to help him but were overcome by the noxious gasses. The incident comes amid a spate of industrial accidents in China, the worst
World NewsAug. 29, 2015
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Storm kills at least 20 in Dominica, menaces Haiti
ROSEAU, Dominica (AFP) - Tropical Storm Erika left at least 20 people dead when it swept over the tiny island nation of Dominica, officials reported, as the system barreled through the Caribbean threatening Haiti. While crews rushed to search for survivors and clean up scenes of chaos on Caribbean islands, Haitian authorities issued travel restrictions and opened emergency shelters ahead of the storm‘s arrival. The US state of Florida declared a state of emergency and Cuba issued an alert as w
World NewsAug. 29, 2015
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Number of foreign visitors returns to level before MERS
The number of foreign visitors arriving in South Korea returned to the level before the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), data showed Saturday, casting a brighter outlook for the local tourism industry. South Korea‘s justice ministry said the number of daily foreign visitors came to 40,078 on Tuesday, and has stayed above the 30,000 mark since mid-May. The figure dropped to as low as 12,325 on June 25 as the outbreak of the disease kept foreigners away. The number of dail
PoliticsAug. 29, 2015