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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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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Seoul should engage Kim Jong-un’s elites for change, ex-North Korean diplomat says
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North Korea unveiling uranium enrichment site a US election-conscious move: NIS
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[David Ignatius] Diplomats get punished for doing their job
On Oct. 21, 2014, Robin Raphel, a former assistant secretary of state, got an urgent call from her daughter, who said that something had triggered the burglar alarm at home. When Raphel arrived, she found FBI agents searching through her files and other personal materials. Raphel frantically telephoned her office at the State Department to ask what was happening; colleagues said they had been instructed not to speak with her. Agents were already rifling her desk at State, and putting up yellow t
ViewpointsMay 19, 2016
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Explosions at U.S. base, no casualties: report
An oxygen tank exploded at the Camp Carroll U.S. Army Base in the southern part of Korea but there were no death or injuries, a USFK official said Thursday. Camp Carroll U.S. Army BaseAccording to the official, the blast took place at the base located in Chilgok-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, at around 2:45 p.m. The subsequent blaze was put out in approximately 26 minutes by 15 fire engines dispatched to the scene by Chilgok Fire Station, which responded under the mutual aid agreement.The USFK
Social AffairsMay 19, 2016
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Sex workers to launch union, petition with U.N.
A South Korean sex workers’ advocacy group vowed Thursday to launch a trade union within this year to protect their labor rights and file a petition to the United Nations to challenge the highest court’s ruling in favor of the antiprostitution law. Denouncing the Constitutional Court’s ruling earlier this year as “taking side with those having power,” the Hanteo National Union said it would seek for those selling sex to be entitled to labor rights such as severance pay, state pension and health
Social AffairsMay 19, 2016
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USFK top brass begins to relocate
The Seoul-based U.S. Eighth Army Command has started its move down to Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province, the South Korean Defense Ministry said on Thursday. The U.S. Forces Korea is slated to move its forces from Seoul and northern Gyeonggi Province to Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of the capital. “Most of the (Seoul-based) troops, including the USFK command, will be moved by 2017,” the ministry said. (Yonhap)“Relocation of battalion or company-sized troops -- such as 94th Mili
DefenseMay 19, 2016
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Assembly passes undisputed bill in final session
A total of 135 bills cleared the National Assembly on Thursday in the final plenary session of the incumbent legislature. All of them were bills considered “undisputed,” leaving their successors in the next Assembly with the task of finalizing contentious agendas.The bills dealing with disputed issues, such as labor reform, business deregulation and compensation for victims of toxic humidifier disinfectant and the Sewol tragedy, are expected to be resubmitted and discussed in the next Assembly s
PoliticsMay 19, 2016
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Central Park reopens secret sanctuary after 80 years
NEW YORK (AFP) - Eighty years after it was shut off to the world, New York has reopened a secret woodland sanctuary a stone’s throw from Fifth Avenue, just in time for summer. The 4-acre Hallett Nature Sanctuary is one of three areas of woodland in Central Park, the huge expanse of nature in the Big Apple visited each year by an astonishing 43 million people. The little sanctuary is hidden away at the southeastern end of the park, just meters from bustling designer boutiques and luxury high-rise
TravelMay 19, 2016
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[FROM THE SCENE] Korean women respond to Gangnam murder case
It looked like just another busy day in Gangnam, Seoul’s well-known affluent district, except on Wednesday evening there were piles of white flowers and post-it notes covering the walls near exit 10 of Gangnam Station. There were also people -- many of them young women -- looking visibly shocked and grief-stricken, with their eyes glued to the pastel-colored post-its filled with heartbreaking messages.“No one should die just because she is a woman,” read one of the messages. “I know I could’ve b
Social AffairsMay 19, 2016
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Alcohol health warnings to be reinforced
The Health and Welfare Ministry said Thursday that it plans to change the health warnings on alcohol bottles for the first time in 21 years to raise awareness on the health risks of excessive drinking. The ministry said it will be compulsory for alcohol manufacturers to include specific dangers of drinking for youths and pregnant women in written warnings on alcohol bottles starting September. The revision to the National Health Promotion Act, which will take effect from Sept. 3, requires alcoho
Social AffairsMay 19, 2016
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Saenuri bigwigs to meet on feud
The ruling Saenuri Party’s floor leader Chung Jin-suk on Thursday called for a meeting of senior members to address the deepening factional strife that has blocked the selection of an interim leadership and boosted speculation on a possible party split.But while making the conciliatory gesture, Chung also continued to reproach those close to President Park Geun-hye, as well as the president herself, for egging on the factional dispute.Former Saenuri Party member and lawmaker Rep. Yoo Seong-min c
PoliticsMay 19, 2016
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TonyMoly eyes aggressive expansion in China
The chairman of South Korean cosmetics brand TonyMoly said Thursday that the company is preparing to aggressively expand its business in China this year, projecting sales of 260 billion won ($213 million) for 2016. “We plan to focus on our business in China starting this year, as we have concluded the two-year legal dispute with our local distributor,” chairman Bae Hae-dong told reporters in Seoul during a press conference to mark the brand’s 10th anniversary. Having won its two-year lawsuit aga
IndustryMay 19, 2016
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Night market at Cheonggyecheon Square
A Night Doggaebi Market celebrating the month of May will open at Cheonggyecheon Square near Seoul City Hall from Friday to Monday between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.“Doggaebi” is a Korean word for a type of local goblin that comes out to play tricks on people at nighttime. The city government said this mythical creature suited the nature of the night market, which only comes to life in the night and disappears by morning. Visit http://love.seoul.go.kr/ for more information on cultural events in Seoul. (
CultureMay 19, 2016
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Korean-Chinese caught trafficking meth
A Korean-Chinese meth smuggler was arrested at Incheon International Airport on Thursday.Gyeonggi Province’s Goyang police said the 31-year-old woman surnamed Mun had been caught carrying 20 grams of the substance in her body. This is a stock image. (123RF)Mun initially denied the charges however, an X-ray test at the airport medical center had revealed the drug inside her body. She is being accused of bringing in a total of 440 grams of methamphetamine worth 1.4 billion won ($1.2 million) since
Social AffairsMay 19, 2016
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State-run oil company faces business restructuring
The market was unnerved Thursday with the report by a management consultancy firm that proposed restructuring state-run Korea National Oil Corp.’s money-losing overseas crude oil development business. The report by Deloitte Anjin -- Korean member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu -- on reforms in the overseas businesses of state-run energy companies was commissioned by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The offshore oil drilling facility of Dana Petroleum, the U.K. explorer focusing on th
May 19, 2016
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Yoo calls for key stakeholders to share restructuring pain
Korea’s top economic policymaker said Thursday the government will make sure the major stakeholders of companies undergoing restructuring share in the burden of the revamp of the troubled shipping and shipbuilding industries. “Spearheaded by creditors, we will take their liquidity conditions and industry outlook into account, but (the government will) manage and supervise (the process) in accordance with a pain sharing principle of the parties immediately interested in the companies.” said Fin
May 19, 2016
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Korea to consider direct, indirect bank recapitalization for restructuring
South Korea’s Ministry of Finance said Thursday that it has agreed with the central bank to consider deploying a mix of fiscal and monetary measures that will enable them to flexibly recapitalize policy banks through direct and indirect financing.In their second task force meeting presided over by Vice Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok in Seoul on Thursday, officials from the Finance Ministry, the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission saw the need to inject capital both directly and i
May 19, 2016
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Korean stocks dip to over 2-month low on U.S. rate concerns
Korean shares dropped to an over two-month low Thursday as concerns over a possible U.S. rate hike continued to weigh down on investor sentiments here. The local currency sharply fell against the U.S. dollar for a second straight day.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) lost 0.51 percent, or 9.95 points, to 1,946.78. Trading volume was moderate at 500 million shares worth some 5.22 trillion won ($4.38 billion), with losers outnumbering winners 556 to 252. (Yonhap)Thursday mar
May 19, 2016
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Virtual reality producer Mooovr to set up VR production equipment for Pyeongchang Winter Olympics
A new trend in professional baseball in Korea is the use of VR technology to film and broadcast baseball games. By setting up multiple VR cameras near home plate, first base, and third base, important moments of baseball games can be captured from several angles and broadcast live. The video stitching technology that allowed the baseball games to be filmed and viewed from diverse angles was developed by Mooovr (CEO Rachel Kim), a VR solution provider. Stitching is a technology that “stitches” to
IndustryMay 19, 2016
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Seoul mulls all viable means to finance corporate overhaul
The South Korean government and the central bank agreed to review all viable measures, including the launch of a recapitalization fund, to finance the ongoing corporate restructuring, the finance ministry said Thursday.In the second meeting of a special task force between the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Bank of Korea, the two shared the view that the lending resources of policy lenders, such as the Korea Development Bank, should be increased to help facilitate much-needed corporate
May 19, 2016
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Eco-friendly design forum to open in Naju
Architectural design experts will gather in Naju, South Jeolla Province, to attend the eco-friendly design symposium, which kicks off on Friday under the theme “Healthy, Smart, Zero Energy Housing.”The conference is co-organized by the Korea Green Building Council and the Gwangju regional arm of the Architectural Institute of Korea. “The symposium will be a venue where experts talk about the direction of future eco-friendly architecture and smart cities,” said a KGBC spokesperson Around 500 spec
IndustryMay 19, 2016
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Hyundai Motor to release Ioniq in Europe in H2
Hyundai Motor, the nation’s largest automaker, said Thursday it will release Ioniq models in Europe in the second half of this year.Although details were not revealed, the automaker is preparing to bring its environment friendly Ioniq lineup into about 15 European countries. Hyundai Motor’s Ioniq hybrid model (Hyundai Motor)“Europe is an appealing market for the Ioniq models since it emphasizes the importance of environment,” said a company official.“We’ll first bring electric models into the ma
MobilityMay 19, 2016