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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Same-sex couple denied insurance clearance despite landmark ruling
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FM champions multilateralism, stresses S. Korea's vision as 'global pivotal state'
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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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Korea's first global webtoon festival lights up Seongsu-dong
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Central bank's loans to support SMEs near W20 tln
Loans extended by Korea's central bank to local lenders to support small and medium-sized firms have climbed to a record high, the central bank said Tuesday.According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), such loans to local banks came to 19.65 trillion won ($17.27 billion) as of end-April, up 4.9 percent, or 918 billion won, from three months earlier. Bank of Korea (Yonhap)The April tally marks the highest level since the central bank began compiling such data in 1971.The increase follows a decision by t
May 3, 2016
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Oil imports from Iran more than double in Q1
Korea's imports of oil from Iran more than doubled in the first quarter of this year from a year earlier after international sanctions on the Middle East country were lifted in January, industry data showed on Tuesday.According to the data, imports of Iranian crude oil and condensates reached 22.85 million barrels in the January-March period, compared with 10 million barrels a year ago.By value, Korean imports of Iranian crude jumped 17.6 percent on-year to $629 million in the first three months
May 3, 2016
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Korean shares open higher on Wall Street gains
Korean stocks started higher Tuesday on strong sentiment in New York. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 7.25 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,985.40 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Top market cap Samsung Electronics rose 0.56 percent, and industry frontrunner Hyundai Motor gained 0.35 percent.State-run Korea Electric Power Corp. added 0.16 percent and leading steelmaker POSCO was up 0.66 percent. On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 117.52 points, or 0.66
May 3, 2016
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Military academies end cadets’ drinking bans
Up until this year, cadets at South Korea’s military academies were banned from getting married, smoking cigarettes, and drinking alcohol off campus as part of an effort to instill a sense of discipline throughout their four-year training and education process. From this year, however, the Army, Navy and the Air Force Academies have eased their rules to allow cadets to drink outside the schools, as the policy was criticized for being out-of-date. Drinking on campus and in uniform is still bann
PoliticsMay 2, 2016
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S. Korea, Iran to boost IT, science cooperation
South Korea and Iran agreed Monday to promote partnerships in science and technology, riding on President Park Geun-hye's landmark visit to Tehran.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning here said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran's Ministry of Science Research and Technology on "various research cooperation" in both the basic and applied science fields. Korean President Park Geun-hye (left) and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (
BusinessMay 2, 2016
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Management of Psy, BigBang under tax investigation
YG Entertainment, the talent management of South Korean star musicians such as Psy and BigBang, is undergoing a probe launched by the National Tax Agency, the company confirmed on Monday. "We were summoned by the second investigation unit (of the NTS) in charge of regular tax checkups on small and medium-sized enterprises," an official of YG entertainment said, adding that the investigation is still ongoing. "We will comply with due sincerity throughout." Big Bang members from left are Seungri,
BusinessMay 2, 2016
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S. Korea to build K-Tower in Iran
South Korea and Iran agreed to build a complex to promote the Korean Wave in the Middle East country, South Korea's presidential office said Monday, the latest in a series of Seoul's efforts to spread the Korean Wave.The complex -- tentatively named K-Tower -- will display contents of the Korean Wave and offer Korean and Taekwondo classes, a traditional Korean martial art. K-pop spreads the Korean wave (Yonhap)It will also house Korean restaurants and shopping malls for Korean cosmetic products
BusinessMay 2, 2016
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Murky law school admission system comes under fire
Criticism has been sparked over the law school admission system after the government’s nationwide survey found clues of nepotism, with the Education Ministry also coming under fire for imposing light punishment against the schools.The Education Ministry said Monday that it found a total of 24 cases in which law school applicants revealed the occupations or social positions of their parents to allegedly take advantage of it in the admission process. Such information in five cases allowed the admi
Social AffairsMay 2, 2016
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Korea-Iran summit paves way for $45.6b business deals
TEHRAN -- South Korean President Park Geun-hye held landmark summit talks with her Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on Monday and reached provisional deals in construction and energy worth $45.6 billion, the highest-ever at a single summit, Cheong Wa Dae said.Involving 66 memorandums of understanding, 30 nation-scale projects and a state-backed financial program worth $25 billion, as well as the largest-ever economic delegation, South Korea seeks to gain a foothold in the promising Iranian mar
PoliticsMay 2, 2016
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[Editorial] Constraints on FX policy
Korea has avoided being designated as a “currency manipulator” by the United States, but the government needs to be more cautious in undertaking foreign exchange operations, as Washington has put the nation on its “monitoring list” along with China, Japan, Germany and Taiwan.The U.S. Treasury Department designates a country as a manipulator of foreign exchange if it satisfies all of the following three criteria: A trade surplus against the U.S. larger than $20 billion a year; a current account s
EditorialMay 2, 2016
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[Editorial] Bank recapitalization
A debate is raging over how to recapitalize the two state-run banks that have to lead the government‘s corporate restructuring process.The Korea Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea are in urgent need of capital increases as restructuring of the troubled shipping and shipbuilding industries is gathering pace.The two banks have to play a central role in revamping the key companies of the two industrial sectors, as commercial banks are dragging their feet in providing further suppo
EditorialMay 2, 2016
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Heinosky Korea to supply EPS insulation to France and other advanced countries
On April 28, Heinosky Korea (CEO Lee Seung-hee) announced that it will begin supplying EPS (expanded polystyrene) insulation boards to several advanced countries, including France, from the second half of this year. Better known as “Styrofoam,” EPS is widely used as an insulation material. Heinosky has taken this material and added fire-retardant and thermosetting properties to create a product that does not catch fire easily or become deformed when exposed to high temperatures. However, what ha
TechnologyMay 2, 2016
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Korean-Chinese priest presumed to have been killed by N.K. security agents
Three North Korean security agents might have killed an ethnic Korean priest who was found dead in a Chinese border town last week, the head of a group of South Korean abductees' families said Monday.The Chinese national, only identified by his surname Han and known as a supporter of North Korean defectors, was found dead on Saturday in a northeastern Chinese town near the border with North Korea.Han is believed to have been murdered by three North Korean agents who were dispatched to the Chines
Social AffairsMay 2, 2016
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Korea to build K-Tower in Iran
South Korea and Iran agreed to build a complex to promote the Korean Wave in the Middle East country, South Korea's presidential office said Monday, the latest in a series of Seoul's efforts to spread the Korean Wave.The complex -- tentatively named K-Tower -- will display contents of the Korean Wave and offer Korean and Taekwondo classes, a traditional Korean martial art.It will also house Korean restaurants and shopping malls for Korean cosmetic products and other South Korean goods, according
Foreign AffairsMay 2, 2016
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Korea, Iran to boost IT, science cooperation
South Korea and Iran agreed Monday to promote partnerships in science and technology, riding on President Park Geun-hye's landmark visit to Tehran.The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning here said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran's Ministry of Science Research and Technology on "various research cooperation" in both the basic and applied science fields.The two sides plan to launch a joint science-technology committee next year to discussion the details, it added.T
Foreign AffairsMay 2, 2016
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China replaces deputy chief envoy to N. Korea nuclear talks
China has replaced its deputy chief envoy to the long-stalled talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, a diplomatic source said Monday, in an apparent regular reshuffle of positions. Xiao Qian, who assumed the role in May last year, was promoted as the director-general of the Asian affairs department at China's foreign ministry, the source said on the condition of anonymity. "The successor (of Xiao) has been named, but no formal appointment has been made yet," the source said, without goi
World NewsMay 2, 2016
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Argentine vice president to visit Korea next week
Argentine Vice President Gabriela Michetti will visit South Korea next week for a series of high-level meetings as the two nations seek to expand bilateral ties, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.Michetti, who doubles as president of the Argentine National Senate, will arrive in Seoul on Sunday at the invitation of Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and stay here for three days, the ministry said in a press release.She is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on President Park Geun-hye, hold talks with Hwan
Foreign AffairsMay 2, 2016
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Alcohol, civilian clothing permitted for cadets outside schools
The nation's military, naval and air force academies have decided to allow their cadets to wear civilian clothes and drink alcohol when they are off campus, authorities said Monday.A military official said the three academies have revised school regulations banning cadets from wearing civilian clothing and drinking liquor last year and have been implementing the new rules since March this year.But those cadets who are younger than the legal drinking age of 18 still cannot drink alcohol or wear c
Social AffairsMay 2, 2016
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N.K. set to complete 70-day loyalty drive ahead of party congress
North Korea was set to complete the 70-day campaign designed to press its people to work harder on Monday as it is preparing to hold the first party congress in more than 30 years later this week.In late February, the North kicked off the "70-day campaign of loyalty," under which the North's regime has been mobilizing its people to complete construction and other projects ahead of the party event."A set of construction works have been under way with the aim to complete them by May 2, when the 70
North KoreaMay 2, 2016
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No. of foreign residents in Korea marks 1.9 mln
The number of foreign residents in South Korea reached 1.9 million this year, with a steady increase in the number of Chinese nationals, government data showed Monday.The number of foreigners living in South Korea reached 1.94 million as of March, up 4.7 percent from a month earlier and 7.2 percent from March 2015, according to the Ministry of Justice.By nationality, Chinese people topped the list at 50.8 percent, followed by Americans at 7.4 percent and Vietnamese people at 7.1 percent, the dat
Social AffairsMay 2, 2016