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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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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Man sentenced to 1 year, 8 months for stealing from elementary school classrooms
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Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is killed in Beirut strike, Israel's military says
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Same-sex couple denied insurance clearance despite landmark ruling
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Suicide attempts spike among youth in Korea
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Panmunjom tours for select Korean nationals may resume in October
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Steady stream of people in early voting
A steady stream of people nationwide headed to polling stations Saturday on the second and last day of an early voting period for next week's parliamentary elections.Early voting carries extra weight as a recent survey showed that more than a quarter of the electorate has yet to choose a candidate for the April 13 polls to elect 300 lawmakers for a four-year term.At 3,511 polling stations across the nation, about 3.2 million out of a total of 42.1 million eligible voters, or 7.83 percent, have c
PoliticsApril 9, 2016
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KB Financial, Hyundai Securities to ink takeover deal next week
KB Financial Group is expected to sign a stock-purchase agreement to take over Hyundai Securities Co. next week, industry sources said Saturday.KB Financial was chosen as the preferred bidder in late March, beating two major rivals, Korea Investment Holdings Co. and Hong Kong-based private equity firm Actis, in the bid to acquire a controlling 22.56-percent stake in Hyundai Securities.The deal came in line with Hyundai Group's efforts to revitalize Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., a key shipping uni
April 9, 2016
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Hyundai garners 3 of Germany's top-10 popular import-cars
South Korea's top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. took up three out of the top 10 best-selling import cars in Germany, industry data showed Saturday, reflecting its robust sales in the European market.According to the data compiled by the German Association of the Automotive Industry, Hyundai sold 2,116 units of Tucson, a sport utility vehicle in the country last month, which ranked third after the Nissan Qashqai and the Fiat 500.The Hyundai Tucson, which first reached the European market in the sec
MobilityApril 9, 2016
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Seoul shares forecast to take breather next week
South Korean shares are expected to remain in a tight range next week as investors take to the sidelines ahead of corporate earnings seasons at home and abroad, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 1,972.05 points on Friday, down 0.08 percent from a week ago. KOSPI (Bloomberg)The country's stock market started higher this week as investor sentiment was boosted by gains in Wall Street, but caved in to institutional sell-offs, which was in part o
April 9, 2016
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N. Korea claims success in new ICBM engine test
North Korea claimed Saturday that it has successfully conducted a ground test of a new engine for an inter-continental ballistic missile, the latest in a series of Pyongyang's claims of progress in its nuclear and missile programs.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un issued an order to conduct the "jet test of a new type high-power engine of inter-continental ballistic rocket and personally came to the Sohae Space Center to guide the test," the Korean Central News Agency said."The great success made
North KoreaApril 9, 2016
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LG Chem's takeover deal to be finalized next week
LG Chem Co., South Korea's top chemicals company, said Friday that it has agreed to take over a local pesticides and fertilizer maker for 425 billion won (US$369 million). Previously, LG Chem signed a deal to buy Dongbu Farm Hannong for 515 billion won and sought to complete it by March this year. In a regulatory filing, LG Chem said it will wrap up the deal by April 15. The takeover push comes as LG Chem faces a growing challenge from Chinese rivals in its flagship chemicals and electric
IndustryApril 8, 2016
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China says 'no comment' on envoy's remarks on N. Korea's nuclear progress
China's foreign ministry on Friday declined to comment on published remarks by its point man on North Korea that the North has made significant progress in its pursuit of a hydrogen bomb. China's special representative for Korean Peninsula affairs Wu Dawei made the remarks on Thursday in Japan during a meeting with Sadakazu Tanigaki, the secretary general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, according to a report by Japan's Kyodo news agency. During the meeting, Wu told Tanigaki that N
InternationalApril 8, 2016
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Group defection by N. Koreans points to impact of U.N. sanctions: experts
Group defection by N. Koreans points to impact of U.N. sanctions: expertsThe latest defection by North Koreans working at an overseas restaurant may indicate that toughened international sanctions have begun to generate an impact by cutting off a source of hard currency for Pyongyang, experts said. A group of 13 North Koreans from a restaurant in an unidentified nation made an unusual defection to South Korea en masse this week, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday. The latest case came
North KoreaApril 8, 2016
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Park's approval rating moves up after U.S. visit
President Park Geun-hye's job approval rating edged up on the back of public support for her successful visit to the United States, a poll showed Friday. The poll released by Gallup Korea showed 43 percent approval of the job Park is doing, up 5 percentage points from a week earlier. The poll attributed the jump to Park's recent trip to Washington D.C., where she attended a summit on nuclear security meant to discuss how to tackle the threats of nuclear terrorism and ways to strengthen inter
PoliticsApril 8, 2016
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13 North Koreans working abroad defect to South
Thirteen North Koreans working at a restaurant based outside the country have defected to South Korea, the Unification Ministry said Friday, marking the first mass defection since the United Nations passed powerful economic sanctions against the communist country last month.According to ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee, a male manager and 12 female workers who had been dispatched from North Korea to a restaurant abroad arrived in Seoul on Thursday. He declined to name the exact time of their ar
North KoreaApril 8, 2016
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Chinese panda bears make S. Korean debut
A pair of Chinese panda bears that arrived in South Korea last month were unveiled to the public for the first time at an amusement park here Friday, as the city of Yongin hopes the animals will draw more tourists to the region. The pandas, named Ai Bao and Le Bao, were shown to the public for the first time at Everland, the country's largest amusement park in Gyeonggi Province, some 50 kilometers south of Seoul. They have been at the park since their arrival from the Chinese southwestern prov
Social AffairsApril 8, 2016
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[Editorial] Sugar-coated pledge
Political leaders often promise voters the moon in a desperate attempt to win elections. Kim Jong-in, the interim head of The Minjoo Party of Korea, did just that in Gwangju on Wednesday.Gwangju has long been a bastion for the opposition party. For decades, its citizens have provided overwhelming support for the party’s candidates in elections, without bothering to ask whether they are qualified or not.Not anymore. Many Gwangju voters have shifted their allegiance to the minor opposition People’
EditorialApril 8, 2016
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[Editorial] Overseas consumption
Last year, the government tried every means to boost domestic consumption as exports ceased to play their traditional role of driving economic growth. It had to execute an 11 trillion-won supplementary budget to fuel domestic demand, as the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome stifled consumer spending. The government also organized a Korean version of Black Friday, a 15-day shopping promotion campaign aimed at stimulating domestic consumption and attracting shoppers from abroad.Thanks
EditorialApril 8, 2016
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[Weekender] ‘Descendants of the Sun’: more fantasy than reality
Lee Soo-yeon, a 27-year-old office worker in Seoul, can’t get enough of “Descendants of the Sun,” the ongoing Korean drama series that features a military romance between a solider and a surgeon. “I think the series has many things that I can’t really see or achieve in my real life, such as the sense of justice, responsibility and altruism,” she told The Korea Herald. “And on top of all that, it is just very romantic.” The 16-episode series takes place in a fictional war-torn Mediterranean coun
Social AffairsApril 8, 2016
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[Weekender] Military at crossroads on female soldiers
It was almost a no-brainer for Park Na-hyun, a 26-year-old female student, to join the military.Having grown up in a family with a “disciplinary” father who served in the military for 20 years, military uniform was the norm. The scholarship provided by the military school was also a merit hard to pass up.However, eight months into her first year at military school, she decided to quit. As one of the two exclusive female cadets out of 30 cadets in her squad, she said she experienced implicit disa
DefenseApril 8, 2016
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[Eye interview] Scholar warns Korean youth to avoid passivity
How does an “outsider” become an “insider?” By building a house, a palpable demonstration of the determination to belong, discovered Robert J. Fouser, a columnist for The Korea Herald and former Seoul National University associate professor of Korean language education. Fouser, who made local headlines when he became the first foreign Seoul National University tenure-track professor to teach Korean language education in 2008, was in the limelight again after he bought and renovated an old hanok
CultureApril 8, 2016
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[Weekender] Military culture infuses throughout every part of society
On an ordinary weekday morning, throngs of executives line up by rank at the lobby of a sprawling glass building in Seoul that houses the headquarters of one of the country’s biggest family-run conglomerates. They are awaiting the chairman, who is about to make his entrance in about half an hour. As he emerges through the door, a vacuum-like, fleeting stillness sweeps through the pack, followed by waves of deep bows from the waist. In the evening, on the other side of town, a group of college st
DefenseApril 8, 2016
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Injured Korean ex-sex slave in China to be treated in Seoul
South Korea will transfer a South Korean former sex slave in China, who has suffered serious injuries due to an accident, to her home country next week to receive treatment, government officials said Friday.Ha Sang-sook, 88, resides in the city of Wuhan, China's Hubei Province, and broke her rib and pelvis last month after falling down a staircase on Feb. 15 when having a quarrel with a neighbor.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said it has decided to have her transferred to Seoul on Su
Social AffairsApril 8, 2016
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[Weekender] Military life leaves mental marks
Former Brig. Gen. Yoon Han-doo recalls the day when South Korean corvette Cheonan was struck by a North Korean torpedo on March 26, 2014. The retired general had been serving as the head of the Armed Forces Capital Hospital, which attended to the wounded sailors after the incident that left 46 dead.“Right then, I thought ‘this is a war, these are casualties of war,’” he said. Nearly 63 years have passed since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, but the occasional skirmish with the comm
DefenseApril 8, 2016
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13 N. Koreans from overseas restaurant defect to S. Korea: Seoul
More than 10 North Koreans working at a restaurant in a foreign country have defected to South Korea this week, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday.A group of 13 North Koreans -- one male manager and 12 female employees -- entered South Korea on Thursday, the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said.Overseas restaurants operated by North Korea are known to face difficulty in doing business following the U.N. Security Council's (UNSC) sanctions on Pyongyang. Such restaurants have served a
North KoreaApril 8, 2016