Most Popular
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Opposition mulls delay of financial investment income tax
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Immigration policy must go beyond labor supply: experts
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‘Korea crossed the line too far’ disgraced singer’s lawyer cries foul after 3rd visa denial
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S. Korea to showcase Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile on Armed Forces Day ceremony for 1st time
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Nasrallah's killing reveals depth of Israel's Hezbollah penetration
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Park Zi-a, the actor who played 'The Glory' heroine's mother, dies
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Psy's touch or new trend in music? P Nation’s solo stars lose their shine
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Korean American documentary ‘Free Chol Soo Lee' wins Emmy
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KMA chief under pressure after surveyed doctors refuse to back him
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Meditation brings calm to Gwanghwamun
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Top court orders retrial for opposition lawmaker on bribery charges
The Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a ruling that convicted a senior opposition lawmaker of receiving 30 million won ($24,400) in kickbacks from a former banker, citing lack of credibility in testimonies.Rep. Park Jie-won, formerly affiliated with the main opposition Minjoo Party, was indicted in September 2012 on charges of pocketing 80 million won from former bankers and a businessman in return for peddling influences over a prosecutors' investigation.The Seoul High Court, partly acceptin
Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2016
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Choo Shin-soo's father convicted of fraud
The father of Texas Rangers' outfielder Choo Shin-soo received a three-year jail term Thursday for not paying back 500 million won ($407,400) that he borrowed. The Jinju Branch of the Changwon District Court suspended the sentence for the 65-year-old for five years and ordered him to carry out 100 hours of community service.His accomplice, identified only by his surname Cho, was jailed after receiving a four-year prison term. Cho was accused of borrowing an additional 300 million won from the vi
Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2016
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Kia set to debut hybrid SUV Niro in Europe
Kia Motors, the nation’s second-largest carmaker, is ready to debut Niro, its first hybrid sport utility vehicle, in Europe by hosting a media preview event in Frankfurt, Germany, on Wednesday. Kia plans to officially debut the compact SUV in Europe during the 86th Geneva International Motor Show in Switzerland between March 3 and 13. Early this month at the Chicago Auto show, the Korean automaker unveiled Niro, developed on the same platform with its sister firm Hyundai Motor’ Ioniq hybrid, f
BusinessFeb. 18, 2016
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BIFF head steps down amid controversy over censorship
Suh Byung-soo, mayor of Busan, said Thursday he will step down as chief organizer of the Busan International Film Festival amid allegations that he tried to censor a movie screened in 2014.The feud between the Busan Metropolitan Government and BIFF began when the festival organizers screened "The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol," a documentary that criticizes the South Korean government's botched rescue efforts in the immediate aftermath of a ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people in 20
Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2016
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CrucialTec develops heartbeat-measuring fingerprint verification
Mobile bio-verification firm CrucialTec has developed a biometric verification system recognizing fingerprints and heartbeats at the same time, company officials said Tuesday. The new system Anti-Fake BTP is a combination of the company’s representative product Biometric TrackPad, a fingerprint recognition sensor, and a heartbeat rate monitoring system to block fake fingerprints. Anti-Fake BTP (CrucialTec)Unlike common optical fingerprint scanners, Anti-Fake BTP is designed to prevent fake fing
TechnologyFeb. 18, 2016
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PM rules out possibility of nuclear armament
South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Thursday that the government maintains a denuclearization policy despite some debates on the possibility of the country's own nuclear armament."It is the government's basic position that the nuclear armament is not permitted," Hwang said during a National Assembly interpellation session.North Korea's recent nuclear test on Jan. 6 has rekindled debates among some conservative politicians, including the leadership of the ruling Saenuri Party, about se
PoliticsFeb. 18, 2016
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[Editorial] Connections matter
The Park Geun-hye administration indulges in favoritism in appointments to public office as much as previous administrations. The latest noise comes from the National Pension Service. Kang Myun-wook, former CEO of Meritz Asset Management Co, took over this week as chief investment officer of the NPS. He will be in charge of investing the 510 trillion won ($410 billion) fund managed by the country’s biggest investor. Kang’s appointment drew skepticism from the financial industry, with some point
EditorialFeb. 18, 2016
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Fiennes defends playing Michael Jackson, colorblind casting
NEW YORK (AP) -- Joseph Fiennes is defending himself in the wake of criticism after being cast as Michael Jackson in an upcoming half-hour TV special, acknowledging the topic is "sensitive" but never intending it to be divisive.The white actor will play the King of Pop in the upcoming Sky Arts comedy "Elizabeth, Michael, and Marlon," which tells the story of a road trip taken by Jackson, Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor as they flee New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks."I dea
TelevisionFeb. 18, 2016
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Seoul shares spike 1.32% on hopes for oil price rebound
Korean shares jumped 1.32 percent on Thursday as investors cheered major oil exporters' efforts to stabilize crude prices, analysts said. The local currency edged down against the U.S. dollar, hitting a new yearly low.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) gained 24.9 points to close at 1,908.84. Trading volume was moderate at 327 million shares worth 4.64 trillion won ($3.78 billion), with gainers far outnumbering losers 666 to 170.It marked the first time in more than a week f
Feb. 18, 2016
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[NEWS ANALYSIS] Park’s sudden shift on N.K. raises doubts
Concerns and skepticism persist over Seoul’s policy direction and future cross-border relations since President Park Geun-hye broke a taboo by warning of “regime collapse” in North Korea.During her parliamentary address Tuesday, Park in effect demanded North Korean leader Kim Jong-un make a choice: Abandon nuclear weapons or face the demise of the communist system. The recent pullout from the Gaeseong industrial park is only the “beginning” of “strong and effective” steps for a change to be take
North KoreaFeb. 18, 2016
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Busan mayor resigns as BIFF chief
Busan Mayor Suh Byung-soo stepped down Thursday as the chairman of the Busan International Film Festival organizing committee, amid calls for his resignation following the government and Busan City’s attempt to cancel the screening of a controversial documentary about the Sewol ferry disaster at the 2014 festival. Lee Yong-kwan, coexecutive director of the BIFF secretariat, also resigned alongside Suh. Since going ahead with the screening of “Diving Bell” in 2014, Lee had been facing mounting pr
FilmFeb. 18, 2016
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Saenuri split over nomination rules
The ruling conservative Saenuri Party’s internal feud over candidate nominations for the upcoming parliamentary elections escalated Thursday into a head-on collision between lawmakers loyal to President Park Geun-hye and the opposing faction.The former group, led by nomination committee chairman Rep. Lee Hahn-koo, insisted on a public survey system that has been said to favor rookie politicians.The “non-Park” members led by party leader Rep. Kim Moo-sung, saw this rule not only as an unfair swip
PoliticsFeb. 18, 2016
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‘SAC on Screen’ unveils new art film productions
In 2013 the Seoul Arts Center began filming a number of its live stage productions, creating ultrahigh-definition movie versions of their shows, which are recorded using more than 10 different camera angles and surround sound. On Tuesday, the SAC held a screening of “The Last Empress” -- pegged as Korea’s first original blockbuster musical -- alongside a piano recital by the legendary Paris-based pianist Paik Kun-woo at the CineCube Theater in Gwanghwamun, Seoul.A scene from “The Last Empress”
PerformanceFeb. 18, 2016
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Police raid teachers union’s Web hosting company
Police on Thursday raided the office of a company in Seoul that manages a computer server run by a progressive teachers union to investigate whether the public workers had violated laws by expressing political statements against the government. Earlier in the day, Jongno Police Station seized documents and data from a telecommunications company working with the Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union, the nation’s biggest progressive teachers union that was recently outlawed by the high cour
Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2016
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Public divided on whether to scrap use of ‘Korean age’
For expats, one of the first things they learn to adjust to in South Korea is to clarify their age in two ways: one as they would back home, and another in “Korean age.”Korea is one of the few countries that counts a newborn as being age 1 from birth. The tradition originates from China and was widely used in Asia.From birth, a Korean starts as a 1-year-old and grows older by a year each year as the calendar changes. A 20-year-old, therefore would be 21 years old in Korean age, even if they have
Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2016
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Drug seizures surge 42%
The amount of smuggled narcotics in South Korea surged 42 percent year-on-year last year, statistics released by the Korea Customs Service showed Thursday.Drugs totaling 91.6 kilograms were confiscated in 2015, each marking 28 percent and 42 percent rise from the year before. The number of apprehended smuggled cases reached 325, up 6 percent from 2014. The authorities said drug smuggling cases continued to increase for the past four years. Customs officials display the smuggled drugs confiscated
Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2016
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Over 80,000 infants missed free health checkups: lawmaker
Over 80,000 infants in Korea failed to show up for free basic health checkups, stoking concerns that they may be suffering from parental negligence, a lawmaker said Thursday.According to Rep. Lee No-geun of the ruling Saenuri Party, quoting National Health Insurance Service data, a total of 80,783 of some 1.07 million infants across the country did not receive their free health checkup as of 2013. This accounted for 7.5 percent of total babies. Under the current health rule, babies must receiv
Social AffairsFeb. 18, 2016
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Korea-U.S. drills to map out N. K. endgame scenario
Next month’s joint military drills by South Korea and the United States will simulate an endgame scenario for North Korea that has the military recover the entire territory of the peninsula after the collapse of the Kim Jong-un regime, a military official said Thursday.The relatively rare simulation -- military operations are usually focused on hitting the North Korean leadership in Pyongyang -- coincided with Defense Minister Han Min-koo saying that the annual war games would be “the biggest ye
DefenseFeb. 18, 2016
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Conan O’Brien conducts secret project with Park Jin-young
American talk show host Conan O'Brien conducted a top secret project with Park Jin-young, the head producer of JYP Entertainment on Thursday, according to the entertainment agency. O’Brien visited the JYP Entertainment building in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on Wednesday to discuss the content of the collaborative project. O‘Brien was joined by Korean-American actor Steven Yeun, who filmed a segment in Los Angeles with O’Brien in 2013 in which the two men visited a Korean spa and sauna.Conan O‘Brien visit
TelevisionFeb. 18, 2016
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Korea’s service industry has more scope for growth
Korea’s service industry has expanded at a rapid pace in recent years, accounting for an increasing portion of growth.A recent study by the Korea International Trade Association showed the rate of the services sector’s contribution to the country’s economic growth rose from 37.2 percent in 2010 to 52.9 percent in 2013. Over the cited period, the corresponding figure for the manufacturing industry declined from 54.8 percent to 35.4 percent.Compared with other advanced economies, however, it still
IndustryFeb. 18, 2016