Most Popular
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‘Korea crossed the line too far’ disgraced singer’s lawyer cries foul after 3rd visa denial
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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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Psy's touch or new trend in music? P Nation’s solo stars lose their shine
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S. Korea to showcase Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile on Armed Forces Day ceremony for 1st time
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Park Zi-a, the actor who played 'The Glory' heroine's mother, dies
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Nasrallah's killing reveals depth of Israel's Hezbollah penetration
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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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GS E&C seeks to retake lead in Iran’s construction market
As companies around the world rush to take on new business opportunities in post-sanctions Iran, South Korean builder GS E&C is out to regain its former presence in the country where it has built up a solid track record in the construction segment. The Iranian construction market has remained virtually untapped since international sanctions took effect in 2010. Having successfully carried out major projects in Iran before, GS Group’s construction unit expects to gain an upper hand in winning fr
IndustryFeb. 10, 2016
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[Editorial] 'One-shot' law
After many twists and turns, the Corporate Vitality Enhancement Act has been finally enacted. The legislation is aimed at revitalizing Korea’s major industries, such as shipbuilding and steelmaking, which have been suffering from oversupply. The so-called “one-shot” law is designed to help companies engaged in ailing sectors eliminate excess capacity and improve productivity. Firms will be given regulatory relief and tax breaks, if their restructuring plans win approval from an evaluation commi
EditorialFeb. 10, 2016
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Concerns rise over volatile exchange rate
The won-dollar exchange rate has shown sharp fluctuations in recent months, raising concerns over the possible negative impact of such volatility on the country’s economy, which is struggling with deteriorating conditions both at home and abroad.Last week saw it rise by 18.8 won in the first three trading days to reach 1,219.3 won per dollar -- the highest level in five years and eight months -- before falling by 21.9 won over the following two days to close at 1,197.4 won on Friday. The foreign
Feb. 10, 2016
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[Editorial] Sanctions with teeth
Ignoring repeated warnings from the global community, North Korea has launched a long-range rocket. Pyongyang claimed the launch was part of its scientific space program, but it was a thinly disguised ballistic missile test. In any case, the rocket launch Sunday, which came a month after a nuclear bomb test on Jan. 6, was a flagrant violation of the multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the rogue state from using ballistic missile technology. Now, the international community should
EditorialFeb. 10, 2016
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Assembly condemns North Korea's rocket launch
The National Assembly on Wednesday endorsed a resolution that condemns North Korea’s recent long-range missile launch, urging the reclusive regime to halt its escalating military provocations against South Korea and its neighboring states. In a rare plenary session held during the Lunar New Year holiday, a total of 243 lawmakers voted in favor of the resolution that demands that the government imposes robust sanctions on the North for violating the United Nations’ resolution to ban Pyongyang fr
PoliticsFeb. 10, 2016
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Park fills spy agency’s key posts with North Korea experts
Cheong Wa Dae has replaced key posts of the nation’s spy agency, in stern response to North Korea, amid heightening tensions triggered by the communist state’s recent nuclear test and long-range missile launch.By selecting a cyber security expert, former prosecutor and military official respectively, the presidential house sent a signal that it will make all efforts to maximize intelligence capacities.President Park Geun-hye named Choi Jong-il, former ambassador to Lebanon, as the new third depu
PoliticsFeb. 10, 2016
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LG’s diabetes drug on way to global expansion
LG Life Sciences, the biopharmaceuticals unit of LG Group, is out to swiftly commercialize its self-developed diabetes treatment Zemiglo in new markets around the world. In partnership with France-based pharmaceutical giant Sanofi and Mexico’s Stendhal, the Korean drugmaker is preparing to export its new drug to 104 countries where it has already received sales approval or is undertaking preceding processes.The LG Life Sciences headquarters in Seoul (LG Life Sciences) LG Life Sciences is sched
IndustryFeb. 10, 2016
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Disabled most common victims of discrimination
More than half of the complaints about discrimination in South Korea were filed by disabled people, the nation’s human rights watchdog said Wednesday. According to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, a total of 2,179 petitions were sent to the state-run advocacy group last year. More than half -- nearly 52 percent of the complaints -- were about discrimination against disabled people at schools and work. The second-biggest number of complaints was related to sexual harassment at 9.3 p
Social AffairsFeb. 10, 2016
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Court orders ex-dictator’s son to pay fines on behalf of his father
A Seoul court ruled that the son of the former dictator Chun Doo-hwan should pay the fines unpaid by his father to the government through his company assets, legal sources said Wednesday. It marks the first victory for the government in a lawsuit against the 85-year-old ex-president since the prosecution launched a special investigation team in 2013 to collect the unpaid fines. Chun Doo-hwan (Yonhap)The Seoul Central District Court ordered the publishing company Sigongsa, founded in 1989 and r
Social AffairsFeb. 10, 2016
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Seoul, Washington, Tokyo step up security cooperation
In the aftermath of North Korea’s fresh nuclear and missile tests, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are stepping up their drive to bolster their three-way security partnership while coordinating on unilateral and joint sanctions. Gen. Lee Sun-jin, head of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, will join a teleconference Thursday with U.S. JCS chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford who is hosting Adm. Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of the Joint Staff of Japan Self-Defense Forces, in Hawaii. The top military comma
Foreign AffairsFeb. 10, 2016
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Film industry counters new media with epics, immersive experience
When the movie industry faced competition from the television industry in the 1930s and 1940s, filmmakers and studios had to be creative and offer something different on the silver screen to get people to visit movie theaters. Audience members wear 3-D glasses to watch a movie using 4DX motion picture technology at the Cinema Park multiscreen theatre complex in Moscow, Russia. (Bloomberg)They looked for ideas in Germany and France, and introduced new and mixed genres such as film noirs or romant
FilmFeb. 10, 2016
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Seoul to pull out of Gaeseong park
South Korea on Wednesday announced the closure of a joint factory park in North Korea in fresh retribution for its wayward neighbor’s latest nuclear and missile provocations. After serving more than a decade as a totem of inter-Korean rapprochement, the Gaeseong industrial complex now appears in danger of fading into history, unless Pyongyang caters to faint hopes that it will change course and desert its nuclear program. “Facing away from the international community’s repeated warnings and t
North KoreaFeb. 10, 2016
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Shares of builders are bullish riding Iran hope
Construction firms were the top winners on the main stock bourse in early trading this year, data showed Wednesday, as investors cheered growing opportunities in the Iranian market.The construction segment of the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index advanced 15.47 percent this year through Feb. 5, the bourse operator Korea Exchange said. Over the cited period, the KOSPI plunged 2.22 percent. Industry watchers said builders gained ground throughout January and early February as the interna
Feb. 10, 2016
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Korea’s car exports plunge in January
Korea’s outbound shipments of cars nosedived at the fastest clip in more than six years in January as fast-falling oil prices dragged down demand from emerging markets, including Middle East countries, the government said Wednesday.Exports of vehicles came to 201,967 units last month, down 18.8 percent from 248,613 units tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The January figure marked the sharpest year-on-year drop since October 2010, when it posted a 22.
IndustryFeb. 10, 2016
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Office lease market in Seoul to remain slow
Leasing activity for office buildings in Seoul is expected to remain conservative in 2016, according to the 2016 Asia Pacific outlook report by real estate market research company Cushman & Wakefield. The majority of tenant movements for large office buildings will emanate from companies’ restructuring, consolidating, or office mergers, rather than expansion. A case in point is Samsung Group, which has begun consolidating the offices of its affiliates in multiple locations. “Amid the sluggish ec
IndustryFeb. 10, 2016
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Lotte names 1st son as legitimate heir
Lotte Group founder’s first son Shin Dong-joo released a video earlier this week in which his father named him as the legitimate heir of the retail giant operating both in Korea and in Japan, industry sources said Wednesday. He made the move amid the prolonged dispute over which son will inherit the company. “Dong-joo is the heir in both Japan and Korea (as the first son). This is common sense (based on Confucianism). There will be no reliability if someone else takes the post,” the founder said
IndustryFeb. 10, 2016
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Speculations of further North Korean provocation brew
Seoul is bracing for possibilities of additional provocations from Pyongyang such as cross-border artillery attacks and cyber incursions, as the unpredictable regime is expected to take retaliatory steps against its southern neighbor which is seeking tougher sanctions for its recent nuclear test and rocket launch.President Park Geun-hye’s chief of staff Lee Byung-kee on Wednesday said the possibility of the North conducting military actions against Seoul has grown in light of its recent actions
North KoreaFeb. 10, 2016
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'China unlikely to alter North Korea policy’
Following Pyongyang’s nuclear test on Jan. 6 and long-range rocket test a month later, attention is being drawn to how Beijing will manage relations with its unruly ally and whether it will support harsher international sanctions against Pyongyang.Some analysts said that although it was galling for China to see its communist neighbor repeatedly engage in provocations, it will not shift its erstwhile approach to North Korea and may continue to call for a resolution through dialogue.After talks wi
North KoreaFeb. 10, 2016
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Singles delay marriage for self-improvement: survey
Lee Sung-ah, a 27-year-old scriptwriter, has been in a serious relationship with her boyfriend for more than six years. Although the couple is ready to marry, Lee asked her boyfriend to postpone marriage, citing her career ambitions. A couple gets married in a wedding ceremony. (Yonhap)“I think I’m still too young to tie the knot. I have a dream to work as a documentary producer someday soon and have more studies I want to do. I would like to invest more time and energy to myself for now,” Lee t
Social AffairsFeb. 10, 2016
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South Korea divided over THAAD
With Seoul and Washington poised to initiate official talks over the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense asset on the peninsula, intense debate is raging over the diplomatic and military consequences of the deployment.The debate has been escalating with China and Russia expressing vehement opposition to the installment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system that the U.S. Forces Korea wants to better cope with North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats.Proponents arg
North KoreaFeb. 10, 2016