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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Seoul to hold grand military parade on Tuesday, disrupting major city routes
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KMA chief under pressure after surveyed doctors refuse to back him
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Korea's insect industry grows sharply over 4 years
(Yonhap)The South Korean market for insects has grown drastically over the past four years, indicating it could emerge as a promising future industry, a state think tank said Friday.In a report, the Korea Rural Economic Institute estimated the size of the market at 313.9 billion won ($268 million) last year, up 90 percent from 168 billion won in 2011.Last year insects were most used at local governments' events, valued at 181.6 billion won. Events using insects included a butterfly festival in H
IndustryFeb. 5, 2016
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Refiners' earnings unscathed by plunging oil prices
Despite global oil prices hitting a multi-year low due to a supply glut, local oil refiners pocketed decent earnings last year on the back of improved cracking margins, and their stellar performance may continue into this year, analysts say.Oil prices have been in the doldrums since early last year on continued concerns over an oversupply. More recently, international sanctions on Iran were lifted allowing the oil-rich country to add new barrels to an already glutted global market.This year, cru
IndustryFeb. 5, 2016
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Samsung's Tizen remains No. 4 smartphone OS
Samsung Electronics Co.'s Tizen operating system retained its status as the fourth most-used smartphone platform in the world in the fourth quarter of 2015, a global market tracker said Friday.According to Strategy Analytics, the number of Tizen-powered smartphones sold around the globe came to 900,000 units in the October-December period, rising sharply from 200,000 units posted in the first quarter. (Yonhap)Although the fourth-quarter figure marked a slight drop from 1 million units posted in
IndustryFeb. 5, 2016
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Around the hotels
Ritz-Carlton offers Spring Festival packageThe Ritz-Carlton, Seoul is presenting the “New Year’s Prestige Getaway” package in celebration of the Spring Festival, China’s most important public holiday. The package is available from Feb. 1-18.Available to guests staying for two or more nights during the promotion period, the package includes buffet breakfast at The Garden and dinner at Oksan Buffet for two, for the duration of each stay. The price of the package starts from 300,000 won per night.
FoodFeb. 5, 2016
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Travel bits
The Crane tour in CheorwonKorea Tourism Organization provides tourists with a special opportunity to explore cranes in Cherwon, Gangwon Province, from Jan.18 to Feb.29. Crane, designated as Natural Monument No. 202, is an endangered species having a worldwide population of only about 2,000-3,000. Cranes fly toward the DMZ in Cheorwon which has not been inhabited by human beings for more than six decades.The crane tour will be a day-trip departing from Seoul by DMZ train and exploring red-crowned
TravelFeb. 5, 2016
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Seoul vows ‘active’ response to N.K. missile liftoff
Defense Minister Han Min-koo on Friday pledged to take an “active” response to North Korea’s looming missile test, raising the possibility of a surprise launch and calling for airtight military readiness and effective utility of reconnaissance assets. Han convened a meeting with senior officials at the ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff to assess the current security situation and review its military readiness after Pyongyang unveiled plans to fire a long-range rocket between Feb. 8 and 25. The
North KoreaFeb. 5, 2016
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Gov't to be alert over North Korean rocket launch during key holiday
The Unification Ministry said Friday it will be on high alert during the Lunar New Year's holiday to monitor a possible launch of North Korea's long-range rocket.North Korea has notified U.N. agencies that it will launch a satellite sometime between Feb. 8 and 25, widely seen as a covert test of ballistic missile technology. The first day of the North's launch window overlaps the holiday."The government will operate an emergency work system from Monday till Wednesday," Jeong Joon-hee, a ministry
North KoreaFeb. 5, 2016
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Korea has little chance of Zika virus
South Korea is now faced with little chance that the Zika virus may spread in the country, but no one knows what will happen down the line, the most prestigious local expert on the disease said Friday.The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus an international health hazard earlier in the week following an outbreak in Brazil. South Korea designated it a legal infectious disease late last month."At the moment, there is an extremely low chance of the virus spreading in South Korea, but
Social AffairsFeb. 5, 2016
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U.N. chief meets with Korean official in London
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with a high-ranking South Korean official in London and discussed ways to help resolve the humanitarian crisis in Syria, Seoul officials said Friday.The meeting with Lee Suk-joon, a lead officer for government policy coordination at the prime minister's office, took place on the sidelines of an international donors' conference on Thursday, according to the Prime Minister's Office.Ban expressed hope that the Seoul government will continue to provide aid to t
Foreign AffairsFeb. 5, 2016
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Kakao’s Q4 profits drop due to higher costs
Concerns over Kakao’s profitability are on the rise in the market as the profits of the mobile messenger operator nosedived in the October-December period last year. The company said in a regulatory filing on Friday that its net income over the three-month period plunged more than 80 percent year-on-year to 10.2 billion won ($8.5 million) while the firm’s operating income in the same period stood at 20.4 billion won, down 68.8 percent from a year earlier. The quarterly revenue came in at 241.7 b
TechnologyFeb. 5, 2016
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China FM: Envoy urged North Korea to avoid escalating tensions
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Hong Kong-based media Friday that special envoy Wu Dawei called for North Korea to avoid escalating tensions with a planned rocket launch.Wang also repeated that all relevant parties should work together to resume talks on North Korea's nuclear issue, according to his interview aired by Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV during his visit to London.China's chief nuclear envoy Wu wrapped up a three-day visit to North Korea on Thursday, as North Korea notified U.N. age
North KoreaFeb. 5, 2016
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Park appoints new deputy heads of spy agency
President Park Geun-hye on Friday appointed new deputy chiefs of the National Intelligence Service. Kim Jin-sub, the intelligence secretary at the presidential National Security Office, was promoted to the first deputy director in charge of overseas intelligence. Prior to entering Cheong Wa Dae in late 2014, he served as director-general for North Korea affairs at the NIS. Park also picked Choi Yoon-soo, deputy head of the Busan High Prosecutors’ Office, as the second deputy director responsible
North KoreaFeb. 5, 2016
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[Photo News] Go match between artificial intelligence AlphaGo and champion Lee Se-dol
AI CHALLENGES HUMAN GO MASTER -- Google unveiled the schedule of the Go match between its artificial intelligence program AlphaGo and Korean Go champion Lee Se-dol on Friday. Demis Hassabis, the founder of Deep Mind, developer of the AI program and a subsidiary of Google, tweeted on the same day that a total of five games will be held from March 9 to 15 in Korea. More details of the match will be revealed soon. (Kim Young-won/The Korea Herald)
TechnologyFeb. 5, 2016
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Mariners' Lee Dae-ho remains 'confident' ahead of preseason competition
He might not have signed the major league deal that he'd earlier envisioned, but South Korean slugger Lee Dae-ho, who recently joined the Seattle Mariners on a minor league contract, said Friday he's seeing the glass half full.The first baseman/designated hitter will have to battle for a big league job when the Mariners' position players report to spring training in three weeks. It may not be what the 2015 Japan Series MVP, who'd earlier won a regular season MVP in South Korea, had in mind when
BaseballFeb. 5, 2016
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U.S. urges China to exercise influence to alter behavior of Pyongyang's
China should exercise regional leadership and influence with North Korea to help change the behavior of the "very unpredictable young man" leading its communist neighbor, the U.S. State Department spokesman said Thursday."We believe that as a strong leader in the Asia-Pacific region, and as a nation that borders the North, China has a unique role it has to play, has unique leadership that it can exert, and influence that it can bring to bear," spokesman John Kirby said at a Foreign Press Center
North KoreaFeb. 5, 2016
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More eateries appearing in Korea’s train stations
With Lunar New Year upon us, there is no escaping the elbow-to-elbow crowds that flood the nation’s train stations as millions of locals travel out of the cities to reunite with their loved ones. While long lines at ticket booths are not surprising, over the past few years, a new food culture of has also developed there, with long lines at food places have also started appearing in train stations. Interior look at Daejeon Station‘s bakery Sung Sim Dang. (Julie Jackson/The Korea Herald)Rather th
FoodFeb. 5, 2016
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U.N. panel to recommend fresh sanctions against North Korea
A U.N. panel of experts is expected to recommend fresh sanctions against North Korea to a Security Council committee next week, sources said Thursday.The recommendations will be included in the panel's annual report to the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions on Pyongyang, the sources said. The committee, in turn, is expected to propose sanctions to the council in early March, the sources said.The Security Council swiftly condemned the North's Jan. 6 nuclear test and has since been wo
North KoreaFeb. 5, 2016
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Korea to offer aid $12 mln to help Syria
South Korea will provide $12 million won worth of aid to help resolve the humanitarian crisis in Syria, Seoul officials said Friday.The decision was made at an international donors' conference in London that Lee Suk-joon, a lead officer for government policy coordination at the prime minister's office, is to attend. He left for the meeting on Wednesday.Seoul's pledge came as Syria has been affected by a civil war for the past five years, prompting a humanitarian crisis for millions of people dis
InternationalFeb. 5, 2016
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U.S. experts hold informal meetings with North Koreans amid rocket tensions
American security experts held unofficial "Track II" meetings in Berlin with North Koreans earlier this week, a U.S. think tank said, amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang's planned rocket launch following a nuclear test.The meetings took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the U.S. participants included Joel Wit, editor of the North Korea-monitoring website 38 North, and Victor Cha, chief Korea analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, according to an email to reporters f
North KoreaFeb. 5, 2016
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Spend time away at hotels during Lunar New Year
INCHEON -- On the 12th floor of Grand Hyatt Incheon, guests can get a panoramic view of Incheon International Airport from the lounge and a line of airplanes taking off and landing down on its runway.It is somewhat hard to resist peeking out the window at the Boeing 777s or Airbus A350s coming and going every 5-10 minutes against the beautiful skyline in the background in this quiet and tranquil hotel. It makes you want to disconnect your mobile phone, laptop, and drop everything and just hop on
CultureFeb. 5, 2016