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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Seoul to hold grand military parade on Tuesday, disrupting major city routes
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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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Israel targets Palestinian group in first strike on Beirut center
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NewJeans fans corner Hybe amid PR backlash, looming National Assembly audit
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KMA chief under pressure after surveyed doctors refuse to back him
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Police: Butane canisters found in Incheon Airport
Police said Friday they have recovered two butane canisters in a suspicious white box in South Korea's main airport near Seoul, but no accident was reported.Police said they received a report around 4:30 p.m. that the box suspected to contain explosive devices was found in a man's bathroom in Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway.Police cordoned off the area as an explosive ordnance disposal unit was checking the bathroom.A scan from portable digital x-ray equipment showed th
Social AffairsJan. 29, 2016
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Korea manufacturing losing steam
The 2015 corporate earnings this week showed that the manufacturing industry, once the backbone of the nation’s exports-driven economic growth, is losing steam at a fast pace. (Yonhap)The nation’s top two manufacturers ― Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor ― recorded a double digit year-on-year fall in their net profit last year, squeezed by falling demand in major overseas markets and growing competition from cheap rival products. Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor announced a 19 percent a
Latest NewsJan. 29, 2016
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Global tablet PC sales plunge 12.2% in 2015 on weak demand
Global sales of tablet PCs tumbled more than 12 percent in 2015 from a year earlier as a slumping world economy crimped demand for information technology products, industry data showed Sunday.A total of 168.5 million tablet PCs were sold across the world last year, down 12.2 percent from the previous year, according to data by market tracker TrendForce.It is the first time that global shipments of tablet PCs have fallen at a double-digit rate.Apple led the world‘s tablet PC market last year, but
TechnologyJan. 29, 2016
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From asylum seeker to renowned activist
At a glance, Yiombi Thona appears to be a symbol of success as a refugee in Korea, with his thriving career as a university lecturer and human rights activist traveling around the world to address refugee problems. Yet, he could settle down in Korea only after a grueling six-year process to win refugee status, enduring poor treatment toward asylum seekers and discrimination against African migrants. Yiombi Thona (Photo credit: Adam Paul Czelusta)“Korea is my second home which gave me protection.
Social AffairsJan. 29, 2016
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[Newsmaker] Patterson sentenced to 20 years in jail for Itaewon murder
A Seoul court on Friday sentenced a U.S. man to 20 years in jail for murdering a South Korean college student nearly two decades ago in the Itaewon murder case. The Seoul Central District Court found Arthur John Patterson, 37, guilty of stabbing Cho Joong-pil, 22, to death in 1997 at a Burger King outlet in Itaewon, a multicultural district frequented by expats. Arthur Patterson (Yonhap)The court recognized Edward Lee, 37, as an accomplice for the murder, but did not convict him according to Kor
Social AffairsJan. 29, 2016
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Ex-P.M. given suspended prison term for corruption
A Seoul court on Friday sentenced former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo to eight months in jail, suspended for two years, for taking illegal political funds from a deceased businessman at the center of a high-profile bribery scandal.Lee was charged last July for receiving a bag carrying 30 million won ($24,865) from former Keangnam Enterprises chairman Sung Woan-jong while running in a by-election in 2013. Sung was found dead last April in an apparent suicide amid a prosecutorial probe into the scan
Social AffairsJan. 29, 2016
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Speculations grow over THAAD talks
Expectations are growing that Seoul and Washington will soon initiate official talks over the latter’s potential deployment of an advanced missile defense asset on the peninsula to address Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats.Although Seoul’s Defense Ministry denied news reports Friday that informal talks over the installation of a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system were already underway, it said the system would be “helpful” for the country’s security. (Yonhap)The ministry said that
DefenseJan. 29, 2016
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Parliament tensions peak over contentious bills
The rival parties’ conflict over the passage of pending bills peaked on Friday, with the ruling Saenuri Party refusing to make amendments to its North Korean human rights bill and The Minjoo Party of Korea demanding an immediate redrawing of the nation’s electoral map.The parliamentary session that was originally slated for 2 p.m. was delayed all throughout the afternoon before it finally fell through.The last-minute variable came from the main opposition Minjoo camp, which suddenly reneged on a
PoliticsJan. 29, 2016
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U.N. official criticizes Korea for restricting freedom of speech
A senior U.N. rights official expressed concerns Friday that the Korean authorities were stifling the rights to public assembly and free speech. Maina Kiai (Yonhap)Maina Kiai, the special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, took issue with the government’s use of law and public force to restrict public assemblies and association, as well as a lack of dialogue channels between the authorities and citizens. “I heard government officials repeatedly cite peop
Social AffairsJan. 29, 2016
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[Weekender] Even better than the real thing?
Virtual reality is a technology that creates the illusion of being fully immerged in the simulated worlds. But the profit potential from the burgeoning industry is becoming less and less of an illusion. Goldman Sachs recently predicted virtual reality, coupled with augmented reality, would become an $80 billion industry by 2025, possibly overtaking the TV market by 2026.“As the technology advances, price points decline, and an entire new marketplace of applications hit the market, we believe vir
TechnologyJan. 29, 2016
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Military to hand out cell phones to conscripts
The Defense Ministry said Friday it will operate a new mobile phone system at the nation's military barracks, in which soldiers will be able to receive phone calls from their parents and relatives. To this effect, the ministry has distributed a total of 44,686 mobile phones throughout all military barracks for the country's 630,000 soldiers in its latest effort to improve their living conditions.One cell phone will be given to each group of eight to 10 soldiers staying together in the same livin
Social AffairsJan. 29, 2016
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Surveillance in full swing on prospect of North's missile launch
South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have fully mobilized their surveillance assets as the countries are bracing for North Korea's possible launch of a long-range missile in the near future.The possibility of North Korea's long-range missile launch is growing after the reclusive country conducted its fourth nuclear test on Jan. 6. North Korea's past nuclear tests have always come with long-range missile launches, although the country has a history of test-firing a long-range missile first, followed b
North KoreaJan. 29, 2016
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[Weekender] Tech giants dive into virtual reality race
Odds are you may think that virtual reality was developed in recent years. But it has long existed in different forms, arguably stretching back to the 360-degree murals of the 19th century and the stereoscope View-Master made in 1939. The term virtual reality is said to have been coined in the mid-1900s and augmented reality, which overlays 3-D images over the real world, came along in the 1950s. Visitors wear Samsung Electronics' Gear VR headsets at the company's 4-D theater at the CES trade sh
TechnologyJan. 29, 2016
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[Herald Review] Google Cardboard vs. Samsung Gear VR
When I first tried Google Cardboard, a virtual reality pair of goggles made out of a few pieces of cardboard and two lenses, at The Korea Herald office in Seoul one afternoon, my coworkers giggled, watching me holding the small brown box up to my eyes and struggling to turn around properly in my chair. But their attention was divided between me and the trendy cardboard goggles, making me feel both embarrassed and flattered. Google CardboardTo be honest, I could have done a review on the Cardboar
TechnologyJan. 29, 2016
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VR revolutionizes game industry
At the G-Star gaming convention in Busan in 2015, visitors waited anxiously in front of Oculus VR’s exhibition booth to get a taste of new media content.In the virtual world of a shooting game, gamers can see bullets passing right by them, run down the street with shotguns or automatic weapons alongside other police SWAT members while fighting bad guys and feeling like heroes on a mission.Content such as games and videos using the emerging technology of virtual reality provide a unique and inter
Latest NewsJan. 29, 2016
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LG chairman stresses innovation for growth
LG Group chairman Koo Bon-moo has urged the chief executives of the conglomerate’s affiliates to push the envelope for change and innovation in order to overcome difficulties in the coming years. Participating in the Global CEO Strategy Meeting, an annual meeting of the group’s chief executives, held for two days from Wednesday in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, Koo told the top management to “renovate the existing profit structures and improve the business models, reflecting the changing market tre
TechnologyJan. 29, 2016
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China presses Korea over THAAD
China urged South Korea Friday to rethink the sensitive issue of bringing in an advanced U.S. missile defense system."The Chinese government hopes the related nation (South Korea) will handle the matter prudently," Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, told Yonhap News Agency.She stressed that Beijing's position is firm that all countries should consider the national interests of other nations in taking their own security into account.China's message came in response to rep
Social AffairsJan. 29, 2016
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[Editorial] Missile provocation
North Korea is reportedly likely to carry out a long-range missile test in the near future. Japan’s Kyodo News agency, quoting a Japanese government source, reported Thursday that the launch could come as early as in a week. Seoul’s Defense Ministry, which neither confirmed nor denied the report, said the military had been keeping close tabs on the launch site in the North’s northwestern region. It has been customary for the North to launch a long-range rocket before or after a nuclear bomb tes
EditorialJan. 29, 2016
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[Editorial] Blinded by self-interest
The results of the second telemedicine trial project are in. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said more than 80 percent of the patients who received telemedical care expressed satisfaction. Encouraged by the outcome, the ministry plans to launch another trial project next month on a much larger scale. The second project was carried out between March and December last year, involving some 5,300 patients in various places, including islands, remote rural areas, military camps, ocean-going vesse
EditorialJan. 29, 2016
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[Robert B Reich] Volcanic core of U.S. election
Not a day passes that I don’t get a call from the media asking me to compare Bernie Sanders’ and Hillary Clinton’s tax plans, or bank plans, or health care plans. I don’t mind. I’ve been teaching public policy for much of the last 35 years. I’m a policy wonk. But detailed policy proposals are as relevant to the election of 2016 as is that gaseous planet beyond Pluto. They don’t have a chance of making it, as things are now. The other day, Bill Clinton attacked Sanders’ proposal for a single-paye
ViewpointsJan. 29, 2016