Most Popular
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Ex-presidential official’s leaked phone call rattles conservative bloc
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Pay debate plagues foreign nanny pilot
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K-pop star lip-syncing controversy flares up again
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35% of S. Koreans view unification 'unnecessary'
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Man escapes DUI charges by downing bottle of soju while pulled over
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Pianist Lim Yunchan double winner at Gramophone Awards
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[Reporter’s Notebook] Was Netflix film opening BIFF really a bad thing?
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N. Korean leader's sister derides Seoul's Hyunmoo-5 missile as 'useless'
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Controversial cult leader’s sentence reduced to 17 years
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[KH Explains] Is private equity giant MBK a risk-taker or renegade?
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[Editorial] Outdated pattern
North Korea is returning to its provocative habits in the lead-up to the 70th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers’ Party on Oct. 10. It announced Tuesday that it had restarted all facilities, including a uranium enrichment plant and a reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium, at the Yongbyon nuclear complex. The announcement came a day after its space agency said that it was ready to launch satellites aboard long-range rockets “at the times and locations determined by t
EditorialSept. 16, 2015
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Low-income households cut education spending in Korea
Education is slipping down the list of spending priorities for low-income households in South Korea, while high-earning households are spending the largest share of their income to educate thier children, a study showed on Wednesday. According to the study by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, Korean households that belonged to the wealthiest 20 percent of the population spent an average of 616,965 won ($523) a month to educate their children last year. Households that belonged
Social AffairsSept. 16, 2015
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[News Focus] Saenuri pushes forward with labor bills
The ruling Saenuri Party on Wednesday decided to push ahead with five labor law amendments -- including measures to ease restriction on layoffs and extending the maximum employment period for temporary workers -- as its party platform, showing its resolve to see through the key elements of the labor reform drive within this year. The tripartite committee of labor, management and the government on Sunday struck a deal on reforming the labor market. The deal was endorsed by the Federation of Korea
Social AffairsSept. 16, 2015
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KT&G’s cigarette exports surpass 500b sticks
KT&G staffers consult buyers at InterTabac, the world’s leading trade fair for tobacco products and smoking accessories, in Dortmund, Germany. (KT&G)KT&G said Wednesday that its outbound sales of cigarettes broke the 500-billion-unit mark, fanning expectations that the cigarette-maker’s export sales will outperform its domestic sales within the year. According to KT&G’s cigarette sales data, its outbound sales volume reached 500.2 billion cigarettes as of Sept. 15. Counting in the cigarettes pr
IndustrySept. 16, 2015
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Hana Financial Investment sets sail under new name
Hana Financial Investment vowed Wednesday to help develop the Korean financial service industry under a new corporate name while announcing a promotional event for customers. The company, formerly called Hana Daetoo Securities, adopted its new corporate name on Sept. 1 to mark its increased market competiveness in the financial service sector. The financial investment affiliate of Hana Financial Group has accumulated a decade of experience in asset management and investment banking. “We are p
Sept. 16, 2015
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Mamamoo drops new single
Rookie girl group Mamamoo, who topped local charts with their latest song “Um Oh Ah Yeah,” released the new single “Girl Crush” on Wednesday. The new song was created for the soundtrack of the new online game “Innisia Nest,” developed by local game company Entermate. The women of the group have also been cast as models for the upcoming game. Mamamoo (Loen Entertainment) The retro-pop “Girl Crush” was written and composed by Park Woo-sang, who worked on the group’s previous soundtrack work “Lov
Sept. 16, 2015
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Postal CEOs discuss role in digital era
Postal CEOs from the Asia-Pacific region discussed their future role and cooperation at the first regional forum in Seoul on Tuesday, organizers said.The Korea Post said participants in the Asia-Pacific Post CEO Forum agreed that post offices should remain leading socially valuable organizations in the digital age today, as they have been for the past century.They also agreed that post offices should react proactively toward the international e-commerce market and seek collaboration with various
IndustrySept. 16, 2015
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SK Networks denies Coway buyout rumor
SK Networks has denied reports that it will bid to buy Korean water and air purifier-maker Coway, a deal valued at about 3 trillion won ($2.5 billion).“We have received a teaser letter sent en bloc by Coway’s biggest shareholder MBK Partners to potential buyers. But we have no plan to join the bid,” SK Networks said Wednesday.MBK Partners, the largest shareholder of Coway with a 30.9 percent stake, in August hired U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs to broker the sale.As to separate speculation t
IndustrySept. 16, 2015
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[Herald Review] ‘The Throne’ brings royal strife down to Earth
This year’s two biggest hits at the box office, “Assassination” by director Choi Dong-hoon and “Veteran” by auteur Ryoo Seung-wan, share two key elements: action and comedy. Korean moviegoers are responding to movies that help them escape their time and place and enjoy an experience filled with palm-sweating action and easy laughs.Lee Joon-ik’s historical drama “The Throne” may be the film to prove that there is another key to the formula for success: empathy.Set during the reign of the Joseon e
FilmSept. 16, 2015
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Chaebol children own shares worth close to W100b
Underaged children of the families of South Korea’s large business conglomerates own close to 100 billion won ($84.78 million) in shares, according to data by the Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday. A total of 39 minors who are directly related to the owners of 15 conglomerates held stakes in their affiliates as of 2014, according to data provided by the FTC to Rep. Shin Hak-yong of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy. (123rf) Their total shares were valued at 96.2 billion won ($81.5 millio
IndustrySept. 16, 2015
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KT Music takes on Apple, Google
KT Music, a Korean online music service company and affiliate of mobile carrier KT, has been making efforts to refine its services amid the tough competition in the sector. In its latest move, the company announced Monday that it has beefed up its music service, dubbed Genie, in a bid to grab the upper hand and lure more customers.Models introduce KT Music’s Genie music-streaming service. (KT Music)At a media event for the launch of the new Genie service, the head of the company expressed his co
TechnologySept. 16, 2015
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Lee Seung-hwan to release new album
Veteran singer Lee Seung-hwan will release new EP “3+3,“ Dream Factory, his agency, said Wednesday. Having released the album “Fall to Fly” in March last year, he will return to the music scene, ending a 18-month hiatus. The upcoming album contains three new tracks along with three previously released tracks. (Dream Factory)Before dropping his album, Lee will prerelease Monday one of the tracks, “That One Person,” which was featured on the soundtrack of KBS TV drama “Discovery of Love” in 2014.
Sept. 16, 2015
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U.S., China to forge cooperation on N. Korea, other hotspot issues
The United States and China will step up cooperation in addressing regional hotspot issues, including North Korea's nuclear weapons program, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday, ahead of a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the U.S. Washington and Beijing remain at odds over a range of issues, such as China's increasingly assertive actions in the South China Sea, cyber hacking and human rights, but they have sounded upbeat on efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its
North KoreaSept. 16, 2015
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Morgan Stanley cuts Korea's growth estimate
Global investment bank Morgan Stanley has slashed its forecast for South Korea's economic growth citing the country's sluggish exports stemming from slowing Chinese demand, industry sources said Wednesday.It expected Asia's fourth-largest economy to expand 2.3 percent this year, slower than the previously projected 2.5 percent gain, according to sources who are familiar with the matter.An economic slowdown in China, South Korea's biggest trade partner, will work to drag down South Korea's overal
Sept. 16, 2015
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Seoul shares spike 2% on eased U.S. rate woes, rating upgrade
South Korean stocks jumped nearly 2 percent on Wednesday, buoyed by eased concerns over a U.S. interest rate hike and the upgrade of Korea's sovereign credit rating by a global appraiser. The local currency gained ground against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 1.96 percent, or 37.89 points, to 1,975.45, the highest level in about a month. Trading volume was moderate at 565.77 million shares worth 5.6 trillion won ($4.76 billion), with gainers outnumbering dec
Sept. 16, 2015
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Sariras enshrined again in 1,200-year-old Buddhist pagoda
Sacred sarira relics were placed back in an ancient Buddhist pagoda at the Bulguk Temple in Gyeongju on Wednesday as ongoing repairs are near completion.Sariras are crystals that are sometimes found among the cremated remains of Buddhist monks. They were put in a hole inside the main structure of the Seokga Pagoda, along with their container and a document on the history of repairing the pagoda after a brief Buddhist ritual."Sariras are bright, transparent and incomparable to any treasures. We p
CultureSept. 16, 2015
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[팟캐스트](111) 유럽행 난민 사태 외 1건
진행자: 송상호, Julie Jackson 1. 헝가리 난민 입국 차단 기사요약: 유럽행 중동 난민들이 헝가리로 몰려들자, 헝가리 정부는 난민 입국을 사실상 차단하고 국가 비상사태를 선포했다. 난민들이 입국하는 주요 경로인 남부 로츠케지역 세르비아 철조망 공사를 끝낸 상황이다. 앙겔라 메르켈 독일 총리는 난민위기를 다룰 특별 EU 정상회의를 개최하라고 요구했다. 아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2 팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638 Anger as Hungary seals borders, Merkel demands refugee summit [1] Hundreds of desperate migrants were Tuesday trapped behind a razor-wire fence erected
PodcastSept. 16, 2015
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Stocks hit 1-month high ahead of FOMC meeting
Stocks and currency gained sharply in the domestic market Wednesday on the back of Standard & Poor’s upgrade of Korea’s sovereign rating a day earlier and the overnight increase of the U.S. bourse.The benchmark KOSPI rose 37.89 points, or 1.96 percent, from the previous trading session to close at 1,975.45. This marked the highest in one month since it reached 1,983.46 on Aug. 13.The equities’ gain is drawing attention as it comes ahead of the interest rate-setting meeting of Federal Open Market
Sept. 16, 2015
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Ssangyong labor union ordered to pay compensation for strikes
An appeals court on Wednesday upheld a ruling against the labor union of Ssangyong Motor Co., the local unit of Indian auto conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., for holding unauthorized strikes that damaged the company's production.The Seoul High Court ordered 139 unionized workers to pay a total of 3.3 billion won ($2.8 million) to the company for holding unauthorized strikes from May to August in 2009.The strikes took place after Ssangyong Motor cut over 2,000 jobs through a voluntary retire
Social AffairsSept. 16, 2015
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S. Korea's vice FM urges NK to give up nuke programs
South Korea's vice foreign minister has called on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, amid growing speculation over the North's provocations."The international community should speak in a strong, clear, and united voice that North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear program cannot be tolerated," Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said in his keynote speech on Tuesday for an annual meeting of the Intern
North KoreaSept. 16, 2015