Most Popular
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Ex-presidential official’s leaked phone call rattles conservative bloc
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Man escapes DUI charges by downing bottle of soju while pulled over
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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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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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Slew of top K-pop stars ready to return from military
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N. Korean leader's sister derides Seoul's Hyunmoo-5 missile as 'useless'
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S. Korea, US clinch 2026-30 defense cost-sharing deal in pre-election push
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Top nuclear envoys of S. Korea, China to hold talks ahead of Park-Xi summit
South Korea's top nuclear envoy, Hwang Joon-kook, arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, ahead of a summit meeting between President Park Geun-hye and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Upon his arrival at the Beijing airport, Hwang said the planned meeting later in the day with Wu Dawei is aimed at fine-tuning the North Korean nuclear issue. Park will hold a summit with Xi on Wednesday in Beijing, a day before she attends a military parade marking the end of World
Foreign AffairsSept. 1, 2015
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Hanjin Group chief summoned over alleged influence-peddling
The chief of Hanjin Group, the operator of the country's No. 1 airline, appeared before prosecutors Tuesday over alleged involvement in a veteran opposition lawmaker's influence-peddling. The case centers around allegations that Rep. Moon Hee-sang, former head of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, asked Hanjin Chairman Cho Yang-ho to give his brother-in-law a job in 2004. Cho showed up at the Southern District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul around 9:00 a.m. "Cho
IndustrySept. 1, 2015
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Park says Koreas can move toward peace, unification
President Park Geun-hye said Tuesday that South and North Korea can move toward peace and unification if they honor a recent deal that defused tensions.The deal reached last week between the two Koreas after days of marathon negotiations set the stage for inter-Korean dialogue and reunions of families separated since the 1950-53 Korean War.President Park Geun-hye (Yonhap)The two Koreas are set to hold Red Cross talks on Sept. 7 to arrange the reunions around Chuseok, a major holiday that is cele
North KoreaSept. 1, 2015
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Korean Red Cross begins checking fate of separated families in S. Korea
The Korean Red Cross said Tuesday it has kicked off the process to confirm the fate of more than 66,000 South Korean family members who were separated by the 1950-53 Korean War and are known to be alive in a bid to prepare for an upcoming family reunion event. The Korean Red Cross said that it has begun a 15-day project to contact separated family members who are believed to be alive and ask whether they will agree to exchange a list of separated family members with the North. More than 129,60
North KoreaSept. 1, 2015
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S. Korea's foreign assets hit record high in Q2
South Korea's foreign assets reached a record high in the second quarter of the year on more investments in overseas securities and increased foreign exchange reserves, government data showed Tuesday. According to the data released by the finance ministry, the country's external assets stood at $711.9 billion as of end-June, $30.2 billion more than three months earlier. In comparison, South Korea's external debt reached $420.6 billion as of the end of June, up $1.7 billion from the end of the
Sept. 1, 2015
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Lotte Mart pioneers first drive-thru service
Lotte Mart Co. has started its first drive-thru service in Seoul to allow customers to order products online and pick them up offline, joining the global trend for digital shopping to boost customer convenience, the retail chain of Lotte Group said Tuesday. Lotte Mart began the so-called "Drive & Pick Service" at a store in northern Seoul over the weekend, launching it for the first time in South Korea. It plans to expand the service to other stores later this year after this test-run.Clients ca
IndustrySept. 1, 2015
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S. Korea's exports plunge 14.7% on-year in Aug.
South Korea's exports tumbled nearly 15 percent on-year in August despite a series of government measures to boost trade, the government said Tuesday. Outbound shipments came to US$39.33 billion in August, down 14.7 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It marks the eighth consecutive month of decline. Still, the country's trade surplus widened to $4.35 billion as imports dropped at a faster rate of 18.3 percent on-year to $34.98 billio
Sept. 1, 2015
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China to show off new weapons at military parade
China will use this week's massive military parade marking the end of World War II to show off its new machines of war, a show of force amid Beijing's increasingly assertive military actions in territorial disputes with its neighbors. About 12,000 Chinese troops, along with a long convoy of some 500 military vehicles, will march through Tiananmen Square on Thursday. About 200 aircraft will also fly over the square during the 70-minute parade. Neighboring countries are on alert as Beijing has
World NewsSept. 1, 2015
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S. Korea, U.S. seek China's constructive role on N. Korea
Top South Korean and U.S. diplomats have agreed that China's "constructive" role is of importance for peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se held 30-minute talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic held in Anchorage, Alaska, on Monday (local time).Their meeting, the third this year, came amid concerns over the impact of President Park Geun-hye's trip to C
North KoreaSept. 1, 2015
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S. Korea's consumer prices edge up 0.7% in Aug.
South Korea's consumer prices grew less than 1 percent for the ninth month in a row in August, a government report showed Tuesday, as Asia's fourth-largest economy grapples with deflation concerns. The country's consumer price index inched up 0.7 percent last month from a year earlier, the report by Statistics Korea showed. The latest number remains unchanged from 0.7 percent on-year growth tallied for July. "Weak international oil prices are exerting a downward pull on overall inflation num
Sept. 1, 2015
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S. Korea, U.S. reaffirm close coordination on N. Korea
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reaffirmed Monday that the two countries will continue to coordinate closely on North Korea, the State Department said. The two top diplomats met in Anchorage, Alaska, on the sidelines of the Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic that the U.S. hosted to focus world attention on climate change affecting the polar region and discuss ways to curb it. "They had a productive discussion on plans for Republic of
North KoreaSept. 1, 2015
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S. Korea pledges cooperation for fight against climate change
Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on Monday pledged that South Korea will work closely with the international community to curb climate change affecting the Arctic and to ensure the sustainable development of the polar region.Yun made the pledge during the Conference on Global Leadership in the Arctic that the United States hosted in Anchorage, Alaska, to focus world attention on climate change affecting the polar region and discuss ways to tackle the phenomenon."My government, for the first time ev
Sept. 1, 2015
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N. Korea likely to use provocations unless economic aid comes from S. Korea: U.S. expert
Provocations will continue to be a part of North Korea's strategy for dealing with South Korea despite the recent conciliatory mood created between the two sides after they defused a military standoff, a U.S. expert said Monday. Ken Gause, a senior analyst on Korea at CNA Corp., made the forecast in a just-released paper titled "North Korea's provocations and escalation calculus," saying the dynamics of Pyongyang's decision-making on provocations have not changed dramatically since Kim Jong-un
North KoreaSept. 1, 2015
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Blast Seen in Chemical Industry Zone in Shandong, Daily Reports
An explosion was seen and heard in a chemical-industry zone in eastern China’s Shandong province at 11:25 p.m. local time on Monday, People’s Daily reported via Twitter.The Communist Party-owned paper said the incident took place in Dongying city, without giving additional information.A chemical warehouse fire and explosion in northern China’s Tianjin municipality on Aug. 12 killed at least 158 people, including 94 firefighters, and led to a government crackdown on hazardous-goods storage. (Bloo
World NewsSept. 1, 2015
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PM, Washington Gov. discuss inter-Korean deal
South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and visiting Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Monday discussed an inter-Korean deal struck last week. The two Koreas reached a landmark deal last week to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula. In the agreement, North Korea "expressed regret" over the recent injury of South Korean soldiers in the explosion of landmines laid by North Korea in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. Seoul accused Pyongyang of secretly burying the mines in
Foreign AffairsAug. 31, 2015
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Former Ssangyong chairman donates 1st Chairman sedan to Ssangyong Motor
Ssangyong Engineering & Construction chairman Kim Seok-joon (right) poses with Ssangyong Motor CEO Choi Johng-sik after donating his 18-year old Ssangyong Motor full-size Chairman sedan to the carmaker in Seoul on Monday. The donated car by the former Ssangyong Group chairman was the first Chairman built on the Mercedes-Benz’s W124 platform back in 1997. Ssangyong Motor
BusinessAug. 31, 2015
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Global pharma firms boost employee morale with family-centered benefits
Shin Seong-suk, compliance director at France-based pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis Korea, sent her 11-year-old son Lee Yu-jin to Paris this summer to spend 10 days with a French family she had never met before.Last week, she welcomed Marceau Dabert, the 12-year-old son of the French family Yu-jin had stayed with, to South Korea for the first time. Shin took the children in and around Seoul, seeking to grant the young French visitor an unforgettable experience of a lifetime in a foreign co
IndustryAug. 31, 2015
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SK Innovation, JX Nippon to strengthen partnership
SK Innovation, South Korea’s top oil refiner, and Japan-based JX Nippon Oil & Energy have agreed to strengthen their partnership in order to overcome structural challenges faced by the global oil and petrochemical industries, according to the Korean refiner.Executives from the two companies ― including SK Innovation CEO Chung Chul-khil and JX Nippon Oil & Energy CEO Yasushi Kimura ― discussed joint measures to pursue in line with changing conditions in the global oil market at a high-level meeti
IndustryAug. 31, 2015
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Classic pansori tale with new, modern-day facelift to hit stage
One of the most vocally challenging traditional Korean pansori performances is receiving a cutting-edge, contemporary makeover in the National Theater of Korea’s upcoming production of “Song of the Red Cliff.”Being referred to as a new evolution of changguek (Korean opera), the performance is slated as the opener of the state-run theater’s 2015-2016 season and will be held for five days starting Sept. 15. “Song of the Red Cliff,” or “Jeokbyekga,” is one of the five surviving stories of tradition
PerformanceAug. 31, 2015
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Ministry to reduce funding for 66 colleges
The Education Ministry will cut its financial subsidies for 66 colleges and universities that scored poorly in its evaluation on their reform efforts, officials said Monday.The college evaluation, initiated by the ministry in April 2014, aims to reduce the number of student openings at higher education institutes across the country, which is forecast to exceed the number of high school graduates by 160,000 by 2023. “Korea has already entered a phase of rapid decline in students, with at the numb
Social AffairsAug. 31, 2015