Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean adoptee sisters meet for the first time in 39 years
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Yoon calls for measures to protect Koreans amid escalating Iran-Israel conflicts
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Signs point to N. Korean troops in Russia-Ukraine combat zone
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Rose's 'Apt.' redefines K-pop's global appeal
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Civil servant’s death linked to workplace bullying
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Two years on, thousands mourn Itaewon tragedy, calling for accountability
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[Weekender] Walk around Korea to really get to know the country
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N. Korea slams Seoul-Washington joint air exercise
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[Herald Interview] K-pop’s 'best years are ahead of us': Spotify’s general manager for Asia Pacific
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[Herald Interview] Love for K-drama, food defines 'Secret Ingredient'
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[Photo News] COVID-19 vaccine enters Korea
A medical professional extracts the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from a vial at the Dobong-gu public health center in northern Seoul on Friday morning. A health professional prepares the AstraZeneca vaccine on the first day of the COVID-19 vaccination program in Korea at the Geumcheon-gu public health center in southern Seoul. A health official prepares a COVID-19 vaccination at a nursing home in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. (Photos: Yonhap) By Yoon Chae-won (choenayoon@heraldcorp.com)
Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021
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[Weekender] North Korean defector runs in UK election to defend ‘voiceless’
Park Ji-hyun still remembers the feeling when she first arrived in the UK in 2008. Having fled repression and poverty in North Korea and human trafficking in China, she was glad to find a refuge, but also nervous to start a new life thousands of kilometers away from home. “Many people welcomed me when I got here,” Park told The Korea Herald in a recent interview via Zoom. “Back then, I couldn’t fully grasp the meaning of the word ‘welcome,’ but just
North KoreaFeb. 27, 2021
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[Photo News] Koreans look forward to a world without COVID-19
Nursing home workers in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, wait in line at the Heungkuk Gymnasium for the first round of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccination on Friday. Booths set up around the gymnasium are where medical workers administer the vaccinations. (Photos: Yonhap) By Song Donna (donnadsong@heraldcorp.com)
Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021
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Front-line medical workers get 1st injections of Pfizer's vaccine in S. Korea
A group of 300 medical workers treating novel coronavirus patients started receiving the first batch of the vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. in South Korea on Saturday, one day after the country kicked off a free vaccination campaign. Doctors, nurses and other health professionals treating COVID-19 patients in the greater Seoul area were administered with their first shots of Pfizer's two-dose vaccine regimen at a state-run vaccination facility in central Seoul. The in
Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021
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In latest attack on Asians in US, woman dragged by car in robbery
CALIFORNIA (AP) -- A woman was dragged by a car in Oakland's Asian business district during a robbery that her husband says left her bruised and shaken, marking the latest in a series of attacks against people of Asian descent in the San Francisco Bay Area and in other parts of the US. Eric Nghiem said his wife, Jenny, who is Vietnamese, had her purse crossed around her neck and shoulder as she was walking to a grocery store when a thief grabbed it and jumped into the passenger side of a car W
InternationalFeb. 27, 2021
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About 18,500 Koreans get COVID-19 vaccines on vaccination Day 1
About 18,500 people received a vaccination for COVID-19 in South Korea on the launch day of the nation's public vaccination campaign against the pandemic, a government agency said Saturday. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, 18,489 people across the country got their first shots of the two-dose AstraZeneca vaccine Friday. "On Friday, 18,489 medical workers, health care workers and nursing home patients received the AstraZeneca vaccine at community h
PoliticsFeb. 27, 2021
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S. Korea investigating new suspected case of bird flu, caseload now at 102
South Korea's agricultural ministry said Saturday it is investigating yet another suspected case of highly pathogenic bird flu traced to poultry farms, with the confirmed caseload staying at 102. The latest suspected case of the deadly H5N8 strain of avian influenza was reported from an egg farm in Pocheon, 46 kilometers north of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea reported its first highly contagious bird flu case from farms since 2018 in Nove
Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021
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New virus cases stay above 400 on 2nd day of mass vaccination
South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases stayed above 400 on Saturday, the second day of mass vaccinations, as sporadic cluster infections continued to linger throughout the nation. The country reported 415 more virus cases, including 405 local infections, raising the total caseload to 89,321, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Saturday's daily caseload marks a rise from 406 tallied the previous day. The figure reached a weekly low of 332 on Monday, before g
Social AffairsFeb. 27, 2021
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Court upholds ban on conservative groups' rally scheduled for Monday
A Seoul court on Friday upheld a ban on street rallies conservative groups planned to hold on March 1 Independence Movement Day, as concerns continue to mount over the spread of the new coronavirus in the capital city. The Seoul Administrative Court dismissed their request to suspend Seoul city government's measure to prohibit anti-government rallies at Gwanghwamun Square in the city center. The groups are critical of the liberal Moon Jae-in administration. The March 1 Independence Movement Da
Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2021
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12-year-old US resident identified as suspect of terror threat against Incheon airport
INCHEON -- A 12-year-old YouTuber living in the United States has been identified as the alleged culprit of a terror threat against Incheon International Airport on the national holiday next week, officials said Friday. The teenage boy, who was born in South Korea and is residing in the US, is accused of having uploaded a YouTube video that warns of an attack at the Incheon airport, west of Seoul, at 11 a.m. on the March 1 Independence Movement Day, according to the Incheon International Airpo
Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2021
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S. Korea ratifies key UN labor conventions
South Korea's parliament on Friday ratified key International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions on workers' rights and forced labor, which have long stalled due to objections from businesses and conservative politicians. The nation joined the United Nations agency in 1991 but had not adopted four of its eight key conventions, lagging behind international standards in protecting labor rights. The National Assembly passed motions to ratify three of them -- No. 29 on forced labor, No. 87 on f
PoliticsFeb. 26, 2021
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Unification minister urges review of negative impact of sanctions
Unification Minister Lee In-young called Friday for efforts to ensure that international sanctions on Pyongyang do not result in unintended negativec effects on the lives of ordinary North Korean people. "We need to assess how effective sanctions have been on the desired goal of denuclearization five years since they were imposed," Lee said in an interview with the Financial Times, according to a Korean-language release from his ministry. "If the lives of North Koreans have wors
North KoreaFeb. 26, 2021
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Controversial bill on constructing new airport in Busan gets final parliamentary nod
A politically controversial bill on building a new airport in the second-biggest South Korean city of Busan got the final nod from the National Assembly on Friday. The bill nails down a multi-billion-dollar state project to build a new airport on Gadeok Island, the biggest island of Busan, to handle growing air traffic demand and facilitate prosperity in the country's southeast region. The bill proposes special exemption for the compulsory preliminary feasibility study for the construction pr
PoliticsFeb. 26, 2021
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[Newsmaker] National Assembly calls on Myanmar military to restore democracy, release detainees
South Korea’s National Assembly called for restoration of democracy in Myanmar, condemning its military government for using violence and failing to uphold human rights. The parliament on Friday passed the Resolution Condemning Myanmar’s Military Coup and Urging Restoration of Democracy and Release of All Persons Arbitrarily Detained, criticizing the military government’s crackdowns on protests and expressing support for the democratic movement. The resolution defined Myanmar
PoliticsFeb. 26, 2021
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US court orders NK to pay $2.3b in damages to USS Pueblo crew
A US federal court ordered North Korea to pay over $2.3 billion in damages to the crew and their families of the naval spy ship USS Pueblo, for torturing them for 11 months upon capturing the vessel in 1968 in the East Sea. It is the most in damages a US court has ordered North Korea to pay, raising the chances of further US actions to seize North Korea-related assets overseas in a bid to collect damages from the destitute country. The Washington court said in its decision handed down on Feb.
North KoreaFeb. 26, 2021
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Nearly 1,000 conscientious objectors allowed to do alternative military duty
A total of 984 people have been approved to substitute their mandatory military service for other public service due to their religious and other personal beliefs since a related act took office in 2019, the military manpower agency said Friday. By law, all able-bodied South Korean men must carry out military service for about two years. But the National Assembly passed a bill allowing those who refuse to take up arms for religious or other personal beliefs to do other forms of service without
DefenseFeb. 26, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Woman nabbed for posting flyers containing misinformation on coronavirus vaccines
INCHEON -- A woman has been apprehended for distributing flyers carrying misinformation that coronavirus vaccines will kill people, police said Friday. The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency booked the 68-year-old woman after she allegedly posted 33 flyers that carried false information on COVID-19 vaccines on information boards at bus stops and utility poles in the city, about 40 kilometers west of Seoul, on Feb. 8. The posters contained messages such as "There are chips p
Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2021
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New top Japanese envoy meets S. Korean vice FM amid protracted tensions
New Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Koichi Aiboshi met with First Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-kun on Friday as he began his duty amid protracted tensions between the two countries over wartime issues. Aiboshi, who previously served as Japan's ambassador to Israel, arrived in Seoul early this month to take office and went straight into a mandatory two-week coronavirus self-isolation. Friday was the first day after the quarantine ended Thursday. Aiboshi visited the foreign ministry to pre
Foreign AffairsFeb. 26, 2021
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Air Force officer tests positive for COVID-19
An Air Force officer based in Osan, 55 kilometers south of Seoul, has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday. The officer was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 in a virus test conducted before he returned from a vacation, according to the ministry. The latest case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 572. Of them, 559 have been fully cured, while 13 are under treatment. Nationwide, South Korea added 406 new viru
Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2021
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NK Cabinet reviews ways to grant businesses more autonomy at plenary session
North Korea convened an extended plenary session of its Cabinet to discuss ways to give businesses greater independence as part of efforts to achieve the economic goals set forth at last month's rare party congress, state media said Friday. The Cabinet meeting took place Thursday via a "teleconference system" to discuss a series of important tasks set forth at the party congress and the following parliamentary session, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. At Thurs
North KoreaFeb. 26, 2021