Most Popular
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Signs point to N. Korean troops in Russia-Ukraine combat zone
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[Exclusive] Korean adoptee sisters meet for the first time in 39 years
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Rose's 'Apt.' redefines K-pop's global appeal
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Two years on, thousands mourn Itaewon tragedy, calling for accountability
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Civil servant’s death linked to workplace bullying
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[Weekender] Walk around Korea to really get to know the country
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[Herald Interview] Love for K-drama, food defines 'Secret Ingredient'
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Hanwha, HD Hyundai vie for Poland’s $2.7b submarine program
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First lady’s controversies to top agenda at meeting of party leaders
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[Photo News] Rallying against LGBTQ+
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Supreme Court to render final verdict in ex-President Park's corruption case
The Supreme Court on Thursday will render a final ruling in a high-profile corruption case that led to the removal of then-President Park Geun-hye from office in 2017. The country's top court is scheduled to hold a sentencing hearing at 11 a.m. over an appeal filed by prosecutors against a ruling in July that reduced Park's prison term. Park was ousted from Cheong Wa Dae in March 2017 due to her involvement in a massive abuse-of-power and bribery scandal. She was accused of conspiring with he
PoliticsJan. 14, 2021
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NK holds performance to celebrate party congress, no mention of military parade
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a mass art performance held to celebrate the recently concluded party congress, state media said Thursday. The performance took place on Wednesday, a day after the North wrapped up the eighth congress of its ruling Workers' Party, which was held for more than a week since its opening on Jan. 5, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "The grand art performance 'We Sing of the Party' took place with splendor in celebration o
North KoreaJan. 14, 2021
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More than 900 inmates to be paroled as measure to curb COVID-19 spread: ministry
More than 900 prisoners in South Korea will be released on parole this week as part of the government's precautionary measures against COVID-19 spread, the justice ministry announced Wednesday. The ministry cited the need to ease overcrowding at correctional facilities for a "stable and swift" response to the virus infections. "The early parole (measure) will be taken tomorrow," it said. The ministry has lowered the bar for parole, especially for inmates who are vulnerabl
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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S. Korea plans underwater test of indigenous SLBM: source
South Korea is expected to carry out underwater tests of a home-grown submarine-launched ballistic missile this year, having concluded ground tests, a source said Wednesday. South Korea is developing an SLBM based on the home-grown ground-to-ground Hyunmoo-2B ballistic missile with a flight range of around 500 kilometers. It will be used with envisioned 3,000-ton-class or larger submarines, according to defense officials. "Related agencies wrapped up ejection tests of the missile on the
DefenseJan. 13, 2021
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Court orders state to compensate man jailed for 10 yrs on wrongful murder conviction
A court ordered Wednesday the government to pay compensation to a man who served a 10-year prison term after being wrongfully convicted of murder in 2000. The Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of the 37-year-old man, only identified by his surname Choi, in a damages suit he filed against the government, a police officer and a prosecutor who investigated his case. He was acquitted of murder in 2016. The court ordered the government make financial reparations of some 1.3 billion won (
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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Calls mount to punish deepfake porn involving female celebrities
The recent controversy triggered by artificial intelligence chat bot Lee Luda, which became the subject of sexual abuse among some users, is fueling debates spanning from the sexualization of celebrities to AI technologies used for cybercrimes. A day after a presidential petition called for punishment for fan fiction sexualizing underage male K-pop idols, another presidential petition shed light on female celebrities falling victim to nonconsensual pornography produced using deepfake technolog
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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Korean government vows ‘stiff penalty’ for social distancing violators
The South Korean government on Wednesday said there would be “stiff penalties” for people not heeding social distancing rules, as the third and worst wave of COVID-19 in the country has begun to mellow. From its recent peak of over 1,000 cases a day, the daily case count has fallen to below 600 this week -- a figure not seen since early December. Yoon Tae-ho, a senior official at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, told a news briefing that social distancing was a “civic prom
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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NK’s nuclear aims a warning to Biden’s US: experts
North Korea wrapped up a rare eight-day party congress Tuesday, with its leader Kim Jong-un calling for stronger nuclear deterrence and maximum military power to round off one of the biggest political events in Pyongyang in the last five years. With only a week until US President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office, Kim’s outlining of ambitious military goals and a wish list of advanced weapons during the longer-than-usual congress is a message of defiance against Washington, expe
North KoreaJan. 13, 2021
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Unidentified cash worth W8.1b discovered at casino during money theft probe
JEJU -- Police said Wednesday they have discovered a pile of unidentified cash worth 8.1 billion won ($7.4 million) at a resort casino on Jeju Island, potentially linked to an alleged money theft by an employee. The Jeju Provincial Police Agency said investigators are trying to confirm whether the bank notes discovered randomly at a safe at the casino are part of the cash pile worth 14.56 billion won that went missing from the Landing Casino at Jeju Shinhwa World last week. Investigators have
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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Outgoing US Amb. Harris says S. Korea, US are 'friends, partners, allies and family'
US Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris will leave office next week, his spokesperson said Wednesday, a departure that will coincide with the change of government in Washington. Harris, who took office in July 2018, will stay in the ambassadorial post until next Wednesday, and Rob Rapson, the deputy chief of mission, will serve as Charge d'Affaires ad interim until a new envoy arrives, the spokesperson said. In an impassioned message to Korean citizens, Harris stressed that relations between
Foreign AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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[Newsmaker] South Korea gripped by anger and remorse over toddler’s death
Anger and sadness have swept across South Korea for the past week following the death of Jeong-in, a 16-month-old toddler whose death from months of child abuse in October caused a huge public outrage and controversy. After the toddler’s case came to light through an SBS investigative reporting show earlier this month, a number of civic groups and members of the general public have called for better protection of adoptees and stronger penalties against child abuse offenders. President Mo
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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Court acquits Shincheonji leader of obstructing govt. response to COVID-19
SUWON -- A local court on Wednesday acquitted the leader of a minor religious sect of charges of obstructing the government's response to COVID-19 during an outbreak at his church last year. Lee Man-hee, the 89-year-old founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, was indicted in August on charges of misleading health authorities on the size and locations of the church's gatherings in February, which were blamed for a massive spike in coronavirus cases in the country. Prosecutors sought a five-
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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Over 80% of public perceive 'gapjil' problem as serious: survey
More than eight out of 10 people consider "gapjil," a phenomenon referring to abusive conduct by people in positions of power toward those under their influence, a serious problem plaguing society, a poll showed Wednesday. Gapjil is a portmanteau term that refers to an authoritarian attitude or actions toward those on the weaker end of a power relationship, often spotted in workplaces cultures. In a R&R Consulting survey conducted on 1,500 adults aged between 19 and 69, 83.9 perc
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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Adoptive mother charged with toddler’s murder
Prosecutors on Wednesday pressed murder charges against a woman who allegedly abused and killed her 16-month-old adoptive daughter in October, as the trial opened in the nation’s latest high-profile child abuse case. The child -- publicly known as Jeong-in, the name given to her by her birth mother -- died Oct. 13 at a hospital in southwestern Seoul. Prosecutors had initially indicted the 34-year-old mother, identified by the surname Jang, in December on the lesser charge of child abuse
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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NK vows to strengthen nuclear deterrent as party congres closes
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for all-out efforts to strengthen military capabilities, including further modernization of the country’s nuclear deterrent, as he addressed the final session of the rare party congress that concluded Tuesday. “While further strengthening our nuclear war deterrent, we need to do everything to build the strong ccapa apabilities,” Kim was quoted as saying by the state media Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday. “By accelerating
PoliticsJan. 13, 2021
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Former opposition floor leader runs for Seoul mayor
Na Kyung-won, former floor leader of the conservative opposition, on Wednesday announced her bid for Seoul mayor, becoming the latest bigwig challenger to enter the April 7 by-elections. With Na announcing her bid, the battle from the opposition bloc is solidifying into a three-way race with head of the minor opposition People’s Party Ahn Cheol-soo and Oh Se-hoon, who was mayor of Seoul from 2006-2011. Ahn joined the race last month and Oh has vowed to run if Ahn does not join the main o
PoliticsJan. 13, 2021
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[Herald Interview] Ahn gunning for power transition
The post of Seoul mayor is a steppingstone toward taking power from the ruling bloc, according to Ahn Cheol-soo, the Seoul mayoral front-runner and head of the minor opposition People’s Party, saying the government's failures range from its COVID-19 response to its real estate policies. Ahn said the government’s loose quarantine measures have prolonged the coronavirus crisis and put self-employed businesspeople and small business owners under even more pressure. 
PoliticsJan. 13, 2021
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S. Korea investigating 6 suspected cases of highly pathogenic bird flu
South Korea's agricultural ministry said Wednesday it is currently investigating six suspected cases of highly pathogenic bird flu amid no signs of a letup in the spread of the disease. The country's total caseload of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza traced to farms has reached 53 since it reported the first such infection in late November in nearly three years, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The latest suspected case came from an egg farm in Cheonan, 92 ki
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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S. Korea's COVID-19 cases exceed 70,000, but winter wave shows signs of slowing down
South Korea reached another bleak milestone in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic as its total COVID-19 caseload broke the 70,000 mark Wednesday, but health authorities said the winter wave showed signs of slowing down. The virus, which was first reported in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, has killed more than 1,100 people in South Korea. New cases stood at 562 earlier in the day to raise the total to 70,212, surpassing the threshold 12 months after the nation's first
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021
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Controversy grows over ‘real person slash’ sexualizing male K-pop idols
A presidential petition calling for stern punishment for those creating fan fiction called “real person slash” sexualizing underage male idols began garnering support Wednesday, triggering questions as to whether it can be seen as a form of idol culture or if it constitutes a digital sex crime. “Real person slash is a culture of sexual crime, which features real male idols and describes pervert-like sexual intercourse and rape in an unspeakably explicit manner, and cou
Social AffairsJan. 13, 2021