Most Popular
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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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Two years on, thousands mourn Itaewon tragedy, calling for accountability
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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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4 in 10 young South Koreans take up 'irregular' jobs: data
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[Photo News] Rallying against LGBTQ+
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Seoul aims to halve current suicide rate by 2030
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'1 million' Christians join anti-LGBTQ+ marriage rally
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Head of US think tank CSIS awarded S. Korea's highest diplomatic medal
WASHINGTON -- John Hamre, president and CEO of a Washington-based think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), was on Tuesday awarded South Korea's highest medal of diplomatic service merit. Hamre was conferred the Kwanghwa Medal by South Korean Ambassador to the United States Lee Soo-hyuck in a ceremony held in Washington, according to the Korean Embassy. "Amb. Lee said the government's decision to give the Kwanghwa Medal to Hamre was based on the recognition of
Foreign AffairsDec. 9, 2020
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Moon says trans-Pacific trade pact will be considered
President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that the government will consider joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership as part of its drive to expand the country’s free trade partners. Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 57th Trade Day, Moon said the government will expand South Korea’s free trade network to prepare the country for increasing competition, and that the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership remains an opt
PoliticsDec. 8, 2020
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Assembly committee passes bill on removing opposition's veto power over new investigative body
A parliamentary committee on Tuesday passed a bill that would strip the opposition of its power to frustrate the process to launch a new agency investigating high-profile corruption cases. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee, where the ruling Democratic Party controls a majority, railroaded the bill to revise the act on the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials. The revision bill aims to lower the bar on picking candidates for the inaugural CIO chief, as the oppositio
PoliticsDec. 8, 2020
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Govt. designates June 10 as nat'l day to commemorate independence movement
The government on Tuesday designated June 10 as a national day to commemorate an independence movement held in 1926 against Japanese colonial rule. The interior ministry said the designation was made under a revised regulation and approved at a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day. "We hope this designation of a national day will lead to a reappraisal of the historical significance of the June 10 independence movement and the succession and development of our patriotic martyrs' spirit among
Social AffairsDec. 8, 2020
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Prosecutor, lawyer charged with corruption in Lime fund fraud case
A state prosecutor was indicted Tuesday, along with two others, on corruption charges in a financial fraud scandal involving Lime Asset Management. The indictment came 53 days after Kim Bong-hyun, the jailed former chairman of Star Mobility known as the main financial source for Lime Asset, revealed a related allegation in a letter. Kim is a key suspect in the high-profile scandal, in which he's alleged to have bribed lawmakers, prosecutors and government officials to cover up the fraud case an
Social AffairsDec. 8, 2020
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Minister hopes NK agrees to COVID-19 cooperation
Inter-Korean relations could improve in the coming year, and Pyongyang may respond to Seoul’s proposal on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, Unification Minister Lee In-young predicted Tuesday, saying the situation on the Korean Peninsula was at a tipping point. Lee made the remarks during an interview with local radio broadcaster CBS on Tuesday morning, assessing that the tension between the two Koreas had eased from its peak in early June, when the North demolished the inter-Korea
North KoreaDec. 8, 2020
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[News Focus] Bird flu nightmare on the verge of full return in South Korea
Korean authorities are on alert as the highly contagious bird flu quickly spreads across South Korea amid bird migration season. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Tuesday that a H5N8 strain of highly pathogenic bird flu was found at a chicken egg farm in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, late Monday. Officials began culling 193,000 chickens at the farm and 7,000 ducks at a nearby farm as a preventative measure. Gyeonggi Province imposed a standstill order for all poultry farms
Social AffairsDec. 8, 2020
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Public sector aims for 37.5% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030
South Korea's public sector aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decade by 37.5 percent from the 2017 level, the environment ministry said Tuesday. The new target is designed to support the Moon Jae-in government's plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, which means to effectively reduce carbon emissions to zero. It is higher than the target of 24.4 percent set for the country as a whole and applies to the central government, local governments, education offices and publi
Social AffairsDec. 8, 2020
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NK, China no longer hiding illicit trade in coal: report
North Korea and China are no longer even trying to avoid international surveillance when trading coal illegally, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Citing senior officials in the US State Department and satellite photos provided by the State Department, the US newspaper said North Korea-flagged vessels have lugged hundreds of coal shipments to China’s Ningbo-Zhoushan area over the past year. North Korea, prohibited from exporting coal under United Nations sanctions since 2017, had
North KoreaDec. 8, 2020
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[Newsmaker] US says willing to help N. Korea fight coronavirus
The United States will seriously consider helping North Korea contain the spread of the coronavirus if it requests such assistance, Robert O’Brien, US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said Monday. “They (North Korea) have been reticent to ask for outside help for things in the past but if they did we would certainly look at that very seriously,” O’Brien said in an interview with 19FortyFive, a website on global affairs. He said Pyongyang appears
North KoreaDec. 8, 2020
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Ministry toughens guidelines to stamp out sexual misconduct at overseas missions
The foreign ministry said Tuesday it will impose tougher guidelines starting next year to stamp out sexual misconduct at its overseas diplomatic missions following an array of such incidents and criticism for mishandling them. The ministry came under fire in recent months for failing to properly handle successive reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault cases from overseas missions, including an incident involving a senior diplomat once stationed in New Zealand. A local employee at the
Foreign AffairsDec. 8, 2020
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Seoul city to extend COVID-19 test hours amid rapid virus spread
The Seoul city government said Tuesday it will extend the opening hours of public coronavirus test centers until 9 p.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. on weekends. Park Yoo-mi, a disease control official at the city government, told a virtual press briefing that the extended hours will help expand testing amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in the greater Seoul area. She also said the city will reinstall drive-thru test centers as part of the effort. Seoul reported 214 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, the s
PoliticsDec. 8, 2020
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Seoul, other areas nationwide under tougher restrictions to curb rising tide of infections
South Korea on Tuesday implemented stringent coronavirus restrictions, effective for the coming three weeks, as a third wave of the pandemic tightened its grip on the country. The government imposed the second toughest curbs of the five-tiered virus restriction system in the capital area, which has been experiencing a rapid climb in new cases, and mid-level restrictions in the rest of the country. The country has been reporting around 600 cases daily, and test positivity rates have been over f
Social AffairsDec. 8, 2020
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US flies early warning aircraft, spy planes over S. Korea: aviation trackers
US early warning aircraft and reconnaissance planes have flown over South Korea, aviation trackers showed Tuesday, in an apparent move to monitor North Korea. One E-3B Sentry airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) jet departed Kadena Air Base in Okinawa and carried out a mission over South Korea and the Yellow Sea on Tuesday, Aircraft Spots tweeted. This type of aircraft provides all-altitude, all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications, according to the US Air Force.
North KoreaDec. 8, 2020
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US again designates N. Korea as violator of religious freedom
WASHINGTON -- The United States on Monday renewed its designation of North Korea as one of the state violators of religious freedom. It marks the 19th consecutive year the North has been named a state violator of religious freedom. "Religious freedom is an unalienable right, and the bedrock upon which free societies are built and flourish. Today, the United States -- a nation founded by those fleeing religious persecution, as the recent Commission on Unalienable Rights report noted -- onc
North KoreaDec. 8, 2020
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4 more service members test positive for new coronavirus
Four more service members tested positive for the new coronavirus amid continued cluster infections at barracks, the defense ministry said Tuesday. Three Army officers at the Sangmudae Artillery School in the southwestern county of Jangseong were confirmed to have been infected after coming into contact with a colleague who earlier tested positive, according to the ministry. The total number of COVID-19 cases reported at Sangmudae has grown to 30. One soldier stationed in the western city of
Social AffairsDec. 8, 2020
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[Newsmaker] USFK under fire over no-mask dance party amid virus resurgence
The US Forces Korea is facing criticism over a dance party held at one of its bases last week at which participants did not wear face masks amid South Korea's heightened social distancing scheme to stem the resurgence of new coronavirus cases. The party took place at Flightline Tap Room at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on Friday, with dozens of people dancing side by side without wearing masks, according to officials. On the same day, South Korea's daily number of new COVID-19
DefenseDec. 8, 2020
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Politician fined for smearing rival ahead of parliamentary elections
A Seoul court has slapped a fine on a progressive politician accused of staging a protest to smear a rival candidate in the run-up to the April parliamentary elections. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the 29-year-old woman to a fine of 800,000 won ($737) on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act, according to judicial sources on Tuesday. Running for the parliamentary seat for district B of Seoul's Dongjak ward on the ticket of the minor Minjung Party, the defendant wa
PoliticsDec. 8, 2020
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Moon: S. Korea to consider joining CPTPP to expand its free trade network
President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday that South Korea is considering becoming a member of a major Asia-Pacific free trade agreement, known as the CPTPP, as part of efforts to diversify its export market. He also stressed the need to build up the strength of the country's trade in preparation for the post-coronavirus era, addressing a 57th Trade Day ceremony. "Diversifying the market is a task that (we) should achieve," he said during the event held at the COEX convention center in sout
PoliticsDec. 8, 2020
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S. Korea says will secure COVID-19 vaccines for 44 million people
The South Korean government said Tuesday it has agreed to buy 64 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, unveiling for the first time which and how many doses of vaccines the country intends to use. Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo said at a news conference Tuesday that Korea has prepurchased 20 million doses of vaccine from AstraZeneca, with deals for a further 44 million doses “now in the final stages” with Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen. Pfizer and Moderna have each commi
Social AffairsDec. 8, 2020