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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103 autumn foliage paths in Seoul
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Hanwha, HD Hyundai vie for Poland’s $2.7b submarine program
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Seoul aims to halve current suicide rate by 2030
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First lady’s controversies to top agenda at meeting of party leaders
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When two worlds collab: K-pop flexes power with global stars
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Bipartisan panel formed to address livelihood issues amid tension over first lady probe
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New virus cases above 100 for 4th day, cluster infections in focus
South Korea's new coronavirus cases rose by triple digits for the fourth straight day Saturday as cluster infections across the country continued to pile up amid eased social distancing measures. The country added 127 more COVID-19 cases, including 96 domestic infections, raising the total caseload to 26,511, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It marked a rise from 103 new cases reported Wednesday, 125 on Thursday and 114 on Friday, it said. The latest uptic
Social AffairsOct. 31, 2020
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Prosecution raids two brokerages over high-profile financial scam case
The prosecution on Friday raided two brokerage houses in connection with a snowballing financial fraud scandal involving a hedge fund, officials said. Investigators from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office raided the headquarters of Shinhan Investment Corp. and Korea Investment & Securities Co. in western Seoul to secure materials related to Lime Asset Management. Shinhan faces disciplinary action from the Financial Supervisory Service for misselling Lime funds. Lime is under
PoliticsOct. 30, 2020
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S. Korea bans poultry imports from Netherlands after bird flu outbreak
South Korea on Friday banned imports of poultry from the Netherlands after a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu was found in the country. The Dutch government announced on Thursday that chickens on a farm in the central province of Gelderland were infected with a highly contagious variant of avian influenza (AI). South Korea's agriculture ministry said it imposed an import ban on all poultry and poultry products from the country. The ministry added it would enhance monitoring of fowl at
Social AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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[Newsmaker] Justice Minister’s reform moves spark heated online debate among prosecutors
State prosecutors have posted a slew of online criticism decrying Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae’s prosecutorial reform and her decision to sideline the prosecutor general from certain cases involving politicians and prosecutors suspected of corruption. The heated discussion was triggered by an online statement that began “Prosecution reform has failed,” posted Wednesday by Lee Hwan-woo, a prosecutor at the Jeju District Prosecutors’ Office, via the bulletin board at Eprose
Social AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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Seoul Lantern Festival kicks off at new venues amid pandemic
The annual Seoul Lantern Festival kicked off Friday for a 78-day run across four special tourism zones hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, the city government said. The venue was moved from Cheonggye Stream in central Seoul to four neighborhoods -- Jamsil, Itaewon, Dongdaemun and Myeongdong -- that saw a sharp decline in tourism this year, the government said in a press release. "We hope that through this event, our citizens who are exhausted from COVID-19 will receive comfort and that
Social AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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Appointment process for CIO chief begins
A committee that will recommend candidates for the top job within a new investigation body targeting high-ranking public officials held its first meeting Friday, putting in motion President Moon Jae-in’s prosecution reform initiative. The main opposition People Power Party designated two experts to join the seven-member committee on Tuesday. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea seeks to complete the launch of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, or CIO, before t
Social AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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NK propaganda outlet claims US imperialists started Korean War
A North Korean propaganda outlet said Friday that the Korean War was the result of invasion by US imperialists, calling it a shameless distortion of history to claim that the North started the war. Uriminzokkiri renewed the North's long-held claim after Chinese President Xi Jinping recently caused a stir by saying that the 1950-53 conflict was the fight against US "imperialist invaders." The Korean War broke out after North Korean troops invaded the South on June 25, 1950, with backi
North KoreaOct. 30, 2020
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Some mishandled flu vaccines used for inoculation: authorities
Some seasonal flu vaccines that were mishandled during storage were found to have been used for inoculation, health authorities said Friday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said some of the bottles shipped by Shinsung Pharm. Co. were used in late September in neighborhood clinics as part a nationwide flu vaccination program. The program was temporarily halted on Sept. 22 after some of the inactivated vaccines shipped by the company were exposed to
Social AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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NK blames killing of S. Korean civilian on Seoul
North Korea on Friday blamed the Seoul government on its killing of a South Korean civilian, calling it an “accident” stemming from Pyongyang’s efforts to prevent the spread of COVID. According to the South Korean military, North Korean soldiers found a South Korean fisheries official who drifted into North Korean waters last month, shot him to death six hours later and burned his body at sea. The North Koreans told the South that their soldiers shot the man because he was re
North KoreaOct. 30, 2020
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Man gets suspended prison sentence for breaching self-quarantine rule
A quarantine violator was given a suspended prison sentence by a Seoul court Friday after being convicted of illegally leaving his designated self-isolation accommodation several times before testing positive for the coronavirus. The Seoul Western District Court sentenced the violator, identified only as a 29-year-old, to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for breaching the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act and ordered him to complete 120 hours of community service. In
Social AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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Hyundai Heavy to be chosen as preferred bidder for Aegis destroyer project
The arms procurement agency plans to pick Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. as a preferred bidder for an indigenous Aegis-equipped destroyer development project despite a suspected leak of classified information by military officers to the company, officials said Friday. Several Navy officers now stand trial, as they allegedly allowed Hyundai officials in 2014 to secretly film confidential documents related to the Korea Destroyer Next Generation (KDDX) project to build a next-generation 6,000 ton-c
DefenseOct. 30, 2020
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Govt. resumes discount coupon program for travel, dining sectors
The government on Friday resumed a national discount coupon program aimed at resuscitating the domestic travel and dining industries that have suffered severely from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said the government will start releasing discount coupons for travel programs, restaurants and lodging facilities around the country, in stages at 2 p.m. Friday, as part of a 90.4 billion-won ($76.2 million) project to revitalize domestic spending.
Social AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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US Amb. Harris says S. Korea, US fought 'side by side against invasion from the north'
US Ambassador Harry Harris has said that South Korea and the United States had fought together against "invasion from the north" during the Korean War, amid a controversy over Chinese President Xi Jinping's characterization of the conflict as the fight against US "imperialist invaders." Harris made the remarks at an anniversary event for the Korea Times on Thursday, as he stressed the two countries' fight for democracy under the alliance, which he said was "forged in bl
Foreign AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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PM calls for response readiness against COVID-19 on Halloween weekend
The prime minister on Friday called on state and local health authorities to maintain response readiness against potential COVID-19 cluster transmissions during the upcoming Halloween weekend. "I ask that related agencies and local governments focus all their efforts on antivirus work so that the Halloween weekend does not end up becoming a source of a mass virus spread," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said during a government meeting. The meeting of the Centra
PoliticsOct. 30, 2020
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One more military officer tests positive for new coronavirus
An Army officer in the northeastern county of Inje has tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday. The noncommissioned officer was confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 late Thursday after coming in contact with his colleague who tested positive earlier this week after visiting a local bank that earlier reported a virus patient, according to the ministry. The latest case raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 163. Curren
Social AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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Minister urges N. Korea to cooperate in turning DMZ into 'experimental space for coexistence'
Unification Minister Lee In-young called Friday for North Korea to cooperate in efforts to turn the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two sides into "experimental space for coexistence." Lee made the remarks in an opening speech during an international forum held in the border town of Cherwon to discuss how to develop the world's most heavily fortified border into a peace zone. "The South and the North are a single community of life and security," Lee told the forum.
North KoreaOct. 30, 2020
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Biden vows not to extort S. Korea with troop withdrawal threats
WASHINGTON -- US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden pledged Friday to strengthen the alliance with South Korea, rather than "extorting Seoul with reckless threats to remove our troops," and keep pressing toward North Korea's denuclearization through "principled diplomacy." Biden made the pledge in a special article contributed exclusively to Yonhap News Agency just days ahead of the US presidential election, reciting the catch phrase of the Korea-US alliance, "
Foreign AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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[Graphic News] Juvenile fraud rises 16% in 2019
Fraud offenses committed by teenagers last year recorded the biggest jump in 10 years by rising 16 percent on-year, a judicial report showed. According to the 2020 juridical yearbook published recently by the National Court Administration, the number of fraud cases under the juvenile protection system was 3,695, up by 513, or 16.1 percent, from a year ago, the biggest rise since the 2009 global financial crisis when the tally jumped a whopping 84.3 percent from the previous year. Juvenile
Social AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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New social distancing plan will consider economy more, health officials say
Ahead of winter, South Korea is rethinking its priorities and amending its pandemic strategy to reflect the limits of social distancing and save the economy, public health authorities said Friday. Korea conducted 14,253 tests on Thursday and confirmed 114 more cases of the novel coronavirus disease, or COVID-19, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s updates. The cumulative number of official cases is 26,385. Friday marks the third consecutive day of the daily ca
Social AffairsOct. 30, 2020
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N. Korea says S. Korea responsible for death of fisheries official
North Korea said Friday that South Korea is the first to blame for the death of a fisheries official killed at sea last month because the South failed to exercise proper control over its citizen. But the North also said such an "accidental" incident should not lead inter-Korean relations to a "catastrophe." It also said it tried its best, unsuccessfully, to search for the body of the South Korean official to return it to his family. The 47-year-old fisheries official was fa
North KoreaOct. 30, 2020