Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean adoptee sisters meet for the first time in 39 years
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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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Yoon calls for measures to protect Koreans amid escalating Iran-Israel conflicts
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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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[Photo News] Rallying against LGBTQ+
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Arrest warrant sought for ex-industry minister over reactor shutdown controversy
The prosecution filed for a warrant to arrest a former industry and energy minister Thursday as part of a probe into the controversial closure of an aging nuclear reactor. The Daejeon District Prosecutors Office asked a court to issue the warrant for Paik Un-gyu on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of business. Paik has been under probe over allegations that he abused his power in the viability assessment of Wolsong-1, the nation's second-oldest nuclear reactor, before the government d
PoliticsFeb. 4, 2021
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Could new variants dim Korea’s hope of having herd immunity by fall?
Korea’s plan of getting to herd immunity by fall could be complicated with the country reporting the first local outbreak involving new and potentially more transmissible variants. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s deputy director Kwon Jun-wook on Thursday warned of the possibility of the variants making the situation worse. “From what we know, the variants are capable of spreading more easily,” he said. “If our commitment to social distancing w
Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2021
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[Newsmaker] National Assembly impeaches judge accused of power abuse
South Korea on Thursday impeached a sitting judge for the first time in its history, as lawmakers voted to remove Lim Seong-geun, a senior judge at the Busan High Court for meddling in a number of politically controversial trials during the Park Geun-hye administration. During the extraordinary session of the National Assembly, 179 lawmakers voted to impeach Lim while 102 voted against it, marking the first time a judge has been removed from the post while in service. There were two motions in
PoliticsFeb. 4, 2021
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Mastermind of sexual abuse ring sentenced to additional 5 yrs in prison
The mastermind of an infamous Telegram sexual exploitation ring was sentenced to an additional five years in prison on Thursday for concealing profits from the crime for which had already been given a 40-year jail term last year. The Seoul Central District Court found Cho Ju-bin guilty of hiding some 108 million won ($96,500) of criminal proceeds by receiving cryptocurrency for the sexually exploitative materials he sold on the pay-to-view chat rooms on Telegram. The 25-year-old was also convi
Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2021
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More petitions filed with Constitutional Court over pandemic-induced collapse in business
Associations of small merchants filed a petition on Thursday with the Constitutional Court, asking it to review whether virus-related restrictions violate their basic property rights. The petition is the third of its kind, with the first one filed by bar and internet cafe owners on Jan. 5 and the second one by gym owners and others on Jan. 29. This time, more indoor sports facilities, karaoke rooms, cafes and bakery owners participated in the legal action, supported by civic groups, including
Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2021
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N. Korea to start vaccinations with COVAX aid
North Korea will be provided with 1.99 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine by June this year to inoculate nearly 1 million people, COVAX said Wednesday. COVAX is an international group that helps less wealthy countries with vaccination efforts. The North will start receiving vaccines in late February at the earliest. But the program could face delays as the AstraZeneca vaccine has yet to be approved by the World Health Organization, which expects to discuss the matter later
North KoreaFeb. 4, 2021
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Tests on 17,890 people find only 55 have coronavirus antibodies in S. Korea: KDCA
Only 55 of 17,890 people have antibodies against the novel coronavirus in South Korea, health authorities said Thursday, underscoring that the country's aggressive containment efforts might have curbed the prevalence of the virus. The antibody rate of 0.31 percent in South Korea is extremely low compared with other nations and global cities, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Data from the World Health Organization shows that the rate is less than 10 percent in
Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Supreme Court chief justice in hot water over judge impeachment
Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su acknowledged that he had considered politicians’ plans to impeach Lim Seong-geun, a senior judge at the Busan High Court, when he refused to accept Lim’s resignation in May. Kim said in a statement to reporters Thursday that he regretted making the erroneous claim that he had never mentioned anything about impeachment during the conversation he had with Lim at the time. “I apologize for responding falsely based on uncertain memories o
PoliticsFeb. 4, 2021
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Seoulites work less, spend more time on media amid coronavirus pandemic
People in Seoul spent less time working than usual and more time on media during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, a city government survey showed Thursday. According to the online survey of 1,000 Seoul citizens aged 18 to 69, people worked an average of 5 hours and 19 minutes a day in 2020, down 12 minutes from 2019. Time spent on media use went up, however, from 1 hour and 46 minutes in 2019 to 2 hours and 4 minutes in 2020. These activities included reading books and newspapers, watching te
Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2021
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Brother of official killed by Pyongyang asks unification ministry to deliver letter to NK leader
The brother of a South Korean fisheries official killed by North Korea's military near the western sea border last year met with Unification Minister Lee In-young on Thursday and asked the government to deliver his letter to the North's leader. Lee Rae-jin, the brother of the deceased official, said he handed Lee the letter, in which he asked for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's cooperation so that he could visit the North to find the truth behind his brother's death. "I asked the unific
North KoreaFeb. 4, 2021
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Appeals court reduces prison term for ex-presidential aide in influence-peddling scandal
An appellate court on Thursday handed down a reduced sentence to Woo Byung-woo, a former senior aide to ousted President Park Geun-hye, in a corruption scandal that led to Park's removal from office in 2017. The Seoul High Court sentenced Woo, who served as presidential secretary for civil affairs for Park from 2015-2016, to one year in prison for illegal surveillance of officials. The court cleared him of other charges, including dereliction of duty and a violation of the act on testimony befo
Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2021
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Moon, Biden signal fresh restart of peace process on Korean Peninsula
President Moon Jae-in and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, held their first phone call Thursday, signaling a fresh restart of the South Korea-US alliance, the most critical strategic partnership in bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula. The phone call, which started at 8:25 a.m. local time and lasted 32 minutes, came two weeks after Biden was sworn in as the 46th US president Jan. 20. “The whole conversation was held in a friendly and professional mood, with the leaders sometimes shari
Foreign AffairsFeb. 4, 2021
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DP aims to draft extra budget with both selective, universal virus handout plans
The ruling Democratic Party (DP) plans to swiftly draw up an extra budget that includes plans for both targeted and universal pandemic relief packages, the party's head of policy said Thursday, in spite of fiscal concerns raised by the finance ministry. "The party and the government will draw up an extra budget at the earliest date through active consultations. We intend to include a firm amount of targeted support together with a universal handout program," Rep. Hong Ik-pyo, DP's hea
PoliticsFeb. 4, 2021
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Online ads for private prostitution surge amid social distancing
Online advertising for prostitution surged in Seoul last year amid social distancing measures, with over 40,000 such instances detected by a monitoring group, the city government said Thursday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said its online citizen monitoring group detected a total of 68,711 cases of illegal and harmful information on internet sites, blogs and social media last year. Among them, advertising for illicit massages and arranged meetups for sex outside brothels marked around 42,
Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2021
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5 USFK-affiliated people test positive for virus, total exceeds 700
Four American service members and a US Forces Korea retiree tested positive for the new coronavirus upon their arrival here last month, USFK said Thursday. The latest cases raised the total number of COVID-19 infections reported among the USFK population to 701, most of whom tested positive upon their arrival here from the United States. Of the newly reported cases, one service member arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on a US government chartered flight
Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2021
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Authorities on alert over first community transmission of coronavirus variants
The discovery of the first cases of community transmission of more contagious coronavirus variants is putting authorities on high alert, prompting worries that this will set back South Korea’s efforts to curb the ongoing third COVID-19 wave and may signal the start of another more serious wave. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun urged officials Thursday to increase their efforts to prevent additional community transmission of variants traced to the UK, South Africa and Brazil. The Korea Disea
Social AffairsFeb. 4, 2021
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Inter-Korean cooperation fund cannot be used to help virus-hit people: unification ministry
The unification ministry said Thursday it is not appropriate to use the inter-Korean cooperation fund to help people suffering from the coronavirus given the nature of the money set aside for cross-border exchanges. Media reports earlier showed that the main opposition People Power Party is pushing to tap into the inter-Korean fund worth around 1.2 trillion won ($1.08 billion) in providing support for the virus-affected people during an interpellation session Friday. "The inter-Korean coo
North KoreaFeb. 4, 2021
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Embassy officials meet sailors aboard seized S. Korean ship in Iran
Officials at the South Korean Embassy in Iran have met with the crew members aboard a Korean oil tanker seized in the country, the foreign ministry said Thursday, a day after Tehran said it will free most of the sailors. On Tuesday (local time), Iran announced it will let the crew members detained aboard the MT Hankuk Chemi, leave, except for the captain, about a month after its military seized them along with the vessel in its waters for allegedly polluting the ocean. The 20 crew members are
Foreign AffairsFeb. 4, 2021
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Unification minister says it’s time to look at outcome of sanctions on NK
Unification Minister Lee In-young said he is against additional sanctions on North Korea, which US Secretary of State has mentioned as one of the options the US may consider as it reviews its North Korea policy. “To talk about further sanctions, it is about time to evaluate what kind of outcome the sanctions so far has brought,” Lee said during a meeting with the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club on Wednesday as he answered a question on what he thinks about Antony Blinken&rs
North KoreaFeb. 4, 2021
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S. Korea, US discussing how to hold combined exercise amid pandemic: defense ministry
South Korea and the United States are in talks over how to hold their annual springtime combined exercise in consideration of the coronavirus situation, the defense ministry said Thursday. The planned exercise has drawn keen attention amid concern that the North could use the exercise as a pretext for provocations in the early months of the administration of US President Joe Biden. Pyongyang has long denounced such drills as a rehearsal for invasion. The defense ministry has said the exercise
DefenseFeb. 4, 2021