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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[Photo News] Rallying against LGBTQ+
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4 in 10 young South Koreans take up 'irregular' jobs: data
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SM founder Lee Soo-man is back with A2O Entertainment
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'1 million' Christians join anti-LGBTQ+ marriage rally
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US flies reconnaissance plane over Korea amid report of military parade preparations in Pyongyang
A US reconnaissance plane flew over central South Korea on Tuesday, an aviation tracker showed, as North Korea appeared to be gearing up for a ruling party congress. The US Air Force's RC-135W Rivet Joint was spotted flying over the southern coast and then the central regions Tuesday morning, according to the tracker, No callsign. The aircraft, which specializes in detecting telemetry signals before missile launches, took off from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. The RC-135W Rivet Joint als
North KoreaDec. 29, 2020
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Govt. to push for disclosing surveillance video footage of restaurant kitchens
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will launch a pilot project to release closed-circuit television footage from inside the kitchens of restaurant franchises. The project aims to ensure a healthy cooking environment for delivery food as more people order food to eat at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry said Tuesday in a press release. The topic of kitchen hygiene at restaurants has become a hot issue since a customer posted a photo of a living mouse found in delivery food onl
Social AffairsDec. 29, 2020
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‘There is no true exit from pandemic without vaccines’
Politicized narratives surrounding COVID-19 vaccines and treatments must stop, and vaccines -- not treatments -- are the keys to ending the pandemic, experts say. Faced with growing discontent over South Korea’s lag in COVID-19 vaccinations, the government and ruling Democratic Party of Korea have taken to highlighting COVID-19 treatments being developed by local companies, while emphasizing possible adverse effects of vaccines. President Moon Jae-in on Monday again highlighted South
Social AffairsDec. 29, 2020
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Moderna nears deal with Korea to provide 40 million doses
South Korea and Moderna are close to reaching a deal for a supply of 40 million doses, the first of which will be delivered no later than summer next year, according to Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. Under the agreement, the US pharmaceutical company will be providing the country 20 million doses more than what was initially announced, with their distribution here a few months faster. The negotiations took place during a videoconference between President Moon Jae-in and Moderna Chief Executive Of
Social AffairsDec. 29, 2020
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‘Korea is leader in Asia on migrant integration’: MIPEX
South Korea came in 13th out of 52 countries in this year’s international migrant integration policy index on the level of social integration of migrants. Korea was tied at 13th with the United Kingdom, Iceland and France after receiving 56 out of 100 points on the level of social integration of migrants, higher than the MIPEX average of 50, with the report saying immigrants in Korea facing slightly more opportunities than obstacles for societal integration. Sweden topped the list wit
Social AffairsDec. 29, 2020
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President Moon won’t take pay raise next year
President Moon Jae-in and other high-ranking government officials will not take salary raises next year, given the economic crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Moon, the highest-paid government official in the nation, will be paid 238.23 million won ($218,095) next year, while Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun will be second with 184.69 million won. The Ministry of Personnel Management recently approved a 0.9 percent pay increase for public servants next year. Under the plan, Moon’s
PoliticsDec. 29, 2020
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S. Korea reports no further COVID-19 variant infections
South Korea's health authorities said Tuesday the country has not found additional cases of a more transmissible COVID-19 variant after it confirmed its first three cases of the strain in arrivals from the United Kingdom a day earlier. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said 17 people who were found to have been in close contact with the three confirmed patients all tested negative for COVID-19. British analysis suggests the new strain may be up to 70 percent more transmiss
Social AffairsDec. 29, 2020
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Assembly speaker suggests Korea-China-Japan disease control body
National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug recently urged his counterparts from China and Japan to cooperate to resolve health and security crises caused by the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday. In recent videoconferences with Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, and Oshima Tadamori, speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan, Park raised the need for a meeting of the National Assembly speakers from the three nations. &ldqu
PoliticsDec. 29, 2020
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Govt. to grant over 3,000 pardons before New Year's Day
The government will pardon 3,024 people, mostly convicted of minor crimes related to jobs, ahead of New Year's Day, the justice ministry announced Tuesday. The presidential clemency, effective as of Thursday, will also be granted to some protesters of military facilities and small-scale business owners involved in economic crimes. Politicians, election law violators, business tycoons and convicted felons are excluded from the list. "The subjects of these pardons were selected in a way to
PoliticsDec. 29, 2020
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N. Korea could conduct ICBM test early next year: think tank
North Korea could test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the early months of the incoming US administration of Joe Biden if nuclear talks between the two countries remain stalled, a local think tank said Tuesday. The North has undertaken military provocations in the past to test Washington's approach or grab its attention when a new US administration took office. President-elect Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20. Biden has called for "principled diplomacy&qu
North KoreaDec. 29, 2020
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Military to add variety to menus at barracks next year
Service members will be able to enjoy new menu items and diverse foods, such as hamburgers from famous burger chains and salmon, at barracks next year. According to the defense ministry's new guidelines on military meals for 2021, two dozen new menu items will be added to a list of foods served, which ranges from chicken gangjeong, or sweet and sour fried chicken, and hamburg steaks to mullet fish and celery. Service members can also enjoy a hamburger from burger chains once a month, the minis
DefenseDec. 29, 2020
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[Newsmaker] Court order takes effect, allowing seizure of assets to pay victims of Japanese wartime forced labor
Diplomatic tensions between South Korea and Japan are likely to worsen after a court order took effect Tuesday, mandating that the local assets of a Japanese firm be sold off to compensate victims of forced labor. At the start of Tuesday, a public notice issued by the Daejeon District Court went into effect authorizing the seizure of assets held in South Korea by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. This would fulfill a November 2018 ruling by the Supreme Court ordering the company to provide between
Foreign AffairsDec. 29, 2020
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Police close probe without conclusion on ex-Seoul mayor's alleged sexual misconduct
Police said Tuesday they have closed a five-month investigation into allegations that late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon sexually abused a former secretary, failing to reach a conclusion on the high-profile case. In July, a municipal official who had formerly worked as a mayoral secretary filed a complaint with the police, accusing Park of having sexually harassed her over several years. Two days later, Park was found dead in an apparent suicide on the hills of a Seoul mountain. He left a note say
PoliticsDec. 29, 2020
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S. Korea's new top nuclear envoy holds phones talks with Chinese counterpart
South Korea's new chief nuclear envoy, Noh Kyu-duk, spoke by phone with his Chinese counterpart on Tuesday in their first talks since his appointment last week, the foreign ministry said. His talks with Wu Jianghao came as Seoul seeks to ensure international support for its ongoing efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea that has been stalled amid a deadlock in nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. "The two sides shared their assessments of the recent situation on the
North KoreaDec. 29, 2020
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NK urges vigilance against COVID-19 variant
North Korea’s main newspaper on Tuesday urged vigilance against the new COVID-19 variant, as a more contagious strain of the coronavirus spreads around the world, including in South Korea. The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party, said the coronavirus is spreading at a faster pace and the global public health situation continues to worsen. The emergence of a new strain of the virus with a much higher transmission rate, which has been detected in seve
North KoreaDec. 29, 2020
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Human rights groups file constitutional complaint over leafleting ban
Nearly 30 human rights groups in South Korea filed a constitutional complaint Tuesday over a recently legislated ban on sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets into North Korea and requested an injunction against the law. The organizations, including Transitional Justice Working Group and Keunsaem led by North Korean defectors, claimed that the leafleting ban infringes on the human rights of North Koreans and supports the autocratic regime in Pyongyang. "By using the safety of people i
North KoreaDec. 29, 2020
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Moderna agrees to supply vaccines for 20m to S. Korea from Q2 2021: Cheong Wa Dae
US biotech company Moderna has agreed to supply new coronavirus vaccine doses for 20 million people to South Korea starting in the second quarter of next year, Cheong Wa Dae announced Tuesday. The agreement was reached in a videoconference between President Moon Jae-in and Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel held Monday, according to the South Korean presidential office. The volume is double the amount that the government had initially sought to secure from the American biotech firm through negotiatio
Social AffairsDec. 29, 2020
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Coronavirus cases in military reach 500 as 4 new patients reported
Two Army officers, one soldier and a civilian worker for the Navy tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of patients among military members to 500, the defense ministry said Tuesday. One of the two officers in the central city of Gyeryong, where the Army headquarters are located, was confirmed to have been infected, and the other officer at the same unit also tested positive, according to the ministry. Around 160 members of the unit underwent virus tests, and no add
DefenseDec. 29, 2020
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USFK begins initial COVID-19 vaccinations
US Forces Korea (USFK) began administering its initial doses of a COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday to health care workers, first responders, and its command team, including Gen. Robert Abrams, officials said.The first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine arrived in South Korea on Friday and had been in cold storage at Camp Carroll in the southeastern county of Chilgok before being distributed to USFK's three military treatment facilities Monday, according to the US military. The three locations adm
DefenseDec. 29, 2020
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US House overrides Trump's veto of annual defense bill including keeping USFK troop level
The US House Of Representatives on Monday overrode President Donald Trump's recent veto of a defense budget bill for the 2021 fiscal year, which included a provision against reducing the number of American troops in South Korea. In an overwhelming 322-87 vote, the House overturned Trump's exercise last Wednesday of his authority to veto the $740 billion National Defense Authorization Act that passed both houses of the Congress earlier this month, according to media reports. The bill states, &q
DefenseDec. 29, 2020