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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Moon apologizes for 'confusion' over disciplinary action against top prosecutor
President Moon Jae-in apologized to the nation Friday for causing "inconvenience and confusion" over the top prosecutor's suspension and subsequent reinstatement by a court. Moon said he "respects" the court's decision Thursday to return Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl to his post, according to presidential spokesman Kang Min-seok. Yoon won an injunction against the justice ministry's decision to suspend him for two months over a series of alleged misdeeds, including sur
Social AffairsDec. 25, 2020
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Seoul prison adds 288 COVID-19 cases in 2nd mass outbreak, total at 514
The Dongbu Detention Center in eastern Seoul reported 288 new cases of the coronavirus in its second mass outbreak, bringing the total number of infections linked to the facility nationwide to 514, the justice ministry said Friday. In its second mass testing on Wednesday, the prison found 286 cases among prisoners and two infected staff members, according to the ministry. A total of 2,021 prisoners and 416 staff members took part in the tests. Former President Lee Myung-bak, who has be
Social AffairsDec. 25, 2020
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S. Korea's virus cases hit all-time high despite tougher distancing rules
South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases hit a new record high on Friday, despite the most stringent social distancing rules to contain the winter wave of the virus. South Korea reported 1,241 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,216 local infections, raising the total caseload to 54,770, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally marked a hike from 985 on Thursday, according the public health agency. The hike is mainly blamed on 288 new cases at Dongbu Detent
Social AffairsDec. 25, 2020
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Temporary testing centers detect 121 new COVID-19 cases in capital area
Temporary testing centers in the greater Seoul area detected 121 asymptomatic coronavirus cases in a day, or 10 percent of all locally transmitted infections, the health authorities said Friday. According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, 60,931 tests were carried out at the temporary screening facilities Thursday, and 121 came back positive, equivalent to 10 percent of the day's 1,216 local infections. The facilities have detected a total of 1,025 positive cases since they first o
Social AffairsDec. 25, 2020
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S. Korea conducted Dokdo defense drill earlier this month
South Korea staged an annual military exercise on and around its easternmost islets of Dokdo earlier this month, sources said Friday. The drill, which took place on Dec. 4, involved the Navy and the Coast Guard and was held on a smaller scale than previous drills, given the coronavirus pandemic and other factors, according to the military and government sources. The Air Force and the Marines did not take part in the drill this time, they added. The defense ministry and the Navy refused to of
DefenseDec. 25, 2020
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S. Korea's daily coronavirus cases reach new high of 1,241: PM
South Korea reported 1,241 daily cases of the coronavirus in a new record high for the country, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Friday. Chung made the remark during a government COVID-19 pandemic response meeting, calling on health authorities and local governments to respond "strictly" to violations of social distancing rules. "A joint government monitoring team found through onsite inspections that there were still many places that were not following the antivirus measures
Social AffairsDec. 25, 2020
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Yoon’s victory draws mixed reaction from lawmakers
Seoul court’s decision lifting the two-month suspension on Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl drew mixed reaction from rival parties on Thursday. While the opposition bloc, including the main opposition People Power Party, hailed the decision, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea expressed regret, saying the ruling undermines the stability of the administration. Choi In-ho, a senior spokesman for the Democratic Party of Korea, said, “We deeply regret that the judiciary‘s jud
PoliticsDec. 25, 2020
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‘Korea may be expanding testing the wrong way’
The accuracy of the rapid COVID-19 antigen tests being used in South Korea may be considerably lower than previously suggested, according to a recent analysis, prompting concerns that widespread use could undermine disease control efforts. Korea has deployed rapid antigen tests at testing centers around the country since last week following President Moon Jae-in’s order on Dec. 7. The country now offers three choices for people wanting to get tested for COVID-19: a rapid antigen test u
Social AffairsDec. 24, 2020
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Yoon returns to work as court upholds his suit
Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl will return to his work immediately as a Seoul court approved his suit to overturn his two-month suspension. As the top prosecutor won the legal battle, political blows are inevitable for Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, who lost to Yoon twice, and President Moon Jae-in, who endorsed Yoon’s suspension. The second interrogation, which was held two days after the first held on Tuesday, began at 3 p.m. and ended one hour and 20 minutes later. At around
PoliticsDec. 24, 2020
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South Korea inks COVID-19 vaccine deals with Pfizer, Janssen
South Korea has reached a deal with pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Janssen to acquire enough COVID-19 vaccines to give to 16 million people, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Thursday. “We have closed a deal with Pfizer to deliver 20 million doses no later than July. We have also closed a deal with Janssen for the acquisition of 6 million doses -- 2 million doses more than the planned amount of 4 million doses, to arrive here by the second quarter of next year,”
Social AffairsDec. 24, 2020
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Kindergartens, schools in Gyeonggi Province to remain closed until end of February
Kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools in Gyeonggi Province will remain shut and students will take classes online through the end of February next year due to the spread of COVID-19, regional education authorities said Thursday. The online learning period was scheduled to run until the end of this month, but it was extended by two more months, according to Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education. All school events including graduation or school closing ceremonies in the provinc
Social AffairsDec. 24, 2020
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11 draftees, one Navy officer test positive for new coronavirus
Eleven new draftees and a Navy officer have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Thursday. The draftees entered the Army boot camp in the central city of Nonsan earlier this week but were transferred to civilian hospitals after testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to the ministry. Contact tracing is under way, it added. All new enlistees are required to take COVID-19 tests. The latest cases are not included in the military's own statistics of vi
DefenseDec. 24, 2020
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S. Korea signs deals to purchase vaccines from Janssen, Pfizer
South Korea has signed deals with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen and Pfizer to purchase COVID-19 vaccines, with a goal of starting vaccinations in the second quarter of 2021, health authorities said Thursday. The government will buy vaccines for 10 million people from Pfizer and 6 million from Janssen, which was up from its initial plan for 4 million people, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The government formally struck a purchase deal with AstraZeneca in
Social AffairsDec. 24, 2020
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Temporary testing centers effective in detecting hidden infections
Temporary coronavirus testing centers now in operation throughout the greater Seoul area have contributed greatly to detecting hidden infections, officials said Thursday, announcing as many as 150 cases were confirmed through their testing the previous day alone. According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, 58,091 people were tested by the makeshift screening facilities Wednesday and 150 of them were diagnosed with COVID-19. Patients detected this way accounted for 15.7 percent of al
Social AffairsDec. 24, 2020
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4 S. Koreans working at Camp Humphreys test positive for COVID-19
Four South Koreans working at a US military base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, have tested positive for the new coronavirus, US Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday. Two of them last visited Camp Humphreys on Friday and tested positive Tuesday, while the two others were last on the installation Tuesday and were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 the following day, according to the USFK. Of the four, three were contractors working together. One of them first tested positive and was transferred
DefenseDec. 24, 2020
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N. Korea's newspaper calls for powerful defense capabilities
North Korea's main newspaper on Thursday stressed the importance of strengthening national defense on the 29th anniversary of a late former leader's inauguration as the supreme commander of the army. Kim Jong-il, the father of current leader Kim Jong-un, was appointed as the supreme commander of the North's Korean People's Army in 1991, three years before he took power of the country. The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling party, touted the late leader's military-first
North KoreaDec. 24, 2020
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New labor group leader threatens general strike in 2021
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the more militant of the nation's two largest labor umbrella organizations, elected a hard-line figure as its new leader on Thursday, heralding an escalation in its conflict with the government over key labor reform policies. The KCTU, the nation's largest labor group with more than 1 million members, said Yang Kyeong-su, head of the KCTU chapter in Gyeonggi Province, was elected as its new leader in a contested vote and will begin his three-year
PoliticsDec. 24, 2020
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New virus cases under 1,000, tougher distancing rules in place
South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,000 on Thursday, as the most stringent social distancing rules so far were in place ahead of the Christmas and New Year's holidays to contain the winter wave of the virus. The country added 985 more COVID-19 cases, including 955 local infections, raising the total caseload to 53,533, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The tally marked a decline from 1,092 cases Wednesday, 869 cases Tuesday, 926 cases Mond
Social AffairsDec. 24, 2020
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S. Korea to expand transfer of defense technology for commercial purposes
The government will significantly expand the transfer of defense technologies to the private sector to help companies take advantage of them to develop new non-military products, the arms procurement agency said Thursday. The budget set aside for technology transfer purposes rose nearly ninefold to 8.7 billion won ($7.9 million) next year from 1 billion won allocated this year, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. The agency plans to spend the increased budget in suppor
DefenseDec. 24, 2020
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Moon appoints interior, health ministers after confirmation hearings
President Moon Jae-in has appointed two new ministers on interior and health affairs, as the National Assembly adopted reports on the results of their confirmation hearings, Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday. Jeon Hae-cheol began his work as interior and safety minister, and Kwon Deok-cheol as health and welfare minister on the day, it added. (Yonhap)
PoliticsDec. 24, 2020