Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean adoptee sisters meet for the first time in 39 years
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Yoon calls for measures to protect Koreans amid escalating Iran-Israel conflicts
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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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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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Two years on, thousands mourn Itaewon tragedy, calling for accountability
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N. Korea slams Seoul-Washington joint air exercise
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[Herald Interview] K-pop’s 'best years are ahead of us': Spotify’s general manager for Asia Pacific
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[Herald Interview] Love for K-drama, food defines 'Secret Ingredient'
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Moon picks new secretaries for digital communication, culture, industry
President Moon Jae-in has tapped a journalist as his new Cheong Wa Dae secretary for digital communication, his office announced Tuesday. Ko Joo-hee, currently in charge of digital strategy at the Seoul-based Hankook Ilbo daily, has been nominated to the post, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. The president also picked Jun Hyo-gwan, secretary-general of Arts Council Korea, as secretary for culture, and Lee Ho-joon, chief of policy planning at the Ministry of Trade, Industry a
March 2, 2021
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PM says vaccine safety being validated, voices vigilance against fake news on vaccines
The safety of COVID-19 vaccines is being validated, with no major cases of adverse vaccine reaction reported in the four days since the rollout of the national vaccination campaign, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Tuesday. A total of 23,086 people received COVID-19 vaccine shots in the four days since the country kicked off the inoculation campaign last Friday, with no major adverse reaction reported among the receivers, the prime minister said during a daily interagency meeting on the coro
March 2, 2021
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Ex-Startups Minister Park Young-sun wins ruling party's ticket for Seoul mayoral election
Former Startups Minister Park Young-sun on Monday won the ruling Democratic Party‘s ticket to run in the Seoul mayoral by-election next month. Park, also a former four-term lawmaker, was declared the winner of the party primary against sitting four-term lawmaker Woo Sang-ho for the April 7 mayoral election, according to the voting results. Park won an overwhelming 69.56 percent of the ballots cast by voters in and outside of the party over the phone and the internet for four days to M
March 1, 2021
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Ahn Cheol-soo wins 1st round of primary for Seoul mayor candidacy
Ahn Cheol-soo, leader of the minor opposition People's Party, cleared the first hurdle Monday in his bid to become a single candidate of South Korea's opposition bloc, critical of the Moon Jae-in administration, for the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election. He won a primary with Keum Tae-sup, a former lawmaker who left the ruling Democratic Party (DP), the outcome of which was decided by a public opinion poll. The two had two rounds of formal debates ahead of the two-day survey last week on their
March 1, 2021
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Moon says S. Korea ready to talk with Japan anytime, urges separation of history with future-oriented ties
President Moon Jae-in stated Monday that South Korea is ready to talk with Japan anytime for stronger cooperation, separate from longstanding disputes over shared history, as it would also be helpful to the trilateral partnership with the United States. "The South Korean government is always ready to sit down and have talks with the Japanese government. I am confident that if we put our heads together in the spirit of trying to understand each other's perspectives, we will also be able to
March 1, 2021
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DP, government to allot W9.5tr for 4th relief funds
The ruling Democratic Party and the government agreed Sunday to allot 19.5 trillion won ($17.3 billion) for the country's fourth round of COVID-19 relief assistance. The agreement was made during a tripartite meeting of the DP, the government and Cheong Wa Dae, attended by DP Chairman Rep. Lee Nak-yon, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and Kim Sang-jo, the presidential chief of staff for policy. The upcoming aid package will be funded by an extra budget bill worth 15 trillion won, with the remaini
Feb. 28, 2021
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Govt. plans sale of land lots confiscated from Japanese collaborators
The veterans affairs ministry said Sunday it plans to prioritize selling 148 land lots confiscated from former pro-Japanese collaborators to better compensate the sacrifices made by Korean independent activists and their families. The ministry said it has selected the pool of land with relative high practical utilization from among the 855 total land lots it controls that were previously owned by Japanese collaborators. When combined, the land designated for priority sales covers some 3.29 mil
Feb. 28, 2021
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Foreign COVID-19 patients on steep rise in Korea this year
The number of foreigners diagnosed with COVID-19 in South Korea has soared this year due mainly to the steady outbreaks of cluster infections at industrial workplaces, a government agency said Saturday. According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, 1,747 foreign nationals have tested positive for the coronavirus here since the beginning of the year, accounting for 6.6 percent of all domestic cases in the same period. The growth of foreign COVID-19 patients was particularly steeper ov
Feb. 27, 2021
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About 18,500 Koreans get COVID-19 vaccines on vaccination Day 1
About 18,500 people received a vaccination for COVID-19 in South Korea on the launch day of the nation's public vaccination campaign against the pandemic, a government agency said Saturday. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, 18,489 people across the country got their first shots of the two-dose AstraZeneca vaccine Friday. "On Friday, 18,489 medical workers, health care workers and nursing home patients received the AstraZeneca vaccine at community h
Feb. 27, 2021
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S. Korea ratifies key UN labor conventions
South Korea's parliament on Friday ratified key International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions on workers' rights and forced labor, which have long stalled due to objections from businesses and conservative politicians. The nation joined the United Nations agency in 1991 but had not adopted four of its eight key conventions, lagging behind international standards in protecting labor rights. The National Assembly passed motions to ratify three of them -- No. 29 on forced labor, No. 87 on f
Feb. 26, 2021
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Controversial bill on constructing new airport in Busan gets final parliamentary nod
A politically controversial bill on building a new airport in the second-biggest South Korean city of Busan got the final nod from the National Assembly on Friday. The bill nails down a multi-billion-dollar state project to build a new airport on Gadeok Island, the biggest island of Busan, to handle growing air traffic demand and facilitate prosperity in the country's southeast region. The bill proposes special exemption for the compulsory preliminary feasibility study for the construction pr
Feb. 26, 2021
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[Newsmaker] National Assembly calls on Myanmar military to restore democracy, release detainees
South Korea’s National Assembly called for restoration of democracy in Myanmar, condemning its military government for using violence and failing to uphold human rights. The parliament on Friday passed the Resolution Condemning Myanmar’s Military Coup and Urging Restoration of Democracy and Release of All Persons Arbitrarily Detained, criticizing the military government’s crackdowns on protests and expressing support for the democratic movement. The resolution defined Myanmar
Feb. 26, 2021
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CIO head vows to maintain political neutrality
Kim Jin-wook, the head of the new powerful investigative agency, on Thursday vowed to remain politically neutral and not to give in to political pressure when it comes to investigations. In his first public debate since taking office last month, Kim, the inaugural chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), said he will try his best to listen to different opinions on contentious and divisive issues. "I will be impartial towards everyone with different op
Feb. 25, 2021
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Parliamentary seeks to toughen punishment for child abuse homicide
The National Assembly is pushing for a law revision to strengthen the punishment of homicide by child abuse in the wake of a series of recent fatal abuse cases that shocked the nation. A subcommittee of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on Wednesday passed a revision bill on child abuse crimes, under which those convicted of child abuse murder will be punished with at least seven years in prison, life imprisonment or the death penalty. Currently, those who commit child abuse that results
Feb. 25, 2021
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Police raid SK Innovation again over battery dispute
Police raided SK Innovation Co. on Thursday in connection with the allegations that it stole electric vehicle (EV) battery technologies from its local competitor. According to the police, the national security investigation division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency launched a search operation at the company in central Seoul earlier in the day. The police have been investigating the case after they received a complaint in May 2019 from LG Chem Ltd. that SK Innovation poached talent from
Feb. 25, 2021
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4th round of COVID-19 relief handouts may reach more than W19.5tr
South Korea's upcoming fourth round of COVID-19 relief handouts may amount to more than 19.5 trillion won ($17.6 billion), the ruling Democratic Party (DP) said Thursday. The scale of the government's proposal for the new batch of pandemic relief fund has been tentatively set at around 19.5 trillion won, but the final amount could rise further during the National Assembly's review of the related bill, Rep. Yoo Dong-soo, a deputy chief of the DP's policy committee, indicated. "(The size of
Feb. 25, 2021
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PM calls for active participation in COVID-19 vaccine program
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Thursday called on the public to actively participate in the government's public coronavirus vaccine program, as authorities move swiftly to make last minute preparations on the eve of the nationwide inoculation campaign. Earlier in the day, trucks and ships packed with the first of some 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines headed to long-term care hospitals and public health centers across the country. "Please have trust in the government
Feb. 25, 2021
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Impeachment trial postponed for judge in power abuse case
An impeachment trial for Judge Lim Seong-geun has been rescheduled to a later date, the Constitutional Court said Thursday. The court originally planned to hold a pretrial preparation session Friday, two days before he retires as a judge, where both sides set forth their main arguments and a list of evidence, and discuss how to proceed with the upcoming trial. The court said it has yet to determine the date for the session. The National Assembly led by the ruling Democratic Party voted to imp
Feb. 25, 2021
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Spring blossom, cultural festivals canceled or downsized over COVID-19 fears
Spring is just around the corner, but almost all spring blossom and cultural festivals across the country are likely to be called off for the second consecutive year amid little signs of a letup in coronavirus outbreaks, officials said Wednesday. Many local governments have already decided to cancel their annual spring flower festivals again this year due to fears of COVID-19 transmission, though some others are considering holding festivals on a sharply reduced scale or in a non-face-to-face m
Feb. 24, 2021
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1st batch of COVID-19 vaccines shipped in S. Korea ahead of public inoculation program
Shipments of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines for South Koreans began Wednesday as health authorities gear up to launch a public inoculation program later this week. The inaugural shipments of vaccines developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca were made at a drug manufacturing plant of SK Bioscience Co. in Andong, 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The delivery began as the country was preparing to begin a public vaccination program on Friday using AstraZeneca vaccines
Feb. 24, 2021