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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Seoul aims to halve current suicide rate by 2030
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4 in 10 young South Koreans take up 'irregular' jobs: data
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[Photo News] Rallying against LGBTQ+
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103 autumn foliage paths in Seoul
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[Breaking] Former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil dies
Former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil died Saturday at age 92.Kim died at 8:15 a.m., an aide said. Kim was taken to Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Seoul from his home in Shindang-dong, and he was already dead on arrival, hospital officials said. He is believed to have died of old age. Born in 1926, Kim graduated from the Korea Military Academy and played a key role in the 1961 military coup led by Park Chung-hee, who rose to president and ruled South Korea for 18 years. Kim served as prime mi
June 23, 2018
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Political parties show mixed reactions to investigative power reforms
Rival parties on Friday showed mixed reactions to the government's decision to enhance the police's authority to investigate independently of the prosecution.The government announced Thursday that it will empower police to initiate and close cases without approval from the prosecution as part of long-delayed reforms of the division of investigative powers. The ruling Democratic Party stressed the need to swiftly start the parliamentary process to revise related laws to accelerate the government'
June 22, 2018
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Government draws up plans for addressing police, prosecution tussle over investigation
Police will be authorized to close cases, and freed from prosecution’s command in conducting investigations, according to the government’s plans for restructuring criminal investigations Thursday. The plans were outlined in an agreement reached by the prosecution and the police agency. The agreement was submitted to the National Assembly’s special committee for judicial reform for review. The plans also include a number of measures to prevent either body from abusing its powers and ensure the tr
June 21, 2018
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Government, ruling party agree on having grace period for shorter work hours
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the government and the presidential office agreed to a six-month grace period for the revised law on shorter work hours, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said Tuesday.Under the revised law passed in February, companies with 300 or more employees are required to reduce the maximum work hours to 52 hours per week, from the current 68 hours, starting July 1.Violators of the law are subject to jail term of up to two years or fines of up to 20 million won ($18,090).The
June 20, 2018
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Key Park ally leaves opposition LKP in wake of election defeat
Suh Chung-won, a close ally of disgraced former President Park Geun-hye, said Wednesday that he has decided to leave the main opposition Liberty Korea Party over its crushing defeat in last week's local elections.The conservative party won only two of the 17 big-city mayoral and gubernatorial races last Tuesday and added only one parliamentary seat in the by-elections held at the same time. Rep. Suh Chung-won (Yonhap)"Politicians in the conservative bloc have a huge responsibility for sparking p
June 20, 2018
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Parliament's normalization delayed as opposition parties grapple with election defeat
South Korea's parliament has shown no sign of normalizing its operation as opposition parties have been grappling with the fallout of last week's huge election defeat.The National Assembly's extraordinary session in June may end without even holding a plenary session as rival parties have yet to start discussions to form standing committees, a process needed for the parliament's operation in the second half of its four-year term.Former parliamentary speaker Chung Sye-kyun's two-year term ended i
June 19, 2018
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Govt., party officials to meet over summit, economy Wednesday
The ruling Democratic Party said Tuesday that senior officials from the party, the government and the presidential office will hold a meeting the next day to discuss follow-up measures to last week's US-North Korea summit.They will also discuss ways to stabilize the livelihoods of ordinary people and the government's policy on the minimum wage at a meeting to be held at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday at a parliamentary building.The meeting comes after the DP's landslide victory in the June 13 local elec
June 19, 2018
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[News Focus] Small political parties struggle to get their voices heard
While this year’s June 13 local elections ended in a landslide victory for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, small, extra-parliamentary parties made some eye-catching progress.Seoul mayoral candidate Shin Ji-ye of the Green Party Korea, which is an extra-parliamentary party, came fourth in the run against major negotiating blocs, winning an unexpected 82,874 votes, or 1.7 percent of total ballots cast. She even placed ahead of Kim Jong-min from the far-left opposition Justice Party, which ho
June 18, 2018
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Main opposition party unveils reform measures over election defeat
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party on Monday unveiled a set of reform measures including the shake-up of its governing body following its huge defeat in last week’s local elections.The move came after the conservative party won only two of the 17 big-city mayoral and gubernatorial races in the June 13 local elections. It also secured only one parliamentary seat in the by-elections held simultaneously with the polls.“From this moment, the Liberty Korea Party will kick off the process to stre
June 18, 2018
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Ruling party to hold convention to elect new leadership in August
The ruling Democratic Party plans to hold a party convention on Aug. 25 to elect new leadership, party officials said Monday, following its landslide victory in last week's local elections.The new leader will replace Choo Mi-ae, a five-term lawmaker. The DP clinched a sweeping victory in the June 13 local elections and parliamentary by-elections. Winning 11 out of 12 districts contested, the party now controls 130 seats in the 300-member National Assembly.The DP has cautioned against possible co
June 18, 2018
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Police to look into Gyeonggi governor-elect’s alleged extramarital affair
Police have started an investigation into a scandal involving Gyeonggi Gov.-elect Lee Jae-myung who allegedly had an extramarital affair with an actress, after receiving the case from the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday. During the local elections campaign period, a lawmaker from the center-right minor opposition Bareunmirae Party raised the allegation that Lee, a former Seongnam mayor and Gyeonggi governor candidate, had an affair with actress Kim Bu-seon for nine months. Lee Ja
June 17, 2018
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Incheon citizens to file class action suit against lawmaker for disparaging remark
Rep. Chung Tae-ok, a former spokesman for the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, may soon face a class action suit from a group of citizens against his remarks defaming two cities, Incheon and Bucheon.The Incheon headquarters of the far-left Justice Party previously said it would file a damage lawsuit of 613 million won ($557,700) against Chung, and has been gathering 613 people to join the class action suit. The number matches the date of the local elections, which was held on June 13. Accord
June 17, 2018
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Ex-chief of main opposition party says he won't run for 2020 general elections
Kim Moo-sung, the six-term lawmaker of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, said Friday that he will not run for the general elections in 2020 due to the party's crushing defeat in this week's local elections.The conservative LKP suffered a humiliating rout in Wednesday's local elections and parliamentary by-elections. It won only two of the 17 big-city mayoral and gubernatorial races and added only one parliamentary seat.Kim, the former chief of the Saenuri Party, the LKP's predecessor, exp
June 15, 2018
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Leadership of minor opposition party resigns over election defeat
A co-head of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party and senior officials resigned Friday after the party suffered a crushing defeat in this week's local elections.Park Joo-sun, the co-leader of the centrist party, and other officials stepped down over an election fiasco in which the party failed to win even one seat out of 17 big-city mayoralties and provincial governorships."I sincerely apologized to the people who supported our party and had high expectations for its role," Park told a press c
June 15, 2018
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[News Analysis] Conservative leaders resign after election debacle
Chairman Hong Joon-pyo of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party and Yoo Seong-min, co-chairman of the center-right minor opposition Bareunmirae Party, resigned from their positions Thursday, taking responsibility for their crushing defeat in the local elections and parliamentary by-elections. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea garnered sweeping victories in most regions, winning 14 out of the 17 mayoral and gubernatorial posts. The Liberty Korea Party only managed to grab two posts, in the c
June 14, 2018
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[Newsmaker] Rise and fall of presidential hopefuls
The June 13 local elections ended with a sweeping victory by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, and now the focus is on how it may benefit the next potential presidential candidates. Newly elected Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon won his third consecutive term in the June 13 local elections. YonhapThe ruling progressive party, whose members includes President Moon Jae-in, grabbed 14 of the 17 metropolitan mayor and governor posts, plus 11 of the 12 National Assembly seats in the by-elections that wa
June 14, 2018
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‘Kim Jong-un,’ ‘Park Geun-hye’ names draw attention at local elections
Several candidates in Wednesday’s local elections caught the attention of the public due to their names. These candidates had the same names as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, former President Park Geun-hye and Park’s father Park Chung-hee. The Korean spellings of the names were identical, though they were romanized differently. In particular, Kim Jong-un, a female candidate for the Mapo-gu local elections, became a trending topic. The US-North Korea summit took place a day before the elections
June 14, 2018
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Feminist candidate fares well in Seoul mayoral race despite opposition
Green Party candidate Shin Ji-ye who ran on a platform of feminism and the protection of animal rights surprised voters after finishing fourth in this year’s heavily contested Seoul mayor’s race. The feminist candidate won over 80,000 votes, according to the National Election Commission, fending off competition from the likes of left-wing candidate Kim Jong-min from the Justice Party. Shin is thought to be the first candidate in South Korea’s political history to openly run on a feminist platfor
June 14, 2018
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Eye-catching outcomes of 2018 local elections
-Outspoken feminist candidate fares well in Seoul mayoral race-Candidate named Park Geun-hye, ironically from the Democratic Party, elected as member of Busan’s Geumjeong-gu municipal council-Ulsan gets first liberal mayor, a 69-year-old human rights lawyer who finally won the race after ninth attempt-25-year-olds win seats in Incheon, Busan’s local assemblyTables turned in Ulsan, a former stronghold for conservativesUlsan mayor-elect Song Cheol-ho (Yonhap)Song Cheol-ho, 69, became the first may
June 14, 2018
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Moon says he will double efforts to implement pledges following election victory
President Moon Jae-in renewed his promise to honor his own election pledges Thursday, noting that a landslide victory by the ruling Democratic Party in the local elections may have shown public support for some of his government and the ruling party but not all."The people have given the government a great strength. The support the people have shown feels heavier than ever after learning that the turnout rate was the highest in 23 years for local elections," the president said in a released stat
June 14, 2018