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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Yoon calls for measures to protect Koreans amid escalating Iran-Israel conflicts
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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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Two years on, thousands mourn Itaewon tragedy, calling for accountability
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[Weekender] Walk around Korea to really get to know the country
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N. Korea slams Seoul-Washington joint air exercise
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[Herald Interview] Love for K-drama, food defines 'Secret Ingredient'
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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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Moon says June 10 democratic protest sprit is 'noble asset' for S. Korea
President Moon Jae-in on Thursday commemorated a historic pro-democracy uprising here in 1987, describing its spirit as a "noble asset" to be passed to future generations. "The spirit of the June 10 Democratic Protest is a noble asset that should be inherited by future generations," he wrote on his social media accounts. He was referring to an uprising, initiated by college students and joined by other citizens, against the authoritarian rule of Chun Doo-hwan 34 years ago.
June 10, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Ex-prosecutor general leads presidential hopefuls' poll with record high support rate: Realmeter
Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl saw his support rating reach a fresh record high in the latest poll of potential presidential candidates released Thursday, amid signs of his imminent political debut. In the Realmeter survey on 2,013 voters nationwide conducted from Monday to Tuesday, 35.1 percent picked Yoon as their most favored candidate for next year's presidential election, up 4.6 percentage points from last month. It is the highest support that Yoon has received in Realmeter's mo
June 10, 2021
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DP to supply over 10,000 houses in capital region under special project
The ruling Democratic Party (DP) said Thursday it will supply more than 10,000 houses in six cities near Seoul starting next year through a special project aimed at stabilizing the overheated real estate market. The so-called "home for anyone" project, unveiled by the party's special committee on real estate, is the latest in the DP's policy efforts to rein in runaway property prices, seen as a major reason for its debilitating defeat in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections in Apr
June 10, 2021
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Moon urges full probe into Gwangju building collapse
President Moon Jae-in ordered a thorough probe Thursday into the collapse of a five-story building that killed at least nine people, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Eight others were injured, as debris from the building being demolished in a redevelopment project fell on a bus stopped on a nearby street in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Wednesday afternoon. The president received briefings by phone from Interior and Safety Minister Jeon Hae-cheol and Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-sup on the tragedy.
June 10, 2021
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S. Korea, US launch expert group on vaccine partnership under summit accord
South Korea and the United States have established a senior-level expert group to follow up on their summit deal on their "vaccine partnership," Cheong Wa Dae said Thursday. The inaugural session of the task force was held via video link the previous night with government officials of the two sides in attendance, it said in a press release. They included a dozen representatives from the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the US International Development Fin
June 10, 2021
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‘Take the bandages off BTS’: pro-tattoo lawmaker
Rep. Ryu Ho-jeong of the minor progressive Justice Party posted photos of BTS member Jungkook on Tuesday to gain support for a bill that would legalize and regulate tattooing in South Korea. Jungkook has tattoos on his hands and arms, but he covers them with bandages when he appears on national television because of a Korea Communications Commission rule against showing tattoos on TV. In lengthy Facebook and Instagram posts, which contained photographs of Jungkook with bandages covering
June 9, 2021
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Moon set for weeklong visits to Britain, Austria, Spain from Friday
President Moon Jae-in will make a trip to Britain for the Group of Seven (G-7) summit this weekend followed by state visits to Austria and Spain for talks on bilateral ties, Cheong Wa Dae announced Wednesday. Moon plans to leave for the British coastal county of Cornwall on Friday to attend the G-7 session as a guest at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's invitation. It will be Moon's first attendance at the G-7's annual summit. He was invited to last year's meeting, which was supposed to be hosted
June 9, 2021
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Calls grow in S. Korea for Olympic boycott over Dokdo
Calls are growing for Seoul to boycott the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics in protest against the Japanese government’s marking of Dokdo as its territory on its Olympics website. The Korean government recently found that Dokdo remains on the Japanese territorial map on its Olympics website as a faint dot when the screen is zoomed in. Earlier, Japan had made the island unseen on the map after Korea’s protest. The Korean government recently protested again to remove the island, but th
June 9, 2021
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Main opposition set to request outside probe into party lawmakers' property dealings
The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is set to officially request Wednesday an inspection by state auditors into real estate dealings by all its sitting lawmakers to determine if any of them is involved in a public sector land speculation scandal. The PPP's deputy floor leader Rep. Choo Kyung-ho is scheduled to visit the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) in the afternoon to submit a letter requesting an inspection into property transactions of all its 102 lawmakers, according to part
June 9, 2021
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S. Korea not considering boycott of Tokyo Olympics amid Dokdo spat: ministry
South Korea is not considering boycotting the Tokyo Olympics, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, after presidential hopefuls of the ruling Democratic Party mentioned the possibility of a boycott amid a renewed territorial spat with Japan over the East Sea islets of Dokdo. Rep. Lee Nak-yon and former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun raised the need to mull boycotting the Games, slated to take place from July 23-Aug. 8, should Japan not revise the map of the Olympic torch relay route that included D
June 8, 2021
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[Newsmaker] 12 ruling party lawmakers implicated in real estate corruption
The ruling Democratic Party convened an emergency meeting of its leadership Tuesday to discuss how to respond to a government report indicating that 12 of its lawmakers were implicated in illegal real estate transactions. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said Monday that 12 Democratic Party lawmakers or family members of Democratic Party lawmakers were suspected of violating the law on real estate trade. The anti-corruption watchdog looked into the real estate transactions of 17
June 8, 2021
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Daegu mayor apologizes for controversial bid to import Pfizer vaccines
DAEGU -- The mayor of Daegu offered an apology on Tuesday for causing a "big stir" over the southeastern city's recent bid to import a massive amount of Pfizer vaccines that turned out to be fake. Mayor Kwon Young-jin apologized to Daegu citizens and the whole nation in a news conference, saying his city's attempt to arrange for the South Korean government to buy 30 million doses of Pfizer vaccines from abroad was made out of good will. The incident dates back to May 31, when Kwon to
June 8, 2021
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DP to recommend voluntary departure to 12 lawmakers suspected of illegal property dealings
The ruling Democratic Party decided Tuesday to ask 12 sitting party lawmakers suspected of involvement in illegal real estate dealings to leave the party voluntarily. The decision came one day after the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced after a monthslong probe that 12 DP lawmakers are suspected of involvement in illegal real estate dealings by themselves or their families. "Having pledged to sternly respond to this issue during the previous party convention, our p
June 8, 2021
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Minor party leader fined for violating election law in connection with academic fraud scandal
The chief of a minor opposition party was fined 800,000 won ($720) Tuesday for lying about fabricating an internship document for a former justice minister's son. The Seoul Central District Court convicted Rep. Choe Kang-wook of the Open Democratic Party for violating the Public Official Election Act, saying he could have hindered voters from making a fair and reasonable decision during the general elections last year by spreading false information on a matter that had attracted huge public att
June 8, 2021
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Prosecution challenges structural reform plan by justice ministry
The Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) on Tuesday refused to accept reform measures pushed by the justice ministry and aimed at curbing prosecutors' investigative power. The decision was made during a meeting convened by Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo the previous day with senior prosecutors to discuss the ministry's reform plan, the SPO said. The office said in a statement that it "is not acceptable" that the ministry tries to curb direct investigations by prosecutors and requires them
June 8, 2021
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Moon says G-7 summit to be chance for S. Korea's diplomacy, bigger role on global issues
President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday his upcoming participation in the Group of Seven (G-7) summit would serve as an opportunity to upgrade South Korea's diplomacy. He is scheduled to attend the three-day session to open Friday in Britain, the first major in-person multilateral summit since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. South Korea is not a member of the club of the world's most industrialized nations, but Moon is joining the meeting as a guest, along with the leaders of Australia, Indi
June 8, 2021
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12 DP lawmakers suspected of engaging in illegal real estate dealings: anti-corruption agency
The state anti-corruption watchdog said Monday it has identified 12 ruling party lawmakers suspected of having engaged in illegal real estate dealings, following a party-wide probe conducted in the wake of a public sector land speculation scandal in March. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced that it identified 16 alleged speculation cases linked to 12 members of the Democratic Party (DP) and that it has relayed the information to a separate police-led special government in
June 7, 2021
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Moon says 36m S. Koreans to be vaccinated by September
President Moon Jae-in said Monday that 36 million South Koreans will get at least the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines by September. The number represents 70 percent of the nation's population. Moon raised the possibility that more than 14 million people will be inoculated by the end of June, chairing a special interagency meeting on the coronavirus prevention and control at Cheong Wa Dae, the third of its kind. If achieved, fatality rates and the number of additional infections would decline
June 7, 2021
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Moon orders complete overhaul of military culture
President Moon Jae-in on Monday called for a complete overhaul of military culture amid a public outcry over the suicide of an Air Force noncommissioned officer who was sexually assaulted by her male colleague. According to presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee, Moon ordered the creation of an independent task force with civilian representation to improve the barracks culture overall. “I cannot tolerate the latest incident that has sparked people’s outrage,” the preside
June 7, 2021
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Moon orders launch of task force to overhaul military culture amid fury over death of sex assault victim
President Moon Jae-in instructed the government Monday to establish a task force on overhauling military culture, Cheong Wa Dae said amid a public uproar over the suicide of a female Air Force official who was sexually assaulted by a male colleague. It should not be business as usual, with the people infuriated over the incident, the president stressed, speaking during an internal meeting of his office earlier in the day, according to his spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. He then urged the launch o
June 7, 2021