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] 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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City of Seoul toughens rules against sexual crimes in officialdom
The city of Seoul is introducing a new rule under which officials involved in sexual crimes will be expelled immediately, Mayor Oh Se-hoon said on Tuesday. Oh made the announcement during a press briefing arranged to formally apologize to the victim of alleged sexual harassment by his predecessor Park Won-soon. Park was found dead last July in an apparent suicide amid allegations that he harassed a female secretary. "I declare the immediate introduction of a 'one-strike-and-you're-out' ru
April 20, 2021
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Govt. commission chief offers to resign over decision to reinvestigate Cheonan ship sinking
The chief of a presidential committee offered to resign on Tuesday, holding himself responsible for the committee's now-retracted decision to reinvestigate the deadly 2010 sinking of a South Korean warship by North Korea. Earlier this month, the Presidential Truth Commission on Deaths in the Military retracted the decision made in December to launch a fresh probe into the case in which the warship Cheonan went down near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto maritime border between the two
April 20, 2021
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Moon joins Boao forum, urges multilateral cooperation with 'enhanced inclusiveness'
South Korean President Moon Jae-in proposed Tuesday that Asian countries strengthen multilateral cooperation with inclusiveness enhanced against the spread of protectionism and unilateralism. He was delivering a video message to the 2021 Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) held in the Chinese province of Hainan. The conference, themed "A World in Change," has brought together Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of several other Asian nations both online and offline. Participants included s
April 20, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Yoon far ahead of rivals as presidential hopeful: poll
Former chief prosecutor Yoon Seok-youl, who rose to stardom by defying the Moon Jae-in administration’s prosecutorial reform drive, beat his closest rival by a whopping 16.2 percentage points in the latest poll on presidential preference. In the survey of 1,011 adults nationwide, conducted Friday by Realmeter and commissioned by YTN, 37.2 percent chose Yoon as their most preferred presidential hopeful. The second-most-popular choice was Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung with 21 percent support
April 19, 2021
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Moon to join Biden-hosted climate summit this week
South Korean President Moon Jae-in will participate in a multilateral meeting on climate change this week to be hosted by US President Joe Biden, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday. Moon is joining the virtual Leaders Summit on Climate, slated for Thursday and Friday, along with dozens of other heads of state, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Park Kyung-mee. Delivering a speech at a session to be held for two hours from 9 p.m. on Thursday (Seoul time), Moon plans to explain Seoul's commitment to
April 19, 2021
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PM nominee vows to present new govt. stance on pandemic-related support
Prime Minister nominee Kim Boo-kyum said Monday he plans to deliver a fresh government stance in terms of the pandemic-related public support programs in his confirmation hearing. "Before everything else, I will try to find measures to give the public, fatigued by COVID-19, means of support, and prepare to deliver answers (at the confirmation hearing)," Kim told reporters as he arrived at his temporary office in central Seoul. Kim explained that he will consult with related agencies
April 19, 2021
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Moon urges move toward 'more mature' democracy in S. Korea on historic anniversary
President Moon Jae-in called Monday for nonstop efforts to further develop South Korea's democracy, as the country commemorated its historic pro-democracy movement six decades ago. He paid tribute to the victims of the April 19 Revolution in 1960, which was led by students protesting vote-rigging in presidential elections by then President Rhee Syngman, during his visit to a national cemetery in Seoul. The two-week mass civilian protests led to the collapse of the Rhee government that had rule
April 19, 2021
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Return of Chung Sye-kyun to set off race to win DP's ticket for presidential election
The imminent return of Chung Sye-kyun to the political realm, following his resignation as prime minister earlier this week, is expected to set off in earnest a high-stakes race to win the ruling Democratic Party's (DP) ticket to run in next year's presidential election. Chung stepped down from the public office Friday after serving a 15-month stint, mainly preoccupied with the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The 71-year-old former six-term lawmaker has yet to officially decla
April 17, 2021
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Govt. to mobilize full capacity to overcome COVID-19 as soon as possible: Chung
South Korea's outgoing prime minister said Friday the government will mobilize its full capacity to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 and ultimately overcome the pandemic. "COVID-19 can never win against South Korea. The government will do everything it can to win this intense war against the virus as soon as possible," Chung Sye-kyun said while chairing his final daily interagency meeting on the coronavirus response held at the government complex in Seoul. Chung resigned from h
April 16, 2021
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Moon replaces senior secretaries for political affairs, social policy, Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson
President Moon Jae-in replaced some of his senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday, a move coupled with a major Cabinet shake-up to name a prime minister. Former lawmaker Lee Cheol-hee was tapped as senior presidential secretary for political affairs, and Lee Tae-han, an audit official at the National Health Insurance Service, as senior secretary for social policy, Moon's office announced. The president also named Park Kyung-mee, secretary for education policy, as new Cheong Wa Dae spoke
April 16, 2021
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Govt. team probes former LH executive over alleged speculation
A government probe team has been looking into allegations of real estate speculation by a former executive of the state housing developer, the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), an official said Friday. The former executive was vice president of LH until his retirement in 2016 and is suspected of using insider information to purchase land and a four-story building in Seongnam, south of Seoul, in 2017, before the land was designated for redevelopment, according to the probe team. The suspect sol
April 16, 2021
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Moon nominates new prime minister in Cabinet shake-up
President Moon Jae-in has nominated former Interior Minister Kim Boo-kyum as his third prime minister and is replacing five other ministers as part of a major Cabinet shake-up, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. The ministers in charge of industry, land, labor, science and oceans are set to be replaced in the reshuffle, and key Cheong Wa Dae staff are to be reorganized. The reshuffle is seen as an attempt to stabilize state affairs at the end of Moon’s term after the ruling party lost mayoral
April 16, 2021
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Natl. Assembly reports 1st COVID-19 case among lawmakers
Rep. Lee Gae-ho of the ruling Democratic Party (DP) tested positive for the new coronavirus, the first virus case among the incumbent lawmakers, the National Assembly said Thursday. Lee underwent COVID-19 testing earlier in the day after one of his secretaries was confirmed to have been infected, it said. Rep. Wi Seong-gon, who came into close contact with Lee, tested negative, and Rep. Lee Won-taeg is set to undergo a test, according to officials. Both are members o
April 15, 2021
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Korea must lead global chip supply chain: Moon
President Moon Jae-in on Thursday stressed that South Korea must continue to lead the global chip supply chain and pledged support for the local semiconductor industry, amid the prolonged chip shortage and intensifying US-China trade tensions. Moon called the semiconductor sector a “core national strategic industry” that will decide the country’s economy going forward, as he convened an “expanded meeting” of economy-related ministers at Cheong Wa Dae to tackle wa
April 15, 2021
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Cheong Wa Dae to soon announce PM's resignation, replacement nomination: sources
Cheong Wa Dae was widely expected to announce the resignation of Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and the nomination of his replacement this week, according to ruling party and presidential office insiders Thursday. "Prime Minister Chung has already offered his resignation to President Moon Jae-in. My understanding is that there will be an official announcement Friday," a source familiar with the matter told Yonhap News Agency. According to the source and others, a new prime minister no
April 15, 2021
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Chief policymaker wary of rising home prices sparked by redevelopment hopes
South Korea's finance minister on Thursday expressed concerns that home prices in Seoul have picked up on expectations for eased rules on redevelopment housing projects, a key policy plan by the new Seoul mayor. Mayor Oh Se-hoon took office last week with a pledge to ease regulations on redeveloping old apartments in the capital in a bid to help increase the home supply in the densely populated area. Sale prices of apartments in Seoul rose 0.07 percent this week, accelerating from a 0.05 perce
April 15, 2021
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Ruling party slams Seoul mayor's push to introduce new COVID-19 rules
The ruling Democratic Party (DP) on Wednesday slammed Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's plan to introduce new COVID-19 rules in the city, calling the idea an act of "holding people's lives hostage." Oh, a member of the main opposition People Power Party, took office on Thursday after winning the mayoral by-election over Park Young-sun of the DP by a landslide. One of his early focuses has been helping small businesses survive the pandemic by looking at ways to keep them open for longer hours,
April 14, 2021
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Political parties press Tokyo further over Fukushima water discharge decision
South Korea's political parties on Wednesday continued to express firm oppositions to Japan's decision to release radiation-tainted water into the sea from its wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant. Tokyo announced Tuesday that it plans to start releasing massive amounts of radioactive water, which has been stored in tanks at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, in two years. South Korea has expressed strong opposition towards Japan's controversial decision and pledged to take necessary measu
April 14, 2021
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Moon to Japan's envoy: There's 'great concern' over plan to release contaminated water
South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivered a message of "great concern" Wednesday over Japan's decision to dump a huge amount of contaminated wastewater from a crippled nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. Speaking directly to Japan's new ambassador here, Koichi Aiboshi, the president said that there is great concern among South Koreans, as the two nations are geographically close to each other and share the sea, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. He asked the env
April 14, 2021
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[Newsmaker] Moon orders probe into alleged corruption by Cheong Wa Dae secretary
President Moon Jae-in instructed Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday to look immediately and thoroughly into allegations of corruption involving his secretary for culture. The move came after a news report that a local company established in 2004 by the secretary, Jun Hyo-gwan, won a dozen contracts, worth a total of 5.1 billion won ($4.5 million), with the Seoul metropolitan government on culture-related projects while he was serving as a senior official in charge of innovation planning affairs at City
April 14, 2021