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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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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Yoon calls for measures to protect Koreans amid escalating Iran-Israel conflicts
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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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[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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[Photo News] Rallying against LGBTQ+
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S. Korea may ease some construction rules to supply more homes
South Korea's policymakers have discussed easing some construction rules to supply more homes in Seoul and the neighboring area, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Tuesday. A potential measure may allow an apartment building to have more homes by raising the residential floor area ratio, Hong told lawmakers. Another measure may ease rules on floor-to-floor height in an apartment building, Hong said. Hong has said the government will soon draw up comprehensive measures to supply more homes
July 28, 2020
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Retired diplomat appointed as ambassador for economy and trade
The government has appointed a retired diplomat as ambassador for economy and trade, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Choi Seok-young, former ambassador to the South Korean Permanent Mission in Geneva from 2012-15, is expected to help the government promote national interests with his valuable knowledge and experience he built over the years, the ministry said. He is also expected to help the government with its selection campaign for Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee, who is running for the s
July 28, 2020
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Moon vows continued support for global ‘artificial sun’ project, called ITER
South Korean President Moon Jae-in stated Tuesday that his country remains committed to full support for a historic international project that seeks to create an artificial sun through fusion technology. He was speaking in a video message to a ceremony, held in Cadarache, France, to commemorate the beginning of the assembly of the world‘s largest nuclear fusion reactor, which has the potential to solve mankind’s energy needs. South Korea is a member of the International Thermonu
July 28, 2020
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Moon appoints national intelligence service chief
President Moon Jae-in appointed Park Jie-won, a former lawmaker, as head of the National Intelligence Service on Tuesday, Cheong Wa Dae said. The move came a day after Park went through the National Assembly‘s confirmation hearing. Park’s tenure is to begin Wednesday, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. Hours earlier, the Intelligence Committee adopted a report on the results of the hearing despite a boycott by the main opposition United Future Party tha
July 28, 2020
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Seoul, Washington lift limitations on Korea’s use of solid rocket fuel
South Korean government, military and private organizations are now able to develop solid-fuel launch vehicles following the latest revision to South Korea-US missile guidelines, Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday. According to Kim Hyun-chong, national security adviser to the president, the revised missile guidelines take effect immediately. “As of July 28, 2020, limits on the use of solid fuel in space launch vehicles are completely removed,” Kim said. He said the revision allows all S
July 28, 2020
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S. Korea allowed to develop solid-fuel space rocket under revised missile guidelines with US
South Korea announced Tuesday it has become able to develop solid-propellant space rockets under the new missile guidelines with the United States, saying the deal is expected to help sharply improve the military's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities and boost the space program of the private sector. The allies agreed to lift the decades-old restrictions on Seoul's use of solid fuels for its space rocket launch, effective as of the day, according to Kim Hyun-chong,
July 28, 2020
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Moon calls labor deal to counter COVID-19 pandemic 'very meaningful'
President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday it's "very meaningful" for the labor, the business and the government to have produced an agreement on a cooperative response to the social and economic fallout of the novel coronavirus crisis. He admitted, however, that the deal is not flawless, citing a hard-line umbrella union's boycott of the compromise. He was speaking at a signing ceremony for the accord, which is based on more than 40 days of "social dialogue" among representatives
July 28, 2020
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Spy chief nominee draws fire over his role in 2000 inter-Korean summit, academic records
National Intelligence Service Director nominee Park Jie-won on Monday pledged to be “reborn” as a civil servant, while drawing heavy fire from the main opposition party over his involvement in illegal transfer of funds to North Korea in 2000. Park is a former lawmaker who served four terms in the National Assembly between 1992 and 2020. Park has also served as a culture minister and was chief of staff to the president during the 1998 to 2003 Kim Dae-jung administration. At Park&
July 27, 2020
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Moon appoints new unification minister to serve as point man on Pyongyang
President Moon Jae-in appointed Lee In-young, a four-term ruling party lawmaker, Monday as new unification minister in charge of inter-Korean relations, Cheong Wa Dae announced. Accordingly, Lee's tenure has begun as of the day, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok wrote in a text message to reporters. Lee, who served as floor leader of the Democratic Party, was nominated early this month to lead the Ministry of Unification. Moon hopes Lee will play a role in efforts to produce a breakthroug
July 27, 2020
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Ruling party adopts report on unification minister nominee
The ruling Democratic Party on Friday adopted the confirmed hearing report on Rep. Lee In-young, the unification minister nominee. The report was adopted by the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee in the absence of lawmakers of the main opposition United Future Party. The main opposition had demanded Lee to provide documents regarding his son’s health and other items regarding is son, but Lee declined, prompting the United Future Party lawmakers to exit the committe
July 24, 2020
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Controversy brewing over ruling party's renewal of capital relocation plan
The ruling Democratic Party (DP) has been stepping up efforts to renew a more than decade-old plan to relocate South Korea's administrative capital to Sejong, south of Seoul, in the face of strong protests from opposition lawmakers. During a party meeting on Thursday, DP floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon expressed his determination to "follow through" with the capital relocation vision to help tackle overpopulation in Seoul and nearby cities. He then announced a plan to launch a special par
July 24, 2020
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Moon replaces five secretaries; ex-vice defense minister installed in NSC
President Moon Jae-in appointed Suh Choo-suk, former vice defense minister, as the No. 2 official at Cheong Wa Dae's national security office Friday in a reshuffle of his secretaries. Suh replaces Kim You-geun, deputy director of national security, and he will double as chief of the secretariat of the National Security Council (NSC). Suh served as vice defense minister from 2017-2019, when he led a national defense reform drive. He worked as senior presidential secretary for unification and s
July 24, 2020
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Cheong Wa Dae issues message of comfort for late mayor's alleged sexual abuse victim
The office of President Moon Jae-in broke its silence Thursday about the politically sensitive issue related to the allegations that late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon sexually harassed a former secretary, conveying a message of comfort to the victim. "We offer words of comfort to the victim," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok said at a press briefing when asked about the presidential office's position on the matter. Park was found dead earlier this month after his former secretary
July 23, 2020
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S. Korea reviews G7 summit issue in NSC meeting, Cheong Wa Dae says
South Korea's top security officials on Thursday discussed the issue of a G7 summit that the United States is expected to host later this year, Cheong Wa Dae said. During the weekly standing committee meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), the officials "reviewed the situation on the push for this year's G7 summit and discussed the direction of South Korea's participation in the case that it's held," the presidential office said in a press release. In addition, they agreed
July 23, 2020
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Unification minister nominee pledges to put Seoul in lead on NK issues
Unification Minister nominee Lee In-young said Thursday that he will focus on having Seoul take the lead on North Korean issues, ushering in the “time of the South and North.” Lee, a fourth-term lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Party, also mentioned the Seoul-Washington working group on North Korean issues and US Forces Korea, saying the working group has a role in resolving the issues on the Korean Peninsula. Speaking at his confirmation hearing, Lee said that while inter-Ko
July 23, 2020
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Gyeonggi gov. rises as contender for ruling party presidential candidacy
Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung is rapidly rising as a potential presidential contender for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, buoyed by his actions in the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Supreme Court ruling that effectively acquit him on a charge that could have crippled his career. According to Gallup Korea surveys, support for Lee as a potential future president has grown rapidly in recent months. In a survey conducted in the second week of January, Lee ranked fourth among pote
July 22, 2020
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Aug. 17 designated as temporary holiday, creating one-off long weekend
Aug. 17 has been designated as a temporary holiday, creating a one-off long weekend from Aug. 15 through Aug. 17, the government said Tuesday. The Cabinet approved the holiday plan in light of Liberation Day falling on Saturday and a growing public fatigue from the drawn-out fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. “We hope to give a short, but precious rest time to people tired from battling the coronavirus,” President Moon Jae-in said at the weekly meeting. Under the Regulations
July 21, 2020
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Ruling party rekindles administrative capital drive
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is reengaging the drive to establish an administrative capital, as it seeks a breakthrough in real estate issues. The issue, which was put to rest in 2004, was revived following Democratic Party Floor Leader Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon’s address to the parliament on Monday. In 2004, the Constitutional Court ruled that the plans were unconstitutional, saying that Seoul being Korea’s capital is an established fact under “customary constitution.&rdqu
July 21, 2020
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Ruling party’s by-elections dilemma: Seoul and Busan ‘too big to let go’
The two vacant mayoral seats left behind by disgraced heavyweights from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea have put the party in a bind. To field candidates for the posts in Seoul and Busan in by-elections next year, it will have to break its own rules and campaign promises. But the country’s two largest cities, with a combined population of over 13 million, are too big to lose. The Seoul office has been vacant since Mayor Park Won-soon, who belonged to the ruling party, died earli
July 21, 2020
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S. Korea designates Aug. 17 as temporary holiday for virus-weary people
The South Korean government on Tuesday designated Aug. 17 as a temporary national holiday, allowing workers in the nation to have three consecutive days off during the summer season that's feared to be dampened by the drawn-out fight against the novel coronavirus. The Cabinet approved the plan to add the post-weekend holiday on the August calendar during a weekly meeting chaired by President Moon Jae-in at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. Moon said the designation is intended to give a "short but
July 21, 2020