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Heavy snow alerts issued in greater Seoul area, Gangwon Province; over 20 cm of snow seen in Seoul
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Seoul blanketed by heaviest Nov. snow, with more expected
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Seoul snowfall now third heaviest on record
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Samsung shakes up management, commits to reviving chip business
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Heavy snow of up to 40 cm blankets Seoul for 2nd day
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How $70 funeral wreaths became symbol of protest in S. Korea
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Why cynical, 'memeified' makeovers of kids' characters are so appealing
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BOK makes surprise 2nd rate cut to boost growth
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Hybe consolidates chairman Bang Si-hyuk’s regime with leadership changes
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11 injured in 53-car pileup on icy road in Wonju
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U.N. chief welcomes Korea-Japan agreement on wartime sexual slavery
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed Monday's landmark agreement between South Korea and Japan on resolving the issue of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, expressing hope for improved relations between the two countries."The secretary-general welcomes that the governments of Japan and the Republic of Korea have reached an agreement on the issues related to 'comfort women' at the bilateral Foreign Ministers meeting held in Seoul on 28 December," Ban's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a
Dec. 29, 2015
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Korea-Japan deal shows 'leadership,' 'courage,' 'statesmanship' of leaders: U.S. experts
The breakthrough deal between South Korea and Japan on resolving the issue of Japan's wartime sexual slavery was made possible thanks to "leadership," "courage" and "statesmanship" of the leaders of the two countries, U.S. experts said Monday.The experts also said that the agreement paves the way for greater trilateral security cooperation with the U.S. to deal with a rising China and a nuclear North Korea. What's important now is for Seoul and Tokyo to fight back nationalist pressure and sincer
Dec. 29, 2015
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U.S. praises Korea, Japan for reaching breakthrough deal on wartime sexual slavery
The United States on Monday praised South Korea and Japan for reaching a breakthrough deal on resolving the issue of Japan's wartime sexual slavery that has seriously plagued relations between the two key American allies for years.South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, reached the agreement in talks in Seoul earlier in the day, which centers on Japan's admission of responsibility for the wartime crime and plans to pay reparations to the victims.Th
Dec. 29, 2015
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Experts divided over assessment of Seoul-Tokyo deal on sex slavery
South Korean experts showed mixed reactions Monday to an agreement by Seoul and Tokyo to resolve the issue of Japan's wartime sex slavery, saying that improvement of their frayed ties hinges on how to carry out the deal. Earlier in the day, South Korea and Japan reached a landmark deal to settle the issue of Tokyo's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women for Japanese soldiers during World War II. Under the agreement, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed an "apology and repentance
Dec. 28, 2015
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Challenges remain after landmark deal on 'comfort women'
The landmark agreement between South Korea and Japan to end their dispute over Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women has already prompted questions about whether it really is the end. The two countries' top diplomats announced the terms of the deal in a press conference Monday, wrapping up 12 rounds of bilateral working-level talks that began in April 2014. Key features of the agreement included a personal apology from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his country's wartime
Dec. 28, 2015
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Park calls for fresh ties with Japan over landmark deal
President Park Geun-hye expressed hope Monday that South Korea and Japan will build confidence and start bilateral relations anew based on a landmark deal on the comfort women. South Korea and Japan "should turn the agreement into a precious opportunity to restore honor and dignity" to the comfort women and heal their scars, Park said in a telephone conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, according to Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea's presidential office. In the 13-minute conversati
Dec. 28, 2015
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Japan officially apologizes, offers funds
Japan on Monday expressed its apology and contrition for its colonial-era sexual enslavement of Korean women, and agreed to provide 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) for a foundation to be established by South Korea to support the surviving victims.The Tokyo government also said that it “felt strongly” about its responsibility for the issue “involving the Japanese military” that has been at the core of South Korea’s historical resentment toward its onetime colonizer -- from 1910-45.(Yonhap)The move c
Dec. 28, 2015
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Korea confirms thousands of wartime forced labor sites
More than 8,300 places on the Korean Peninsula have been identified as wartime forced labor sites during Japanese colonial rule, a South Korean commission said Monday.It is the first time that the number of labor sites on the peninsula has been confirmed by the South Korean government. A total of 8,329 sites have been found since 2005, compared with 4,119 sites in Japan, the commission affiliated with the prime minister's office said. The sites can be proof to show Japan's use of the peninsula a
Dec. 28, 2015
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Korea, Japan strike deal on 'comfort women'
South Korea and Japan reached a landmark deal on Monday to resolve the issue of Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, announced the agreement after talks at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, which centered on Japan's admission of responsibility for the wartime crime and plans to pay reparations to the victims."The comfort women issue is an issue whereby many women under the then mi
Dec. 28, 2015
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Korea, Japan FMs to meet over sex slave issue
The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan are to meet Monday for talks on the issue of Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II, a meeting that could set the tone for the future of bilateral ties.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, are scheduled to meet at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul later Monday, a day after the two sides concluded their 12th round of working-level talks on the issue.The meeting will be watch
Dec. 28, 2015
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U.S. to host PSI conference next month
The United States will host a meeting next month of countries committed to working together to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction from states like North Korea, the State Department said.The Mid-level Political Meeting of the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative will be held in Washington on Jan. 27, with Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Thomas Countryman hosting the conference, the department said in a release."The Proliferation Se
Dec. 28, 2015
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History of American rock ’n’ roll offers vision for K-pop’s future
A former Korean journalist has published a book that traces the holy grails of rock ‘n’ roll based on his journey across the musical heartlands of the U.S.“In Search of Rock ‘n’ Roll Heritage: American Rock Music Landmarks” is a travelogue highlighting the cultural and economic power of museums, monuments and memorials. The book was written by Cho Hyun-jin, a distinguished professor at Kookmin University and former journalist for YTN, Arirang TV and Billboard magazine, who is also credited with
Dec. 28, 2015
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EU lauds Paris climate deal
The adoption of the historic agreement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris on Dec. 12 was an “unprecedented political victory” and “turning point” toward sustainable international development, the French Embassy announced last week. Publicizing a statement from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, the diplomatic mission stressed that the legally binding accord among 195 participating nations ― to cap global warming at 2 degrees Celsius above
Dec. 28, 2015
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Syrian student on mission to help refugees
When the world mourned over dead Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi, who washed up on a Turkish beach in early September, one Syrian man was not tormented. He had lost three children in an air strike some time before. “The boy looked like a sleeping angel. I wish my children had died like that,” the grief-stricken father told Abdul Wahab Almohammad Agha, the director of humanitarian organization Help Syria, at a refugee camp in Jordan in September. “Aylan’s father is a lucky guy compared to me. I died e
Dec. 28, 2015
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Park at the vanguard of cultural diplomacy
The strains of “Arirang,” Korea’s unofficial national anthem, filled the air as President Park Geun-hye smiled at the National Marionette Theatre in Prague early this month, followed by Czech folk song “Humoresques.“Titled “In the Attic,” the puppet show was the product of collaboration between the two countries’ artists ― traditional Korean pansori piece “Sugungga” formed the central music and story line under the command of a Korean director, while the rabbit and turtle marionettes playing the
Dec. 27, 2015
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Korea, Japan strive to narrow gap on sex slavery
Seoul and Tokyo are inching toward a compromise on Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women by holding a director-general-level meeting on Sunday, a day before the ministers were set to sit down for talks. Japese Foreign Ministry`s Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Kimihiro Ishikane walks into the building of Seoul`s Foreign Ministry on Sunday. (Yonhap)The 12th round of working-level talks were held for two hours to settle one of the thorniest issues that has lo
Dec. 27, 2015
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Korea, Japan to hold working-level talks on 'comfort women' issue
South Korea and Japan are set to hold a working-level meeting Sunday on the issue of former Korean sex slaves for Japan's World War II soldiers, officials said. Lee Sang-deok, director-general handling Northeast Asian affairs at the Foreign Ministry, is scheduled to meet with his Japanese counterpart, Kimihiro Ishikane, around 3 p.m. in Seoul, officials said. The two sides are expected to try to work out differences to ensure their top diplomats can produce a deal on wartime sexual slavery, th
Dec. 27, 2015
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'TPP will spur erosion of China’s manufacturing edge’
This is the 11th and last installment in a series of interviews with scholars and experts on China as a resurgent Asian power that is changing the regional order. This installment looks into China’s economic issues. -- Ed. If the Trans-Pacific Partnership is ratified, it will spur the movement of the world’s manufacturing center from China to countries in Southeast Asia where the labor cost is cheaper and investments will flow in, China expert Jee Man-soo said. Jee Man-sooJee, a research fellow
Dec. 24, 2015
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China denies media report that it offered to rent S. Korean port
China on Wednesday denied a Japanese media report that Beijing had proposed renting a port facility on a South Korean island in 2013. Japans Asahi newspaper reported earlier this week that China had asked South Korea to let a Chinese company rent a port facility on Koje Island off the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula.But, the proposal was rejected by South Koreas defense ministry, according to the report. "I have never heard of such a plan and the relevant report is not worth commenting
Dec. 23, 2015
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Korea to offer $1.5 million to 3 African nations
South Korea has decided to provide three African countries with $1.5 million in humanitarian assistance, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, as Seoul is aggressively pushing for "humanitarian diplomacy."South Korea plans to offer $500,000 each to the Central African Republic, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.The three have long suffered severe humanitarian crises due to civil war, poor security and governance and climate change, said the ministry.There are more than 6 million r
Dec. 23, 2015
