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Seoul blanketed by heaviest Nov. snow, with more expected
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NewJeans to terminate contract with Ador
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NewJeans terminates contract with Ador, embarks on new journey
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Seoul snowfall now third heaviest on record
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Korean Air gets European nod to become Northeast Asia’s largest airline
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Samsung shakes up management, commits to reviving chip business
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Hybe consolidates chairman Bang Si-hyuk’s regime with leadership changes
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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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Chaos unfolds as rare November snowstorm grips Korea for 2nd day
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East Sea naming law takes effect in Virginia
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) ― A new law went into effect in the U.S. state of Virginia Tuesday, requiring local school textbooks to use the South Korean name “East Sea” alongside the more commonly used Japanese name “Sea of Japan” for the body of water between the two countries.The landmark legislation passed through the Virginia House of Delegates in February, despite strenuous Japanese government lobbying against it, and Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed it into law in April. Virginia is the first U.S. stat
July 2, 2014
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Chinese leader set to visit S. Korea amid regional tensions
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit South Korea this week for talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, an official said Wednesday, amid regional tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons program and Japan's growing nationalism.Xi is scheduled to hold summit talks with Park on Thursday that are expected to focus on how to further boost their relations and how to deal with North Korea's nuclear weapons program as well as the Japanese leader's nationalistic policies.South Korea has ex
July 2, 2014
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Korea, China to announce stepped up cooperation
South Korea and China are likely to adopt an annex to a joint presidential statement after their leaders’ summit in Seoul on Thursday to underscore their efforts to strengthen cooperation in various fields including trade and business, sources said Tuesday.Accompanied by a large economic delegation, Chinese President Xi Jinping is to arrive in Seoul for a two-day state visit on Thursday. He will have a summit with President Park Geun-hye to discuss North Korea’s nuclear threat and other bilatera
July 1, 2014
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Japan ends pacifist security policy
Japan approved its right to fight in overseas wars on Tuesday, overturning its strictly defensive postwar security policy and defying public protests and international concerns over its unabated revisionist push. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe convened an impromptu cabinet meeting to lift the longstanding ban on exercising collective self-defense by reinterpreting its Constitution’s war-renouncing Article 9, which barred Tokyo from waging war and possessing war-related materials. With the decision, J
July 1, 2014
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‘Social media reshaping political debate’
One of the key forces challenging political orthodoxy and debate in Asia in the coming years is likely to be social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and their regional counterparts, according to the latest issue of Global Asia, a Seoul-based quarterly journal. “What we uncovered in our assessment of social media in this region, ‘Digital Dynamite: The Power of Social Media to Transform Asia for Better and Worse,’ is that the rapidly accelerating rate of smartphone usage and Internet penet
July 1, 2014
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S. Korea reaffirms stance on Japan's collective self-defense
South Korea reaffirmed its stance Tuesday that Japan should seek explicit consent from Seoul if Tokyo exercises the right to "collective self-defense" in cases of emergency situations related to security on the Korean Peninsula. The Japanese cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to reinterpret its war-renouncing Constitution that has banned Japan from exercising what is called the right to collective self-defense, a major shift in Japan's postwar security policy. The right would allow Tokyo t
July 1, 2014
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Japan set for shift in postwar security policy
Japan is poised to set its plan in motion to allow its military to help defend other countries, which will herald a major shift in the country’s defense-oriented postwar security policy amid rising concerns over its creeping assertiveness in the region. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to convene a cabinet meeting Tuesday to approve Tokyo’s right to exercise collective self-defense by reinterpreting the war-renouncing Article 9 of its Constitution. The change will allow Japan’s Self-Defense
June 30, 2014
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Park-Xi summit to focus on North Korean nukes, FTA
The leaders of South Korea and China are expected to underscore their opposition to North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and their push to expedite bilateral free trade negotiations during a summit in Seoul later this week, government sources said Monday.After the summit on Thursday, Presidents Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping are to issue a joint statement, which observers presume will include their resolve to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, but may fall short of singling out the North for d
June 30, 2014
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Seoul to publish sex slavery white paper by July 2015
South Korea is seeking to publish a white paper to shed light on Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women by July 2015 in a bid to protest against Japan’s review of its 1993 key apology of such atrocities, officials said Monday.The move comes as Japan has recently said that Seoul and Tokyo officials coordinated the wording of the so-called Kono Statement that apologized for coercing women into sexual servitude for its frontline troops during World War II.The Ministry of Gender Equality
June 30, 2014
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Seoul seeks to publish white paper on 'comfort women' by July 2015
South Korea is seeking to publish a white paper to shed light on Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women by July 2015 in a bid to protest against Japan's review of its 1993 key apology of such atrocities, officials said Monday.The move comes as Japan has recently said that Seoul and Tokyo officials coordinated the wording of the so-called Kono statement that apologized for coercing women into sexual servitude for its front-line troops during World War II.The Ministry of Gender Equalit
June 30, 2014
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Korea, China, Japan build bridges
South Korea has a bridge-making role to play in enhancing cooperation between Japan and China, as well as in regional community building in East Asia in general, said the chief of the ASEAN-Korea Centre on Tuesday.Secretary-General Chung Hae-moon made the comments after returning from a two-day meeting in Beijing with his ASEAN Centre counterparts in Japan and China.ASEAN-Korea Centre Secretary-General Chung Hae-moon (right), ASEAN-Japan Centre Secretary-General Yoshikuni Ohnishi (left) and ASEA
June 29, 2014
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Senior Irish ministers talk public sector reform in Seoul
Brendan Howlin (center), minster for public expenditure and reform, and Irish Ambassador to South Korea Aingeal O’Donoghue (second from right) pose for a photo with officials from the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy in Seoul on Wednesday. (Irish Embassy)Two senior Irish government ministers were in South Korea to discuss enhancing two-way ties on finance and trade with their counterparts here and also to talk about public sector reform and participate in a conference on the top
June 29, 2014
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Korea, U.S. celebrate friendship in annual fete
The Korea America Friendship Society celebrated United States servicemen and women during its annual “Friendship Night,” at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Seoul on Thursday. As part of the annual fete, four U.S. soldiers and one U.S. Department of Defense civilian received Korea America Friendship Society awards. The awards recognize them for teaching English on a volunteer basis; holding cultural exchanges, athletic events and festivals for young Korean students; and leading other projects that promo
June 29, 2014
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Azerbaijan celebrates 96th Armed Forces Day
Commander Elchin Jafarov (center), the Azerbaijani Embassy’s military attache, poses for a group photo with other defense attaches during a reception celebrating his country’s 96th Armed Forces Day in Seoul on Wednesday. (Azerbaijani Embassy)The Azerbaijani Embassy here celebrated the 96th anniversary of the establishment of the country’s armed forces during a reception in Seoul on Wednesday.The event was attended by members of South Korea’s Defense Ministry, members of the Azerbaijani military
June 29, 2014
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Envoy celebrates Egypt’s presidential election
The Egyptian ambassador here celebrated the presidential election that took place in his country this month during a reception for Egypt’s 62nd National Day at his residence in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, on Monday.Ambassador Hany Selim said that the recent presidential election in his country marks the beginning of “a new Egypt,” as he hosted Choi Sung-joo, ambassador for international security affairs; members of the foreign diplomatic community; and other VIPs at his residence in Seoul.“Apart from
June 29, 2014
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Japan completes draft bill for collective self-defense
In a move that has triggered a backlash at home and from neighboring countries, the Shinzo Abe administration has come up with a final draft of a reinterpretation of its pacifist Constitution to make it possible to exercise its right to collective self-defense, Japanese media said Friday. The decision will mark a major shift in Tokyo’s exclusively defensive postwar security policy by allowing it to use force to defend its allies under attack. Article 9 of the constitution bans the country from w
June 27, 2014
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Xi to visit Seoul next week
The leaders of South Korea and China, Presidents Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping, will hold talks in Seoul next week to discuss ways to improve bilateral relations and to deal with North Korea’s nuclear program, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday.Xi will arrive in Seoul on Thursday on a two-day visit. It will be the first time a Chinese leader makes an official visit to South Korea before traveling to North Korea. Xi visited Pyongyang in 2008 when he was the vice president.“South Korea expects Xi’s trip to
June 27, 2014
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Korea, U.S. discuss Japan’s review of Kono Statement
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) ― South Korea and the United States had high-level consultations here Tuesday on a broad range of issues, including Seoul-Tokyo stand-offs over their shared history, officials said.In the so-called strategic dialogue with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong reiterated Seoul’s strong concern over the recent review by the conservative Japanese administration of a landmark 1993 apology for wartime sex slavery, known as th
June 25, 2014
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Sexual slavery victim protests Tokyo’s review of 1993 apology
A South Korean woman who was forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese army during World War II visited Japan’s embassy in Seoul on Wednesday to protest Tokyo’s review of its 1993 landmark apology admitting to such atrocities.Kim Bok-dong, 88, visited the Japanese Embassy to lodge a strong complaint against Japan’s recent review of the Kono Statement, which acknowledged and apologized for Japan’s coercion of women into sexual slavery for its frontline troops.A panel of experts appointed by Jap
June 25, 2014
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Korea ends Afghan mission
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan ― A sense of pride and accomplishment took hold and gestures of gratitude were traded as Korea marked the official closure of its regional reconstruction task in Afghanistan on Monday. Some 200 government and military officials of Korea, Afghanistan and NATO’s U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force took part in a ceremony at the Bagram Airfield to commemorate four years of work by the Korean Provincial Reconstruction Team in the central province of Parwan a
June 24, 2014
