Most Popular
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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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Chaos unfolds as rare November snowstorm grips Korea for 2nd day
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BOK makes surprise 2nd rate cut to boost growth
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[Newsmaker] Korean troops bid adieu to Afghanistan
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan ― Full of vigor yet penniless, Faisal Safi appeared doomed to live a life without a future when he joined a Korean vocational training center in his home province of Parwan in 2010 at age 20. One year of electrician training there “completely changed” his life, he said, enabling him to not only support his family but also open up opportunities. Now at 24, the soft-spoken man nurtures pupils at the academy located in the largest U.S. military base Afghanistan. “I real
June 24, 2014
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Seoul protests Kono statement review
The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday summoned the Japanese ambassador as the first step in its response to Japan’s review of the 1993 Kono Statement. As part of its multifaceted response to Japan’s review, which Korea sees as an attempt at undermining its significance, Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koro Bessho was summoned to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry on Monday. Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koro Bessho“Only the Abe administration’s credibility and international reputation will be damag
June 23, 2014
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(Photo News) Ukraine peace efforts
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin lays flowers during a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany in 1941 near memorials by the Kremlin walls in Moscow on Sunday. He publicly expressed support for Ukraine’s declaration of a cease-fire in its battle against pro-Russian separatists and called on both sides to negotiate a compromise. (AP-Yonhap)
June 23, 2014
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China urges wider perspective to resume N. Korea nuke talks
BEIJING (Yonhap) ― Nations involved in the long-stalled multilateral talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program must bear in mind a “larger picture” for its resumption, China’s top diplomat said Saturday, as diplomatic efforts to bring new life into the talks have made little headway. Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi, whose rank is higher than the country’s foreign minister, also vowed to spare no efforts to resume the six-party talks ahead of an upcoming state visit by Chine
June 22, 2014
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Sex slavery victims angry over Japan’s 1993 apology review
A Seoul civic group representing Korean women forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II slammed the Japanese government Saturday for its attempt to undermine the credibility of its 1993 apology, adding the move is clearly a “regression of history.”“(Japan) has undermined (the Kono statement) by saying that it was written upon the request from the South Korean government,” the Korean Council for Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery said.“The move is a provocation against the gl
June 22, 2014
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[Herald Interview] UNDP eyes Korea’s expertise in environment, fighting corruption
This is the ninth installment in a series of interviews with chiefs of United Nations offices in Korea. ― Ed.The U.N. Development Program is looking to deepen its partnership with Korea to help others in need by harnessing the country’s green technologies and know-how in tackling corruption, chief of its Seoul office said. As the Seoul Policy Center is crafting its new three-year work plan, the two areas have emerged as potential catalysts for development in which the UNDP and Korea can join for
June 22, 2014
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Oman guest of honor at 2014 Seoul International Book Fair
Oman was the guest of honor at this year’s Seoul International Book Fair at the Convention and Exhibition Center in Seoul from June 18-22.A number of receptions and performances were organized last week, including an Omani Pavilion at the book fair. Designed to resemble a medieval Omani castle, the pavilion had subsections for cultural, literary, economic and tourist publications. Visitors got to see traditional Omani outfits and jewelry and have henna ink designs drawn on them by professionals.
June 22, 2014
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ECCK offers ‘foosies’ chance at World Cup glory
Foosball, also sometimes called “table soccer,” might have seen its halcyon days in American and British bars in the 1970s before the arcade game craze of the early 1980s ― there is even a 1981 B-movie, “Longshot,” about it ― but now “foosies” will get a chance to play the “beautiful game” again courtesy of the European Chamber of Commerce Korea. The ECCK is inviting volunteers to participate in a table soccer contest, the “ECCK Table Soccer Championship 2014,” as a way to celebrate the 2014 Wor
June 22, 2014
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Trade pitch sign of Korean-Caribbean interest
The Dominican Republic is usually thought of as a tropical holiday getaway, replete with white sand beaches and crystal blue Caribbean waters. Less known is that this Caribbean paradise is fast becoming a manufacturing platform and launching pad for exports to the United States.Although the island nation is famous for rum and cigars, it is now the second-largest supplier of circuit breakers in the U.S. and the fifth-largest supplier of medical devices in Latin America.Though China began its aggr
June 22, 2014
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ASEAN-Korea Center starts lecture series
This year’s ASEAN-Korea Center Southeast Asian Lecture Series starts at ASEAN Hall of the ASEAN-Korea Center on the 8th floor of the Korea Press Center in downtown Seoul June 26. Co-organized with the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies at Busan University of Foreign Studies, the subject on the first week of the five-week program is titled, “The ASEAN Community and Acculturation in Southeast Asia” and will be delivered in Korean by professor professor Park Sa-myung.The lectures are free and op
June 22, 2014
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S. Korea, Turkmenistan agree on flagship economic projects
ASHGABAT (Yonhap) – South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov agreed Friday on a pair of flagship economic projects expected to propel bilateral relations forward.The joint projects are for the construction of a $2 billion gas-chemical plant in the Seydi District of Lebap Province in northeastern Turkmenistan, and a refinery of natural gas to liquid fuels such as kerosene and diesel, officials said. The gas-to-liquids project is worth $3 billion.O
June 20, 2014
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Japan's review of 1993 apology dampens ties
Relations between Korea and Japan are plunging further after the Shinzo Abe administration on Friday unveiled a report undercutting its watershed 1993 apology for its mobilization of Korean women to frontline brothels in World War II. A five-member panel consisting of legal, women’s rights and media experts has been “reexamining the background” of the Kono Statement since late February, headed by former Prosecutor-General Keiichi Tadaki.Seoul’s Foreign Ministry expressed “deep regret” that Tokyo
June 20, 2014
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Number of refugees in Korea rises 12 percent
The number of refugees in Korea sharply climbed to 547 last year in line with Seoul’s efforts to support asylum seekers from around the world, a report showed Friday. The figure marks a 12.3 percent yearly increase and a whopping 22-fold growth from 10 years ago, according to an annual Global Trend Report by the U.N. High Commission for Refugees. Seoul began taking asylum claims in 1994. It enacted Asia’s first standalone refugee act in July 2013, which governs the application for refugee status
June 20, 2014
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Abe must not undercut 1993 apology on wartime sex slavery: China
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be further alienated from his neighbors if Tokyo undermines the credibility of its 1993 apology over wartime sexual enslavement of women during World War II, China's state-run media warned Friday. The China Daily made the comments in its editorial hours before the Japanese government was set to announce the results of its "review" on the 1993 statement issued by then-Japanese cabinet secretary Yohei Kono that acknowledged its forced recruitment of women in
June 20, 2014
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Korea, Kazakhstan agree to expand joint economic projects
ASTANA (Yonhap) ― South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev agreed Thursday to work closely together to realize major energy and power projects currently underway between the two countries.The joint projects worth a total of $10 billion were a key focus of the two leaders’ summit talks in Astana, which came on the fourth day of Park’s six-day tour of Central Asia, officials said.The South Korean leader arrived in Kazakhstan on Wednesday following a thre
June 19, 2014
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U.S. ambassador nominee vows role in Seoul-Tokyo ties
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) ― Mark Lippert, on track to become the new U.S. ambassador to South Korea, said Tuesday he would endeavor to help Seoul and Tokyo improve their often-prickly ties over shared history.“We obviously have conversations to encourage better dialogue between the Japanese and South Koreans to work through some of these very difficult and painful historical issues,” he said at a Senate confirmation hearing. Though the U.S. “wouldn’t play a mediation role,” it “can play an important r
June 18, 2014
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Korea to send troops to peacekeeping drill in Mongolia
South Korea will dispatch troops to an annual multinational peacekeeping exercise set to kick off in Mongolia this week, the Marine Corps here said Wednesday.Some 34 South Korean Marines as well as eight service members of the Army, Navy and Air Force will participate in the Khan Quest exercise in the landlocked country. The exercise is set for June 20 to July 1.During the drill, the troops are scheduled to practice how to carry out operations in conflict areas, provide humanitarian aid and perf
June 18, 2014
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U.S. cooperation threatened by Tokyo’s post-Cold War ties
Tension appears to be building between the U.S. and Japan as Tokyo’s moves to enhance ties with Pyongyang and Moscow have apparently unnerved Washington, which has imposed tough sanctions against the two.Tokyo’s controversial reexamination of its 1993 apology for its wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women is also a source of concern for Washington as it would escalate historical feuds between Japan and South Korea, and hamper the three-way security collaboration.Although the U.S. and Japan s
June 17, 2014
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Korea, China discuss maritime border
Korea and China last week held the first talks in about three years to demarcate their exclusive economic zones that have long been a source of tension between the two countries, Seoul officials said Tuesday. The closed-door meeting came weeks ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Seoul. It was led by Kang Jeong-sik, director-general for international legal affairs at Seoul’s Foreign Ministry, and Ouyang Yujing, director-general for boundary and ocean affairs of Beijing’s Foreign Ministry. Wi
June 17, 2014
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S. Korea, China hold closed talks on maritime border
South Korea and China held closed-door talks last week aimed at demarcating their economic exclusive zones (EEZs) ahead of an expected summit meeting between their leaders, a source said Tuesday. The Friday talks come as the two countries remain at odds over Beijing's declaration last year of its new air defense identification zone over the East China Sea that encroaches upon South Korea's and includes the Seoul-controlled submerged rock of Ieodo. Ieodo, which is 4.6 meters below sea level,
June 17, 2014