Most Popular
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Chuseok still is a headache for couples
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Students suffer sleep deprivation, fatigue, suicidal thoughts
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N. Korea launches trash balloons toward S. Korea for 2nd day: JCS
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Yoon's approval rating hits new low: poll
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Heat wave watch issued for Seoul; latest on record
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Lime green plates deepen slump in Korea’s luxury car sales
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Popular tourist destinations beckon Chuseok holidaymakers
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Nearly 2,000 aging separated family members die in first 8 months of year: gov't data
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] Koreans do things quickly. Is it efficiency or lack of patience?
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Calories that stalk the Chuseok table
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[Newsmaker] Law professor key figure in candidate unification push
Progressive law professor Cho Kuk is emerging as an unlikely kingmaker mediating a tricky process to generate a united opposition candidacy. Cho is one of the country’s best known liberal academics and fiercest critics of party politics. He made headlines in September when he was mentioned as a potential member of Democratic United Party Moon Jae-in’s campaign. However, the academic has so far remained away from the election campaigns saying that he will play a role in the unification process.
PoliticsOct. 15, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Can the ‘Boss’ pull together troubled Park campaign?
The “boss” is back. Former lawmaker Kim Moo-sung, 61, is the choice of Saenuri Party presidential candidate Rep. Park Geun-hye as she strives to defuse one of the biggest crises in her campaign.Dogged by rising internal protest against her controversial appointments, Park finally listened to her associates’ recommendation that she bring back Kim, a Busan native with tenacity to match his formidable physique.People, and not just the Saenuri Party members but also journalists, call him “Moodae,” s
PoliticsOct. 10, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Once success story, founder of Woongjin in grave crisis
Everything Yoon Seok-keum touched seemed to turn to gold. He was a man who in just three decades, built a 6 trillion won ($5.3 billion) empire from the ground up, armed with nothing but a few good men and a natural gift for sales.But whether this success story will have a happy ending has become uncertain; Yoon’s company, Woongjin Group, recently filed for court receivership in a desperate bid to prevent a spreading bankruptcy after the group’s construction arm, Kukdong Construction, went down t
IndustrySept. 27, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Korean Methodist Church bans father-to-son succession
Christian churches in Korea have kept an unusual, anti-democratic and unfair system for decades ― the practice of hereditary succession or “seseup,” just like the father-to-son power transition that occurs in conglomerate groups.This unnatural process has allowed some commanding pastors at the top mega-churches to turn over their leadership to their children. The proponents of the practice have claimed that the system is necessary to ensure church stability and security. However, this seseup tra
CultureSept. 26, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Bomb thrower-state leader riles Israel, West yet again
No stranger to incendiary rhetoric, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad riled Israel and the West once again with his remarks on Monday that the world’s only Jewish-majority state had no roots in the Middle East and would be “eliminated.” Speaking in New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad also dismissed the credibility of Israel’s threats to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, and condemned the “Innocence of Muslims,” the film trailer depicting the prophe
Foreign AffairsSept. 25, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Questions dog challenger to vulnerable president
Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger to President Barack Obama in November’s U.S. presidential election, tried to dampen speculation and political attacks over his finances on Friday with the release of his 2011 tax return and a 20-year overview of tax payments. Last year’s tax return showed that the former governor of Massachusetts paid $1.9 million in taxes on income of $13.6 million, for an effective tax rate of about 14 percent. Romney has indicated that he does not intend to release his t
PoliticsSept. 23, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Security dominates agenda of new Libyan premier
After Libya’s 200-member General National Congress elected him prime minister Wednesday, the domestic security situation must be foremost on the mind of Mustafa Abu-Shakour.One of his last acts as Deputy Prime Minister was to condemn the killing of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens during an attack on the United States’ consulate in Benghazi just hours before he was elected. The attack brought more international attention to a situation Abu-Shakour had sought to downplay a month before. In a Reuters
InternationalSept. 13, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Romney’s running mate comes out fighting
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for vice president Wednesday with a speech that showed he was not afraid to take on Obama.While pushing his outline for smaller government, he took several swipes at the U.S. president.“Ladies and gentlemen, these past four years we have suffered no shortage of words in the White House,” he said. “What’s missing is leadership in the White House.” Ryan even took on the left over health care, traditionally a weak suit for the Repu
InternationalAug. 30, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Ex-prime minister fans Japan’s nationalist fever
Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister, seems desperate to grasp his nation’s top political post again, judging by his decision to jump into the intensifying diplomatic spat between Korea and Japan in a thinly veiled tactical move. Fully aware of the extreme sensitivity of the issue, Abe pledged to reverse all of Japan’s past apologetic statements over its colonial atrocities, if his party wins the election and he is again elected prime minister.Abe’s newly reaffirmed stance on the issue come
Foreign AffairsAug. 29, 2012
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[Newsmaker] ‘People’s prosecutor’ joins Park GH camp
It was a deft move by the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Park Geun-hye. The appointment of former Supreme Court justice Ahn Dae-hee on Monday as the chairman of the Saenuri’s political reform committee showed, to its maximum, the frontrunner’s determination on political reform.Thrown off balance, the main opposition Democratic United Party strongly criticized the designation, but with little grounds to back their condemnation.Dubbed “the people’s prosecutor” for his full-fledged c
PoliticsAug. 28, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Korean-born teen makes history on LPGA Tour
A South Korean-born New Zealand teenager has written what might be the best golf story of the year. Lydia Ko won the Canadian Women’s Open on Sunday to become the youngest player to ever win an LPGA Tour event.The 15-year-old golf sensation also became the fifth amateur champion of the event. She finished the 72 holes on 13-under-par 275 at the Vancouver Golf Club course to beat this year’s Evian Masters champion Park Inbee by 3 shots. After Ko wrapped up her historic round, the World Golf Hall
GolfAug. 27, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Probing the unknown
Curiosity, NASA’s unmanned vehicle currently exploring Mars, could hardly be more aptly named. The rover’s $2.5 billion mission is testament to the fact that, even in tough economic times, man has an insatiable desire to explore the unknown. After successfully touching down on the Red Planet on Aug. 6, Curiosity made its first short test drive on Mars’ surface on Wednesday. Images transmitted back to Earth show vast plains of rusty, gravelly landscape, liberally punctuated by valleys and mountai
Foreign AffairsAug. 23, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Rape comments make U.S. candidate a party pariah
U.S. Republican Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin has provided a clear reminder of the effect a few words can have on an individual’s political fate.Akin’s comments during an abortion debate that women’s bodies can prevent pregnancy after a “legitimate rape” have drawn fire from all sides. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney was the latest Republican to call on him to quit his challenge for a senate seat in Missouri. Earlier, Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt and four former Republican senators from the stat
InternationalAug. 22, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Director Choi Dong-hun steals show with ‘The Thieves’
Director Choi Dong-hun’s star-studded film “The Thieves” has been a sensation since its opening in local theaters last month. Now, Choi’s biggest commercial hit ― the sixth domestic film to top 10 million viewers in Korean movie history at 10,095,387 viewers in 22 days ― is going overseas, slated to open in theaters in Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia next month. It will also be released in Singapore and Malaysia later this year.The film, featuring top stars including Kim Hye-soo, Jun Ji-hyun,
FilmAug. 21, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Could she become first female president?
Park Geun-hye may have the most nicknames among Korean politicians. Supporters call the Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate “Korea’s Thatcher” and “Election Queen.” Dissenters like to deride her as “Dictator’s Daughter,” “Notebook Princess” and “Furious Geun-hye.” One sure thing is that she is extremely beloved by many and deeply detested by just as many. Her polarizing nature largely stems from the vicissitudes of the 60-year-old lawmaker’s life.The eldest daughter of former president Park C
PoliticsAug. 20, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Singer becomes sensation
South Korean singer Psy’s every move is headline news after his new single, “Gangnam Style,” went viral in July. The tongue-in-cheek, laugh-out-loud music video of the hit song and its infectious “horseback riding” choreography have spawned a global buzz that refuses to die down. Paparazzi followed the 34-year-old star to Incheon International Airport on Wednesday to catch him before he boarded a plane for the U.S., where he is scheduled to meet pop star Justin Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun. N
PerformanceAug. 16, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Man behind young North Korean leader
North Korea’s Jang Song-thaek has enjoyed much international attention since he became the lynchpin of national leader Kim Jong-un’s inner circle following the death of Kim Jong-il in December.The fledgling ruler’s powerful uncle is now in China to attract economic aid to shore up the North’s debilitated economy. The scale of his entourage and the treatment he receives in Beijing speak volumes of how much clout he wields in the reclusive state.His trajectory of success began in the early 1970s w
North KoreaAug. 15, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Embattled human rights chief clings onto post
It appears that nobody wants him back except President Lee Myung-bak and his advisers. Lee’s reappointment of National Human Rights Commission chief Hyun Byung-chul for another term Monday was met with excoriation from all walks of life. Civic groups staged a protest Tuesday at the commission office in downtown Seoul to stop the infamous commissioner accused of ethical lapses from coming to work. Other activists denounced the reappointment as reversing the nation’s human rights development.The m
PoliticsAug. 14, 2012
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[Newsmaker] Peace Statue, symbol of Japan’s wartime atrocities
Facing the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, the bronze statue of a barefoot teenage girl appears to impart a poignant message to an unapologetic former colonial ruler: Return the purity, dignity and life that was trampled on. Tight security surrounding the “Peace Statue” highlights the tension between South Korea and Japan, rekindled since President Lee Myung-bak visited Dokdo last Friday amid Tokyo’s growing territorial claim to the islets.The statue was established last December to mark the 1,000th
Foreign AffairsAug. 13, 2012