Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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[KH Explains] Will alternative trading platform shake up Korean stock market?
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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S. Korea lowers COVID-19 warning level, lifts last-remaining antivirus mandates
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Nominees face uphill battle for confirmation
President Lee Myung-bak’s nominees for chief prosecutor and justice minister look set to face an uphill battle to win the parliamentary and public confirmation, with opposition politicians gearing up to thwart their confirmation. Suspicions of wrongdoings started to surface on Monday, even before Lee’s office sends a formal letter to the National Assembly, asking it to confirm the appointment of K
July 18, 2011
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Lee to underscore national harmony in Aug. 15 speech
Buoyed by sucessful PyeongChang’s bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, President Lee Myung-bak is likely to highlight national harmony in his Liberation Day speech on Aug. 15, Cheong Wa Dae officials said.The president has customarily used the Liberation Day speech to sound out public opinion on new policy plans or present areas of focus. Last year he suggested introducing a “unification tax
July 18, 2011
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Eyes on Koreas at regional security forum
Official says Seoul will not highlight N. Korea’s attacks in chairman’s statementAn unofficial meeting between top diplomats of the two Koreas during a regional security forum this week may pave the way for the resumption of long-stalled official dialogue between the countries, officials and analysts said Monday. South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan will visit Indonesia from Thursday to att
July 18, 2011
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Lee calls for efforts to curb consumer prices
President Lee Myung-bak called Monday for concerted efforts to curb rising consumer prices, instructing aides to set up a prices-monitoring team and to make the issue a fixture on the agenda for weekly meetings of senior secretaries, his spokesman said.“The most important thing for our government is the issues of prices and jobs. We have to tighten the rein on prices,” Lee told a meeting of senior
July 18, 2011
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Taiwan candidates ‘like’ SNS campaigning
Taiwan’s 2012 presidential campaign candidates have been actively interacting with supporters online, and they are taking advantage of social networking websites differently, research reveals. Results from research recently done by the Internet Buzz Research Center (iBuzz) on President Ma Ying-jeou and Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen’s Facebook pages indicated that
July 18, 2011
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DP slams GNP over savings banks probe
Opposition demands more figures summoned, including Park Geun-hye’s brotherAs the parliament’s August provisional session draws near, parties are attacking each other over the parliamentary investigation into alleged illegal lobbying and bribery by failed savings banks. The planned inquiry by lawmakers is seen as part of a larger battle over more controversial subjects such as the Korea-U.S. Free
July 17, 2011
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Lee names top aide Kwon as justice minister
Han nominated as prosecutor generalPresident Lee Myung-bak on Friday named his top aide for civil affairs Kwon Jae-jin as the new justice minister despite objections from some ruling and opposition lawmakers.Lee also nominated Han Sang-dae, chief of the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office, as the prosecutor general to succeed Kim Joon-kyu who resigned in apparent discomfort over the passage of a bil
July 15, 2011
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Sex scandal rumors fly at Assembly
The National Assembly was recently shaken by a series of sex scandals, most of them involving members of the Grand National Party.Earlier this month, a major daily newspaper reported that a married ruling party lawmaker sexually harassed a drunken woman in a taxi and handed over money to the driver who threatened to upload the recorded file on the Internet.The subject of the article was the illici
July 15, 2011
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S. Korea, China agree to high-level military dialogue, bolster security cooperation
Defense chiefs of South Korea and China on Friday agreed to establish an annual “strategic defense dialogue,” paving the way for enhanced cooperation in tackling peninsular and regional security issues, officials said.During their talks in Beijing, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and his Chinese counterpart Gen. Liang Guanglie also expressed their opposition to “any acts that undermine peace and sta
July 15, 2011
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Hong says main aim is private investment
GNP leader says will ensure smooth nomination of presidential candidateThe Grand National Party Chairman Rep. Hong Joon-pyo pledged to act as a “windbreak” for other frontrunners in the race for presidential candidacy next year.“I have no intention to enter candidacy, nor am I entitled to do so, according to our party constitution,” said the ruling party leader.“My role is to act as a connecting b
July 14, 2011
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‘Lee may nominate new justice minister by Friday’
President Lee Myung-bak is expected to nominate a new justice minister and new prosecutor-general as early as Friday, an official said Thursday, as Lee faces opposition from within his own party against naming one of his secretaries for the minister’s post.The nominations will be announced after consultations with the ruling Grand National Party and background checks on candidates to see if they a
July 14, 2011
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Korea regrets Japan’s boycott of Korean Air in Dokdo spat
Korea regrets Japan’s boycott of Korean Air in Dokdo spatThe Korean government expressed its regret on Thursday after Japan reportedly instructed diplomats not to use Korean Air planes in protest over its showcase flight over the disputed Dokdo islets.The Korean Foreign Ministry urged Tokyo lift the order immediately and pledged stern responses against any Japanese moves encroaching Korea’s sovere
July 14, 2011
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Lee awards highest national security order to U.S. commanders
President Lee Myung-bak awarded South Korea's highest order of national security merit to the outgoing chief of U.S. forces in Korea and the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff at a ceremony Wednesday, participants said. Gen. Walter Sharp and Adm. Michael Mullen were given the Tong-Il Medal of the Order of National Security Merit for their contributions to the defense of South Korea, part
July 13, 2011
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Bugging scandal hits politics, journalism
State broadcaster KBS denies bugging allegations, calls probe threat to press freedomAllegations of bugging involving the state-run broadcaster KBS have sparked criticism over “unethical journalism,” with others denouncing the ongoing investigation into the claims as an infringement on press freedom.The suspicion is that on June 23, a 33-year-old KBS reporter, surnamed Jang, bugged a closed-door m
July 13, 2011
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Seoul mayor marks 1st year of 2nd term, decries spending
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon pledged to fight “welfare populism” in a city council bill to offer free school meals at all schools in the capital.“If we don’t overcome ‘welfare populism,’ the democracy of our nation cannot move forward,” he noted at the press conference marking the first year of his second term Wednesday.“Seoul citizens have made a wise move to put the free school lunch on referendum and
July 13, 2011
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Lee says will consult GNP on appointments
President Lee Myung-bak told the newly-elected leadership of the ruling Grand National Party over lunch on Wednesday that he will discuss with them before nominating the new justice minister and the prosecutor-general amid backlash from both ruling and opposition lawmakers against the president’s top candidate.During his first official meeting with the new GNP leader Hong Joon-pyo and other member
July 13, 2011
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GNP leader picks close aide as new secretary-general
A close aide to the newly-elected chairman of the Grand National Party Hong Joon-pyo was appointed secretary-general on Tuesday, despite backlash from pro-Lee Myung-bak and pro-Park Geun-hye groups.Floor leader Hwang Woo-yea and policy chairman Lee Ju-young, together with council members Reps. Nam Kyung-pil and Na Kyung-won, supported the chairman’s selection and approved Rep. Kim Chung-kwon as ne
July 12, 2011
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Parties target tough constituencies
DP lawmakers eye GNP home turf; ruling party mulls replacing veteransParties are seeking to turn the table in next year’s general elections with a bold lineup of possible candidates as some veteran lawmakers gave up their candidacy or pledged to run in strategically important areas other than their home-turf constituencies.Rep. Kim Hyo-seuk, a third-term lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic
July 12, 2011
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Korea crippled by chronic corruption
President Lee in uphill battle to keep his ‘fair society’ campaign afloatA workplace inspector suspected of taking bribes from companies called on a police investigator and tried to bribe him with an envelope of cash only to be caught red-handed early this year.When police later raided the Seoul branch office of the Employment and Labor Ministry, where the inspector surnamed Park worked, they foun
July 12, 2011
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GNP chiefs to cancel tax cuts, reduce tuition
The ruling Grand National Party, led by newly elected chairman Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, has announced a reformative, “people-friendly” stance.In the party workshop at the National Assembly on Sunday, the Supreme Council and the policy committee agreed almost unanimously to slash university tuition fees and reinforce regulations over conglomerates.The plan also included overturning additional corporate
July 11, 2011