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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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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S. Korea discussed possible participation in AUKUS Pillar 2 with Australia: defense minister
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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One in six sex offenders is 50 or older
One in six sex offenders is aged 50 or above, data from the Ministry of Justice shows.The number of sex offenders aged 50 and above marked 8,885 out of the total 51,876 convicted between 2010 and the first six months of this year, or 17.1 percent.The number has seen a steady increase, from 3,460 in 2010 to 3,834 in 2011.In the first half of this year, 1,591 seniors were charged for sexual crimes. Sex offenders in their 60s recorded 5.1 percent (805) of the total in 2010, 5.4 percent (887) in 201
Oct. 7, 2012
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2 KOICA volunteers killed by lightning in Sri Lanka
Two members of the Korea International Cooperation Agency were killed and three others were injured after being struck by lightning in Sri Lanka on Saturday, local time. The state-run volunteer group said its five members were hit by lightning at around 5:30 p.m. in Haputale, a mountainous area in the central region of the nation. A man surnamed Kim, 22, and a woman surnamed Jang, 24, were killed.Three female workers were taken to a nearby hospital.The female members had joined the volunteer gro
Oct. 7, 2012
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Family separation haunts civil servants in Sejong
A 30-year-old newly-wed employee of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is bitter about the ongoing relocation of key government offices to Sejong City, located some 150 kilometers south of Seoul.The female civil servant, who asked to be known only as Park, deliberately got pregnant years before she initially planned to take advantage of government rules that allow years of maternity leave, thus delaying her move to Sejong.Park said she feels relieved after hearing of the ordeals suffered by colle
Oct. 7, 2012
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Sri Lanka lightning kills 2 Korean aid workers, injures 3
Two South Korean volunteer workers were killed and three others injured in a lightning accident in Sri Lanka, a state aid agency said Sunday. The two -- a 22-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman -- were killed by lightning on Saturday evening in the mountainous Haputale region in the central part of Sri Lanka, according to Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), a state-funded agency in ch
Oct. 7, 2012
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Dozens of villagers evacuate gas leak-contaminated village to temporary shelter
(Yonhap) -- Dozens of villagers evacuated to a temporary shelter Saturday as officials tried to assess the extent of damage from a poisonous gas leak that devastated a large farmland. About 70 elderly residents left their village, Bongsan-ri, in the southeastern city of Gumi to a public facility considered safer from the aftermath of the Sept. 27 leak of about eight tons of hydrofluoric acid.
Oct. 6, 2012
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U.S. media shed lights on Dokdo after rare trip there
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- "For S. Korea, islands are outposts of national pride," reads a front-page story of the Washington Post's Friday edition. It shed lights on Dokdo, a pair of rocky islets in the East Sea, after a rare trip by one of its reporters there earlier this week. The South Korean government organized a helicopter tour of Dokdo, which is at the center of its diplomatic tension
Oct. 6, 2012
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U.S. to OK drone’s sale to Korea
The U.S. Congress is expected to approve the proposed sale to South Korea of Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles, and the two sides are in talks on price, a government official said Friday.South Korea hopes to purchase the advanced spy aircraft to bolster its surveillance capabilities over North Korea as the country prepares to retake wartime operational control of its troops from the United States in 2015.Congress has the final say in the sale of Global Hawks to foreign countries.“We expect th
Oct. 5, 2012
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KEPCO shareholders lose lawsuits over power rates
A local court on Friday ruled it is not illegal for a state power monopoly to set its electricity rates below cost, a verdict expected to deter the state-run Korea Electric Power Corp. from implementing power rate hikes.The Seoul Central District Court dismissed two separate suits filed by minor shareholders of KEPCO, who accused the government and a former KEPCO chief executive of keeping electricity rates intentionally low to the detriment of company shareholders.One group consisting of 28 sma
Oct. 5, 2012
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W800b spent to subsidize civilian-developed road
The government is wasting a huge amount of taxpayer money each year to make sure a group of private investors in an airport highway makes an adequate return on their investment, data showed Friday.According to the data from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, the government paid a cumulative 790.9 billion won ($711.9 million) in subsidies between 2002-2011 to New Airport Hiway Co., a private owner and operator of a highway connecting Seoul to its main gateway Incheon Internatio
Oct. 5, 2012
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Korea to craft long-term plan to attain ‘AAA’ rating
South Korea will establish a long-term plan to attain the world’s highest credit ratings levels based on the momentum it received from the recent rating upgrades by major appraisers, the Finance Ministry said Friday.Moody’s, Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s, the world’s three major appraisers, recently hiked their ratings on South Korea by a notch, citing the country’s improved fiscal soundness. The rating on Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, however, still remains three or four steps bel
Oct. 5, 2012
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Shares up on good results outlook
South Korean shares inched up 0.12 percent Friday on hopes of good corporate earnings, though investors took a wait-and-see stance on lingering European concerns, analysts said. The local currency climbed against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 2.49 points to 1,995.17. Trading volume was heavy at 672.4 million shares worth 4.4 trillion won ($3.96 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 462 to 351.Market analysts said that investors pay more heed to the E
Oct. 5, 2012
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Hana-SK Card draws highest rate of complaints
Hana-SK Card had the highest rate of consumer complaints of any Korean credit card company in the first half of this year, according to a news report Friday.Shinhan Card, the nation’s No. 1 card issuer, had the largest total number of complaints. The Yonhap News report was based on data from the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Consumer Agency and card companies. According to the report, Hana-SK received 9.2 complaints per 100,000 consumers during the period, followed by Hyundai Card wit
Oct. 5, 2012
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15% of Koreans want to buy import car: poll
A survey agency said Friday that the proportion of Korean consumers, willing to purchase import cars, had reached an all-time high of 15.5 percent this year.Based on its recent poll on 95,012 consumers nationwide, Marketing Insight released the yearly figure that shows drivers’ preference since 2001.The figure, which could be a barometer for growth potential of the import vehicle industry, has continued to climb since the 2008 global financial crisis ― 10.8 percent in 2009, 11.6 percent in 2010
Oct. 5, 2012
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POSCO’s interest in Steel Americas heats up outbound M&A market
Australia’s Arrium might be steel firm’s preferred target, analysts sayPOSCO, the world’s fourth-largest steelmaker, is heating up the outbound M&A market as the company has reportedly entered the race to acquire Steel Americas of German steel giant ThyssenKrupp. According to an article Thursday from The Bell, a local M&A news provider, POSCO hired Credit Suisse Group as an M&A adviser and has recently sent a letter of intent to buy Steel Americas. A POSCO spokesperson declined to comment on whe
Oct. 5, 2012
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Yoon apologizes, says creditors will decide
Woongjin Group chairman Yoon Seok-keum apologized on Friday to the public, creditors and employees for his mismanagement that led to his two major companies requesting court protection.Speaking at a hurriedly arranged news conference in Seoul, chairman Yoon bowed his head several times in apology and confessed that excessive expansion of the group resulted in the filing of the court receivership. “I should have given up the solar energy and construction businesses. I filed for court receivership
Oct. 5, 2012
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Samsung Electronics’ earnings surge 90.5%
Strong sales of mobile devices boost tech giant to post record-high8.1 trillion won profit in Q3Samsung Electronics said Friday that it expected a record-high operating profit of 8.1 trillion won ($7.23 billion) during the third quarter of 2012, up 90.5 percent over the same period last year.While the electronic behemoth has yet to unveil performances by the business sector, analysts say its noteworthy earnings are mainly attributable to brisk sales of high-end mobile devices despite patent disp
Oct. 5, 2012
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Parents want daughter on respirator
A young woman with terminal cancer has asked a New York judge to allow her to be removed from life support, a move her parents oppose. Grace Sung Eun Lee's parents testified Wednesday they still hope God will save their daughter's life, the New York Daily News reported. Her father, the Rev. Manho Lee, is the minister of Antioch Missionary Church in the borough of Queens, and the parents also said
Oct. 5, 2012
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Army colonel under investigation for passing military secret to mistress
An Army colonel is under investigation for allegedly passing confidential military information to his mistress, but there are thus far no signs she was spying for North Korea, an official said Friday.The colonel from the Army Training and Doctrine Command, whose identity was withheld, was accused of passing 38 items of classified information -- 34 classed second-degree secret and four as third-degree secret -- to the woman around May, an official at the Defense Security Command said.Military pro
Oct. 5, 2012
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Heavy metals found in most of kids’ products
The majority of stationary and other items used by children circulated in the local market tested by the National Institute of Environmental Research contain high traces of heavy metals.According to the NIER data submitted to Rep. Hong Young-pyo of the Democratic United Party, 123 of the 124 items tested last year contained heavy metals that can be transferred to the body including lead, nickel and cadmium.In addition to the heavy metals, 14 items were shown to contain above-regulation levels of
Oct. 4, 2012
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Over 200 multicultural students drop out in one year
More than 200 students from multicultural families dropped out of school from March 2010 to February 2011 due to difficulties with adapting, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.The number is slightly less than the 223 dropouts from the 2009-10 school year according to the ministry. The students with international backgrounds in elementary, middle and high school totaled 31,788 in 2010-11, up more than 22 percent from the previous years.Of them 215 have quit or taken a
Oct. 4, 2012