Most Popular
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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Climate impacts set to cut 2050 global GDP by nearly a fifth
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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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Bae Doo-na shares portraying Korean identity in Hollywood's 'Rebel Moon'
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[From the Scene] Monks, Buddhists hail return of remains of Buddhas
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Medical schools granted enrollment quota flexibility for next year
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Korean art gets spotlight at Venice Biennale 2024
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Police uncover illegal gambling website made by teens, for teens
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Chinese man behind drug scam targeting teens nabbed in Cambodia
A Chinese national suspected of supplying drugs that were used for a high-profile scam case, where young students were deceived into consuming drug-laced drinks, has been arrested in Cambodia, South Korea's spy agency said Friday. The National Intelligence Service, which has been probing the case in cooperation with the Cambodian police, said the 38-year-old charged with supplying methamphetamine to the drug ring that produced and distributed the beverages was apprehended in Phnom Penh on
April 19, 2024
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Local govts. seek to attract foreign residents amid population decline
A number of South Korea's local governments are actively seeking to attract long-term foreign national residents by offering region-specific work visas, amidst the country's population decline. The city of Busan announced on Friday that it will accept applications from international students who graduated from universities in the Busan area for its F-2-R region-specific visas until May 10. Under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, the F-2-R visa allows foreign nationals to liv
April 19, 2024
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Only 1 in 4 assembly election winners made climate policy pledges: report
Only 25 percent of 254 directly elected National Assembly representatives during the April 10 general election made climate-related policy pledges, according to a report issued by a coalition of 16 non-profit environmental organizations, including Local Energy Lab, on Thursday. Out of the 63 elected representatives who have presented climate policies, 53 belong to the liberal main opposition Democratic Party of Korea and 10 belong to the conservative ruling People Power Party. Additionally, one
April 19, 2024
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Korean Muslim YouTuber's plan to build mosque already in trouble
South Korean Muslim YouTuber Daud Kim, who announced his plan to build a mosque on land he purchased in Incheon, faces myriad challenges, including a request to terminate the land contract, difficulties in obtaining permission due to road conditions, and resistance from the local neighborhood. Kim, a content creator in his 30s with more than 5.52 million YouTube subscribers, uploaded a post on his Instagram on April 11 announcing his plans to build a mosque, a Muslim place of worship, on land th
April 19, 2024
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Medical schools granted enrollment quota flexibility for next year
Taking a step back from pushing its medical reform plan, the Korean government said on Friday that it would allow medical schools with additional spots to adjust the number of new medical students freely in an attempt to break the standoff with the medical circle. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said during Friday’s press briefing that 32 colleges subject to the increase will be allowed to freely adjust the number of new medical students within a 50 to 100 percent range of the enrollment quota
April 19, 2024
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First Filipino domestic helpers to arrive this summer: ministry
The South Korean government on Friday announced its plans to bring in 100 Filipino household helpers in July and deploy them as early as August. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said that discussions with the Philippine side on the plan for a pilot program for Filipino domestic workers have been completed. The Philippine government plans to post a job opening for 100 Filipino domestic workers willing to work in Seoul within this month. As Filipino workers are mandated to undergo initial and
April 19, 2024
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Police find more evidence of murder-suicide in Paju hotel death case
Police investigating the recent deaths of four people at a hotel in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, have found more evidence to suggest the men had murdered the two women before killing themselves. The two men were found to have sent messages saying, "Shall we kill (them)?" "Yeah," right before overpowering the two women in the hotel room, according to the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency. The case was first reported on April 11. The two killers had jumped to their deaths the
April 19, 2024
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‘Mom, I want to live’: Mentally disabled man reaches out to police for help
The South Korean police said it recently found and protected a severely malnourished mentally disabled man, after he made 360 calls to the 112 emergency services and hung up without saying a word. Jeju Dongbu Police Station tracked down the 40-something man dumpster diving at the Jeju International Airport on March 5, who was in extremely poor health due to not having eaten for days. Authorities have provided emergency medical care for the man, who has since been discharged and is staying at a s
April 19, 2024
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Govt. likely to accept university chiefs' request to lower med school enrollment quota
The government is likely to accept a request made by the chiefs of six national universities to lower their medical school enrollment quotas for next year, officials said Friday. The six universities, all located outside the capital region, made the request Thursday amid an ongoing standoff between the government and the medical community over the government's decision to increase total medical school admissions by 2,000 starting next year. The six -- Gangwon National University, Kyungpook
April 19, 2024
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Police uncover illegal gambling website made by teens, for teens
Busan police on Thursday arrested the operators of an illegal website that offered illegal gambling services mostly for teenagers, run primarily by teenagers. The cyber investigation unit of the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency arrested a man in his 20s on the charge of operating an illegal online gambling website. Also under investigation are 16 teenagers suspected to be operators of the site, including two suspected to be the founders. Officers believe that the website was created by two boys,
April 18, 2024
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Civic groups call on govt. to end crackdown on illegal immigration
A coalition of eight South Korean civic groups and unions on Thursday called on the Yoon Suk Yeol government to end its intensified crackdown on foreign nationals residing illegally in the country. The coalition protested the government's recent joint crackdowns, condemning them as an "anti-human rights measure that will create an atmosphere of fear against unregistered immigrants, justify their oppression by treating them as criminals, and lead to numerous human rights violations.&quo
April 18, 2024
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Farming households dip below 1m for first time in 2023
The number of farming households in South Korea fell below 1 million for the first time last year, while over half of the country's farming population was aged 65 or older, latest data showed Thursday. According to Statistics Korea, there were an estimated 999,000 farming households as of Dec. 1, a decrease of 24,000, or 2.3 percent, compared with 2022. This is the first time since the survey began in 1949 that the number has dipped below 1 million. However, Statistics Korea cautioned that
April 18, 2024
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‘The Host’ creature sculpture in Han River park to be removed
A sculpture modeled after the mutated fish creature from Bong Joon-ho's 2006 film "The Host" is set for removal this year from Yeouido Han River Park due to its design clashing with the park's aesthetics, Seoul City announced Thursday. The 3-meter-tall and 10-meter-long sculpture was installed in 2014 as part of an endeavor to enrich the area's cultural and tourist allure with a city budget of around 180 million won ($130,900). Following a new urban design initiative l
April 18, 2024
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Will tug-of-war between doctors, government end soon?
The Korean government on Thursday broke its silence on its medical student quota expansion plan after over a week of maintaining a low profile following the ruling party's major election defeat, stoking hopes that it could possibly end the monthslong tug-of-war with the medical circle. The government announced plans to resume Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meetings involving officials from related ministries and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, as well as to brief repo
April 18, 2024
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Rolex thief claims to be have ‘too low an IQ’ to know better
Three South Korean men under trial for stealing an expensive watch have pleaded for leniency, with one of the defendants claiming to have too low an IQ to have had a clear idea of what he was getting himself into. Jeju District Court on Wednesday held a hearing on a 19-year-old man who stole a Rolex watch worth about 19 million won ($13,800) in Jeju city, along with his two accomplices, both aged 20. The suspects were caught while trying to sell the watch at a pawn shop in another part of the ci
April 18, 2024
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Man jailed for making it rain with fake money
A court recently handed down a two-year prison sentence for a South Korean man for photocopying hundreds of counterfeit banknotes and gift certificates and scattering them through the window of his apartment building. The 43-year-old suspect surnamed Jo has been found guilty on charges including counterfeiting currency, counterfeiting valuable securities and defamation by the Seoul Northern District Court. "The nature of the crime is severe, in that (the defendant) infringed upon the credib
April 18, 2024
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5.1 % of Korean population registered as disabled in 2023: report
More than 2.64 million South Koreans, comprising 5.1 percent of the country's total population, were registered as disabled persons in 2023, according to annual statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Thursday. Most of the disabled population were also aged 65 and above, making up more than half of the total, the ministry said in the report. The proportion of those with disabilities aged 65 and above has increased annually, with 41.4 percent in 2014, 49.9 percent in 202
April 18, 2024
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Board to discuss possible parole of president's mother-in-law
The Ministry of Justice is set to conduct a parole review next week, with President Yoon Suk Yeol's mother-in-law expected to be included among those up for consideration, local media outlets reported Thursday. The ministry is slated to hold a monthly session of the Probation and Parole Board next Tuesday, according to reports citing legal sources. Among the inmates undergoing the review will be Choi Eun-soon, the 77-year-old mother of first lady Kim Keon Hee. Choi has been incarcerated at
April 18, 2024
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Fugitive facing W3b fraud charges extradited from Kuwait after 12 years
A South Korean man has been extradited home from Kuwait this week, 12 years after he fled to the Middle Eastern nation to avoid arrest on charges of fraud amounting to some 3 billion won ($2.17 million), officials said Thursday. The suspect, 58, was brought home through Incheon International Airport on Wednesday afternoon to face charges that he defrauded the victim after fabricating a company document ordering construction materials in May 2011, according to police. After he fled to Kuwait in S
April 18, 2024
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[Graphic News] More Koreans say they plan long-distance trips this year
Long-distance travel will be more active this year than before, and many will leave for North America or Europe. A local online tourist agency, yeogi.com, surveyed its 233 mobile app users in March, and 62.2 percent of respondents said they are planning long-distance travel to destinations including the US, Canada, France and the UK. These results show a change from recent preferences for short trips to countries nearby such as Japan and Vietnam. North America was named the most preferred dest
April 18, 2024