Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
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S. Korea, Japan finance ministers meeting being arranged to tackle outstanding issues
Finance ministers of South Korea and Japan may meet in the coming months after such talks have been suspended for over two years due to frayed diplomatic relations, an official source at the finance ministry said Monday."Efforts are underway to hold the ministerial meeting in the near future although no date has been agreed upon yet," a source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.The last time the two ministers met formally in a bilateral setting was in November 2012, before the uproar in So
Feb. 16, 2015
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Seoul's vice FM to attend global anti-terror meeting
A South Korean vice foreign minister plans to attend an international conference on anti-terrorism to be held in Washington this week in a bid to join global efforts to fight violent terrorism, officials said Monday.Vice Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul will attend the conference on fighting violent extremism slated for Thursday (local time) that will bring together government officials from 60 nations, according to Seoul's foreign ministry. Cho will leave for Washington on Wednesday for a four-day
Feb. 16, 2015
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Canadian trade minister hopeful of CKFTA
Canada’s trade minister led a mission to Korea last week to link businesses after a bilateral free trade agreement went into force this year. “The Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement will open the Asia-Pacific market to Canadian businesses and the North American market to Korean businesses,” International Trade Minister Ed Fast told The Korea Herald in an interview. “As we move toward complete tariff elimination, our companies will gain international competitiveness through barrier-free, preferent
Feb. 15, 2015
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Colombia, Korea partner in trade, defense, education
“When Korean people think about Colombia, I want them to think about our Juan Valdez coffee, beautiful men and women and a land of opportunities,” Colombian Ambassador Tito Saul Pinilla told The Korea Herald in an interview last week. “Korea’s perception of my country had been dominated by drug and violence, a thing of the past.”Bolstered by Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin’s visit to Korea in January, the ambassador said both countries could cooperate in a broad range of areas ―
Feb. 15, 2015
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Seoul Literary Society hosts novelist Ha Il-ji
Literature-loving foreign diplomats had the opportunity to hobnob with a distinguished Korean author at a gathering in Seoul last week.The Seoul Literary Society hosted Ha Il-ji, a novelist renowned for breaking boundaries and setting trends in the literature scene. “I wanted to be a writer as a child and have walked the path of literature all my life,” said the 60-year-old author at the Swedish ambassador’s residence in Seoul on Tuesday.“As a yokelish boy from the countryside, I was shocked aft
Feb. 15, 2015
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Ex-nat'l security chief named as Seoul's new envoy to China: source
A former national security adviser has been tapped as South Korea's new ambassador to China for his extensive experience in the field of security and diplomacy, a source said Sunday.Kim Jang-soo, also a former defense minister, will replace Amb. Kwon Young-se, according to the source.It will mark the first time that an official with a military background has been tapped to be Seoul's ambassador to China since 1992 when Seoul and Beijing established diplomatic ties.The 67-year-old Kim had served
Feb. 15, 2015
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Palestine seeks diplomatic mission in Seoul
South Korea and the Palestinian Authority have agreed to begin consultations for the launch of a diplomatic mission here as the two sides explore ways to crank up political, economic and cultural exchanges, the Palestinian foreign minister said Friday. Though Seoul is yet to recognize the state of Palestine and maintains close ties with Israel its longtime foe across the border, Riad Malki was upbeat about relations with South Korea, raising hopes for a boost especially in economic and developme
Feb. 13, 2015
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Korean, Czech leaders set for summit this month
South Korea and the Czech Republic plan to hold a summit later this month in Seoul as the two countries seek to deepen political, economic and cultural exchanges, marking the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, Cheong Wa Dae said Friday. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka is scheduled to arrive here on Feb. 24 and have talks with President Park Geun-hye two days later, her office said. His four-day visit will be the first prime ministerial trip from the European country since 2001, and
Feb. 13, 2015
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Korea-Japan tension grows over Dokdo, historical discord
Japan’s foreign minister renewed the country’s claim to South Korean islets of Dokdo on Thursday, triggering criticism from Seoul and exacerbating ongoing territorial and historical tension between the two countries.In a parliamentary address in Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to continue to “clearly convey the claim and persistently respond” to the issue, calling the islets “Japan’s indigenous territory.” He used the expression for the first time last year at the annual e
Feb. 12, 2015
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Korea plans to provide development aid to Cuba
South Korea said Wednesday it plans to provide Cuba with $3 million (3.3 billion won) in development funds to help boost food productivity and combat poverty in the Central American nation. The policy comes in apparent efforts to improve relations with Cuba following a recent breakthrough in the nation’s Cold War standoff with the U.S.Seoul’s Foreign Ministry clinched an agreement with the World Food Program for the three-year project on the sidelines of the agency’s executive board meeting in R
Feb. 11, 2015
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Police seek man who raped Japanese student in northern India
JAIPUR, India (AP) -- Police were searching Monday for a man who raped a Japanese student sightseeing in northern India, while elsewhere they announced the arrest of eight men suspected of brutally raping and killing a Nepalese woman, as authorities continue to struggle with a spate of attacks on women. The 20-year-old student attacked Sunday is the second Japanese woman raped in India in recent months. The man had met her in Jaipur and offered to act as her tour guide, according to police inspe
Feb. 9, 2015
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Families of Australians on Indonesia death row in emotional appeal
JAKARTA (AFP) -- The mothers of two Australian drug smugglers on death row in Indonesia tearfully begged authorities on Monday to "spare our sons' lives", as their lawyer revealed plans for a last-gasp legal bid. Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, ringleaders of the so-called "Bali Nine" drug smuggling gang, were arrested in 2005 and sentenced to death the following year after being caught trying to traffick heroin out of Indonesia.They lost a legal bid last week to have their cases reviewed, eff
Feb. 9, 2015
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SNU says seeking more victims of sexual abuse
Seoul National University has decided to interview all female students of a male professor at the department of business administration, who is suspected of sexually harassing several women.All female students who took the professor’s classes over the past year will be interviewed, according to the school’s human rights center on Monday. The center said its probe is aimed at finding more victims or securing witness testimony from the students, though the professor has denied the allegations. SNU
Feb. 9, 2015
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THAAD targets N.K., no decision yet on deployment: U.S. official
Washington’s advanced missile defense asset is designed to stave off persistent threats from North Korea, though no decision has been made on its possible deployment to the peninsula, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said Monday. The U.S. has displayed its desire to install here the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, a key part of its missile defense scheme, to better counter North Korean threats. This poses a pressing dilemma for Seoul due to China’s opposition that the system appe
Feb. 9, 2015
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Park, Obama to hold summit in U.S.
President Park Geun-hye is expected to visit Washington this year for a summit with her counterpart Barack Obama as the allies ramp up diplomatic efforts to better counter North Korea’s threats and coordinate related policies. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks on the margins of a security conference in Munich on Saturday to discuss Park’s envisioned trip and review the situation around the peninsula, the region and the globe.Obama’s national security
Feb. 8, 2015
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ASEAN, Korea anticipate eventful 2015
The ASEAN-Korea Center held its annual council meeting last week to take stock of last year’s progress and discuss this year’s budget and plans. The meeting, the seventh in running, was attended by 11 directors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Korea that make up the highest decision-making body of the center. The council directors reviewed last year’s programs leading up to the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit held in Busan last December. The summit celebrated 25 years of bila
Feb. 8, 2015
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Philippines embassy awards Korean vice admiral
The Philippines embassy awarded Korea’s high-ranking naval officer for his contribution to disaster relief efforts in the central Philippines in late 2013. Vice Admiral Koo Ok-hyoe, superintendent of the Republic of Korea Naval Academy, received the Chief of Staff Commendation Medal and Ribbon ― the highest distinction awarded by the Philippines military ― at a ceremony at the embassy on Jan. 29. “A true friend is someone who helps a friend in need,” said Philippines Ambassador to Korea Raul S.
Feb. 8, 2015
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‘China’s Dream’ to keep N.K. threats at bay
China’s quest to become a powerful nation will lever against North Korea’s military provocations and promote multilateral cooperation toward unification, an expert said in an interview with The Korea Herald last week. Professor Lee Hee-ok, who teaches Chinese politics and China-Korea relations at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, said that “China’s Dream” touted by President Xi Jinping will keep Pyongyang’s provocations in check as they directly challenge China’s regional security. “Xi has calle
Feb. 8, 2015
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[Weekender] Abe shamed by attempt to whitewash atrocities
International criticism is escalating over Tokyo’s apparent attempts to whitewash its wartime wrongdoings as a group of U.S. historians issued a strong protest against the moves, arguing no government has the right to “censor history.”In a joint statement, a group of 19 American scholars decried Tokyo’s recent request for a U.S. publisher to change the description of the issue of the “comfort women” ― a euphemistic term referring to Asians forced into sexual servitude by Japan during World War I
Feb. 6, 2015
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Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo seek to hold FM meeting in late March
South Korea, China and Japan are seeking to hold a meeting of their foreign ministers in Seoul late March in a bid to revive momentum for trilateral cooperation, officials said Friday. The three countries have pushed to hold the ministerial talks to pave the way for the resumption of a high-level trilateral summit that has been on hold since mid-2012 amid rows over historical issues. Seoul's foreign ministry said the three nations have settled on holding a foreign ministers' meeting around lat
Feb. 6, 2015