• People

    Foreign Hangeul experts honored

    To mark Hangeul Day, Seoul will award medals to Korean language experts within and outside Korea. The culture ministry announced Monday a list of 10 medal recipients. The country celebrates Hangeul Day today. Receiving the highest honor is Lev Rafailovich Kontsevich, 82, an expert on Korean language and history from…

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  • Politics

    Saenuri hit by internal dispute

    The ruling Saenuri Party was mired in a feud Monday as disgruntled members showed no signs of backing down on their call for a campaign shake-up even after a key post holder quit. Rep. Park Geun-hye, presidential candidate of the ruling party, warned the rebels, urging them not to play…

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  • Politics

    Lawmaker calls for overhaul of NK defector services

    Seoul needs to overhaul its support system for North Korean defectors as too many escapees from the Stalinist state live in sub-standard living conditions here, a lawmaker said Monday. Rep. Shim Yoon-joe of the ruling Saenuri Party said that because President Lee Myung-bak and previous administrations have not done enough…

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  • Business

    Nuclear safety concerns growing

    Experts stress system overhaul necessary to avoid disaster With nuclear reactors shutting down repeatedly month after month, there is growing concern over whether the nation’s atomic power plant management system has a structural problem that could lead to disaster. Recently published data about a spate of nuclear incidents over the…

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  • Business

    What explains big cash advances from Macau?

    Korean financial authorities are taking a harder look on the sharp rise in cash withdrawals by Korean credit card users in Macau. Gamblers are apparently using their credit cards to pay for bets, but Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) officials are also suspicious about bizarre spending patterns in Asia’s casino capital,…

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  • Column

    New ROK-US security partnership

    New leaders of the Republic of Korea and the United States may begin strategic discussions on shaping a new role for their security partnership by examining two critical issues: reunification of the Korean Peninsula and revision of the Mutual Defense Treaty signed in 1953. These two issues might look separate,…

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  • Column

    Asia’s energy trilemma

    U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently said that energy was the “golden thread” connecting all of the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals. The solutions to energy challenges would help alleviate other global problems, from poverty and the rights of women to the protection of children. But the development of a stable,…

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  • Sovereignty in missiles

    Accord should be start of self-reliant defense To have an independent national defense capability has long been a cherished ambition of all governments here. There can be little doubt that the Korea-U.S. agreement Sunday to more than double the range of the nation’s ballistic missiles marked an important step toward…

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  • East Asia

    [The AsiaN Video for Indonesian] Dari Ikebana Hingga Manga dan Diluarnya: Diplomasi Budaya dan Publik Jepang Berevolusi

    Halo! Saya Meidyana Rayana dari Indonesia. Berikut adalah ulasan mengenai upaya Jepang menempatkan perannya di panggung internasional saat ini, menurut Kazuo Ogoura, Mantan Presiden Japan Foundation. Setelah Perang Dunia ke II, Jepang menghadapi tantangan berat bukan hanya untuk membangun negara yang porak-poranda namun juga membangun imagenya di dunia internasional. Sejak…

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  • Column

    [Indonesia Report] Indonesian Hindus celebrate annual Kasodo Ritual

    Indonesian Hindu devotees held annual Kasada Ritual in Bromo Mountain as a form of gratitude on Saturday (Sept 6). Tengger Tribe who live around the mountain brought offerings to be thrown to the Bromo Mountain’s crater. They brought various crops to livestock. Kompas.com reported the event, describing this ritual as…

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