South Korea
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East Asia
Royal reception hall of late Joseon Dynasty opens to public
A royal reception hall of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) was opened to the public Wednesday after four years of restoration. Practically wrapping up the restoration of Heungbokjeon, an annex at Gyeongbok Palace, where King Gojong used to greet foreign delegations and study when he was on the throne from 1863…
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East Asia
Seoul, Mexico City ink pact on strategic, mutually beneficial relationship
The mayors of Seoul and Mexico City agreed Tuesday to elevate the friendly relationship between the two capitals to a strategic and mutually beneficial one. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon met with Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum at her office in the Mexican capital and signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation…
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East Asia
Seoul eyes price ceiling on privately built new apartments to curb housing prices
In what could be the strongest measure ever to clamp down on housing prices, South Korea is cautiously moving to revive the controversial scheme to cap presale prices of privately built apartments, which could have a far-reaching impact on the local home market, industry sources said Wednesday. In a parliamentary…
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East Asia
Moon: Gov’t to spend 849 bln won for information security
President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday his administration will spend 848.5 billion won (US$718 million) by 2022 to bolster information security. “By strengthening the foundation of information protection, (the government) will protect the core infrastructure of the Fourth Industrial Revolution era such as big data, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things,”…
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East Asia
Gwangju and the exhilarating dive into peace
By Habib Toumi In two days, the eyes of the world will be riveted on Gwangju, the “City of Peace” in South Korea that will be the gracious and graceful host of the Fédération Internationale de natation FINA World Championships. The championship will include six highly competitive aquatic sports –…
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East Asia
Japan rejects S. Korea’s offer to hold talks to resolve export curbs
Japan on Tuesday rejected South Korea’s call for negotiations to resolve a row over Tokyo’s export restrictions against the South, saying it has no intention of lifting the curbs and the issue is not a matter of talks. Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko made the remark after a Cabinet meeting, a…
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East Asia
S. Korean son of late N.K. party chairwoman arrives in Pyongyang for permanent residence
A South Korean son of Ryu Mi-yong, the late chairwoman of a North Korean minor political party, has arrived in Pyongyang to live in the communist country for good, a North Korean propaganda media outlet said Sunday. Ryu and her husband, Choe Tok-sin, who served as foreign minister in South…
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East Asia
No. of visitors to major royal palaces in Seoul hits 5 mln in H1
The number of people who visited the four main royal palaces and Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul surpassed the 5 million mark in the first half of the year for the first time in three years, the cultural authorities said Monday. The four palaces from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) are Gyeongbok,…
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East Asia
Police chief vows thorough probe into assault on Vietnamese woman
South Korea’s police chief on Monday expressed regrets over a recent assault on a Vietnamese woman by her Korean husband and vowed to conduct a thorough investigation into the case. Min Gap-ryong, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, made the remarks during his talks with To Lam, Vietnamese…
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East Asia
S. Korea to send rotational troops to South Sudan
A new contingent of South Korean troops will be deployed to South Sudan later this month to carry out U.N. peacekeeping operations, the Army said Monday. A send-off ceremony took place in Incheon, west of Seoul, for more than 280 rotational troops to serve at the Hanbit unit in the…
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