• ‘China threatens Korea’s shipbuilding supremacy’

    China overtook Korea last year to become the world’s largest shipbuilder by exports, a trade research institute estimated Thursday. By every assessment, Korea has been the undisputed kingpin in the global shipbuilding industry for years, thanks largely as its home to the world’s three largest shipbuilders. But the leadership was…

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  • East Asia

    Rescuers Work At Scene Of Cave-In Accident In Nanning, China

    Rescuers work at the scene of a cave-in accident in Nanning, capital of south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Jan. 2, 2013. The tunnel of a metro line under construction in Nanning collapsed Wednesday afternoon, trapping three workers. Two have been rescued and one still trapped. <Xinhua/Huang Xiaobang>

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  • East Asia

    Local People Head For Wedding Ceremony On A Boat Loaded With Presents In Anchang, China

    Local residents wearing traditional costumes ride a boat fully loaded with bride-price presents on their way to a wedding ceremony in Anchang Township in Shaoxing, east China’s Zhejiang Province, Jan. 2, 2013. Local residents wearing traditional costumes ride a boat loaded with bride-price presents on their way to a wedding…

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  • East Asia

    Google Chairman To Visit North Korea Sometime This Month

    In this Sept. 20, 2012 file photo, a North Korean woman sits in a computer room near portraits of the country’s late leaders, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, at the Kim Chaek University of Technology in Pyongyang, North Korea. Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt is preparing to travel…

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  • Message from North

    Koreas should be ready to meet each other half-way The New Year message from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attracts our attention more for its style than substance, and for what’s been left unsaid rather than said. For the first time in 19 years, North Koreans watched their leader deliver…

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  • South Korea’s global role

    The election on Dec. 19 of Park Geun-hye as president of South Korea represents a milestone event in the remarkably rapid evolution of that country from wartime devastation to post-Cold War leadership. She is the first woman to be elected chief executive of her country, which alone represents significant forward…

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  • East Asia

    Love-stricken Rain hit over furlough

    Top star Rain was embroiled in controversy Wednesday for allegedly receiving preferential treatment during his ongoing military service, after his relationship with top actress Kim Tae-hee was revealed. Criticism of Rain, who is currently serving as an “entertainment soldier,” has been blowing up after online media Dispatch revealed the relationship,…

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  • East Asia

    Defense minister warns budget cut will backfire

    Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin expressed deep regret Wednesday that the National Assembly passed the New Year’s budget with nearly 500 billion cut from his ministry’s proposal. “It’s not right to slash the defense budget in order to use the financial resources for other purposes at this critical time when national…

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  • East Asia

    Seoul tells NK to act prudently

    Following a New Years overture by North Korea to improve cross-border relations, senior Seoul officials Wednesday urged Pyongyang to take a constructive path if it wants to alleviate tension. The remarks pointed at lingering concerns that the North could continue to act provocatively through further testing of nuclear weapons technology.…

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  • East Asia

    Major changes in regulations this year

    Increase of childcare subsidy All Korean households with children aged between three and five will be given 220,000 won ($203) per child every month, under the government’s plan to expand public welfare benefits and reduce the financial burden of childcare on families. The subsidy reflects concern about the rapid increase…

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