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Left-wing minor party apologizes for election irregularities
A left-wing minor party leader issued a public apology Thursday for suspected vote rigging and other irregularities in the party’s selection of candidates for last month’s parliamentary elections. Lee Jung-hee, one of four co-leaders of the Unified Progressive Party (UPP), said in a meeting with party officials she “would assume…
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Politics
Incompetent!
Foreign ministry runs out of tricks to deal with big powers Does Korea have diplomacy it can call its own? If so, the next question would be what has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade been doing. Whenever a diplomatic row surfaces, it cites strategic ambiguity or quiet diplomacy,…
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Politics
Foreign minister in knotty mission in Myanmar
South Korea’s top diplomat will hold talks with the foreign minister of Myanmar this week as the resource-rich Southeast Asian country draws a flurry of high-profile visits from European countries and the United States. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Kim Sung-hwan will sit down with his counterpart Wunna Maung…
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Underdogs challenge Park
Several politicians, whose support rates combined are lower than that of Park Geun-hye, are forming a collective front against her by declaring their bid to run in the Saenuri Party primary for December’s presidential election. The contenders, including Rep. Chung Mong-joon and Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo, are dreaming of a…
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Politics
Chung announces presidential bid
Chung Mong-joon, a businessman-turned-lawmaker, announced Sunday he will run in the Saenuri Party primary in the run-up to the December presidential election. Chung is also chairman of the world’s largest shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries. He promised to fight against the widening income gap. “As a presidential hopeful, I would like…
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iPhones to be banned in defense ministry
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) plans to prohibit the use of Apple’s iPhones in two of its major buildings from August, military officials said Friday. They said other smart devices will continue to be allowed after installing a mobile device management (MDM) system, an application that would automatically disable…
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Politics
Russia more flexible than China on N. Korean defectors
North Korean loggers in Russia successfully arrived here earlier this month with help from the South Korean Embassy in Moscow. It shows the contrasting stance between Russia and China in dealing with the defectors from their neighbor. According to government sources and comments made by Kim Hee-tae, head of a…
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Politics
Main opposition party in feud over collusion
Former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan and Rep. Park Jie-won of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) clashed with their political rivals Thursday over the allegation that the two political heavyweights had a secret pact for party leadership posts. The two were on a collision course with their archrivals due…
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Politics
Lee suffers end-of-term syndrome
Presidential mentor grilled over bribery allegations Traditionally, corruption scandals rock administrations at the end of their terms. History appears to be obviously repeating itself as the big guns who helped President Lee Myung-bak win the 2007 election and enjoyed riding on the cusp of power are now succumbing to a…
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Korea, Sri Lanka agree to deepen economic cooperation
Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa agreed Tuesday to strengthen economic and trade relations between the two countries, the presidential office said. On the sidelines of the summit, the two sides also signed three memoranda of understanding that call for bolstering cooperation in electricity and energy,…
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