• East Asia

    Transition team lineup completed

    President-elect Park Geun-hye announced the remaining members of her transition team Friday. She named the heads of committees that will each be composed of 24 people and the chairman of a special committee in charge of preparing her inauguration. Former Defense Minister Kim Jang-soo was appointed to lead the committee…

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  • East Asia

    Citizens In Shijiazhuang, China, Spend Time Reading In Library During New Year’s Holiday

    Citizens read at Hebei Library in Shijiazhuang City, capital of north China’s Hebei Province, Jan. 3, 2013. Numerous citizens in Shijiazhuang spent their time reading at Hebei Library during New Year’s holiday. A man reads at Hebei Library in Shijiazhuang City, capital of north China’s Hebei Province, Jan. 3, 2013.…

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  • Joint reform panel to be launched

    The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) are seeking to launch a parliamentary committee to push forward a package of political reform measures. The move comes as lawmakers face mounting public criticism for passing state-subsidized pensions for retired lawmakers in this year’s budget, while cutting…

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  • West Asia

    Egyptians Walking In A Street Seen Reflected In Mirrors Of Furniture Displayed On Sale In Cairo

    Egyptians walking in a street are reflected in mirrors displayed for sale outside a furniture shop in Cairo, Egypt. Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013. <AP/NEWSis>

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  • No N. Koreans visited S. Korea in 2012

    In the latest sign of stalled relations between the two Koreas, government figures showed Friday that no North Koreans visited the South in 2012. With interaction at its lowest point since the late 1990s, the focus now turns to President-elect Park Geun-hye and how quickly she will pursue her campaign…

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  • Seoul halts foreign school project

    Seoul City said Friday that it has decided to halt a project to set up more foreign schools in the capital amid public criticism that recent admission fraud cases involving existing schools resulted from poor monitoring. The city initially planned to build another foreign school in Gaepo-dong, southern Seoul, after…

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  • Man stabs self at airport, cursing at Japan envoys

    A member of an anti-Japan group stabbed himself during a rally protesting against the visit of special envoys of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Korea at Gimpo International Airport, Friday. According to police, the 63-year-old man, surnamed Kim stabbed himself with a knife while in the arrival area of…

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  • East Asia

    What is happening in the closed doors of NK prisons

    The story about a boy, a Shin, who was born in a North Korean prison and escaped at the age of 23, is being made into a movie based on the book “Escape from Camp 14:One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West.” Howard Brownstein, producer…

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  • East Asia

    Women empowered

    Park Geun-hye will take office as the first woman president of Korea on Feb. 25. Park will join a pantheon of women leaders: Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany; Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, president of Argentina; Dilma Rousseff, president of Brazil; Laura Chincilla, president of Costa Rica; Johanna Sigurdadottir, prime minister…

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  • East Asia

    Children Play In The Snow At Gaomiao, A Time-Honored Chinese City

    Children play in the snow at Gaomiao Town of Hongya County, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Jan. 3, 2013. Gaomiao Town, having a history of over 700 years, received heavy snowfall Wednesday evening. Photo taken on Jan. 3, 2013 shows the snow-shrouded buildings at Gaomiao Town of Hongya County, southwest China’s…

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