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Amid brouhaha, KORUS FTA goes into effect
Seoul expects 5.7% GDP growth over next 10 years After nearly five years of debate, division and political bickering, Korea’s controversial free trade agreement with the United States (KORUSFTA) goes into effect at the stroke of midnight today. The deal brings together the world’s largest and 15th largest economies whose…
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Stay in Pyongyang teaches many things
Interview with Chinese students who studied Korean in Pyongyang BEIJING – A growing number of Chinese students are coming to Seoul and other major cities of South Korea for studying. Of some 90,000 total foreign students here, about 70 percent are from China. However, not a few other Chinese students…
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Society
Families with 3 kids or more show steady rise
Lee Su-jin, a 30-year-old housewife, gave birth to her third child in January last year. She said it fulfilled the plan she and her husband made after they got married. “I thought it would be great to have three kids. Having two seemed somewhat insufficient to me,” said Lee, who…
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Society
Hallyu boom triggers bureaucratic turf war
Ministries vie for dominant role as K-pop leaps borders The hallyu, or the Korean wave, its market grew tenfold last year, compared with a decade ago. According to industry experts, the K-pop craze, which is contagious among young people in Asia, Europe and Latin America, is a key driver for…
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Korea, Philippines agree to prevent illegally-brokered marriages
The government will offer language and other educational programs to Filipino women tying the knot with Korean men prior to their arrival here, to help them adapt to their new life in Korea. This is part of an agreement between the two countries to stem “problematic” marriages between Korean men…
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Society
“Buddha born in Nepal”
A documentary film, titled “Buddha born in Nepal,” was previewed at the auditorium of the Jogye Temple in downtown Seoul Sunday (Mar. 11). The film was produced as part of ‘Buddha Nepal campaign’ to publicize the fact that Buddha was born not in India but in Lumbini, Nepal. The campaign…
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Society
Korea becoming destination for medical tourism
Foreign patients listen to a doctor at the Jaseng Center for Alternative Medicine in Seoul. Fathema Ibrahim Ali Al Ali from the United Arab Emirates believes she has been given a new life in Seoul thanks to a successful kidney transplant performed by Korean doctors. The organ transplant for the…
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Society
Aftermath of Fukushima disaster lingers in Korea
Korean consumers are still wary about products from Japan due to fears of nuclear contamination in the wake of the massive earthquake and tsunami, and resultant nuclear catastrophe there on March 11 last year. Interpark, one of the primary domestic online retailers, said Friday that sales of Japanese wet tissues…
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Many women think men have it better
About 44 percent of female college students would prefer to be a man if they had the choice, while 23 percent of male students answered that they would rather be a woman, a survey showed Wednesday. Albamon, an Internet-based employment agency, surveyed 573 university students and found more women would…
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Society
Gangnam’s non-smoking plan ignores foreigners
Banners to publicize a non-smoking policy hang on Gangnam Street in Seocho District, southern Seoul, Tuesday. The district started a public notification campaign on March 1 before introducing the policy, which imposes fines on smokers, from June 1. Gangnam and Seocho district offices in southern Seoul, which will start to…
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