The Korean daily media headlines and humor

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White House: Obama to Call Park, Abe to Discuss Joint Response to N. Korean Nuke Test

KOSPI Holds Ground Despite Pyongyang Uncertainties

UN Security Council Vows Tougher Sanctions on N. Korea

Park Pledges to Make N. Korea Pay for 4th Nuke test

NIS Doubts Pyongyang's Latest H-Bomb Claim

BOK: Potential Growth Rate Fell to 3.0~3.2%

Hyundai Motor Group Posts Record High Sales in US

S. Korea's Unification Ministry Activates Emergency Team

Unification Ministry Operates Emergency Team

3 Famous Snowboarders to Travel to N. Korea

'Quake Waveforms of N. Korea's H-Bomb Test, 2013 Test Almost Identical'

China Expresses Strong Opposition to N. Korea's Nuke Test

S. Korea Launches Center to Monitor Infectious Diseases

Weekly Protest on Japan's Wartime Sexual Slavery Marks 24th Anniversary

Three Teenage Boys Killed in Car Accident

Vienna Boys' Choir to Hold Auditions in S. Korea This Month

Seoul Phil Selects German Conductor for Saturday Concert

Bishops' Group Voices Opposition to Sex Slavery Agreement

Samsung head to mark 75th birthday at hospital

SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- Lee Kun-hee, the de facto head of South Korea's top conglomerate Samsung Group, is set to celebrate his 75th birthday at a local hospital with his family later this week, sources said Thursday.

Home-backed bank loans rise at fast clip in 2015

SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Yonhap) -- Home-backed loans from major local banks increased at the fastest clip in five years in 2015 amid a surge in home transactions and home rental fees, market data showed Thursday.

North Korea's H-bomb test claim in doubt

North Korea successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test Wednesday, the North’s official broadcaster claimed, saying it ...

N.K. nuke program progresses

Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test on Wednesday will further upgrade its nuclear weapons technolo...

Critics slam bungled N. Korea policy

The failure by Seoul and Washington to curb the growth of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program ...

BOK sees fall in Korea's growth potential

President Park Geun-hye said she feels worried whenever she thinks of “what our country will f...

Hanwha Techwin cancels KAI takeover

S. Korean nat'l bobsleigh team coach Mal...

Filipinos raped by Japanese WWII troops ...

Turkey seizes over 1,200 unsafe life jac...

S. Korea in diplomatic consultations ove...

Anticipated art shows to excite in 2016

Korea logs $1b trade surplus in cosmetic...

What makes hydrogen bombs more destructi...

Smart fridge key to Samsung’s IoT push

‘Comfort women’ rally marks 24 years

LG sets its eyes on ‘ultra-premium’ el...

Braille smartwatch start-up catches glob...

Samsung C&T boasts wearable tech

Huawei Y6 set to ignite budget smartphon...

N.K. test catches Seoul off guard

N. Korea claims successful H-bomb test

North Korea announced Wednesday that it conducted a successful hydrogen bomb test, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. However, the South Korean military raised doubts over the North’s claims, saying that the explo...

Korea, US beef up defense readiness

Was it really hydrogen bomb test?

Citizens condemn North Korea's bomb test 

Nuclear test to have limited effect on economy 

Foreign diplomats keep close eye on Pyongyang 

Chronology of nuclear tests

President Park vows stern response to provocation

President Park Geun-hye said Wednesday that South Korea will cooperate with the international community to ensure that North Korea will pay the price, after Pyongyang claimed to have conducted a hydrogen bomb test in violation o...

China 'strongly opposes NK nuclear test' 

The Chinese government expressed "strong opposition" to North Korea's hydrogen-bomb test, Wednesday.It said "Pyongyang did not give prior notifications of the... 

Rally for ex-sex slaves marks 24th anniversary 

The weekly rally by survivors of sexual slavery during World War II and their supporters marked it...

Row over childcare program plagues parents 

The growing conflict between the central government and regional educational offices over the free preschool program, called Nuri Curriculum, is causing anxie... 

GM, Ford pressed to cut prices on zero tariff 

Consumers are calling on GM, Ford and other automakers that import cars from the United States to ... 

Will Xiaomi becomes real threat? 

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is set to change the Korean telecommunications market partl...

Korean drugmakers have prescription for global expansion 

Korean drugmakers and bio companies, buoyed by Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s strong performance last year, are seeking overseas markets, industry sources said Wednes... 

Creative economy centers face sustainability issue 

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning has been questioned about the sustainability, eff...

Rare ad in N. Korean newspaper draws interest 

An advertisement recently appeared in Pyongyang Shinmun, the mouthpiece of the Workers’ Party’s chapter in the capital city, raising the question of whether t... 

'Focus more on basic research' 

Dr. Thomas Hesse, the deputy secretary general of Germany's Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, has...

China overwhelms Korea in export items' global market share 

Armed with low prices and improving quality, the number of China’s exports that have the largest shares in global markets has continued to increase sharply, a...

Japanese oufits dominate small-loan finance business

Japanese finance companies have unduly eroded Korea’s non-banking money-lending businesses, such as small-loan financing and savings banks, financial authorit...

Chaebol's attempt to earn easy money raises eyebrows 

Major conglomerates, faced with slumping exports and sluggish domestic sales, are trying to find breakthroughs in up-market retailing by attracting cash-rich ...

Telegraph reports ‘New Jihadi John’ is a British-Indian Muslim convert

The hunt for the new "Jihadi John," the masked member of the Islam State who spoke British English and killed five hostages, found that the suspect could be a British immigrant named Siddhartha Dhar (32, pictured). The...

Ahn Cheol-soo apologizes to his old friends

“It was my fault. I didn’t know the sincerity of my people whom I worked together. I’m sorry.” On his way to creating a new party,Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo is making apologies and asking for help to his old buddies. Ahn...

Gas prices enter 1,300 won level in Korea

Gasoline prices in Korea have dropped close to entering the 1,300 won per liter level for the first time in seven years. If global oil prices continue to fall, gasoline will get further cheaper. According to Korea...

Historic photo shows haughty soldier of Japanese troops occupying Korea

A Japanese soldier who is wearing a long rifle in his shoulder is guarding the main gate in a high-handed manner. A signboard reading "Command of the Military Stationed in Korea" in clear Chinese letters is hanging on a...

Global economy stirred by diplomatic rupture between Saudi Arabia and Iran

The diplomatic rupture between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two most powerful states in the Middle East, is jolting the political landscape in the region. The extreme conflict between the two countries is emerging as the...

K-art poised to lead to Korean Wave in the global market

"An era of Korean arts has arrived following that of Japan and China." "How to spend it," a luxury lifestyle weekly magazine from the British media Financial Times, has released a cover story titled "Korea Driven"...

Baggage Handling at Incheon Airport Breaks Down

A breakdown in the baggage handling system during the New Year's rush at Incheon International Airport on Sunday created a misery for passengers until Monday and left many without...

Warm Winter Has Mixed Impacts on Seasonal Festivities

30% of Senior Citizens in Seoul Still Working

Temperatures to Plunge This Week

Persistent Bad Habits Threaten Longevity

First Sunrise of 2016 to Prompt Heavy Traffic

Another Wave of Chinese Smog Chokes Korea

MERS Scare Casts Blight Over Domestic News of 2015

Chung Myung-whun Resigns from Seoul Philharmonic Top Job

Ferry Disaster Korea's Most Mentioned Issue on Social Media

Gov't Tries to Placate Sex Slavery Victims

North Korea to send delegation to World Economic Forum for first time in 18 years

North Korea’s foreign minister Ri Su-yong is reportedly planning to attend the yearly meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, from Jan. 20 to Jan. 23. This will be the first t..

[Reportage] 24 hours at the comfort woman statue vigil

Since the announcement of the Dec. 28 agreement between Korea and Japan, which included a call for “appropriate resolution of the issue of the statue of a young woman,” hundreds of people have been ga..

[Photo] Not cold enough for ice this year

Images of the Yeongdong Ice Climbing Site in Yeongdong, North Chungcheong Province on Jan. 4, 2015 (left) and with its stony face showing through on Jan. 5, 2016 (right). Due to continuing warm weath..

[Photo] Taking their vows

Candidates for ordination preach the gospel during the opening of the Masan diocese ordination ceremony for Catholic priests and deacons at the Masan Gymnasium in Changwon, Gyeongnam Province, Jan. 5...

To smother dissent, government cracking down on one-person demonstrations

The government is investigating participants of illegal one-person relay demonstrations, spurring on controversy over the wholesale smothering of rallies. The Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Department sta..

Different Class from the Start: Why Do the Viewers Have to Make a Cruel Choice?

"Your vote decides the fate of the girls!" This is a sentence from the website describing Produce 101, a talent show for a girl band that selects a final grou···

[Correspondent's Column] [Aftermath of the Rushed Comfort Women Negotiations] Director of the Comfort Women Agreement: The United States

Shortly after the "Yun Byung-se-Kishida agreement," an official from the U.S. State Department explained the position of the U.S. government in the form of a ···

[Aftermath of Rushed Comfort Women Negotiations] Catholic Church Calls for a Renegotiation, 'Comfort Women Agreement Is Invalid'

On January 4, the Catholic Bishops Conference of Korea, the highest decision making organization of the Roman Catholic Church in Korea said that the comfort wom···

[Aftermath of the Rushed Comfort Women Negotiations] Ban Ki-moon's Statement in Support of the Agreement Is 'Driving a Nail into the Victims' Hearts'

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (72, photo) has sent ripples through South Korea's political circle since the start of the New Year. A heated···

[The Fuming Young] This Life Is Screwed: Four out of Ten Think 'Isaengmang'

"This life is screwed." These days, young people often voice this phrase, one that people dreaming of reincarnation or the afterlife might say. They say “isa···

[An In-depth Look into China] Why Is the World Afraid? The Rise of the Great Power: Crisis and Opportunity, Double Edges of a Blade

China now accounts for more than 25% of South Korea's exports. The trade volume between South Korea and China is now bigger than South Korea's trade with the ···

[Aftermath of the Korea-Japan Comfort Women Agreement] Angry Comfort Women Victim, 'I Will Fight Till the End for the 238 Women Who Have Already Passed Away'

"I will fight till the end even for the 238 people who have already passed away." Yi Yong-su, an elderly comfort women victim made this statement at the Wedn···

[Aftermath of the Korea-Japan Comfort Women Agreement] Yun Byung-se, Who Oversaw the Negotiations, Now Cornered

Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se (62, photo), who had received the favor of the incumbent government as the head of foreign affairs since the inaugurati···

How Long Will North Korean Risk Last?

Following the detonation of a hydrogen bomb by North Korea, South Korean stock market is nosediving. Analysts assured that the shock would be shortlived as in past nuclear tests. The North Korean government said at 12:30 pm of January 6 in a statement that it successfully conducted its first hydroge...

More Korean-Japanese Business Partnerships Expected in Energy and Petrochem Areas

Between companies in Korea and Japan there have been quiet partnerships even during the difficult years of the bilateral relationship. For example, SK Hynix has worked with Toshiba in the area of next-generation chip-making process and joint development of overseas energy markets between Korean petr...

Banking Stocks Still at 52-week Low

Bank stocks that have hit the bottom early this year are not likely to recover any time soon. Analysts said the recent plunge in banking stocks was largely because of excessive worries over the burden for allowance for bad debts as a result of corporate structural reforms.On the first trading day of...

Securities Industry Downsized 8,000 Employees for Past 4 Years

The total number of people who left their jobs with securities firms has been almost 8,000 for the past four years. This trend is expected to continue for the time being. According to the Korea Financial Investment Association on January 6, the number of employees working in the securities industry ...

China in strong opposition against NK nuclear test

Hua Chungying, the spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry [AJU NEWS CORP DB] ? The Chinese government had expressed strong opposition against North Korea’s nuclear

North Korea conducts H-bomb test, a major setback for regional peace

[AJU NEWS CORP DB] In a surprise announcement, North Korea said it had successfully conducted a test of a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear device on Wednesday morning, marking a major step forwa…

Incheon Airport in mayhem during New Year’s holidays

[Courtesy of Incheon International Airport Corp.] 169 flights delayed, over 5,200 pieces of passengers’ luggage clogged up, and some airplanes left without luggage to their destination after …

South Korea holds emergency meetings to discuss China market turmoil

[Courtesy of Xinhua News] ? South Korean financial authorities on Tuesday held emergency meetings as Asian stock market were on the ropes for a second straight day on Tuesday to see if Beijing…

Violent disciplinary action looms among athletes

Sa Jae-hyuk was indicted with assault charges against a fellow athlete, resulting in hospitalization. [AJU NEWS DB] Reported assault charges by a former weightlifting medalist shocked the nat…

Illness caused by drinking, obesity, and smoking costs $19.7 million yearly

[Courtesy of mcwyvern] It is a wide known fact that drinking, obesity, and smoking cause a lot of health problems. It also costs a lot. South Korea used KR 23.3 trillion (U.S$ 19.7 million) …

Korea to launch moon exploration project

[Courtesy of Korea Aerospace Research Institute] South Korea plans to launch a lunar exploration project in 2016, the project’s final goal ? landing on the moon by 2020. The