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There were two very sad stories involving Korea in the last century: one was of the country's colonzation; and the other, the tragic fratricidal Korean War (1950-1953), just less than five years after independence had been gained. The Korean Peninsula was divided into two along the 38th Parallel as soon as the harsh colonial rule of nearly 35 years ended. During the extreme turmoil following ind..

Ruling party should embrace opposition The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has come under attack for its winner-take-all mantra after it took all but one of the chairman's posts at the National Assembly's 18 standing committees. The monopoly of the posts is the direct result of a failure to strike a deal with the opposition United Future Party (UFP) over which party should chair the Legis..

Those responsible for poor health control must be punished A group of parents have sued the director of a kindergarten in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, after their children became ill with food poisoning. As of Sunday evening, 114 out of 202 children and teachers at the kindergarten have been infected with enterohemorrhagic E. coli and 16 of them are being treated for food poisoning from undercooked..

Tokyo should drop opposition to Seoul in G7 Japan has reportedly opposed South Korea's joining an expanded G7 summit, citing Seoul's stance was not “in lockstep” with the existing members toward North Korea and China. With myriad contentious issues prevailing between Seoul and Tokyo, it's difficult to grasp how this latest step will in any way improve bilateral ties. Korea's Yonhap News Agency r..

Progressive union should make compromise A lack of compromise has dealt a setback to the dialogue between unions, management and government. It is regrettable that one of the country's two umbrella unions boycotted a tripartite agreement on how to cooperate in riding out the socioeconomic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, the Economic, Social and Labor Council, a tripartite body,..

Japanese automakers are suffering an extended slump in South Korea amid a protracted trade row between the two Asian neighbors and the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Sunday. Honda Motor Co. suffered a sharp decline in its operating income to 1.98 billion won (US$1.64 million) between April 2019 and March 2020, down from an operating income of 19.6 billion won a year earlier, accordi..

North called on to end 'most sorrowful war' After a sudden hike in tensions, the two Koreas are exchanging reconciliatory actions and words that could provide an opportunity for dialogue. Marking the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1950-1953 Korean War, President Moon Jae-in all but proffered the North a chance to revive peace talks. “The first step toward putting an end to the war is no..

Reorganize health system to counter possible mass infection The small infection clusters in the Seoul and Daejeon metropolitan areas are rising, signaling a resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic. The infection regions and trajectories are diversifying and asymptomatic patients are increasing, suggesting that COVID-19 is a on a prolonged path. It's time for the health authorities to reorganize t..

Viable measures needed to minimize side effects of YouTube YouTube is seen as the biggest online platform through which misinformation and fake news is spread in South Korea, according to a survey on how news is being consumed. The Digital News Report 2020, released by the U.K.-based Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism last week, found that 31 percent of online news consumers surveyed ..

Colleges should share responsibility for pandemic-caused damage Amid mounting calls from college students to refund their tuition fees to make up for “lowered” educational quality because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Konkuk University has decided to cut fees for the fall semester. Korean university students have demanded their schools pay back at least part of their tuition fees for the spring seme..