No Text U.S. raises concerns about progress on N. Korea's denuclearization, GSOMIA termination 2019-11-16 14:59:34 KST No Text No Text
News Keywords Nat'l/Politics North Korea Economy IT/Science Foreign Policy World Life/Culture Sports Weather S. Korea, Japan hold director-general talks in Tokyo ahead of GSOMIA expiry 2019-11-15 S. Korea's unification minister suggests U.S., N. Korea consider 'Olympics ar... 2019-11-15 Signifance of ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit 2019-11-15 N. Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends flight contest by regime's "invin 2019-11-16 N. Korean leader inspects spa resort and demands its perfection 2019-11-15 N. Korea wants to settle property issues, not removal of S. Korean fac 2019-11-15 S. Korea, China and Japan increases direct investment in ASEAN 2019-11-15 BRICS to strengthen multilateralism and free trade and support peacefu 2019-11-15 Samsung Galaxy's Q3 market share in Japan three times larger y/y 2019-11-15 LG Electronics' OLED TV named best of 2019 by Consumer Reports 2019-11-13 BIO PLUS forum: South Korea aims to strengthen its global competitiven 2019-11-13 Using smartphone before bed could increase risk of depression, anxiety 2019-11-12 S. Korea, Japan to hold director-general talks in Tokyo ahead of plann 2019-11-15 Unification Ministry officials to visit Japan next week for N. Korea i 2019-11-13 Fmr. U.S. ambassador to UN Nikki Haley claims Trump posed as 'madman' 2019-11-13 White House discloses transcript of Trump's April phone call with Ukra 2019-11-16 Chinese leader pledges full support for Hong Kong police in punishing 2019-11-15 Italy declares state of emergency in flood-ravaged Venice 2019-11-15 Court rules in favor of singer banned from S. Korea 2019-11-15 BTS world tour raked in US$ 117 million: Billboard 2019-11-15 “Experience the New” G-star 2019, largest global game exhibition in Ko 2019-11-15 S. Korea's baseball team qualifies for 2020 Tokyo Olympics after Mexic 2019-11-16 S. Korea draw 0-0 against Lebanon in 'closed-door' World Cup qualifier 2019-11-15 Ryu Hyun-jin returns home after coming 2nd in National League Cy Young 2019-11-14 Seoul's first snow fell silently at dawn and nation set for clear skie 2019-11-15 Rain and snow to continue in many regions, way higher highs 2019-11-15 Rain and snow here and there, Seoul saw season's first snow 2019-11-15
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Most Popular 2020 college entrance exam starts under cold wave South Korea comes to a standstill for an hour or two on this Thursday as more than 540-thousand students head to exam centers to take the exam of their lives. It's the day of 'Suneung', South Korea's annual national college entrance exam. Police escorts, flights grounded, and businesses shut,all so that the hundreds of thousands of students can take the once-in-a-lifetime test as comfortably as possible. Our Choi Jeong-yoon is live on site at one of the test centers. Jeong-yoon, it's chilly morning and still pretty early but I can see that you're surrounded by students already? Hi, Connyoung. I am outside Seoul High School, one of the hundreds of test sites where ‘Suneung’ will be administered across South Korea. It's very cold out here. In fact it's the coldest Suneung day in five years. But the cheers of juniors to support the senior test takers are warming up this little area we are in. As the exam is considered once in a life time challenge, friends, teachers and parents are with the students to give their encouragement. As you mentioned earlier, some 548-thousand students will be taking the College Scholastic Ability Test today at 1,185 test sites nationwide. The number of test takers is down more than 40 thousand from last year, due to an overall reduction in the school age population. The exams begin at 8:40 AM, Korea time, and will last up to nine hours. The students will be taking Korean language, mathematics, English, Korean history and subjects of their choices in either social or natural science. Some students are also selectively taking another foreign language or Chinese characters. Jeong-yoon, this is kind of support and pressure on college entrance exam takers are something pretty unique unseen anywhere else but Korea. Is that based on the belief that the college you get to attend determines how your life will pan out here? To say the whole academic life of a Korean student leads up to this one day would not be an exaggeration. In Korea, Suneung is a symbol finalizing 12 years of elementary, middle and high school education as the result determines which university they enter next year. This, as there's a strong belief in Korean society that the college you get to attend shapes one’s future. So nationwide measures are taken to support the test takers. During the morning rush hour, workers in the public sector and some private firms will start work an hour later than usual. The country’s stock markets will open and close an hour later as well. Along with additional subway trains and buses, police officers will offer motorcycle rides to students who are running late. So those who are in Korea, no need to panic with polices moving around. In the afternoon, airplanes will be prohibited from taking off or landing during the 25 minute English listening test that starts at 1:10 PM. That’s all I have for now, but I'll be back with more updates for our next newscast at 10AM. Back to you, Connyoung. 2019-11-14 Nearly 550,000 Korean students take college exam held at 1,185 test sites nationwide At this time of the year, Korean students take the College Scholastic Ability Test, called 'Suneung' in Korean. On Thursday morning, it what is the coldest Suneung in five years, nearly 550-thousand students sat at their once-in-a-lifetime college entrance exams at 1,185 test sites nationwide. The number of test takers this year is down more than 40-thousand from last year, due to an overall drop in the school age population. The exams consist of Korean language, mathematics, English, Korean history and subjects of the students' choice in either social or natural science. Some students can selectively take another foreign language or Chinese characters. "In Korea, Suneung is a symbol finalizing 12 years of elementary, middle and high school educationas the result determines which university they enter next year." To say the whole academic life of a Korean student leads up to this one day would not be an exaggeration. This, as there's a strong belief in Korean society that the college you attend shapes one’s future. As the exam is considered a once in a lifetime challenge, friends, teachers and parents came to the test sites to give their encouragement. "My son prepared for years to take this test. Some days not going to sleep until two in the morning. I hope he gets a good result so that he can go to the college he wants." "I came early this morning to support our seniors. I wish them good luck after all their years of studying." Nationwide measures are being taken to support the test takers as well. During the morning rush hour, workers in the public sector and some private firms started work an hour later than usual. The country’s stock markets has opened and will close an hour later as well. Along with additional subway trains and buses, police officers offered motorcycle rides to students who are running late. "The best drivers have gathered to manage the streets near the test sites and give rides to the test takers who came to the wrong school." In the afternoon, airplanes are prohibited from taking off or landing during the 25 minute English listening test. Choi Jeong-yoon, Arirang News. 2019-11-14 U.S. calls on S. Korea to renew GSOMIA at annual security talks U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper called on South Korea and Japan to work together to renew their bilateral military intel-sharing pact, GSOMIA. Speaking Friday at a joint press conference with South Korea's Defense Minister, Jeong Kyeong-doo, following their annual Security Consultative Meeting, the Pentagon chief said that ending GSOMIA will only benefit North Korea and China calling it an important tool, especially in times of war. "The only ones who will benefit from expiration of GSOMIA and continued friction between Seoul and Tokyo are Pyongyang and Beijing. That reason alone should be powerful enough for us to sit down and make sure we restore our alliance to where it was so we can work together to respond to our common threats and challenges." GSOMIA is set to automatically expire on November 23rd. Seoul decided not to renew the pact in August after Japan slapped export curbs on South Korea, citing a breach of trust on security issues. South Korea is firm on its stance that it can only reconsider if Japan first changes course. "I hope we have good discussions with Japan in a positive direction during the time we have left." , On the issue of sharing the cost of stationing American troops on the Korean Peninsula, Esper said that South Korea is a wealthy country and that it can and should pay more. He didn't elaborate, however, on any figures. The two allies are currently in talks with Washington reportedly calling on Seoul to pay nearly five billion U.S. dollars a year, which is more than five times the amount South Korea agreed to pay under the current deal. Seoul's defense chief said that the two sides agreed to decide on a figure that's fair and acceptable to both South Korea and the U.S. The two sides also reaffirmed their joint goal of achieving North Korea's complete denuclearization and of building lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. They agreed on the need to be flexible in adjusting their joint military drills to support diplomatic efforts with Pyeongyang, but didn't elaborate on they will do about upcoming exercises. Kim Min-ji, Arirang News. 2019-11-15 Seoul court begins trial on wartime sex slaves "Japan should reflect on itself. Japan took away little kids and destroyed them, so it should apologize and pay compensation." The first hearing in a lawsuit seeking damages from Japan for wartime sex slavery was held Wednesday at the Seoul Central District Court. But no one from the Japanese government attended. "I, Lee Yong-soo, am a living witness to history. Is Japan not confident in its case? If it is, then it should show up in court. If Japan's afraid of the comfort women statue, it should apologize." The suit was first filed in December 2016 by Korean victims and the families of victims who'd already passed away. But the trial was delayed because the Japanese government refused to participate. So the court went with what's called "conveyance by public announcement." It means the relevant documents are uploaded on the court bulletin board for two months, after which they're considered to have been delivered even if they haven't been acknowledged by the other party. Over the course of the past three years, five former comfort women, including the outspoken activist Kim Bok-dong, have passed away. Meanwhile, the legal battle is expected to be tough. One of the biggest obstacles facing the plaintiffs is Japan's reliance on 'state immunity,' which is a principle of international law meaning a nation cannot be sued before the courts of another country without its consent. But the attorneys representing the victims see hope in their case. "The principles of international law are not unchangeable. Sexual slavery by Nazi Germany and Japan are among the most grave crimes to be tried since the 20th century. The issue of the comfort women taken by the Japanese military is especially critical, and has caused the UN and international society to address wartime sexual violence." "We believe, in this case, state immunity should not be applied as Japan's wartime sexual slavery severely breached human rights." The next hearing is set to take place on February 5th, 2020. "Given that the comfort woman victims are all over the age of 85, this lawsuit could be their last chance to finally receive what they call Japan’s sincere apology. Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News." 2019-11-14
