No Text S. Korea, Japan fail to achieve a breakthrough on GSOMIA 2019-11-17 14:17:12 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 Korean cars grow in popularity amid flopping global car sales 2019-11-17 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 Local researchers develop snake fang-inspired injection patch 2019-11-17 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 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 U.S., Chinese officials hold "constructive" phone conversation on endi 2019-11-17 More than 100 arrested in Paris on anniversary of yellow vest protests 2019-11-17 White House discloses transcript of Trump's April phone call with Ukra 2019-11-16 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 loses to Japan at Premier 12 Super round; rematch on Sunday 2019-11-17 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 Rain, thunder expected throughout Korea on Sunday 2019-11-17 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
Issue Now S. Korea-Japan Trade Row Japan notifies U.S. of its refusal to accede to South Korea's demand: Yomiuri Shimbun 2019-11-17 Amnesty International Korea calls on Japan to compensate victims of wartime sexual slavery 2019-11-13 Nat'l Assembly speaker Moon Hee-sang suggests creating a joint fund with Japan to compensa... 2019-11-06 S. Korea's NA Speaker Moon Hee-sang to propose solution to Seoul-Tokyo ties 2019-11-05 National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang kicks off parliamentary diplomacy in Japan 2019-11-04 Nat'l Assembly Speaker calls on Japan to sincerely apologize for wartime sexual slavery 2019-11-04 N. Korea & U.S. U.S. raises concerns about progress on N. Korea's denuclearization, GSOMIA termination 2019-11-16 N. Korea assails U.S. for its 'political and military provocations,' S. Korea for 'double-... 2019-11-12 Nonproliferation conference ends without meeting between U.S., N. Korean envoys 2019-11-11 Solid-fuel ICBM capability is most important N. Korea missile issue 2019-11-07 Pompeo hopes for good results in several months despite slow progress on N. Korea denuclea... 2019-11-02 N. Korea fires 2 unidentified projectiles into East Sea 2019-11-01
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. raises concerns about progress on N. Korea's denuclearization, GSOMIA termination A senior official from the U.S. State Department told reporters in a backroom briefing Friday that he conveyed a message to Chinese officials that Beijing could do more to pressure North Korea into restarting denuclearization talks. China was also urged to prevent slippage in the enforcement of international sanctions on the regime, particularly when it comes to ship-to-ship transfers of coal and oil in their territorial waters. On South Korea's decision to terminate its military intelligence-sharing pact with Japan, the General Security of Military Information Agreement or GSOMIA, the U.S. official said Washington is urging South Korean officials to recommit to the pact. GSOMIA is due to lapse on November 23rd unless Seoul announces a last-minute U-turn on its decision made in August. The U.S. official cited the potential adverse impact GSOMIA's termination could have on three-way cooperation against North Korea's nuclear ambitions and China's military assertiveness in the region. The State Department official said that, during a recent meeting with South Korean officials, it was made clear that the U.S. will be more actively involved in finding solutions to the two countries' disputes over trade and history. This comes as President Moon Jae-in told U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper during their meeting at the Blue House Friday that South Korea will not renew GSOMIA. Presidential Office Spokesperson Ko Min-jung explained that security reasons make it difficult to exchange military information with Japan while Tokyo is imposing export curbs on the country. The State Department official also commented on defense cost sharing between South Korea and the U.S. as the Trump administration is reportedly pushing Seoul to pay up to five times more for the U.S. troop presence on the peninsula next year. The official said previously set clauses in the cost-sharing agreement should be updated and the financial burden should be shared fairly between the allies. Eum Ji-young Arirang News. 2019-11-16 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
