Rival parties at last agreed to open the new parliamentary term next week, ending the month-long standoff over the allocation of key parliamentary committees and the investigation of government irregularities. The floor leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party met on Friday and consented to open an initial parliamentary session on July 2 to elect a spea...

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Friday that it arrested 18 Korean pimps without detention who lured Korean women into working as prostitutes in Australia. The police said the owner of a brothel, surnamed Jang, 32, together with other brokers brought the Korean women to Australia on working holiday visas. Jang has reportedly been bringing them to his brothel in Sydney since 2009. He al...

Seoul Metropolitan Government said Friday that it will develop a smartphone application by 2014 through which citizens can process their civil affairs. The city will invest more than 250 million won ($216,000) in the development of the application equipped with antivirus programs and password protection for the security of personal information. Citizens will be able to use all the services with...

The nation’s largest doctors’ group said Friday that it is dropping a plan to strike, scheduled to begin from Sunday, in protest against the government’s new medical service pricing plan. Roh Hwan-kyu, head of the Korean Medical Association, said his organization has tentatively accepted the diagnosis-related group pricing system, giving a green light to the program that is scheduled to come int...

A U.S. military helicopter burned after making an emergency landing at a southern seaside village in South Korea on Friday, rescue authorities said. No casualties were reported. The MH-53 helicopter from the U.S. Navy made the emergency landing on a rice paddy in Pohang, 374 kilometers southeast of Seoul, at 12:30 p.m. while performing flight training, according to the southern branch of the Po...

The truckers' union said Friday it has reached an agreement with the transportation association over a fare increase, paving the way for ending their ongoing strike. Thousands of unionized truckers across the country have been on strike since Monday, demanding the government increase fees and reduce fuel costs. The union and the Container Transportation and Container Yard Operator's Association...

Police in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, filed an arrest warrant Thursday against a man, 33, who sexually assaulted and stole from a 20-year-old woman he followed home. The victim was returning home alone at around 3 a.m. Wednesday after finishing her part-time shift near a library in Yeongdeung-dong. The attacker, surnamed Jeong, threatened her with a weapon and sexually assaulted her. Jeong to...

A man running a brothel in Busan was charged Friday for the attempted murder of a gang member who had habitually assaulted him. The man surnamed Chung, 37, reportedly stabbed Lee, 34, in the abdomen and back on a street in Buk-gu, Busan. The incident occurred on April 5 in the early hours of the morning. The victim, Lee, a follower of the Jang Cheol group, had harassed Chung and demanded money ...

TEHRAN - Iran will reconsider its ties with South Korea if the Asian nation halts imports of Iranian oil from Sunday, as Seoul has said it will be forced to do because of EU sanctions. "If South Korea completely cuts its oil imports from the Islamic Republic of Iran, then in return we will reconsider our relations with this country," Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said on Thursday, according to the...

N.Korean claims South agents tricked her to defect PYONGYANG--A North Korean woman said Thursday that she was tricked into defecting six years ago by South Korean agents who offered to arrange a reunion with her father who went to the South during the Korean War. The rare public account that 66-year-old Pak Jong Suk told to local and foreign reporters at a news conference at the People's Palace...

Rival parties were close to an agreement Thursday to convene the first session of the 19th National Assembly early next week, after weeks of squabbling over the formation of the standing committees. The new parliament was originally set to open June 5. The vice floor leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party met later in the evening to draw up a final a...