The UNHCR Korea will hold a special exhibition at Yeosu Expo starting from Sunday, marking World Refugee Day on June 20. Under the theme “Risk at Sea, Rescue at Sea: The Choice is Yours,” the exhibition will display photographs and video clips showing the lives and difficulties of refugees around the world. Every photograph and video clip depicts the true stories of refugees who are forced to f...

A local court on Friday sentenced to death a Korean-Chinese man accused of kidnapping, killing and chopping into pieces a woman in a high-profile case that led to the resignation of police chief Cho Hyun-oh. Oh Won-choon, or Wu Yuanchuan, 42, was arrested for abduction and murder of a 28-year-old woman in April in Suwon, south of Seoul. He is also accused of dismembering the victim’s body, carvi...

The ruling Saenuri Party came under fire for its membership list leak, ahead of its presidential candidate primary. The right-wing party kicked off an internal investigation task force on Friday to look into the charges that a ranking official sold the party’s member register to a text message provider in January-March, before the April general elections. The list included the personal informat...

Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said Friday that the government will push forward with its plan to set fixed prices on seven different medical treatments despite objections from doctors’ groups. The government announced earlier that it will introduce the Diagnosis-Related Group pricing system for treatment of seven common illnesses, such as cataracts and hemorrhoids, starting on July 1 as a part of...

A Korean-Chinese man accused of kidnapping and killing a 28-year-old woman was sentenced to death Friday, two months after the high-profile murder that also exposed the carelessness of the police. The Suwon District Court in Suwon, south of Seoul, handed down the death penalty to Wu Yuanchun, 42, citing the ruthlessness of his crime and his lack of remorse. "The defendant killed the victim with...

The ruling Saenuri Party kicked off negotiations Friday to defuse an escalating row over how to pick its presidential candidate after underdogs in the race threatened to bow out en masse unless primary rules are changed first. At issue is a demand from three minor contenders -- Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Moon-soo and Reps. Chung Mong-joon and Lee Jae-oh -- that the party fully open the primary v...

A power failure at a Samsung plant in the western city of Asan briefly halted production of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, the company said Friday, leading to concerns about its economic impact. The power cut occurred at around 9:05 p.m. Thursday and lasted about 11 minutes before electricity was restored to the production line in Asan, about 95 kilometers south of Seoul, according to an o...

The ruling Saenuri Party kicked off negotiations Friday to defuse an escalating row over how to pick its presidential candidate after underdogs in the race threatened to bow out en masse unless primary rules are changed first. At issue is a demand from three minor contenders – Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Moon-soo and Reps. Chung Mong-joon and Lee Jae-oh -- that the party fully open the primary vo...

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta expressed optimism Thursday over talks with South Korea on its push to develop greater ballistic missile capability. "I think we are making good progress," he said during a joint press conference with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan also joined in, describing the...

Korea’s Ministry of National Defense and U.S. Forces Korea have denied reports that U.S.F.K. commander Gen. James Thurman suggested keeping the Combined Forces Command intact after the handover of wartime operational control to Seoul in 2015. On Thursday a local daily reported that Thurman had suggested keeping the Combined Forces Command intact after the handover with the top post being held by...

The Saenuri Party said Thursday it is open to discussing the main opposition party’s proposal to push for the dismissal of Justice Minister Kwon Jae-jin over his alleged role in the government’s illegal surveillance of civilians. “As he (Kwon) was the secretary for civic affairs when the surveillance activities were taking place, and the justice minister during the investigation, it will not be ...