The ruling Saenuri party has failed to winning the parliamentary majority in Wednesday’s general election if exit polls are correct, though it managed to stay ahead of its main opposition rival, The Minjoo Party of Korea.　The lackluster performance of the ruling party, combined with the rise of a new centrist opposition, is expected to result in a majority opposition here for the first time in 16 years.　The exit polls respectively conducted by the nation’s top three broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SB

The police on Thursday issued an apology for causing “unintended trouble” amid mounting criticism over an open letter to Aidre Mattner, an Australian who had taken issue with its misconduct and slipshod investigation in a rape case. 　Yongsan Police Station published a post on its Facebook page in both Korean and English at around 2 p.m., expressing regret over the “unintended troubles” caused by its public letter.　 (Facebook)“We do apologize the fact that we caused some unintended troubles resul

경찰이 성폭행을 당해 경찰 조사를 받은 외국인 여성의 진술에 반박하는 서한을 페이스북에 게시해 2차 피해를 일으켰다는 논란에 휩싸였다. 일본에서 영어강사로 일하는 호주 출신 에어드리 매트너씨(25)에 따르면 그는 지난해 9월 휴가차 한국에 왔다가 성폭행을 당했다. 그 후 그녀는 온라인 기금모금 사이트 ‘고펀드미’(GoFundMe)에 한국 경찰이 모욕적인 말투로 질문하고, DNA 채취에 실패하는 등 무성의한 조사를 했다고 주장했다. 이 사건이 언론에 알려지자 경찰은 지난 1일 매트너씨에게 보내는 공개서한을 페이스북에 게시했다. 경찰은 그동안 언론에서 다뤄진 피해자의 진술이 수사 내용과 다른 부분이 있다며 그녀의 DNA 검사 결과, 수사 진행 사항에 대한 자세한 내용을 한국어와 영어로 게재했다. 경찰은 그녀의 고펀드미 켐페인 페이지에 이 게시 글의 링크까지 공유하며 경찰 측의 해명 글을 홍보했다. 이 게시글에서 경찰은 사건발생 즉시 지정 병원으로 피해자를 안내해 증거물을 채취하고, 용의

South Korea, the United States and Japan are trying to schedule a three-way vice foreign ministerial meeting in Seoul sometime in April, a government source here said Sunday.   If it materializes, it will be the second meeting of South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki this year. The three diplomats previously met in Tokyo on Jan. 16,10 days after North Korea's fourth nuclear test.   The first t

The national election watchdog said Sunday more than 42 million South Koreans at home and abroad will be eligible to vote in the upcoming general elections.   The National Election Commission (NEC) said there are 42.1 million eligible voters for the 20th parliamentary elections on April 13, up 4.7 percent from the last general elections held in 2012. The figure represents 81.5 percent of the entire population of about 51.6 million.  Based on domestic voters, those in their 60s accounted for the

--지난해 9월 한국 휴가 중 성폭행 피해-- ‘한국 사법시스템에 대한 신뢰가 전혀 없다’ 코리아헤럴드 피해자 인터뷰　지난 9월, 호주 여성 에어드리 매트너(26)는 휴가차 친구들과 한국에 왔다가 악몽과도 같은 밤을 보냈다. 친구들과 함께 간 홍대 클럽을 찾았다가 누군가가 약을 탄 술을 마시고, 호텔로 끌려가 성폭행을 당한 것이다. 현재 일본에서 영어강사로 일하는 매트너는 코리아헤럴드와의 인터뷰에서 “새로운 사람을 만나기 위해 펍 크롤을 하게 됐고 홍대 클럽을 찾았다가 누군가가 준 약을 먹고 취했고, 택시로 납치됐고, 성폭행을 당했다”고 주장했다.“택시 운전사에게 제발 내 숙소로 데려달라고 했지만, 기사는 나의 말을 무시하고 옆에 앉은 남자의 지시대로 계속해서 운전해 호텔로 갔다”고 당시 상황을 설명했다. 다음 날 아침 눈을 떴을 때 그녀는 옷이 모두 벗겨진 상태였고, 바닥에 찢겨 널브러져 있었으며, 지갑에 있던 돈도 모두 없어진 상태였다고 말했다. 하지만, 그녀의 악몽은 시작일 뿐

Police questioned seven terror suspects in Belgium and France on Friday as US Secretary of State John Kerry declared "Je Suis Bruxellois" during a solidarity visit after bombings in Brussels claimed by the Islamic State group.   Grieving Belgians were holding prayers in the rain in a central Brussels square carpeted with flowers and tributes to the 31 killed and 300 injured by the airport and metro suicide blasts on Tuesday.   The under-fire Belgian police arrested six people in raids linked to

KB Financial Group and Korea Investment Holdings Co. have submitted a final bid for a controlling stake in Hyundai Securities as they seek expansion to compete with bigger foreign rivals, the deal's lead manager said Friday. Besides the two, Hong Kong's private equity fund Actis also participated in the competition to acquire a 22.56 percent stake in Hyundai Securities up for sale since last year by financially-troubled Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., according to EY Han Young accounting firm.    T

Asiana Airlines said Friday that it has agreed to pay a $55 million settlement in a fuel surcharge price-fixing case, ending a decade-long anti-trust class action lawsuit against South Korea's second-largest carrier.   Asiana said in a regulatory filing that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York approved the settlement.   The airline said it reached a deal with U.S. cargo companies to address increased costs and the burden of the defense of a protracted lawsuit, though it

A U.S. citizen detained in North Korea confessed Friday to his crime of espionage in connection with South Korea's spy agency and asked for mercy, the North's state media said.   Kim Dong-chul, a 62-year-old U.S. citizen, said at a press conference in Pyongyang that he has been serving as a spy for South Korea by secretly passing on intelligence on the North's party and military to Seoul, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).  Kim was detained by the North after being arrested in O

South Korean police on Thursday caught an Uzbekistani con artist who allegedly swindled money out of a Syrian man with threats involving a nude picture of them together. The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency requested an arrest warrant for the 28-year-old woman on charges of fraud.(Yonhap)The Uzbekistani woman, who met the 32-year-old Syrian man through a friend, allegedly blackmailed him from March to December last year, getting about 7 million won ($5,800) from him.The woman reportedly threat

South Korea and Egypt agreed Thursday to beef up cooperation in infrastructure development worth US$3.6 billion, paving the way for Seoul to make inroads into the fast-growing North African country.President Park Geun-hye and her Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, reached an agreement at a summit here, Cheong Wa Dae said.The presidential office said the two leaders were present for the signing of nine memorandums of understanding calling for Seoul's participation in Egyptian infrastruct

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se made no mention of Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women while addressing the United Nations this week, triggering fresh controversy at home about the government's handling of the issue.In a keynote speech on Wednesday before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, Yun deplored the human rights situation in North Korea, saying many North Koreans are risking their lives in search of "freedom and human dignity."The speech was also expected to touch on th

South Korea’s top court on Tuesday ruled that the government is not responsible for compensating a Korean civilian killed by the U.S. Navy’s shelling during the 1950-53 Korean War. 　The Supreme Court ordered a retrial for the case in a lower court, reversing an earlier verdict that had demanded the government pay 48.8 million won ($39,600) to the victim’s bereaved families. 　 (Yonhap)The victim, identified only by his surname Bang, was one of about a thousand victims killed by artillery fire fro

The number of Korean university graduates giving up on looking for a job or not working at all has continued to increase, data showed Monday, highlighting bleak job prospects for young people. According to Statistics Korea, the economically inactive population holding a university degree stood at 3.34 million last year, up 4.7 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)The number of economically inactive university graduates who are neither employed nor have lost a job has more than doubled from 1.59

Two days after the Sewol ferry sinking on April 16, 2014, took away 304 lives, mostly students on a school trip, one of the survivors was found dead in an apparent suicide.It was the vice principal of Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, where most of the student victims had attended. He left a note saying he could not bear living while over 200 of his students were still missing. Since the Sewol tragedy, three other surviving students as well as Kim Dong-soo, 51, who saved more than

South Korea’s monthly spending on private education per child hit a record high in 2015, with seven out of 10 students taking private lessons, government data showed Friday.　According to the survey by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Education, 68.8 percent of students across the nation received private tutoring last year, up 0.2 percent from a year earlier.(Yonhap)The average amount spent was 244,000 won ($197), up 1 percent from the previous year. However excluding those not receiving priv

Prosecutors on Tuesday raided the residence and office of a close aide to an ex-chief of South Korea’s rail operator in its widening probe of suspected slush funds in connection with a now-defunct urban development project. Officials carry out boxes of confiscated items Tuesday from the office of an aide to the former president of the Korea Railroad Corp. in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul. (Yonhap)The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said that investigators seized computer hard disks, internal re

South Korea’s state-appointed media monitoring agency said Sunday that it will set out guidelines to enable Web users to request for deletion of personal data online. 　Under the administrative guidelines to be proposed by the Korea Communications Commission, Web users will be able to demand that Web portals remove personal information that they do not want online. 　“We have studied the rights to be forgotten for more than a year through a group composed of legal, academic and industry experts,”

On a chilly Friday night last month, 24-year-old U.S. citizen Megan Stuckey had one of her most hurtful experiences in Korea. 　She was denied entry to a bar in Hongdae, Seoul, because she was a foreigner. 　 Ock Hyun-ju/The Korea HeraldThe bar named Green Light, infamous in the expat community for refusing foreign customers, is one of a rising number of Korean-style dating joints where people meet blind dates and one-night stands over beer and soju.　“Only Koreans are allowed because our employees