The financial watchdog's lax supervision led to a massive leak of customer information from the nation's three major financial institutions that came to light early this year, the state auditor said Monday. In January, an employee of the Korea Credit Bureau (KCB), a credit reference agency, was found to have stolen sensitive personal information, including resident registration numbers, bank account numbers and credit scores from Kookmin Card Co., Lotte Card Co. and Nonghyup Bank.The three compa

Two Army privates who were on the military's list of soldiers "requiring extra care" have died after apparent suicides, the Army said Monday, sounding an alarm for the country's troop management.A 21-year-old private, identified only by his surname Park, was found hanged in a restroom of his barracks in the central part of the country at about 8:10 p.m. on Sunday. He was immediately taken to a military hospital, but was pronounced dead some three hours later."After joining his unit on June 20, h

An art exhibition in China by a North Korean defector has been cancelled, gallery staff said Monday, with reports saying the show had been dismantled on official orders.Sun Mu, who slipped out of North Korea in 1998 and uses a pseudonym because of concerns for his safety, paints satirical imitations of Pyongyang's propaganda imagery.An exhibition of his works had been due to open at the Yuan Dian gallery at the weekend, but China is nuclear-armed Pyongyang's key diplomatic backer and aid provide

South Korea confirmed another case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) Monday, signaling a possible spread of the animal disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including cows and sheep.The additional outbreak was confirmed at a pig farm in Goryeong, North Gyeongsang Province, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.The report came four days after the country confirmed its first outbreak of FMD in over three years at a pig farm in nearby Uiseong."All pigs at the Goryeong

About 90 bishops from around the world will accompany Pope Francis on his visit to South Korea next month, the preparation committee for the papal visit said Monday."Some 90 bishops, including 30 in the pope's entourage and 60 from other Asian countries, will attend various events during the pope's visit to South Korea," the committee told reporters.The pope is scheduled to visit South Korea on Aug. 14-18, during which he will celebrate four Masses, including one for the beatification of 124 Kor

The South Korean government has allowed the country's lexicographers to meet with their North Korean colleagues in China this week for a project to publish a joint dictionary of their language, officials here said Monday.A group of 32 South Korean lexicographers will hold a meeting with their northern counterparts in the Chinese city of Xinyang from Tuesday through Aug. 6, said the unification ministry.The two sides plan to discuss a schedule for making what is called the Big Dictionary of the K

Prosecutors on Monday demanded a 20-year jail sentence for a left-leaning lawmaker accused of plotting an armed rebellion against the government.    Rep. Lee Seok-ki of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party (UPP) went on trial in September on charges of conspiring with members of a clandestine organization to topple the Seoul government if a war with North Korea broke out and instigating them to do so.In February, a local court sentenced him to 12 years in prison and stripped him of his

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers picked up his 12th win of the Major League Baseball(MLB) season on Sunday against the San Francisco Giants, holding the National League (NL) West rivals to three earned runs in six innings.Ryu also struck out seven and walked one in his six frames to improve to 12-5 for the year, as the Dodgers beat the Giants 4-3.His ERA went up slightly from 3.39 to 3.44.Ryu is well ahead of the pace from his rookie season in 2013, when he didn't get his 12th win until A

The UN Security Council on Monday appealed for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza at a late-night emergency meeting called as fighting between Israel and Hamas entered its third week.The 15-member Council released a statement calling for the truce to allow aid deliveries during the Muslim Eid festival marking the end of Ramadan, and as the death toll rose to more than 1,030 Palestinians. The Council expressed "strong support" for an "immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire,"

Teenaged student survivors of South Korea's ferry disaster began giving video testimony under tight security Monday in the murder trial of the vessel's captain and crew.It was the first time the survivors -- all from Dawon High School in Ansan city south of Seoul -- have given evidence in the trial which began more than a month ago.Police cordons blocked public access to the district court in Ansan City, outside Seoul, as the students arrived in a red mini-bus and were escorted into the building

South Korea's younger generation is likely to receive less than what they paid for public benefits, a report showed Monday, highlighting the government's demographic headache of balancing its fiscal policy as rapid aging stokes welfare spending.People in their 20s and 30s during their lifetime will spend 100 million won (US$97,561) more than the value of government benefits they will actually receive, according to a working paper co-authored by Bank of Korea economists Kim Myoung-chul, Im Seongy

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for the succession of war spirit as he visited a national cemetery in Pyongyang on Sunday to mark the end of the Korean War six decades ago, according to the country's state news agency.Kim paid tribute to fallen soldiers at the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the 1953 armistice that ended the three-year conflict, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a Monday report.The cemetery, establi

South Korea's tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. is the most popular smartphone brand in a handful of emerging markets, a survey showed Monday, outdoing rivals at home and abroad such as Apple Inc. of the United States and local competitor LG Electronics Inc.In the poll conducted by Credit Suisse Research Institute on 15,873 users from nine emerging countries -- Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey -- around 30 percent responded that given the ch

The global number of smartphone users is expected to reach 2.5 billion by the end of 2015, research showed Monday, as more tech players are releasing low-end models to appeal to wider markets.Around 34.7 percent of the world's 7.2 billion population estimated for 2015 will use smartphones, an industry tracker Strategy Analytics's report showed, which had said the number surpassed the 1-billion mark in 2012.Industry watchers attributed the rising number to the expansion of low-end smartphones rel

K-pop idol duo TVXQ’s U-Know Yunho revealed Thursday that he is not comfortable about going public with his romantic relationship on a TV show. On the MBC TV show “Star Gazing,” the 28-year-old heartthrob said that he personally thinks that keeping his cherished person out of the public eye is the best way to protect her.  (MBC)“When women are in a relationship (with celebrities), they are envied. But when they spilt up, women get hurt more than men do,” he said during the show. Comedienne Song

Members of the K-pop boy band B1A4 said that they are not allowed to date women on a radio program on Friday. Asked whether there is any rule that prevents the idols from dating someone, they said “Yes, there is” on the radio show “Jo Jung-chi and Jang Dong-min’s 2 O’ Clock” that aired on Friday. (OSEN)The members also confessed that they have no girlfriends, and that’s why they named a recent song “Solo Day.” Launched in 2011, the five-member group recently returned to the K-pop scene with the

K-pop sensation EXO’s Lay was highly praised for his compositional techniques by famed Chinese songwriter Yuen Wei Ren, Chinese media outlets reported Friday.“I am so happy to listen to your song in Shanghai. I am surprised by young composers’ outstanding skills these days,” Yuen wrote on his Weibo account. (OSEN)“Creation takes time, but it would be the most powerful weapon for your music. Hope I can listen to more of your songs,” he added. The Chinese member of EXO expressed his appreciation,

Foreigners consider South Korea as a country with cutting-edge technology, but only a small portion of them are aware of Korean pop culture, known as hallyu, a survey showed Friday.According to the survey, the respondents most frequently come up with technology after being asked to present the word that first pops up in their mind when thinking of South Korea. The name of the leading mobile phone maker, Samsung, came in second, followed by war and Psy, a South Korean rapper whose dance music vid

American socialite Paris Hilton said on a TV show that her favorite Korean artist is G-Dragon of K-pop boy band Big Bang.  “Among Korean musicians, I like G-Dragon,” the Hilton heiress said during StoryOn’s “True Live Show.” The two met once onstage at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2013, when she handed over the trophy for the year’s best singer to G-Dragon. Hilton then praised him as a talented, cool man on her Twitter page. 　On the cable TV show scheduled to be aired on July 25, the big-name

Park Jae-beom, widely known as Jay Park, is returning to the K-pop scene with his EP “Na Na” in late July, four months after the release of “Metronome” last April. Park’s self-composed song, armed with unstoppable hooks and a mellow melody, will be reminiscent of a summer night party, his agency said Thursday. The new track is to drop on July 25 through local music streaming charts. The 27-year-old American artist debuted as a member of K-pop boy band 2PM in 2008, but left the team two years lat