독립운동가 출신으로 박정희 독재정권 당시 긴급조치 1호 위반 혐의로 옥고를 치르다 올해 초 재심에서 무죄를 선고받은 고 (故) 장준하 선생의 유가족이 모금활동을 해준 시민들의 덕으로 민사소승을 할 수 있게 되었다.장 선생의 장남인 호권씨는 1일, 언론을 통해 지난달 8월부터 31일까지 4천명으로부터 5천만원이 모금되었다고 밝히며 “오늘부터 국가를 상대로 소송을 시작한다”고 말했다.그는 “후원하고 격려해 주신 분들을 보니 ‘아버님이 잊히지 않았구나’하는 생각 이 들었다”며 감격을 표했다.포털사이트 다음 토론방 ‘아고라’에는 지난달 장 선생의 유가족이 소송비용이 없어 국가를 상대로 손해배상 청구소송을 제기하지 못하고 있다는 소식이 올려졌고, 이로 인해 국민모금이 시작되었다.고인의 유가족은 소송비용을 뺀 나머지 돈을 ‘장준하 재단’(가칭)의 설립을 위해 쓸 계획이다.유신헌법 개정을 주장하며 박정희 독재 정권에 항거했던 장준하 선생은 지난 1974년 긴급조치 1호 위반 혐의로 기소돼 징역

South Korean stocks closed 0.35 percent higher Thursday as investors' sentiment was boosted by better-than-expected economic data from China and the United States, analysts said. The local currency ended flat against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 6.71 points to close at 1,920.74. Trading volume was moderate at 330.3 million shares worth 3.56 trillion won ($3.17 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 420 to 371.Analysts said Seoul shares gathered

Conflict between the Saenuri Party and Democratic Party escalated Thursday as the DP’s street campaign to increase pressure on the ruling party over the parliamentary investigation into the National Intelligence Service got underway. The two main parties have been at loggerheads over who will be called as witnesses for the hearing on the NIS’ actions during last year’s presidential election, with each accusing the other of causing delays. The parliamentary investigation is scheduled to end on Au

차영 전 민주통합당 대변인(51)이 여의도순복음교회 조용기 목사의 장남 조희준 (47)씨를 상대로 친자확인소송을 제기한 것으로 알려졌다. 1일 CBS노컷뉴스에 따르면 차영 전 대변인은 조용기 목사의 장남 조희준 전 국민일보 회장(47)과의 사이에서 태어난 아들의 양육비와 결혼약속을 지키지 않은 데 대한 위자료를 지급하라며 조 전 회장을 상대로 서울가정법원에 친자확인 및 양육비 청구 소송을 제출했다. 차영 전 대변인에 따르면 자신은 지난 2001년 대통령 비서실 문화관광비서관을 역임할 당시 열린 청와대 만찬에서 조희준 전 회장을 처음 만났다고 밝혔다. 이후 조 전 회장이 자신에게 지속적으로 이혼을 종용하고 2002년에는 고가의 시계를 선물하며 청혼하기도 했다. 조 전 회장은 자신의 두 딸을 미국으로 유학시켜주겠다고 약속하기도 했다고 차 전 대변인은 주장했다.결국 차 전 대변인은 2003년 초 남편과 이혼했고 이후 조 전 회장과 동거해 2003년 8월 미국에서 아들을 출산했다. 조 전

A local businessman close to a son of former President Chun Doo-hwan has undergone prosecution questioning over his suspected role in helping Chun's family manage massive slush funds, prosecution sources said Thursday.The recent summons of Ryu Chang-hee, known as a long-time business partner of Chun's second son Jae-yong, is part of the prosecution's extensive search for unpaid fines of some 167.2 billion won (US$149.3 million) levied on the former president for amassing large ill-gotten money d

South Korean stocks traded 0.46 percent higher late Thursday morning, led by gains in techs and financial firms.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 8.82 points to 1,922.85 as of 11:20 a.m.Tech shares gathered ground, with Samsung Electronics rising 0.39 percent and top chipmaker SK hynix adding 0.55 percent. Flat panel maker LG Display gained 0.36 percent.Financial firms also traded higher, with Shinhan Financial moving up 1.46 percent and KB Financial adding 1.83 perce

South Korea's trade surplus slightly widened last month as its overall trade volume grew from a year earlier, the government said Thursday.In July, the country's exports amounted to US$45.84 billion, up 2.6 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The July figure marks a turnaround from a 0.9 percent on-year drop in the previous month.The country's trade surplus came to $2.71 billion with its imports growing 2.7 percent on-year to $43.13 bill

An embattled former chief of the national tax agency appeared before prosecutors Thursday to face questioning over suspicions that he took kickbacks from CJ Group in return for providing favors during a tax audit into the local food and entertainment conglomerate in 2006.Jeon Goon-pyo, 59, arrived at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul around 9:40 a.m. after receiving notice of the summons earlier this week.Jeon is under suspicion of taking US$300,000 in U.S. bills a

A group of Korean-American community leaders said Wednesday it will meet with White House officials and congressional leaders this week to get their voice heard on key policy issues.The Council of Korean Americans (CKA) is hosting an inaugural "Community+Congressional Leaders Event" in Washington, D.C., later in the day.It will feature panel discussions on South Korea-U.S. relations, immigration reform, the Affordable Care Act, and North Korea, CKA said.Among the participants are Reps. Ed Royce

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned Wednesday that the Pentagon may have to stop using up to three Navy aircraft carriers and order additional sharp reductions in the size of the Army and Marine Corps if Congress doesn't act to avoid massive budget cuts beginning in 2014.Hagel told reporters that the sweeping budget cuts over the next 10 years could leave the nation with an ill-prepared, under-equipped military doomed to face more technologically advanced enemies.He laid out a worst-case s

U.N. experts will travel to Syria as soon as possible to investigate three alleged incidents of chemical weapons attacks, the United Nations announced Wednesday.U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said the green light for the investigation followed “the understanding reached with the government of Syria” during last week's visit to Damascus by U.N. disarmament chief Angela Kane and the head of the chemical weapons investigation team, Ake Sellstrom.The announcement caps more than four months of behind-

Earthquakes can rip open sub-sea pockets of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, according to a study by German and Swiss scientists published on Sunday.Quake-caused methane should be added to the list of heat-trapping carbon emissions that affect the world‘s climate system, although the scale of this contribution remains unclear, they said.The evidence comes from cores of sediment drilled from the bed of the northern Arabian Sea during a research trip by marine scientists in 2007.One of the

President Barack Obama's national security team acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that, when investigating one suspected terrorist, it can read and store the phone records of millions of Americans.Since it was revealed recently that the National Security Agency puts the phone records of every American into a database, the Obama administration has assured the nation that such records are rarely searched and, when they are, officials target only suspected international terrorists.Meanwhile

South Korean stocks opened lower Thursday as the United States Federal Reserve remained silent over when the central bank will scale back its quantitative easing moves, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 5.28 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1,908.75 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Tech shares traded lower, with top chipmaker SK hynix falling 0.18 percent and handset maker LG Electronics losing 0.41 percent. Market behemoth Samsung Electronics remained unch

South Korea's minimum wage has been set at 5,210 won ($4.66) per hour for next year, up slightly over 7 percent from this year, the labor ministry said Thursday.Earlier this month, a trilateral council of government, labor and management representatives agreed to raise the country's minimum wage for 2014 by 7.2 percent from the current 4,860 won per hour. The increase plan was confirmed as no objections or complaints were raised by labor and management, the ministry said, adding that it will mak

The U.S. Federal Reserve left unchanged near-zero interest rates and its massive bond-buying program on Wednesday, citing modest growth in the world‘s largest economy.Wrapping up a two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee said it would continue to buy $85 billion in bonds per month to help tamp down longer term interest rates that have been supporting the economy, and especially the housing market recovery.The bond-purchase program has filled a gap in the Fed’s toolkit after the

South Korea's consumer prices grew at the fastest pace in five months in July due to the on-year gain in oil prices, but they ran below the central bank's inflation target band, a government report showed Thursday.The country's consumer prices index rose 1.4 percent in July from a year earlier, picking up from a 1 percent on-year gain in June, according to the report by Statistics Korea.The July data marked the fastest on-year growth since February when the index rose an identical 1.4 percent on

 조윤선 여성가족부 장관이 자신의 SNS에 “여성전용거리 법안을 제출할 계획”이라고 밝힌 것으로 알려져 누리꾼들의 비난이 폭주한 가운데, 해당 계정은 조 장관을 사칭한 계정인 것으로 알려졌다. 지난 30일 조윤선 장관 이름의 카카오스토리에는 “국민여러분께 묻고 싶은 게 있습니다. 저희 여성부에서는 이번 9월초에 여성 전용 인도(거리)를 만들 법안을 정부에 제출할 예정입니다”라며 “국민 여러분의 의견을 묻고 싶습니다”라는 글이 올라왔다. 이 글에 따르면 여성 전용 인도는 여성들을 성추행범, 강도, 변태 등의 위협에서 보호하기 위해 칸막이 등을 설치해 여성들 만이 이용할 수 있게 한다는 것. 남자가 여성 전용 인도에 들어올 시 벌금 30만 원에 처할 계획이라는 내용도 담겨 있었다. 이 글이 인터넷에 퍼지면서 누리꾼들은 황당하다는 반응을 쏟아냈다. 누리꾼들은 “여성가족부가 성추행 등을 막기 위한 거라며 기발한 발상을 내놨다. 머리속이 궁금하다”, “복지부는 자살방지하기 위해 번개탄 판매를

Inbee Park once felt she could walk down the streets of Seoul as the No. 1 player in women's golf without being recognized.That was two months ago.Now, she can't even make it through a toll booth.The week before she set out to make history at St. Andrews, the 25-year-old Park went home to South Korea to visit family and friends. She was surprised by the number of people who met her at the airport, and who looked her way when she was out in public dressed in regular clothes.“I was driving by the

South Korean stocks closed 0.16 percent lower Wednesday as market uncertainties grew before the release of minutes from this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) shed 3.02 points to close at 1,914.03. Trading volume was moderate at 379.3 million shares worth 4.02 trillion won ($3.58 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 468 to 343.Analysts said Seoul shares traded lower as investors continued to take a wait-and-see approac