Nearly 10 percent of foreign students studying in Korea were found to be in the country illegally, a lawmaker’s report showed Thursday.According to Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon who obtained the Justice Ministry’s data, 8.1 percent of over 86,000 foreign students here stayed here illegally last year. Of them, 651 were studying in Korea’s top 28 universities. He also accused universities of recklessly recruiting foreign students for financial gain, and argued that they provided insufficient supervision afte

A Chinese diver was injured following an underwater explosion while working for the Sewol ferry recovery operation off the southwest coast of the country, officials said Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the 43-year-old Chinese diver fainted when a sudden blast took place in the nose of the 6,825-ton ship on Monday evening while he was participating in a propeller-cutting operation. The diver was immediately pulled to the surface by a colleague and moved to the hospital

The computer server of one of Seoul City’s subway operators was found to have been hacked last year, allegedly by North Korea, though little damage has been confirmed, officials said Monday. According to Saenuri Party Rep. Ha Tae-keung quoting the National Intelligence Service’s report, two servers in charge of managing the PCs of Seoul Metro were hacked in July last year, allowing unauthorized access to 213 company computers. Of them, 58 were found have to been infected with a malicious code, r

Seoul City will be stepping up its monitoring of cab driver’s attire as part of its efforts to improve taxi service quality, officials said Monday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it plans to crack down on cab drivers who wear sleeveless shirts, short pants, sportswear, slippers or hats that cover the face. Under the current transportation rules, drivers must wear “decent” outfits or the attire designated by taxi companies. Seoul City had initially designated cab driver’s recommended atti

A delegation of China's Communist Party will attend a ceremony marking the foundation of North Korea's Workers' Party, North Korean media reported Sunday, amid concerns Pyongyang may try to mark the key anniversary with actions that may very well be taken by the international community as provocations.In a short dispatch from Pyongyang, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said a Chinese delegation headed by Liu Yunshan, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the

Guns, jewelry and guitars may not immediately seem the most obvious items to sell together in one shop.But such is the way of life in Roseburg, Oregon, where a 26-year-old gunman killed nine people on Thursday at a community college in the latest armed massacre which has revived debate in the United States about stiffer gun controls.A day later, the store was doing a brisk trade with men and women of all ages mooching about, some with revolvers visible on their belts."The state of Oregon and Dou

Moroccan student Amine Ammor regularly visits Korean schools once a week. Every time he explains the exotic Moroccan culture to teenage students, he sees the eyes of the students beaming with anticipation and curiosity. “At the end of the class, students give me sweet notes saying that they wish to visit Morocco someday or that they want study English better,” said the 25-year-old. Studying computer science and film at a Korean university, Ammor initially started his volunteering to raise the un

Daily travel expenses for visitors to Seoul have surged over the last year, making it one of the most expensive cities to travel in the world, a lawmaker’s report showed Tuesday. According to Rep. Park Dae-chul of the ruling Saenuri Party, the daily travel cost for foreigners visiting Seoul recorded $438 this year, ranking it as the 13th highest in the world and third in Asia. The cost includeS $310 for accommodation and $128 for food expenses.  Korea Tourism Organization officials welcome Chine

Korean wives spend nearly five times more of their day on housework than their spouses, a survey showed Thursday. According to a survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, women spent about 3 1/2 hours on daily housework on average, while men spent only 43 minutes last year, showing a 4.6-fold difference.For women, the housework time accounted for 41 percent of their daily duties -- hours they spend on obligatory activities such as career work or domestic affairs. The women’s duty ti

When temperatures between day and night range by as much as 10 degrees Celsius, it doubles the risk of death, especially among those suffering from respiratory and circulatory diseases, an international study showed Tuesday.According to a joint study on 30 cities in four countries -- Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan, the death risk rose by 0.58 percent on average for every degree Celsius increase in the daily temperature range. The study, led by public health professor Kim Ho at Seoul National Uni

Four members of a family were found dead at a child care center that the deceased wife had run on Jejudo Island in an apparent murder-suicide by the husband, police said Monday.A teacher working at the facility found the 52-year-old husband surnamed Ko dead on a staircase, apparently from a fall. Police who responded to calls later discovered the bodies of the 40-year-old wife surnamed Yang and two of Yang’s teenage children in their beds, Jeju police said. The wife and the children had been sta

Seoul City’s annual street art festival will kick off next week featuring a host of international performances and civic-participant programs, officials said Monday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said the Hi Seoul Festival will offer over 50 global and local street performances, mobilizing stages and circuses from Oct. 1-4 in central Seoul. Under the theme “Let’s play on the street,” the event will include 10 international performances from six countries, including the U.K., France and Spain

A local prison held a family reunion event for foreign prisoners ahead of the Chuseok holidays, officials said Sunday. Cheonan Correctional Institution in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, said that it offered a reunion opportunity for 27 foreign prisoners on Friday, Korea Correctional Service said. They included 16 Chinese, four Americans and others from six other countries.The reunions were aimed at supporting the psychological well-being of the prisoners who have been long separated from t

A man suspected of killing a 35-year-old woman kidnapped her as part of a plan to murder a man for revenge, police said Sunday.An arrest warrant was issued Saturday against suspect Kim Il-gon on charges of kidnapping and strangling the victim to death in Asan, South Chungchoeng Province. He was detained Thursday in Seoul, eight days after he allegedly put her body in the trunk of a car and set it on fire.The police said the 48-year-old suspect kidnapped the victim to allure karaoke worker “A,” a

The number of crimes that threaten flight safety has been on the rise in recent years, a lawmaker’s report showed Wednesday. According to Rep. Lee No-keun of the ruling Saenuri Party, over 40 cases in violation of the aviation safety regulations were caught last year, which was triple the figure of 2013. In-flight smoking was the most common violation, accounting for 80 percent. Most of them were caught while smoking in the restroom, the report said. By law, anyone smoking in the airplane can be

The number of multicultural residents is rising in Korea as more foreign nationals settle in the country, government data showed Wednesday.According to the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, the number of Korean residents with a foreign background reached about 1.74 million as of January this year, accounting for 3.4 percent of the total population. The number has tripled since 2006. The figure includes marriage immigrants, the children of marriage immigrants, naturalized Ko

Eight passengers were still missing as of Monday afternoon from a fishing boat that capsized off the country’s south coast over the weekend, killing at least 10, as debate continued over whether the rescue mission was slipshod.A 9.77-ton fishing boat named Dolgorae carrying 21 anglers and crew capsized near Chuja Island, north of Jejudo Island on late Saturday. Only three were saved by a passing boat 11 hours after the incident. A probe is underway, but high waves are suspected to be the cause,

Korean men were found to shoulder more wedding costs than women at least by 20 million won ($17,000), a survey showed Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, over half of grooms’ parents spent more than 80 million won on average while 70 percent of brides’ parents spent less than 60 million won. About 10 percent of the couples said they spent over 200 million won on their wedding. The survey was conducted on 1,200 grooms and brides who married in the last three years

Environmentalists vowed Tuesday to launch a legal battle against the government over its recent decision to allow the construction of a cable car in one of the country’s most preserved national parks. Several environmental groups, including Green Korea United, said they would seek revocation against the government’s approval for the cable car project on Mount Seoraksan in Gangwon Province, claiming that the decision is invalid as it didn’t strictly follow the procedural rules.Last Friday, the mi

South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and visiting Washington Governor Jay Inslee on Monday discussed an inter-Korean deal struck last week. The two Koreas reached a landmark deal last week to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula. In the agreement, North Korea "expressed regret" over the recent injury of South Korean soldiers in the explosion of landmines laid by North Korea in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. Seoul accused Pyongyang of secretly burying the mines in