배우 겸 가수 손지창 씨로부터 급발진 소송을 당한 전기차 업체 테슬라에 미국의 다른 고객들도 급발진 불만을 제기했던 것으로 나타났다.3일 미국 도로교통안전국(NHTSA) 홈페이지를 보면 손 씨와 같은 테슬라 모델X의 급발진으로 사고가 났다고 주장하는 고객 불만 7건이 접수됐다.2016년 5월부터 9월 사이에 발생한 사고 내용을 보면 운전자들은 차량이 가속 페달을 밟지 않은 상황에서 갑작스럽게 속도를 내며 통제를 벗어났다고 주장했다.대부분 손 씨의 경우처럼 주차하는 과정에서 발생했다. 배우 손지창이 페이스북을 통해 지난 9월 테슬라를 운전하다 당한 급발진 사고에 대해 처참한 모습을 담은 사진과 함께 공개했다. 손 씨는 "지난 9월10일 저녁 8시에 일어난 일입니다. 저희 둘째 아들 경민이를 데리고 집으로 돌아와 차고 문이 열리는 것을 확인하고 차고로 진입하는 순간 웽 하는 굉음과 함께 차는 차고 벽을 뚫고 거실로 처박혔습니다. (이하생략)"라고 글을 올렸다. (사진 손지창 페이스북 캡

부녀자를 잇달아 성추행한 혐의로 기소돼 1심에서 실형을 선고받은 40대 남성의 항소가 기각됐다.일부 피해 여성은 "술이 나 한잔하자"며 이 남성을 달래는 기지를 발휘해 성폭행을 모면한 것으로 조사됐다.대전고등법원 제1형사부(재판장 윤승은 부장판사)는 3일 성폭력 범죄의 처벌 등에 관한 특례법 위반 혐의 등으로 재판에 넘겨진 A(49)씨의 항소심에서 '원심의 형이 너무 무겁다'며 제기한 A씨의 항소를 기각했다고 밝혔다. (사진=연합뉴스)원심은 A씨에게 징역 2년 6월, 성폭력 치료프로그램 40시간 이수, 정보 공개·고지 3년을 선고했다.A씨는 지난해 5월 19일 오전 10시 10분께 술에 취한 채 충남 당진에 있는 다가구주택 내 B(33·여)씨 집에 침입한 뒤 "어느 집이든 들어가 성폭행하고 감방에 가려고 했다, 감방에 가면 편하게 지낼수 있다"며 B씨를 성폭행하려 한 혐의로 기소됐다.B씨는 "우리 인연이 이렇게 되면 나쁜 거밖에 안 된다, 우리 술이나 한잔 하자"고 A씨를 달랬고,

미국 일간 뉴욕타임스(NYT)가 2일(현지시간) 미국에서 성업 중인 한국의 찜질방을 조명했다.미 뉴욕·뉴저지의 한인 이민자들에게 마치 고향에 온 듯한 느낌을 주는 장소일 뿐 아니라 최근에는 몇 시간씩 차를 달려 찾아오는 미국인들도 늘어나고 있다고 보도했다.이 신문은 한인 밀집지역인 뉴저지 주 팰리세이즈파크의 한 대형 사우나 현장취재기에서 사우나 문화는 핀란드, 과테말라, 멕시코, 일본, 러시아, 터키에도 있지만, 한국의 경우는 그 자체로 '산업'이 된 경우라고 전했다. 한국의 대형 찜질방 전경. (사진=연합뉴스)이어 찜질방을 '도시 속의 작은 휴양지'로 소개한 한국의 한 정부 웹사이트 내용을 소개하면서, 한국에는 이런 곳이 1천800개에 이른다고 덧붙였다.한국에서 근무했던 미 공군 출신의 저스틴 가쿠다는 NYT에 "찜질방은 기차역, 호텔, 쇼핑몰 등 한국 어디에나 있다"며 "미국의 스타벅스와 같다"고 말했다.보스턴에서 친구 2명과 4시간을 운전해 뉴저지의 24시간 찜질방을 찾은 육상

The South Korean government has ordered the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the woman at the center of a massive presidential scandal, to turn in her passport in a bid to pressure her to return home and face an investigation, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.Chung Yoo-ra was arrested in the northern Danish city of Aalborg on Sunday on charges of illegal stay. She is suspected of receiving favors from a Seoul-based college in the admissions process and on tests by taking advantage of her mother's ties

The number of North Koreans escaping to South Korea rose 11 percent on-year in 2016, government data showed Tuesday, as more elites and overseas workers fled the country amid tough international sanctions.A total of 1,414 North Koreans came to South Korea last year, compared to 1,275 tallied for 2015, according to a preliminary data provided by the Ministry of Unification.The total number of North Korean defectors in South Korea reached 30,208 as of end-December.The 2016 tally marked the first t

The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):6:30 p.m.Donald Trump insists North Korea won't develop a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the United States.Trump addressed the issue Monday evening on Twitter. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Sunday in his annual New Year's address that preparations for launching an ICBM have “reached the final stage.” He did not explicitly say a test was imminent.Trump tweeted: “North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developi

More than 30 percent of Goryeoin, which refers to the Korean diaspora in Russia and Central Asia, can't speak Korean, a recent report revealed.In the report on the living conditions of Korean descendants in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), several Korean academics including Professor Sohn Young-hoon of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies conducted a survey in July and August on 673 Goryeoin living in countries including Russia and Kazakhstan.The survey found that 34 perc

Samsung Electronics Co. and the South Korean government will soon release the outcome of their investigation into what caused Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to catch fire, industry sources said Monday.The South Korean tech giant has asked the US-based safety organization UL to find the root cause of phablets catching fire after the firm halted its sales over recurring battery problems. Kwon Oh-hyun, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics Co., speaks to employees at the company's headquarters on

Online shopping in South Korea reached a fresh record high in November, a government report showed Monday, in the latest sign that a growing number of South Koreans are using computers or mobile devices to buy goods.Total online transactions reached a record 6 trillion won ($4.9 billion) in November, up 23 percent from a year earlier, according to the report compiled by Statistics Korea.Purchases made through smartphones, tablets and other mobile gadgets also soared 40.5 percent on-year to a rec

온라인 과학 저널 기즈모도 (GIZMODO)는 지난 달 19일 ‘리얼돌’ 로봇과의 성관계가 인간을 종말로 치닫게 할 가능성에 대해 보도했다.기즈모도 보도에 따르면 제 2차 “로봇의 사랑과 성” 학회에 참가한 한 연구학자가 “성역할을 수행하는 로봇이 인간 사이의 유대관계를 망가뜨릴 수 있다”는 내용의 발표를 했다.스위스 연구학자 올리버 벤델 (Oliver Bendel)은 “로봇은 지치는 일이 없으니 사람 간 성관계보다 만족도가 높을 수 있다”며 “이로 인해 사람 사이 성관계가 전무 해질 수도 있다”고 주장했다. 벤델은 “로봇과 관계하다 지쳐 죽을 수도” 있으며, 나아가 “인간 사이의 사랑이 사라질 수도 있다”고 발언했다. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)

The head of Samsung Electronics Co. saw the value of his stock holdings surpass 14 trillion won ($12 billion) last year, rising by 28 percent, as the flagship unit of the country's top conglomerate Samsung has continued to rally, industry data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by industry tracker Chaebul.com, the value of stocks held by Chairman Lee Kun-hee was tallied at 14.35 trillion won as of Thursday, the last day of last year's stock market trading, compared with 11.2 trillion w

Some 50 lawmakers are expected to join the New Conservative Party for Reform, a splinter from the ruling Saenuri Party, when it officially sets sail later this month, its floor leader said Monday.A group of 30 former Saenuri lawmakers established a separate negotiation body at the National Assembly last week after departing from the ruling party amid the factional feud with loyalists of President Park Geun-hye, who was impeached by the parliament in December for corruption."Around Jan. 8, up to

South Korean banks cut almost 3,000 jobs last year, many through lay-offs, data showed Monday, with the job-reduction trend expected to continue this year amid an economic slowdown and growing risk management pressure from U.S. rate hikes and massive household debt at home.The number of employees at banks here totaled 115,516 at the end of September, down 1,507 from nine months earlier, according to the Financial Supervisory Service's financial data information system.That of KB Kookmin Bank fel

Some 3,000 people started their own business per day in 2014, but two-thirds of them had closed down a year later, statistics from the National Tax Service showed Monday.Based on the number of new businesses who filed value-added taxes for the first time in 2015, close to 1.07 million people became self-employed on a daily average in 2014. But by the following year, 739,000 people had closed down their shops, an average of 2,000 per day, the tally showed.The kinds of new businesses were heavily

Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the central figure in a scandal that led to the president’s impeachment, has been arrested in Denmark, South Korean authorities confirmed Monday. The Justice Ministry in Seoul said it was taking steps to bring her to South Korea without delay as part of the ongoing investigation into the scandal. According to the National Police Agency, Denmark has notified the South Korean government of her arrest in the northern Danish city of Aalborg on Sunday for

South Korea's petrochemicals exports are estimated to have reached an all-time high last year largely due to a rise in demand in their biggest export destination, China, and other newly emerged markets, industry data showed Monday.Exports of petrochemicals produced by South Korea's four oil refiners were tallied at 445 million barrels in the first 11 months of the year, according to the data.When figures from December are included in the tally, last year's exports of petrochemical products are e

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Monday reiterated the need for "bold, preemptive and swift" actions to contain the avian influenza that has spread across the country since mid-November.During a daily meeting on AI, Hwang also noted a recent decrease in the daily number of suspected cases, while directing quarantine officials to maintain the principle of culling poultry within 24 hours in an area where an infection is detected."In accordance with the principle of slaughtering

Rep. Lee Jung-hyun, former head of the ruling Saenuri Party, left the party on Monday, bowing to pressure from a new interim leader on allies to President Park Geun-hye to clear the deck to refurbish the conservative party."As a former chief, I will take all responsibility and leave the party," Lee said.Saenuri faces its biggest crisis with the president impeached by parliament on Dec. 9 over a raft of corruption and influence-peddling allegations. A group of 29 lawmakers left Saenuri last month

The United States said Sunday that North Korea's ballistic missile launches are unacceptable and vowed to show Pyongyang consequences in the event of such firings after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un strongly hinted the country is close to test-firing a long-range missile.Kim said in his New Year's Day address that the communist nation has reached the final stage of preparations to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile in a veiled threat that it's about to develop a nuclear missile ca

Ban Ki-moon has finished his 10-year term as secretary-general of the United Nations, putting the responsibility of tackling global challenges behind him, and is now eyeing a new dream of becoming South Korea's president.Ban's second five-year term expired at the turn of the new year, and the reins of the UN were officially handed over to former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, who was elected as Ban's successor in October.Ban first took office as the UN chief on Jan. 1, 2007, and was