The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a bill that would punish corrupt employees at state-run firms the same as government officials, which the government said is a measure aimed at increasing transparency in the management of local public firms.The revised law on provincial public firms is subject to app

South Korea’s new chief envoy to the stalled six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs will travel to Japan this week to coordinate a joint strategy on efforts to revive the multilateral forum, officials said Tuesday. Lim Sung-nam, who was appointed to the post last week in a routin

One of two South Koreans detained by Chinese authorities late last month with a group of North Korean defectors has been released and returned home, Seoul’s foreign ministry officials said Tuesday. The two men, who had also defected from North Korea before they settled in the South, were held by Chi

A former vice culture minister, during an overnight questioning, denied allegations that he received a huge amount of money from a local businessman in return for influence peddling, prosecution sources said Monday.Shin Jae-min, the ex-vice minister and close presidential confidant, returned home ea

North Korea and the United States will hold a second bilateral meeting to discuss the stalled six-nation talks on the North’s nuclear weapons programs, a senior Seoul diplomat said Monday. The exact date for the meeting has not been set, but the two sides will meet sometime after this week’s planned

A working housewife living in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, recently had her worn-out furniture moved to an upholstery factory for just 20,000 won thanks to an errand service. “I couldn’t ask my husband or my brother to help move the furniture because they were both so busy working. Then, I came acros

Another U.S. soldier in Korea is under investigation on suspicion of raping an underage South Korean girl, police said Friday, less than two weeks after a similar case enraged locals. The Seoul Mapo Police Station said they were interrogating the 21-year-old private from a communications brigade of

South Korea said Thursday it will not repatriate two North Koreans who crossed the eastern sea border earlier this week, a development that could anger North Korea.The two brothers clearly expressed their wish to stay in South Korea after sailing here on a small boat on Monday, according to South Ko

More than 230,000 habitual drunk drivers nationwide were caught more than three times in the last 11 years, a police report showed Thursday.In a report submitted for a parliamentary audit, the National Police Agency said that about 3.2 million drivers were caught driving drunk between 2000 and 2010.

South Korea’s new chief envoy to the stalled six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs left for the United States Thursday, amid cautious diplomatic jostling to revive the multilateral forum. Speaking to Yonhap News Agency before departing for Washington, Lim Sung-nam said that he “

North Korea has met with both the U.S. and South Korea on the resumption of the six-party talks aimed at its denuclearization. China and Russia have already spoken forcefully in favor of the talks’ resumption. But what role Japan is willing to take should they resume is unclear. This question is sig

South Korea is pressuring China to stop the deportation of a group of alleged defectors from North Korea back to their home country, officials said Wednesday.The move comes days after a South Korean humanitarian group, the Commission to Help North Korean Refugees (CNKR), claimed that a total of 35 N

Pyongyang has called on Seoul to repatriate two North Korean men who are in South Korean custody after crossing the eastern sea border earlier this week, an official said Wednesday.The North made the request in a message to South Korea via a Red Cross channel at the truce village of Panmunjom, which

North Korea has met with both the U.S. and South Korea on the resumption of the six-party talks aimed at its denuclearization. China and Russia have already spoken forcefully in favor of the talks’ resumption. 　But what role Japan is willing to take should they resume is unclear. 　This question is s

President Lee Myung-bak watched the local box-office sensation reconstructing the true story of teachers sexually abusing disabled students for years, and called for measures to prevent such crimes from happening again, his spokesman said.The film “Dogani,” whose English title is “The Crucible,” has

North Korea plans to partially open its landmark hotel next April to mark the centennial of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the country’s late founder, a source said Tuesday.The move comes as the North is working on the interiors of the 105-story Ryukyong Hotel, which has stood unfinished in downtown Pyon

North Korea and the United States have agreed to hold “working-level” talks on resuming recovery missions for the remains of American troops killed during the Korean War on Oct. 16-18 in Bangkok, a senior Seoul diplomat said Tuesday. The talks come amid a flurry of recent diplomatic efforts by South

Despite an official order in 2006 to limit overnight interrogations by prosecutors in order to protect human rights, their frequency surged nearly 2.5-fold over the past three years, a report showed Tuesday. A total of 554 people were held overnight for questioning by prosecutors in 2010, up 151 per

BEIJING (Yonhap News) ― North Korea is expanding travel routes between China and its scenic resort in Mount Geumgang, a source familiar with the North said Monday, indicating Pyongyang’s continued efforts to earn much-needed cash from Chinese tourists.The new routes will include extra flights from C

SLS Chairman Lee Kook-chul talks to reporters before entering the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul Monday. (Park Hyun-koo/The Korea Herald)SLS Chairman Lee Kook-chul on Monday was summoned to the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office to explain his allegations that he offered 1 billio