The Seoul High Court on Monday lowered the jail term for Hanwha Group chairman Kim Seung-youn from four years to three years after confirming most of the charges of embezzlement and breach of trust.The court cleared him of some charges related to breach of trust in connection with a corporate takeover. But the court additionally found him guilty of illegally supporting an affiliate, for which he was acquitted by a lower court. Kim was imprisoned last year but released in January due to poor heal

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Monday he would seek reelection as the opposition Democratic United Party’s candidate, dispelling rumors that he may form a coalition with former presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo.Asked on a radio show whether he would join a party which Ahn plans to create, he said, “Whether I like it or not, I am already a member of the Democratic United Party and will be running for mayor again as a DUP member.” He said, however, he “accepts Ahn’s political philosophy and pri

The Supreme Court has recently opened a website to provide legal assistance in more than a dozen languages to foreign residents in Korea. Aside from the court’s English website, the new website (jifi.scourt.go.kr) provides detailed explanations of the principles and rules of the legal system such as civil and criminal lawsuits, judicial independence, and types of courts in 15 languages. The language services include Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai.“The Supreme Court set up the website to meet an in

A middle school student in Incheon was apprehended Thursday for allegedly killing a mentally disabled girl after a failed rape attempt.Police said the 16-year-old suspect tried to rape the 12-year-old victim at a building after kidnapping her on her way home from school Wednesday.After failing to rape her, he lured her to a nearby field by asking her to play. He reportedly made a hole in the field with a small shovel he had brought with him, made her lie in the pit, and suffocated her to death b

A mother and father who allegedly killed their two children after failing to commit family suicide were apprehended, according to police Thursday. Police said they caught the husband surnamed Lee, 46, and his wife surnamed Jeong, 37, at a farm in Busan on Wednesday. The family left their home in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in February 2011 and were out of contact since then. The bodies of their two daughters, aged 10 and 12, were found near a valley in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province in December of th

Two Korean expatriates who are registered as members of North Korean propaganda website Uriminzokkiri were found to have conducted pro-North Korean campaigns, according to news reports Tuesday.International hacking group Anonymous disclosed the information of 15,000 members of Uriminzokkiri, including 2,600 presumed to be South Korean nationals, after it hacked the website last week.One person surnamed Kim who went to the U.S. in 1990 is thought to have operated a pro-North Korean website and vi

Seoul was affected by higher levels of harmful fine particles in the air than other metropolitan cities around the world last year, according to the Ministry of Environment. The ministry said the average concentration of PM2.5 in the air, solid or liquid particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter ― one-thirtieth the width of a human hair ― was 25.2 micrograms per cubic meter last year. That level is almost twice that of New York City, which averaged 13.9. The concentration levels in Paris,

Public security authorities plan to introduce an online crime map, allowing the public to check what offenses have been reported in their neighborhoods.In a policy briefing to President Park Geun-hye, the Ministry of Security and Public Administration said it would complete the database by 2015. When it is completed, the public can search for information on crimes, such a sexual assault and school violence, that have taken place by region.Minister Yoo Jeong-bok noted that the map would alert peo

Seoul City plans to restrict the height of new buildings alongside the Han River as part of measures to better preserve the riverside environment and promote sustainable urban development.The metropolitan government announced a master plan for riverside management which also includes construction of more eco-friendly parks and facilities and increasing accessibility to the river. To prevent reckless construction of skyscrapers, all apartments planned near the riversides should not have more than

Every show by musical troupe K.SMART ends with a standing ovation, prompted not only by their performance, but also a sense of empathy, inspiration and respect for the performers who are deaf and mute.The Korean Sign-language Musical Art Team consisting of 20 performers with hearing disabilities has been staging musicals for more than a decade at home and abroad. Despite the sophisticated choreography and vivid acting, one essential part of a musical is absent: the performers’ own voices.  While

Seoulites may spend more than half the year sweating in the summer heat during the last decade of this century, according to a forecast by the Korea Meteorological Administration, the nation’s weather agency. A recent KMA report forecast that the summer would last 174.9 days a year from 2091-2100 in the absence of action to reduce greenhouse gases. Summer is predicted to be two months longer than it was in 2001-10, when it lasted 121.8 days on average.Summer days are defined as such when the dai

The number of teachers holding master’s and doctorate degrees increased 55.1 percent in seven years, according to a statistics report by the Korean Educational Development Institute released Sunday.The incentives in financial reward and promotion and their desire for self-improvement led them to attain higher education, the report said. The report said 143,917 teachers, or 30.8 percent of the 467,627 teachers from kindergarten to high school last year, held a master’s degree, and 4,852, or 1 per

The Supreme Court ruled Sunday that organizers of flash mob events should notify the authorities in advance when they intend to communicate political and social messages. The court upheld a lower court’s decision to impose a fine of 700,000 won ($630) on a man surnamed Kim on charges of holding an outdoor gathering without notifying the district police. A flash mob is an event in which a group of people assemble suddenly in a public place and hold an unusual performance for a short time. Kim ins

SEJONG CITY ― Environment Minister Yoon Seong-kyu has pledged to step up policy coordination and communication across government branches in tackling environmental challenges and pushing sustainable development. Former President Lee Myung-bak’s much-hyped green growth policy has been criticized for a lack of shared goals, priorities and effective government leadership, often leading to conflict over matters ranging from emission cuts, to carbon trade and water management. The new government will

Female students were found to be three times more prone to smartphone addiction than their male counterparts, according to a new survey. Nearly 6 percent of students were at high or potentially high risk of addiction, according to the survey of 1,600 students conducted late last year by Gangbuk I will Center, a public institution to fight Internet addiction.This broke down into 8.3 percent of female students and 2.8 percent of male students. These students at high risk are hooked on mobile devic

Police began an investigation Monday into Korea’s first online dogfight betting operation that caused an outcry among citizens and animal rights activists.An animal rights activist posted about the site on an Internet portal last Wednesday, calling for an online petition to punish the website’s operators.As of Monday more than 800 people have signed the petition. The National Police Agency received 60 internet petitions for an investigation.The activist said in the internet post with a video cli

The government is cracking down on a growing number of brokers and scammers who exploit North Korean defectors staying here.The North Korean Refugees Foundation under the Unification Ministry has recently received 41 complaints and petitions from defectors in the month since February, the ministry said Sunday.The ministry of has requested police to investigate the six most serious cases, including one in which a broker coercively tried to collect money from North Korean defectors or cajoled them

The number of public servants is expected to surpass 1 million this year as the government seeks to increase police and public security staff. The Ministry of Security and Public Administration announced a revised bill Saturday that raises the upper limit to the number of public servants hired by central administrative offices, by 200,000 to 293,982.The planned increase excludes those working at the National Assembly, the Board of Audit and Inspection, courts, the prosecution, schools and educat

Seoul City will consider removing and refurbishing artificial weirs and structures in the Hangang River as part of plans to revive its ecosystem, officials said Wednesday.It will also replace artificial levees with sand banks and natural levees in areas that have no flooding risk. The city government laid out plans to improve the environment of the river and make it more accessible to citizens. The water quality indexes for most parts of the river indicate satisfactory levels, but improvements a

An opposition lawmaker unveiled internal documents of the National Intelligence Service Monday as evidence backing allegations that the spy agency engaged in illegal activity during the presidential election last year. Police are investigating an NIS official suspected of waging an online slander campaign against opposition groups during the election. Jin Sun-mee, a lawmaker from the Democratic United Party, revealed a document containing chief Won Se-hoon’s orders to counter antigovernment argu