Prosecutors summoned a former chief of Daehong Communications Inc., Lotte's advertisement affiliate, on Wednesday for questioning over the alleged creation of a slush fund, as they widened their probe into the country's fifth-largest conglomerate.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it summoned Choi Jong-won over suspicions the ad firm funneled more than 1 billion won ($880,000) into a slush fund by faking deals or exaggerating unit prices.The 58-year-old is also accused of siphon

The top economic policymakers of South Korea and Japan will have a meeting next month to discuss various economic and financial issues over the two neighboring countries, the finance ministry here said Wednesday."The economic authorities of South Korea and Japan have decided to hold the seventh finance ministers' meeting on Aug. 27 in Seoul," the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said in a statement."The detailed schedule and agenda will be determined later."The ministerial-level talks were held

A man who allowed his drunk girlfriend to drive was arrested for abetting driving under the influence, Busan Yeonje Police said Wednesday.According to the police, the two 28-year-olds each drank two bottles of soju on July 9 before attempting to drive back home.  (123RF)The man, surnamed Kim, wanted his girlfriend, surnamed Han, to drive as she was purportedly the more experienced driver.Kim had only been issued his driver’s license in April. Police arrested Han on charges of driving under the i

A woman who accidentally threw away a box containing 20 million won ($17,600) retrieved the cash after 10 hours of ruckus in South Jeolla Province, according to local media Tuesday. KBS TV news reported that the woman, in her 50s, had withdrawn the money to buy threads for her cotton gloves business. She hid the cash in a nondescript paper box only to absentmindedly throw it out along with the trash on Sunday. (SBS News capture)After belatedly realizing what she had done, the woman ran back to t

A Korean spa in the Cheongok-dong neighborhood of Donghae, Gangwon Province, caught fire at around 5:10 a.m. on Wednesday. Eighty people were evacuated from the building safely without any casualties. (YTN News YouTube capture)The fire reportedly stemmed from a kiln and was contained within 30 minutes. The police and the 119 Korean emergency service are currently investigating the exact cause of the fire and the scope of the property damage. By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

The founder of leading online game maker Nexon Co. is South Korea's richest man among 50 self-made entrepreneurs ranging in age from the 30s to 50s, data showed Wednesday.Kim Jung-ju, the chairman of Nexon's holding firm NXC Corp., holds stock assets worth 2.87 trillion won ($2.5 billion), according to the data compiled by CEOSCORE, a website that tracks conglomerates, financial firms and state-run companies.Kim was summoned by prosecutors for the second time last week over his alleged involveme

The average height of Korean women is now 20 centimeters taller than 100 years ago, according to a study published by Imperial College, London, on Monday. Korean women and Iranian men showed the highest growth in average height among 200 nationalities, between 1914 and 2014, said the paper by Elio Riboli and James Bentham. (YouTube capture)A century ago, South Korean women had an average height of 1.42 m, but their average height is now 1.62 m.　North Korean women’s average height was 1.49 m in 1

A 51-year-old man was arrested for swindling a large sum of money from a rich widower whom he deceived with a false rapport. Daegu Jungbu Police said on Tuesday that the man, surnamed Seo, had approached the 77 year-old victim with intention to take her money.  (123RF)He addressed the victim as “mother,” brought her gifts and took her to the hospital when she needed. The victim had children but her ties with them had grown weak since her husband passed away. In January 2014, Seo borrowed 100 mil

12-year-old Korean boy has won first place in a 16-nation drone racing tournament in Shanghai, KT Corporation said Tuesday. According to KT, Kim Min-chan participated in the competition as a member of KT’s drone racing team “GiGA5” and recorded a score of 55 seconds 56.(KT Corporation)Another player from GiGA5, 17-year-old Son Young-rok, took second place with 1 minute 12 seconds 10 record. The first Asia Cup Shanghai took place on July 23 and 24 with 128 players from China, Japan, Korea and 13

A 66th anniversary memorial for the victims of No Gun Ri Massacre took place Tuesday at the No Gun Ri Peace Park. No Gun Ri Massacre refers to the deaths of more than 150 South Korean refugees during the Korean War between July 26 and July 29 in 1950 by U.S. soldiers, who failed to discern that they were shooting at civilians. 　The massacre was named after the region, Nogun-ri, of Hwanggan-myeon, Yeongdong-gun, in North Chungcheong Province.  (Yeongdong-gun)The Korean government in 2005 gathered

Dunkin’ Donuts shops in Korea will provide a 50 percent discount off most drinks between Tuesday and Thursday to mark “jungbok” -- the second hottest day during summer here according to the lunar calendar.  (Dunkin' Donuts)Coffee is not included. Customers can download discount coupons from the HappyPoint mobile app. The discount is limited to one drink per person. Each person can make two purchases within the event period.The same promotion will run from Aug. 15 to 17 during “malbok,” the third

U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi held talks in Beijing and agreed on the "shared goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the White House said Monday.Rice's visit to China drew attention as it came amid heightened tensions between the two countries after an international tribunal rejected China's territorial claims to most of the South China Sea in a victory for the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations locked in maritime dispute

South Korea's government said Monday that it will follow the due process of narrowing down different views to build a nuclear depository for high-level radioactive waste on its soil by 2028 in order to avoid a possible conflict over the issue.The government also decided to push to develop the pyroprocessing technology to recycle nuclear reactor wastes into fuel, officials at the relevant ministries said.The decisions were made at the sixth meeting of the Atomic Energy Commission presided over by

A man crashed his car into the head office of game firm Nexon on Sunday at around 7 a.m., claiming the company had “ruined his life.”　The impact of the car shattered the glass door of the office, but there were no casualties. (Online community)Gyeonggi Bundang Police said Monday that they are reviewing an arrest warrant for the 33-year-old Chinese national surnamed Lee. Lee is in Korea on a three-month visitor permit. The car he drove belonged to his older brother, who lives here.Lee admitted to

A civic organization promoting South Korea mainly via the Internet said Monday that it plans to recruit hundreds of overseas Korean youths as "global Korean promotional envoys" when they come to their fatherland at the government's invitation later this week, the organ's official said Monday. "We (the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea, or VANK) plan to hold a ceremony to inaugurate global overseas Korean promotional ambassadors at the Overseas Koreans Foundation in Seoul next Tuesday," VANK chie

A 74-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sexually assaulting his step-granddaughter multiple times, Suwon District Court said Monday. According to the court, the convict Park had inappropriately touched the victim four times and raped her two times between July 2004 and 2008.  This is a stock image. (123RF)The victim was 10 years old at the time of the first assault. Park reportedly told the victim he was giving her sexual education. The victim and her younger sibling came to li

A 49-year-old man, named Lee, has been taken into custody after he testified to strangling his girlfriend and stowing her body in his refrigerator, Uijeongbu District Court said.Lee said the victim, 33, “compared him with other men and sexually insulted him,” which led to a fight that escalated to murder.Police found the victim’s body on July 22 around 3 p.m. in the suspect’s refrigerator as they launched an investigation into her disappearance after her family reported that she was missing.The

China and North Korea will likely hold bilateral talks in Vientiane on Monday, China's foreign ministry spokeswoman hinted. Asked if both will have talks on the sidelines of ASEAN meetings under way in the Laotian capital, Hua Chunying told Yonhap News Agency, "Probably."The spokeswoman added that things will be determined sooner or later, citing that China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is taking part in ongoing meetings with ASEAN members. Attention has been paid to whether China and North Korea w

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida expressed pleasure at improved ties with South Korea since a landmark deal reached between Seoul and Tokyo late last year to resolve the sex slave issue.Kishida also said that communication has been smooth between the neighboring countries following North Korea's nuclear and missile tests earlier this year, saying that it indicates how much progress has been made.He made the remarks before starting bilateral talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byu

South Korea and Iran are set to begin discussions on boosting their bilateral cooperation in the fisheries sector that will include a joint fish farming venture, the Seoul government said Monday.The talks will be held in Iran from Thursday involving officials from South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and their Iranian counterparts.The talks will discuss follow-up measures for a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the fisheries area signed in May during South Korean President