A 25-year-old mother has received a suspended sentence of six months for deserting her newborn, said the Gwangju District Court on Sunday. The woman gave birth to a baby boy at home in December and then abandoned the newborn at a public bathroom at a park nearby her house.  (123RF)The court said the woman had committed the crime to cover up her having been pregnant out of wedlock. The court said it took into consideration that the woman had wished for the baby to be rescued, leaving him at a pla

Inside the courtrooms of the International Criminal Court and in local communities, we are hearing the voices of those who have survived some of the world’s most heinous crimes. Stories of tremendous loss. Stories of human suffering that could have – and should have – been prevented. “I lost my entire family.” “I have lost my dignity.” “The only hope I have left is for justice.” New ICC President Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi (Argentina) ©ICC-CPI​　In our own lifetimes, in conflicts unfoldin

Germany has rejected North Korea's top envoy nominee to Berlin, a U.S.-based media outlet report said Thursday.Radio Free Asia said the German government recently rejected the North Korean government's request for Berlin's approval for its new ambassador nominee who was set to replace incumbent Ambassador Ri Si-hong. The exact reason behind the German government's decision is still unclear, although observers have speculated it may be due to concerted moves by countries around the world to keep

A 45-year-old male teacher, accused of molesting his student two years ago, has been handed over to the prosecution, according to Gyeonggi Province’s police on Wednesday. The Gyeonggi Namyangju Police said he had offered to drive a female pupil home in August 2014, taken her to a secluded road and touched her inappropriately. (123RF)He is being accused of repeating the offence over three times. The pupil had kept the incident to herself for two years before finally telling her parents recently.

A fire broke out at a restaurant in Jongno-gu, Central Seoul, at around 2:35 a.m. on Wednesday, forcing 32 people at the restaurant and an adjacent hotel to evacuate. Ten were foreign visitors to Korea.  (123RF)The fire was extinguished a little over an hour later. There was no report of casualties.The fire department tentatively concluded that the fire started from an ignited gas stove. The affected area of Ikseon-dong, Jongno-gu has been featured on a number of Korean media outlets as being th

Japanese prosecutors demanded a five-year jail term for a South Korean man who is suspected of detonating a bomb in a public restroom at a controversial Tokyo war shrine last year, defining his actions as an act of terrorism.The 28-year-old suspect, identified only by his surname Chon, has been indicted on charges of breaking into the premises of the Yasukuni Shrine on Nov. 23 and setting up the bomb in the public restroom. No one was hurt by the bombing.He was arrested in December shortly after

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Tuesday that it is "closely watching" for negative economic fallout from the recent decision by Seoul and Washington to deploy an antimissile system here.The statement comes amid growing fears that China, which strongly opposes the stationing of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea, could take some retaliatory steps, including some form of economic sanctions."With regard to (China's possible) economic sanctions, we are closely w

Shake Shack, a popular burger chain from New York City, will open its first store in Gangnam on July 22, Korean food and confectionary company SPC Group said Tuesday.  (Shake Shack)The store will be near Sinnonhyeon Station, Subway Line No. 9, which is on the same main street in Gangnam as Gangnam Station, Subway Line No. 2. SPC, the operator of bakery chain Paris Baguette, will be operating the burger store under an exclusive contract with Shake Shack. Shake Shack started out in 2001 as a hotdo

South Korea's inbound travel market rebounded in the first half from a temporary slump a year ago in the wake of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak, the state-run tourism agency said Tuesday. About 8.1 million foreigners visited South Korea in the January-June period, surging 21 percent from a year earlier, the Korea Tourism Organization said.The tourism sector was hit hard last year by MERS since the first case was discovered in May 2015, with the number of inbound travelers retreati

Jeju Island was the most traveled to destination for Koreans in the first half of the year, according to a report by the online travel agency Expedia Korea on Monday.  Jeju Island (Instagram user @sosohan_rin)Listing the most in-demand cities by the volume of hotel reservations, Jeju Island, the resort island off the southern coast of Korea, jumped 75 percent compared to the same period last year, pushing it from third to first place. 　Osaka took the No. 2 spot followed by Seoul, Okinawa and Tok

South Korea's ruling and opposition parties remained divided over the latest decision to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system in the country, with smaller parties expressing concerns over diplomatic fallouts with China and Russia, political pundits said Monday.Last week, Seoul and Washington agreed to station the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea to better counter Pyongyang's ever-growing missile threats. Moscow and Beijing have been opposing the move, claiming

Prosecutors said Friday they have put travel bans on the chairman of embattled South Korean retail giant Lotte Group and its founder as they widened their probe into allegations of corruption in the conglomerate.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has barred Chairman Shin Dong-bin and his father and Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho from leaving the country, according to the sources. Prosecutors have been widening their investigation into the country's fifth-largest conglomerate since early

The body of a man who allegedly hanged himself was discovered only two days later on Wednesday, as the police had initially not followed up on a report made by children. 　South Chungcheong Police said Thursday that the police emergency hotline received two calls on Monday from a group of elementary school children who claimed they had found a dead man.  (Yonhap)The children, aged between 7 and 9, told the police where they had discovered the body -- at a defunct supermarket in the region’s Nonsa

A 4-year-old toddler died from being entangled in the cords of window blinds in an apartment in Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi Province on Monday.The child was discovered unconscious by her mother who had briefly left her unattended to use the bathroom. The toddler was taken to the hospital but did not survive.  (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission)According to the Korea Consumer Agency, Koreans should be mindful of the potential fatal accidents that can take place with the cords of window blinds. 　

More cases of police officers engaging in sexual misconduct have surfaced days after the public condemnation of the school police officers who had sex with teenagers they were providing counseling to.A police officer, who was on a probationary period, was sacked on Friday after he was indicted for raping a teenager, according to Gwangju Bukbu Police, Tuesday. Another police officer was dismissed for paying for sex, according to Seoul Geumcheon Police, Wednesday. Prostitution is illegal in Korea.

A 56-year-old middle school teacher was slapped with a 7 million won ($602,000) fine for sexually harassing pupils, according to Jeonju District Court on Wednesday. He was also ordered to attend a 40-hour rehabilitation program.The teacher was brought to court for charges of inappropriately touching three of his pupils around their waist and brassiere straps. He told a 13-year-old victim, “You know I like you, I love you” and forced the victim to repeat the proclamation of love back to him. He m

Three female high school students were ordered to transfer schools after they brutally bullied a freshman, according to Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office of Education, Tuesday.  (123RF)The accused students beat the victim over three counts in secluded spots within and outside the school in June, causing severe psychological distress for the victim.The victim’s parents reported the case to Jeju Dongbu Police, which forwarded it to the prosecutors for opinion on indictment. The Jeju Of

Half of the female population in Daegu is financially inactive, according to the research by Daegu Women and Family Foundation, Tuesday. The research, conducted by DWFF to mark the Gender Equality Week between July 1 and 7 found that only 51 percent of the Daegu female population held a job or earned money, which was 22 percent less than their male counterparts, whose financially active population reached 72 percent. (123RF)The biggest obstacle to women’s financial activity was child care, which

A teacher who inflicted corporal punishment on a student for applying lip balm is to be penalized, according to Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, Monday. The GMOE said the middle school teacher, 37, punished the student for applying tinted lip balm and was accused of violence by the pupil’s father.Applying make-up is actively discouraged for teenagers within the Korean academic curriculum while direct corporal punishment was banned from Korean schools by the government in March 2011. Thi

An arrest warrant is being sought for a man who murdered his father to protect his mother, Monday. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said the 33-year-old surnamed Ahn is being accused of stabbing his 63-year-old father to death, as he was enraged by the victim’s domestic violence toward his mother. (Yonhap)According to the police, the victim came home drunk on Sunday night, whereupon he beat his wife and used vulgar language toward her.The accused Ahn, who is the second son of the family, alleged