Former President Park Geun-hye will continue to stand trial under detention over the corruption charges that removed her from power in March, as a Seoul court decided to extend her custody on Friday. The Seoul Central District Court said there is the “possibility of her destroying evidence,” issuing an additional warrant to extend her detention for another six months. Her six-month detention order was set to expire Monday. Ousted former President Park Geun-hye leaves a Seoul court on Friday. (Yo

Lee Young-hak, dubbed “Molar Daddy” and suspected of murdering his daughter’s 14-year-old friend, may have picked his victim to satisfy his sexual desire and killed her as she strongly resisted, police said Friday. Lee, 35, admitted Tuesday to killing the girl at his home in eastern Seoul and disposing of the body on a mountain earlier this month. However, he has kept mum on why. His 14-year-old daughter also admitted to assisting her father in abandoning the body. “Lee said he had committed the

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who was convicted of bribing ousted President Park Geun-hye, and state prosecutors clashed Thursday over the validity of a former presidential aide’s notebook as evidence in the first hearing by an appeals court.The notebook contains memos by An Chong-bum, arrested and on trial alongside Park on charges of bribery, which he said were notes of what ex-President Park said. It allegedly includes key phrases Park used regarding Samsung Group, such as “

The identity of “Molar Daddy,” a suspect who confessed in the death of a 14-year-old girl last month, was unveiled Thursday following a police decision to disclose it for the sake of people’s right to know. The suspect is Lee Young-hak, who years ago received public sympathy for suffering a rare, autosomal dental tumor himself and raising a daughter with the same condition. Lee was dubbed “Molar Daddy” because he had lost all his teeth except one molar due to repeated surgeries to remove outgrow

Public focus on the confessed killing of a teenager by a 35-year-old suspect dubbed “Molar daddy” turned toward his motive Wednesday, with police clarifying that there was not enough evidence to conclude it was sexual.The suspect, identified by the surname Lee, who had earned public sympathy years ago for suffering a rare dental tumor himself and raising a daughter with the same condition, admitted Tuesday to killing the 14-year-old girl and disposing of her body. Although he has confessed to th

A 35-year-old man, who had earned public sympathy years ago for suffering a rare medical condition himself and raising a daughter with the same condition, admitted Tuesday to killing the daughter’s friend and dumping her body. A murder suspect is escorted into a police station in northeastern Seoul on Tuesday, to undergo questioning over suspicions he killed a friend of his daughter and abandoned her body. (Yonhap)The man, surnamed Lee and arrested, made the confession during the third day of qu

Nearly half of all kimchi served at restaurants and food service facilities is from China, a survey showed Monday. According to the report on trends in the kimchi industry in 2016 by the World Institute of Kimchi, 13.7 percent of the kimchi consumed in Korea was imported. Some 47 percent of the Kimchi served at restaurants and cafeterias was from abroad, with 90 percent of it from China. Kimchi (123RF)Koreans consumed was 1.85 million tons of kimchi, up 15 percent from the previous year – 36.1 k

Outside Exit 12 of Daerim Station, the main street is lined with restaurants bearing Chinese signs and street food stalls. They lure Chinese of Korean descent living and working here with the taste of home -- northeastern China.   The Daerim-dong area is the largest enclave of the ethnic Korean-Chinese community, or joseon-jok, in Seoul, but this vibrant neighborhood has become a place that many South Koreans avoid at night.  “I wouldn’t go there at night, to be honest,&

For most Koreans, this year’s record-long Chuseok holiday, stretching for 10 days from Saturday, means a long-awaited chance to catch up with family and friends and get some much-needed sleep and rest. But the holiday means “stress” for many foreign women, who moved to Korea after marrying Korean men, largely due to the cultural differences and language barriers.“Back in Cambodia, I looked forward to traditional holidays. It is when we wear beautiful clothes, prepare delicious food and go to a t

Six out of 10 teenage entertainers do not attend school regularly, a survey showed Monday, sparking worries over the K-pop industry‘s violation of the school-age children’s right to learn. 　According to a 2016 report on pop culture industry submitted by Korea Creative Content Agency to Rep. Kim Byung-wook of the Democratic Party, only 35.3 percent of the entertainers aged under 19 went to school every day despite their work schedule. 　Some 47 percent of them went to school two to three times a w

The government said Thursday that it will receive opinions and feedback from foreign residents in the country to shape the third round of its immigration policy measures, which will take effect starting next year.(Yonhap)The Ministry of Justice said foreign residents can offer their opinions from Thursday to Oct. 31 online on the government’s e-People site and the ministry’s website, which are both available in English. They can also visit 16 immigrant support centers across the country to do so

State-run organizations had more female employees than at private firms, but the female representation in managerial positions was higher at private firms, the government’s inspection result showed Thursday. (Yonhap)At state-run agencies, 16.5 percent of the managerial posts were occupied by women last year, compared to 21.2 percent at private firms, according to the report released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The female employment rate at state-led organizations and private firms w

Nine in 10 Korean women think that women are not treated as equally as men in South Korea and most sexual discrimination takes place at home, a survey showed Thursday. According to a survey by woman’s rights group Womenlink on 1,257 women ranging from those in their teens to those in their 70s, 93 percent of the respondents said “No” when they were asked whether Korea was a gender-equal country. Only 2 percent said that women were treated equally and 5 percent did not respond. (123rf)The majorit

The elder brother of deceased folk singer Kim Kwang-seok was questioned by police Wednesday in connection with the mysterious death of Kim’s daughter, which had been concealed by his widow for a decade. 　Police opened a case into the girl’s death from 10 years ago after Kim’s elder brother Kim Kwang-bok and a local reporter, Lee Sang-ho, filed a complaint on Sept. 21 against the singer’s widow Seo Hae-soon. 　Seo Hae-soon, the widow of the late folk singer Kim Kwang-seok, speaks in an interview w

South Korea’s biggest umbrella trade union on Tuesday called on President Moon Jae-in to participate in a new body consisting of eight parties to initiate long-stalled social dialogue among workers, businesses and the government. The Federation of Korean Trade Union rejected the existing Tripartite Commission of Labor, Management and Government, saying the framework has only worked in favor of the government and employers. Instead, the FKTU suggested that a new eight-party committee -- consistin

The prosecution summoned Won Sei-hoon, former chief of the National Intelligence Service, for questioning Tuesday amid a sprawling investigation into the spy agency’s alleged irregularities including election manipulation and suppression of left-wing cultural figures under his command. Won Sei-hoon, former chief of the National Intelligence Service, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday. (Yonhap)The Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office called in Won, who has been serving a four-yea

More Koreans spending Chuseok holiday alone: survey By Ock Hyun-ju Two in five workers in South Korea have no plans to go to their hometowns to visit their family during the upcoming 10-day Chusoek holiday, a survey showed Monday. According to a poll on 834 workers by job portal site Saramin, 39.4 percent of the respondents said that they had no plans to go back to their hometowns during the holiday that begins on Saturday. Chuseok is similar to Thanksgiving in the US, with people travelling to

The Korean government on Monday abolished two controversial labor guidelines, which had made it easier for employers to dismiss workers and unilaterally change working conditions, in a bid to help resume dialogue between employers, workers and the government.  Labor Minister Kim Young-joo speaks at a meeting with a group of senior ministry officials on Monday (Yonhap)“In the process of adopting the two guidelines, (the government) did not sufficiently consult with labor and management, and there

Amnesty International Korea Director Catherine Heejin Kim held a one-person protest in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Seoul on Friday, calling for an end to the alleged ethnic cleansing of Rohingya in Rakhine State. Following the protest, Kim delivered a letter addressed to Ambassador Thura Thet Oo Maung at the Myanmar Embassy to call on the Myanmar authorities to end the military’s campaign of violence and human rights abuses. Amnesty International Korea Director Catherine Heejin Kim holds a o

A local court sentenced an underage girl to 20 years in prison and her teenage accomplice to life imprisonment on Friday for murdering an 8-year-old girl and dismembering her body, in a murder case that shocked the nation earlier this year for its brutality.The Incheon District Court handed down the heaviest possible punishment for each underage offender under the local juvenile law, saying the murder was “brutal” and “carefully planned.” (Yonhap)The killer, surnamed Kim, was sentenced to 20 yea