With the arrest of Samsung Group’s heir apparent Lee Jae-yong, the special counsel team is likely to accelerate its investigation into President Park Geun-hye who is suspected of receiving bribes and giving favors in return. Lee, Samsung Electronics vice chairman, was arrested early Friday morning, after a court approved the second request from the counsel to issue a warrant. He is suspected of offering 43 billion won ($36 million) to Choi Soon-sil, Park’s longtime friend, which the investigator

Samsung Group’s heir apparent Lee Jae-yong was arrested with physical detention early Friday morning on charges that include bribery to President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil. The arrest of Samsung Electronics vice chairman came shortly after a court issued a warrant in the second attempt by the special counsel to arrest him.  　Lee Jae-yong (Yonhap)“It is acknowledged that there is a need and reason for the arrest, given a newly added criminal charges and additional evidence," the

The independent counsel team looking into the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil on Thursday officially requested an extension of its investigation. “We took into account that we cannot complete the probe into those involved in the scandal (by the given end date of the investigation),” the independent counsel’s spokesperson Lee Kyu-chul told reporters. “We can more efficiently use the investigation period if we know in advance whether t

A Seoul court on Thursday dismissed an independent counsel’s request to suspend the presidential office’s refusal to be searched by investigators, effectively killing the possibility of an unprecedented raid of the nation’s highest office. The Seoul Administrative Court dropped the case on the grounds that the independent counsel, as a state authority, cannot lodge an administrative lawsuit against the action or decision of another state authority.  (Yonhap)Lee Kyu-chul, spokesperson for special

New Pentagon chief James Mattis said Wednesday that NATO was a "fundamental bedrock" for the United States as he  tried to reassure allies concerned about President Donald Trump's commitment."The alliance remains a fundamental bedrock for the United States and for all the transatlantic community, bonded as we are together," Mattis said as he met his counterparts in Brussels for the first time."And as president Trump has stated, he has strong support for NATO," added  the former marine general, w

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday denied reports of intercepted phone calls between Russian intelligence officials and members of Donald Trump's presidential campaign.The New York Times said that the Russians made contact with Paul Manafort, who briefly served as Trump's campaign chairman. Current and former U.S. officials interviewed by the Times declined to identify other Trump associates contacted by the Russians.Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Peskov, spokesman for President Vlad

If North Korean agents are responsible for the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader, it would be the latest in a long line of targeted killings by the isolated state.Kim, whose younger brother Kim Jong-un has ruled North Korea since the death of their father in December 2011, died after reportedly being poisoned by two female agents at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday.Here are some other fatal attacks carried out by North Korea on foreign

Most schools across the nation appeared Wednesday to have rejected a set of controversial state-authored history textbooks advocated by impeached President Park Geun-hye.The textbooks for middle and high school students were unveiled by the government last month to correct what it said was a left-leaning, pro-North Korea bias in existing history textbooks made by private publishers.This image taken from Yonhap News TV shows three state-authored history textbooks. (Yonhap)Liberals denounced the n

Malaysian police on Thursday arrested another female suspect in connection with the killing of the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, a police statement showed.The woman police detained is Siti Aishah, a 25-year-old who was holding an Indonesian passport, a Malaysian police statement showed. The latest arrest comes as the Southeast Asian nation moves to get to the bottom of Kim Jong-nam's death.(Yonhap)The first suspect was caught at the airport -- a 29-year-old woman with Vietname

The murdered half brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un seems to have shown his support for victims of the terrorist attacks in France in November 2015, according to a profile image on a Facebook account presumed to be his on Wednesday. (Facebook)On the Facebook account opened under the name of Kim Chol, the most recently created profile photo visible to the public is an image of an animal uploaded on Nov. 16, 2015. The photo was run through a filter that overlaid the colors of France's na

An independent counsel looking into the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye said Wednesday that Park and her confidante Choi Soon-sil made hundreds of phone calls while Choi was on the run in Germany amid the spiraling corruption scandal. The independent counsel said that President Park and Choi had some 570 calls using phones registered under borrowed names from April to late October in 2016, with the last phone conversation made on Oct. 26 a few days before Choi’s return to Ko

The assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother reflects the young dictator’s “monomaniacal” character, a lawmaker from the parliament’s national intelligence committee said Wednesday.“It seems like the timing of the assassination has no meaning. It is rather a reflection of Kim Jong-un’s monomaniacal side than a calculated move to remove a threat to his regime,” Rep. Kim Byung-kee of the Democratic Party of Korea told reporters after a closed-door session with the nation’s s

At the presidential impeachment trial Tuesday, the Constitutional Court accepted a set of transcripts of controversial audio files as evidence, which the parliament sees as possible proof of President Park Geun-hye’s overreliance on her confidante Choi Soon-sil in state affairs.  　During the 13th hearing, the court accepted the request by the parliament’s defense team to recognize the 29 transcripts of audio files as valid evidence. 　The transcripts could indicate President Park’s involvement in

US Defense Secretary James Mattis said Friday that the United States stands "100 percent" with Japan on a visit to reassure Asian allies rattled by President Donald Trump's isolationist rhetoric.Mattis spoke in Tokyo on the first overseas tour by a senior Trump administration official, as concerns rise about the direction of US policy in the region under the protectionist and fiery leader.He arrived earlier in the day from Seoul, where he warned nuclear-armed North Korea that any attacks by thei

A French soldier patrolling at the Louvre  museum in Paris shot and seriously injured a machete-wielding man on Friday who yelled "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") as he attacked security forces, police said.Hundreds of tourists were confined to secure areas of the world-famous art gallery in central Paris after the attacker was shot five times around 10:00 (1100 GMT) in a public area inside the complex.Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve called the attack "terrorist in nature."One soldier was "li

The government said Friday that it will strengthen punishments for people causing violence or a disturbance during a flight, following a recent in-flight incident.Under revised airline safety regulations, a passenger resorting to violence during the flight will be sentenced to up to three years in prison, officials said.   The revision was discussed during a government meeting presided over by Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn. Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn (Y

A team of surgeons reported Friday that they have completed a hand transplant on a man in his 30s, marking the first time that a surgery replacing a hand has taken place in South Korea.The 25-strong team, led by W Hospital chief Woo Sang-hyun, transplanted the hand of a man in his 40s who had been pronounced brain dead. The procedure took 10 hours starting at 4:00 p.m. the previous day at the Yeungnam University Medical Center in the southeastern city of Daegu.The body part being transplanted wa

Impeached President Park Geun-hye added another lawyer to her legal team Friday in what appears to be a bid to strengthen her defense at the Constitutional Court.Wie Jae-min, a former prosecutor, was appointed to join the team, a court official said, bringing the total number of attorneys to 14. His appointment came just three days after the addition of another former prosecutor to the team. Parliament has 16 lawyers on its impeachment panel to serve as the prosecution. (Yonhap)Park was impeache

The independent counsel probing the nation’s corruption scandal on Friday raided the offices of an antitrust body and financial regulator as part of an investigation into the bribery allegations involving President Park Geun-hye, her confidante Choi Soon-sil and Samsung Group.The team led by Special Prosecutor Park Young-soo searched the offices of the Fair Trade Commission in Sejong and the Financial Services Commission in central Seoul, seeking to secure personal data and financial records of

Halfway through a high-profile probe into the corruption scandal that led to President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment, the independent counsel’s remaining task is the hardest and most important -- questioning the president herself. 　 With key suspects increasingly implicating President Park in wrongdoings, special counsel Park Young-soo and his team of investigators are considering raiding the presidential office this week at the earliest and questioning Park face-to-face by early February.  Indepe