A key figure in an espionage case involving a former Seoul city official tried to kill himself on Wednesday, creating a major setback for the investigation. The witness, only identified as ethnically Korean with Chinese nationality, is accused of giving the National Intelligence Service forged immigration documents regarding a former Seoul official suspected of spying for North Korea. Investigators said the man slit his neck with a knife at a motel in Seoul, after being questioned by the prosecu

A 73-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years in jail last year for starting a fire in the apartment above his that killed two people. A three-year dispute over noise pollution at the apartment complex ended in tragedy. Shortly after that incident, a 43-year-old man stabbed two brothers to death, angry over the noise they made in the upstairs apartment during the New Year holiday. These sad incidents are just a sample of the neighborly clashes ranging from fist fights to horrendous homicides that

The nation’s top court upheld a ruling by an appeals court to acquit a Korean-Japanese man accused of espionage for a pro-North Korean organization. The 63-year-old defendant, only identified by his last name Park, was indicted in 1982 on charges of working as a spy at the behest of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan.“There’s lack of evidence proving his spying activities. (The appeals court) has made the right decision based on legal principles,” the presiding chief justice, K

The nation’s top court on Monday classified auto blog commenting and mass emailing software as malware programs, citing their damage to the digital network.A South Korean programmer on Feb. 13 was charged with selling seven types of spamming software that offer services such as collecting email addresses, auto-blog commenting and bulk emailing to an unspecified number of individuals.The Supreme Court sentenced the man, surnamed Kim, to eight months in prison with a two-year stay of execution and

Former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said Thursday the landmark 1993 Kono Statement admitting the country’s conscription of sex slaves should not be re-examined, amid growing speculation that the Japanese government will attempt to revise it.Muramaya also said in a press conference that his 1995 apology for the country’s wartime atrocities was an international pledge that could not be retracted. “The 1993 Kono Statement came after comprehensive research of the evidence,” the former P

A nuclear reactor at a plant in the southwest unexpectedly stopped operations on Friday, plant operators said. The 950,000-kilowatt Hanbit reactor 2 in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province, shut down at about 10:50 a.m., according to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. The operator said the exact cause of the stoppage is unknown, but it will not cause problem with supplying electricity.“We’re looking into the cause of the shutdown and it’s not clear when the reactor will restart,” KHNP public relations

South Korea’s top court on Thursday upheld a lower court’s suspended jail sentence for stem-cell expert Hwang Woo-suk for unlawfully taking support funds and embezzling state research funds.Hwang was found guilty of misappropriating nearly 784 million won ($735,000) in funds provided by the government and local companies using fabricated stem-cell research published in the journal Science. The Supreme Court sentenced the disgraced scientist to one year and six months in prison with a two-year st

South Korea’s top court on Thursday upheld a lower court’s ruling to sentence the chief of SK Group, the country’s third-largest family conglomerate, to four years in jail for embezzling company assets. SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won was convicted of misappropriating nearly 46.5 billion won ($43.6 million) from two of the SK Group affiliates ― SK Telecom Co. and SK C&C Co. ― to make personal investments in stock futures and options in 2008.The Supreme Court also handed down a three-and-a-half-ye

The South Korean government on Wednesday announced 24-hour emergency measures to reduce the health risks of fine dust amid mounting criticism of the accuracy of its forecasting.The Seoul Metropolitan Government called the situation a “natural disaster” and said it would launch a special task force to monitor the air quality around the clock as the fine dust warning has already lasted for more than two days.The plans also include banning the operations of city government vehicles and expanding th

The South Korean Supreme Court is set to hand down a ruling on Thursday on a high-profile embezzlement case involving the two brothers leading the country’s third-largest family conglomerate, court officials said. A lower court had sentenced SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won to four years behind bars for embezzling nearly 45 billion won ($42.2 million) from SK Group companies. His younger brother, Chey Jae-won, was sentenced to three years and six months in jail for collusion.The case has attracted

South Korea’s militant umbrella union defied authorities’ warnings and went ahead with a general strike across the country on Tuesday, protesting the government’s alleged oppression of workers and privatization plans. About 200,000 members of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions walked out of their jobs in 12 major cities, timed with the start President Park Geun-hye’s second year in office. The KCTU has a total of 700,000 members. “The general strike is to claim workers’ rights and condemn t

South Korea’s militant umbrella labor union, boasting a membership of 700,000, said on Monday it would hold a one-day strike as planned to protest the government’s oppression of workers and its plan to privatize public firms.The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said its members will stage the nationwide walkout on Tuesday, timed with the first anniversary of the Park Geun-hye administration. “This is just the beginning of our fight against the government’s plot to privatize the public sector

The ruling Saenuri Party is pushing for a new system that will require lawmakers to draw up budget proposals when submitting bills, according to local news reports. The “PAYGO” system, short for “pay as you go,” would be part of the Park Geun-hye administration’s efforts to restore the government’s financial health. The current law does not require lawmakers to lay out plans to secure a related budget when sponsoring new bills. If implemented, the system is expected to curb runaway government sp

Democratic Party chairman Rep. Kim Han-gil announced a third batch of political reform plans on Sunday, in an apparent attempt to gain greater support ahead of independent Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo’s launch of his own party next month.In his parliamentary address, Kim laid out a package of reform proposals, including barring those with records of corruption charges from consideration as candidates for national elections and expanding direct voting to the selection of election candidates and party leade

In a landmark ruling, a Seoul court ordered the government to compensate a group of farmers who were forced to give up their land during former President Park Chung-hee’s dictatorial rule, officials said Thursday.The Seoul High Court ruled on Feb. 11 in favor of the 291 farmers, awarding 65 billion won ($60 million) in compensation based on the land’s value in 1988. Including the 5 percent annual interest tallied at about 45 billion won, the total compensation is estimated to surpass 110 billion

Opposition lawmaker Lee Seok-ki was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Monday on conviction of plotting and instigating an armed rebellion against the South Korean government. Lee, the first to face treason charges in 34 years, was also found guilty of violating the National Security Law.In addition to the prison term, the 52-year-old lawmaker, affiliated with the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party, received a 10-year suspension of his civil rights after release.“It has been acknowledged

A Seoul court on Friday sentenced CJ Group chairman Lee Jay-hyun to four years in prison for embezzlement and tax evasion. Lee Jay-hyun was found guilty of misappropriating 165.7 billion won ($156 million) in company assets to offshore slush funds and dodging taxes in the process. In the same ruling, the Seoul Central District Court also ordered the 54-year-old tycoon to pay a fine of 26 billion won.“With his influence, (the defendant committed crimes that) resulted in hindering the group’s imag

A controversial African museum promised on Thursday to improve wages and working conditions for their artists, according to the Democratic Party’s Euljiro Committee. The move comes two days after local media reported that African performers at the Africa Museum of Original Art in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, are working under problematic, abusive conditions.“The museum didn’t even guarantee the basic human rights of the workers. They were basically treated like slaves,” Cho Young-min, an Euljiro

A Seoul court ruled Wednesday that a patient suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was unfit to serve in the military, marking the first case in which it was a major disqualifier for the mandatory military service. The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of a man surnamed Kim, an ADHD patient who filed a suit against the country’s military administration to cancel his enlistment. The case sets a new precedent in confirming ADHD patients to be exempt from serving in the ar

Police on Tuesday raided the offices of a KT Corp. affiliate and its subcontractors implicated in an alleged large-scale loan fraud case led by a KT employee.A financial crime unit at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency seized computer hard drives and account books from six subcontractors of KT ENS with a court-issued warrant. According to the police, the manager-level employee, surnamed Kim, had taken out about 300 billion won ($279.7 million) in loans from 16 local banks with false documents