A Seoul court on Monday upheld the inheritance rights of a man who disappeared during the Korean War, overruling the 10-year expiration term stipulated by civil law. The daughter of the man, surnamed Lee, filed a suit in 2011 to claim her share of the land owned by her deceased grandfather in South Korea. In 2009, the plaintiff escaped from North Korea, where her father lived after the Korean War. The court’s decision set a new precedent in confirming the inheritance rights of South Korean desce

A Seoul court on Friday meted out a two-year jail term to YoungNam Flour Mill Co. CEO Ryu Won-ki on charges of embezzlement and collusion in a high-profile contract killing case implicating his wife.The Seoul Western District Court also sentenced Park Byung-woo, a doctor at Severance Hospital in Seoul, to eight months in prison for concocting three medical statements to help Ryu’s wife Yun Gil-ja receive treatment in a posh hospital room away from her prison.Yun was convicted of hiring a hit man

A man serving a prison term for a drug offense is to be prosecuted again for using an encrypted message to manipulate a witness in his trial, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said on Thursday.According to the prosecution, the man sent an encrypted message to a fellow inmate -- who is serving a sentence for an unrelated drug offense -- with directions for giving false testimony. The man who gave the false testimony was also indicted, the prosecution said. According to the officials, the man who se

The alleged mistress of former Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook may have received a massive amount of money from a close friend of Chae, local media reported Thursday citing unnamed sources. According to reports, prosecutors have found that the mistress, surnamed Lim, took 120 million won ($111,000) through the account of her son, who is believed to be Chae’s love child. Lim allegedly sent back some of the money received. The prosecution said it is investigating why and how the money was transf

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday it had ordered local council members to return travel expenses that were used for non-business purposes.Several Seongbuk-gu Council members were found to have spent about 14 million won ($13,000) during five overseas trips in the past four years, the officials said. This marks the first time the city government has decided to restore inappropriately spent public money from assemblymen after the public audit system was adopted in 2000. Seongbuk-gu

A 54-year-old woman received a suspended sentence of two years in jail for making more than 500 prank calls to a police station in Itaewon last year, the Seoul Western District Court said Wednesday. The suspect, identified by her last name, Son, called the police station 513 times between July and September from a pay phone to level abuse at them, according to the court officials. The investigators said Son blamed foreigners in Itaewon for her joblessness and called the Itaewon-based station to

Crude oil spewed into the sea off the southern coast of South Korea on Friday, after a Singapore-registered oil tanker collided with oil pipelines, according to the Korea Coast Guard.The spillage at a quay off Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, happened almost 20 years after some 5,000 tons of oil washed onto the coast in 1995.A small amount of oil remaining in the pipelines leaked into the waters but none had leaked from the tanker, the maritime police said. The size of the spill and damage is unkno

South Korea’s agriculture minister called for all-out efforts to prevent further outbreaks of avian influenza Tuesday, following a series of new suspected cases in areas close to the capital.“The government has so far put its utmost efforts into preventing the spread of AI and eradicating the animal disease at an early date,” Lee Dong-phil, minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, said at a press briefing. Lee, however, noted that government efforts alone may not be enough. “We may be ab

The Korean government aims to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent from projected levels by 2020 to hold back global warming, the Ministry of Environment said Tuesday.The plan is aimed at reducing 233 million carbon dioxide equivalent tons by 2020, a 30 percent cut from the expected 2020 BAU level of 776 million tCO2e, according to the ministry officials.The target was originally set in 2011 by the former administration of President Lee Myung-bak. The officials said the new b

A new bird flu-suspected case was reported Monday in North Chungcheong Province despite the South Korean government’s strengthened efforts to contain the further spread of the virus. A large number of ducks in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, showed common symptoms of the bird flu, with a sharp drop in the spawning rate and deaths of more than 100,000 ducks over the last two days. The quarantine officials immediately limited the access to surrounding areas and took disinfection measures. A

Korean authorities are grappling with an increasing number of avian influenza cases, as the virus has continued to spread to chickens and migratory birds across the country since the first outbreak in Gochang, North Jeolla Province on Jan. 17. Up to six areas were confirmed to be infected with the pathogenic H5N8 strain.

The government is considering ordering a lockdown at all poultry farms in the country to prevent the avian influenza virus spreading further, officials said Sunday.If the government imposes the order, all poultry, workers and vehicles from farms will be banned from moving for 48 hours. The lockdown procedure can be continued for another two days, officials added.The move came after the first H5N8 infection in chickens was reported Saturday, adding to concerns of a recent upturn in the disease’s

Local celebrities lost on Wednesday in a lawsuit that they collectively filed against major portals to seek compensation for their names being used for commercial purposes, according to the Suwon District Court.Fifty-nine celebrities filed the lawsuit against South Korea’s biggest online portal Naver and its affiliate company in May last year, claiming the right of publicity. They asked for damages worth 1.2 billion won ($1.1 million) in the high-profile suit joined by Jang Dong-gun, Bae Yong-jo

The Korean chapter of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s alumni association will present “proud alumni” awards to three graduates in a ceremony at a Seoul hotel on Saturday.The recipients are former Minister of Strategy and Finance Yoon Jeung-hyun, Inha University’s department of mathematics chair professor Kang Hyeon-bae and Virginia Tech.’s assistant professor of mechanical engineering Dennis Hong.Yoon was recognized for his contribution to stabilizing the finance market while serving as Fi

A 29-year-old American accused of having sex with a teenage girl and posting a video of it online was extradited from Armenia to South Korea on Wednesday, the Ministry of Justice said.The ministry has been tracking down the suspect’s whereabouts since 2010, when he fled to China as the video stirred a firestorm of criticism in the Korean online community.“The urgency of each case decides how fast the extradition will take place. In this case, it only took three months, whereas it could take up t

It came as a stark reminder of the seriousness of the country’s smartphone addiction: A college student was killed on campus because she was distracted by her phone.The 23-year-old student was run over by a shuttle bus on Korea University campus in 2011 while walking with her head down, eyes fixed and fingers tapping.The tragic incident is just one of hundreds of traffic accidents here that occur every year because people have their eyes glued to their smartphones. Korea’s pride in high-tech pro

Extravagantly wrapped gift sets are weighing down the shelves of department stores ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, despite government efforts to crack down on the overuse of packaging.Amid growing public attention toward environmental protection, the Ministry of Environment pledged to discourage excessive packaging on gift sets for two weeks before the Lunar New Year holiday begins on Jan. 30. Some consumers say that the practice can be excused during the holiday season, because it shows th

About 40 percent of people who applied for individual rehabilitation in Seoul and Gangwon Province were doctors, a report concluded.According to data by the Seoul High Court, 449 doctors including dentists and oriental medical doctors filed for personal bankruptcy under the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act between 2009 and 2013. The number of hospitals that closed down also jumped by 17.6 percent, from 2,857 to 3,359 in the same period, largely due to fierce market competition and less i

The award ceremony for the third Seoul National University of Education-Korea Herald English Contest, or SKEC, was held at the British ambassador’s residence in Seoul on Friday.Top prizes were given to 16 students in categories divided by age and the period of time entrants spent living overseas. Other awards, including the second-highest gold prizes, were presented to some 300 applicants.The competition was hosted by Herald Corp. and SNUE, and was sponsored by the British Embassy. More than 1,5

The Seoul Central District Court is pushing plans to set up more courts that deal with sex offenses, according to court officials on Thursday. Under the plan, three divisions each consisting of three judges will handle sex crime cases, the court said. Currently, there are two divisions in charge of sex crimes. The measure is part of the court system’s efforts to strengthen the criminal justice system for sex offenders and bring them to justice.“The court has faced sweeping changes in the system