Most Popular
-
1
Court refuses injunction on medical school expansion
-
2
Why Korean crime stories typically feature nameless, faceless perpetrators
-
3
Debate on 'no-seniors zones' heats up
-
4
Is NewJeans headed for a long 'break'?
-
5
S. Korea, Cambodia forge strategic partnership
-
6
Police raid popera singer Kim Ho-joong's house over hit-and-run suspicions
-
7
[KH Explains] Hyundai-backed Motional’s struggles deepen as Tesla eyes August robotaxi debut
-
8
Trump may like to 'solve' N. Korean nuclear problem if reelected: ex-official
-
9
New Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office chief vows full-fledged probe into first lady
-
10
[Graphic News] UK tops global chart for child alcohol use
-
30% of children may have been exposed to toxic humidifier: expert
About 30 percent of the Korean population has likely been exposed to the toxic humidifier disinfectant, an expert claimed Wednesday. According to a survey conducted last year by Asan Medical Center’s medical professor Hong Soo-jong, 31.3 percent of children aged 7 were found to have used the humidifier disinfectant at home. About 1,500 children were surveyed. Participants attend a forum on ecotoxic substances at the National Assembly on Wednesday. (Yonhap)“If their families are included, about 3
May 18, 2016
-
110,000 sex purchasers’ personal data seized
The distributor of a smartphone application that helped rate and manage more than 110,000 buyers of sex was indicted Monday, according to prosecutors. The prosecution said that the man, surnamed Na and aged 30, helped 41 prostitution brokers manage their clients using the application “Green Light” between October 2015 and April 2016. The application held the personal information of more than 110,000 men. (123RF)The brokers had evaluated their clients by categorizing them into green, red and bl
May 18, 2016
-
Furtive dates lead to crime in Korea
A 31-year-old man surnamed Jung was arrested Wednesday for hitting and robbing a woman he met on an arranged date.South Gyeongsang Province’s Gimhae police said the man, who is unemployed, tricked a 25-year-old woman into thinking that he would pay for her escort services. (123RF)When they met at a motel in April, he assaulted the woman with a weapon and took 250,000 won ($210) in cash from her. Jung allegedly used a similar method in March to steal 200,000 won from another woman, aged 30, at a
May 18, 2016
-
Meth traffickers, clients arrested
Two Korean men were arrested Wednesday for trafficking methamphetamine. Surnamed Han and Kim, the men are accused of bringing in the drugs from Cambodia and selling them to 34 clients. (123RF)Han, 35, allegedly paid tourists to bring in the drugs to Incheon International Airport from where he transported it inside fruit boxes as express bus cargo to Kim, 41, on three occasions. Kim then carried the boxes to public bathrooms and taped the sacs to toilet covers for clients to collect.Kim told the
May 18, 2016
-
Court upholds jail term for steelmaker head over embezzlement, gambling
An appeals court handed down a 42-month jail term to the chief of a local steelmaker Wednesday for gambling abroad with millions of dollars he embezzled.The Seoul High Court also ordered Chang Sae-joo, chairman of Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., to forfeit some 1.4 billion won ($1.2 million).The business tycoon was indicted in May 2015 on charges of misappropriating more than 20 billion won from the company since 2003 and using part of it to gamble in Las Vegas.A lower court had sentenced him to 42 mont
May 18, 2016
-
‘Landmark’ statues called into question
From the iconic Statue of Liberty in Manhattan to the 3-ton bronze sculpture Charging Bull in Wall Street, New York City is famous for its statues that have become popular landmarks. With hopes of constructing landmarks on par with those of New York, Seoul City kicked off a grand project last year. The city allocated about 700 million won ($590,000) to building unique landmarks in Seoul. In January 2015, a 10-meter-high, 5-ton sculpture of the monster featured in the movie “The Host” (2006) was
May 18, 2016
-
Murder suspect admits he is misogynist
The man held on charges of murdering a 23-year-old woman told the police that the crime was motivated by his hatred for women. The man is suspected of killing the victim, with whom he had no prior contact, in Gangnam on Tuesday night. (TV Chosun Capture, original footage provided by Seocho police)The suspect has since told the police that he committed the crime because he “hated women for belittling him.”Seoul Seocho police said the victim had been drinking at a bar on the first floor of a four-
May 18, 2016
-
Korea to lower barrier on issuing student visas
Korea will create a new visa type that links studying and working and relax requirements for issuing student visas in an effort to attract talented foreigners, the government said Wednesday.The Ministry of Justice said the new work-study visa will allow government-invited students to get a job here right after their graduation, starting next month.Currently, for a company to hire a foreigner, it has to have at least five South Korean employees. The number of foreigners should also be kept below
May 18, 2016
-
Civic groups challenge constitutionality of personal data collection
Korean civic groups together filed a complaint Wednesday, challenging the constitutionality of the local authorities' collection of user information from mobile carriers without a warrant.The Lawyers for a Democratic Society, or Minbyun, said 500 people, including professors, filed the complaint with the Constitutional Court.Under the current law, local investigative authorities, such as police, prosecution and intelligence agency, can gather personal information of mobile carrier users without
May 18, 2016
-
S. Korea commemorates democracy movement amid song quarrel
South Korea hosted an official ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of a key popular uprising that played an instrumental part in transforming the country into a liberal democracy, amid on-going squabbles over the status of a controversial song used at the event.On May 18, 1980, more than 200,000 citizens of Gwangju, 329 kilometers south of Seoul, rose up against the military junta led by Gen. Chun Doo-hwan, who took power following the turmoil left by the assassination of then-President Park C
May 18, 2016
-
[EXCLUSIVE] ‘KeTox was chemical brokerage company’: former CEO
Danish chemical KeTox -- which allegedly supplied PGH to Korean company Butterflyeffect -- denied that it had manufactured the substance, but said that it had served as a chemical broker that distributed PGH to Danish companies. In an interview with The Korea Herald this week, the now-defunct company’s former CEO Frede Damgaard said that KeTox mainly imported PGH from Austria to Denmark for agricultural use.“We didn’t manufacture PGH, we only bought it,” Damgaard said. “(We bought it for) differ
May 18, 2016
-
Homeplus officials summoned over disinfectant
The prosecution on Tuesday summoned two officials of Homeplus over the sales of toxic humidifier disinfectant, expanding the high-profile probe to other companies.Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it called in two officials of the retailer who were in charge of managing internal rules and customer service respectively while the company was selling the disinfectants. Of the total 221 victims officially confirmed by the government, 28 used Homeplus’ product, with 12 deaths, the prose
May 17, 2016
-
U.S. drug for AIDS prevention to be reviewed for use in Korea
A Food and Drug Administration-approved HIV drug developed in the U.S. will be submitted for review in Korea to be used as a preventive medicine for people at high risk of infection, its developer Gilead Sciences said on Tuesday.The drug, named Truvada, is already being used in South Korea as part of treatment for patients with HIV here. The upcoming submission, which is scheduled to be made in the second half of this year, seeks to be recognized by the Korean Drug Ministry as “pre-exposure prop
May 17, 2016
-
Ministry bans sales of seven toxic household products
The Environment Ministry announced Tuesday it will ban sales of seven household products that were found to contain toxic ingredients -- including those that were used in humidifier disinfectants -- and breached chemical content levels.The ministry said it has inspected a total of 331 products that have been distributed in the market since the second half of last year on their chemical safety. Seven of them were found to contain banned substances or exceed the permitted amount based on the Chemi
May 17, 2016
-
Man driving without license sentenced
A 54-year-old man who caused a traffic accident while driving without a license was given a year in prison with two years’ probation Tuesday.On Nov. 13, 2015, the man crashed into another vehicle in Iksan, North Jeolla Province. He attempted to put the accident on his 63-year-old companion, who holds a driver’s license, claiming that his companion was behind the wheel. (123RF)The two also plotted to cheat the insurance company for compensation money.The Jeonju District Court handed the unlicens
May 17, 2016
-
'Marching for our Beloved’ English lyrics
The official English lyrics to the song “Marching for our Beloved, which has been making the headlines recently, was translated in 2014 by English literature professor Robert David Grotjohn of Chonnam National University, in joint efforts with Gwangju Cultural Foundation and Gwangju International Center. The song was first written in the ’80s for a spirit wedding of activist Yoon Sang-won who died in the Gwangju Democratic Uprising on May 18, 1980, and his beloved Park Gi-soon, who had passed aw
May 17, 2016
-
Prosecutors demand 17-year jail term for U.S. envoy attacker
Prosecutors sought a 17-year prison term for a 56-year-old South Korean man at an appeals court on Tuesday for assaulting the top U.S. envoy to South Korea last year as well as two prison staff.Kim Ki-jong is currently serving a jail term for attacking Ambassador Mark Lippert with a knife at a breakfast function in Seoul on March 5, leaving the U.S. ambassador with deep gashes on his face and arm that needed more than 80 stitches.A lower court had sentenced him to 12 years in prison. Later, in M
May 17, 2016
-
Government policy coordination organization to lead climate change policies
South Korea's Cabinet on Tuesday approved revisions to a set of the enforcement ordinances on green growth and carbon emissions trading to have the Office for Government Policy Coordination spearhead the country's climate change policies.According to the revisions, the office under the prime minister will serve as a "control tower" to curb Asia's fourth-largest economy's carbon emissions starting next month, Seoul officials said. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance will craft and coordinate pol
May 17, 2016
-
Local research ties suicides to mental illnesses
Some 80 percent of those who commit suicide suffered from different types of mental illnesses, an analysis by a South Korean medical team showed Tuesday, although such a correlation is less stark in Asian countries.The team led by professor Na Kyung-se, of the neuropsychiatry department at the Gachon University Gil Medical Center in Incheon, west of Seoul, researched the results of psychological autopsies of 6,626 people from different countries who died in suicides. The research covered cases f
May 17, 2016
-
Gov't asks S. Koreans to avoid trips near N. Korea amid terror threats
The South Korean government called Monday for cooperation from local tour agencies to discourage its nationals from visiting areas bordering North Korea, as the country is on high alert against the likelihood of terrorist attacks by Pyongyang.The Foreign Ministry hosted a rare group meeting with representatives of those firms specializing in arranging oversea tours.It was meant to enhance awareness on the need to take stronger safety measures for South Koreans abroad and solicit cooperation.Conc
May 16, 2016