Hundreds of civic activists are expected to express their anger with capitalists, financiers and economic policy makers on Saturday around Seoul. Inspired by “Occupy Wall Street,” a month-long protest against the “greed of capitalists” in the U.S., protestors here will urge financial institutions and authorities to shun derivatives and focus on arranging financial transactions. Korea Finance Co...

Seoul National University, the nation’s most prestigious higher education institution, will open a Japanese department as early as next year, the school said Friday. According to SNU, the establishment of an East Asian linguistic and civilization faculty passed the dean’s council on Thursday and is awaiting approval from the general council next month. The plan includes the launch of department...

Samsung and Apple locked horns once again over a Samsung patent technology used in two of the world’s best selling smart phones as a third open trial was held at the Seoul Central District Court on Friday. The iPhone maker denied having used Samsung’s patented technology without permission while Samsung strived to prove its novelty and innovation. The hot potato was Samsung’s “patent 234,” whic...

SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- The government declared an all-out war on fake gasoline on Friday, significantly increasing fines for people selling unauthorized products and giving investigative jurisdiction to government officials. The crackdown starts with changing the commonly used name for such fuel, mostly chemical mixtures, from alternative fuel to fake, according to the Ministry of Knowledge ...

Aggressively seeks to exercise investigation right Seoul will aggressively look to practice an existing right to preliminary investigation over U.S. military personnel, in light of two recent alleged sex crimes by U.S. soldiers, government officials said Thursday. Working-level officials from the Foreign, Justice and Defense Ministry, and the National Police Agency discussed the measure within ...

INCHEON (Yonhap News) -- Efforts are under way to clean up diesel fuel that leaked into the Yellow Sea early Wednesday from a fuel storage facility of a front-line Marine base, military officials said, noting no major damage was reported from oil spill. The 6th Marine Brigade based on the northern island of Baengyeong said a sergeant reported the diesel spill at around 7:20 a.m, estimating some ...

Justice Ministry officials and prosecutors here have sparked protests from police officers by submitting a draft of a presidential decree limiting the investigational rights of police to the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday. The draft submitted by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and the Ministry of Justice limits the investigative rights of the National Police Agency to questioning and informat...

SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) -- More than seven out of 10 South Koreans said they live in "an unfair society," a survey showed Wednesday, despite the government's ongoing campaign highlighting the issue. In the telephone survey of 1,000 citizens older than 19 nationwide, 72.6 percent said Korean society is either "not very" or "far from" fair. Those who see the society impartial reached 26.7 percent,...

Foreigners in Seoul regard diverse and delicious foods as the capital’s greatest charm, while locals are most attracted to the Han River, a survey by the Seoul city government showed Wednesday. The city government polled 2,907 local residents and 920 foreigners about its charms in August. In the survey, foreign visitors favored the variety of food, followed by convenient public transportation an...

Man accused of infamous 1997 murder faces possible extradition to Korea The now sole suspect of an infamous 1997 murder in Seoul was arrested in California and is standing trial for possible extradition, Korean prosecutors said Monday. “We are aware that Arthur Patterson, who is a suspect of the homicide, was arrested and is currently under trial at a California district court,” said an unnamed...

Asbestos has been found in the playgrounds of eight schools and its level is confirmed to have exceeded the permissible 0.1 percent, the Education Ministry said Tuesday. The ministry’s investigation and result-came after an environmental group claimed they had found high levels of the cancer-causing agent in playgrounds of the eight schools. The schools are Yangmyung Elementary School in Seoul,...