South Korea confirmed additional cases of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) Saturday at three pig farms in cities just outside of Seoul, indicating a failure of nationwide quarantine efforts to contain the highly contagious animal disease. The additional cases now brought to 102 the number of confirmed FMD cases in the country that reported the first confirmed case in the latest outbreak on Nov. 29. ...

Lee Kyung-joon is concerned about the slowing speed of production at his manufacturing factory in Gyeonggi Province. A factory manager has already been staying at home for days after he was diagnosed with the influenza A(H1N1) virus, while there are more workers who show flu symptoms. “If more workers become ill from the virus and have to rest at home, it would greatly affect the factory’s prod...

Prosecutors on Thursday started an investigation into RNL Bio, which is suspected of illegally formulating stem cells and brokering their overseas injections, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said. The probe, the first of its kind here, came after the Ministry of Health and Welfare filed charges against the company Tuesday, which the ministry said had manufactured stem cells withou...

BUSAN (Yonhap News) ― A former U.S. diplomat was sentenced to two years in prison in South Korea on Thursday for swindling a Korean woman out of nearly $200,000 with false promises of lucrative investment opportunities in the Philippines. A court in Busan handed the prison sentence to Dario Tomas, convicting the Filipino-American of charges that he defrauded the woman of 215 million won from 200...

Han River rescuers are to receive a new high-speed, uncapsizable boat following a recent accident that claimed the lives of two of their colleagues. Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters said Wednesday that it planned to deploy the 12-meter rescue boat at a water rescue department in Yeongdeungpo. The boat has a top speed of 50 knots, faster than any of the current response craft, e...

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Wednesday refused to promulgate an ordinance passed by the city council last month to provide free school meals to all students. The decision is forecast to escalate the conflict between the two sides as the council is moving to make an arbitrary proclamation later this week. Mayor Oh Se-hoon, affiliated with the conservative ruling Grand National Party, sai...

Educational institutes will face a fine of up to 10 million won ($8,800) if found to have hired sex offenders, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Wednesday. Under a related revision, which will take effect from February, institute owners will be obliged to check new teachers’ and other employees’ records for sex crimes. If the owner violates the rule or makes a false report of a sex cr...

A 24-hour call center will be set up to help North Korean defectors deal with problems while resettling in the South, according to the Unification Ministry on Tuesday. The North Korean Refugees Foundation plans to support the call center by organizing a network of social assistance with resettlement officers, counselors and additional volunteers. They also plan to build a nationwide network of ...