Kim Won-hong Financial investor and shaman Kim Won-hong is adding a new twist to the convoluted SK Group embezzlement case. Kim, a former financial aide of SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and adviser for SK Shipping Co., was arrested on Sunday for his alleged involvement in Chey’s misappropriation scheme. Chey and his younger brother Chey Jae-won are alleged to have embezzled 45 billion won ($4...

When Chin Young, one of the closest allies of President Park Geun-hye and a passionate advocate of broader welfare, was appointed to head the Ministry of Health and Welfare in March, it was considered an indication of her government’s greater commitment to caring for the poor and underprivileged. Six months later the minister is seeking to step down in what is seen as a symbol of the Park admini...

Late author Choe In-ho’s photograph is displayed in his wake being held at the Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital in Seoul. (Yonhap News) Author Choe In-ho, a literary legend whose works have been made into numerous movies and TV drama series, died of cancer on Wednesday, about seven months after the publication of his latest collection of essays, “Choe In-ho’s Life.” He was ...

Park Byeong-yeop Park Byeong-yeop, founder and vice chairman of Korea’s third-largest mobile device maker Pantech Corp., decided to leave the firm to take responsibility for sluggish business. He is the latest casualty among a list of so-called legendary businessmen after Woongjin Group founder Yoon Seok-keum and STX Group founder Kang Duk-soo, who had once garnered respect from office workers ...

Embattled Tong Yang Group is suffering through a liquidity crisis as creditors and its sister group refused to help the country’s 38th-largest conglomerate. Its condition is showing signs of improvement as the group founder‘s wife is determined to save her oldest daughter, who is the vice chairwoman of the group, after her younger daughter rejected the rescue request. But it remains yet to be se...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel cemented her position as Europe’s de facto leader on Sunday by cruising to election victory for a third term in office. Having presided over a robust economy in a region of sick-man peers, the center-right Christian Democratic Union and its sister Christian Social Union of Bavaria won more than 40 percent of the national vote, bringing Merkel to within five seats ...

Thousands of families were torn apart at the end of the Korean War (1950-1953) and their pain persists as the remaining members anxiously write the final chapters of their lives, still hoping to see their loved ones again. Of the 129,035 people originally registered in South Korea’s separated-family database since August 1988, 56,544 have passed away while most of the surviving 72,491 are in the...

Han Myeong-sook, former prime minister and ex-leader of the main opposition party, faces another long legal battle over bribery accusations which have dealt blow to her political career and reputation as an pro-democracy activist against the military-backed governments in the 1970s and 80s. A Seoul appellate court on Monday sentenced Han to two years in prison for bribery, overturning a lower co...

From cloaked alien tanks and jets in the computer game “Starcraft” to a transparent flying fortress in the movie “Avengers,” invisible structures have always been considered a product of imaginary science, whose rightful place is within the boundaries of fiction. That is until South Korea recently authorized the construction of “Tower Infinity,” a 450-meter-high skyscraper which is to use high-t...

Chae Dong-wook Resistance among prosecutors is rising upon the resignation of prosecutor general Chae Dong-wook last week over a personal rumor, as speculation prevailed that it was the result of pressure from Cheong Wa Dae. A day after Chae offered to step down Friday, Kim Yoon-sang, director of the first inspection division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, offered to resign, criticizing th...

The Korea Electric Power Corp. is set to resume its stalled power-line project in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, after next week’s Chuseok holidays despite continued resistance from some residents. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Chung Hong-won visited the county saying that resumption was an “unavoidable choice” and announced a revised 18.5 billion won ($17 million) compensation plan. The com...

An Olympic gold medalist has been elected president of the International Olympic Committee for the first time in its 119-year history. Thomas Bach, a 59-year-old vice president of the IOC, has ascended to the top post of Olympic leadership. He was elected the ninth president of the IOC in its 125th session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday. He will serve a four-year term and will be eligible...

It has been mission impossible for 16 years: collecting 167.2 billion won in overdue fines from a former strongman who claimed to have only 290,000 won at hand and is notoriously at home with brinkmanship. So, many observers were skeptical when the prosecution began a whirlwind investigation into former President Chun Doo-hwan’s family nearly four months ago with an aim to force him to pay the b...

The first gay marriage in Korea on Saturday sharply divided the country, putting to the test its legal system and public tolerance of sexual minorities. Film director Kim-Jho Gwang-soo and film distributor Kim Seung-hwan held a symbolic wedding in central Seoul. They have been partners for nine years. The two men made their vows in front of guests reported to number about 1,000, including Kim-J...

Lee Sang-deuk, 78, former six-term lawmaker and elder brother to ex-President Lee Myung-bak, will be released from prison Monday. He has been serving time since July last year for taking illegal funds from failing savings banks. The political bigwig was considered the most influential figure in the previous administration after the president. Lee Sang-deuk Lee was frequently described by pundi...