The spy agency’s ongoing investigation into leftist lawmaker Lee Seok-ki on charges of plotting a rebellion threatens to engulf the far left of Korean politics and push his Unified Progressive Party over the edge. The UPP, which represents the more extreme end of progressive politics in Korea, was founded in November 2011 when the Democratic Labor Party merged with other progressive factions. A...

The minor Unified Progressive Party’s Rep. Lee Seok-ki has never been free from controversy having been accused of election fraud, illegal funding and leftist ideology. But the investigation of the progressive lawmaker unveiled Wednesday was stunning to the public: He faces the first charge of revolt in 30 years. The first-term lawmaker has been at the center of one of the largest scandals to e...

China’s sensational trial of disgraced politician Bo Xilai wound down Monday with the former Communist Party bigwig giving a performance reminiscent of Jack Nicholson’s Col. Nathan R. Jessup in “A Few Good Men,” railing against his accusers in self-righteous indignation. Bo hurled invective at the testimonies of major witnesses for the prosecution, calling one “insane” and another “a vile liar.”...

Sohn Hak-kyu Democratic Party adviser Sohn Hak-kyu continues to be a major factor for the progressive bloc despite his absence and apparent intention to “rest.” After losing the DP’s presidential primaries to Rep. Moon Jae-in last year, Sohn maintained a relatively low profile, and in January left for Germany to research welfare and labor issues. However, Sohn has been linked to Rep. Ahn Cheol...

The Korea Military Academy, once touted as the birthplace of the country’s elite warriors, is losing public trust under growing criticism for a recent series of shameful cases of sexual misconduct. The Army said on Sunday that the military prosecution was investigating a senior cadet for allegedly having sex with a middle school girl and stealing her mobile phone in Seoul last month. A ceremony...

Perhaps it was seeing the prosecutors zeroing in on his predecessor Chun Doo-hwan’s hidden assets, with himself next in line. Former President Roh Tae-woo, 81, made headlines Wednesday night by agreeing to pay up the unpaid 23 billion won ($20.5 million) in fines over the next several weeks. He said the debt will be paid in two batches: 15 billion won within next week, and the remaining 8 billi...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to former Nazi concentration camp Dachau received mixed reactions, but in doing so, she became the first-ever incumbent chancellor to take such a step. Merkel was immediately slammed for combining the obvious potent symbolism of a German head of state describing the shame she feels about an ugly chapter in her country’s history ― indeed, in world history ―...

South Korea’s infamously high suicide rate is taking a toll on the youth, with more than 100 of them taking their own lives every year. A total of 139 primary and secondary students committed suicide last year, according to education office data released by Rep. An Min-suk of the Democratic Party. High school students accounted for the greatest number of youth suicides, at 88 deaths. Members o...

The government’s tax revision that was modified after drawing public backlash shows how desperate the Park Geun-hye administration is becoming to find funds for its welfare pledges. Spending 135 trillion won for equitable wealth distribution over the next four years would require a “big pot” of money that needs to be drawn from its reserve funds by maintaining a budget surplus, funds raised via ...

Director Hong Sang-soo, winner of the Best Director award at this year’s Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. (Locarno International Film Festival) Korean director Hong Sang-soo’s latest film “Our Sunhi” has nabbed the filmmaker the Best Director award at this year’s Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. The award marks Hong’s first win at the annual film fest, which...

By Shin Hyon-hee Despite the breakthrough in Gaeseong, the two Koreas faced a series of tough talks to sort out differences over the industrial park’s globalization, compensation for businesses and other thorny issues. At the core of the consultations will be an envisioned joint committee to run the factory zone based on consensus, designed to block the North from making unilateral decisions su...

A wave of positive reviews overseas for LG Electronics’ newest smartphone, the G2, is fanning the company’s hopes for better luck in the market this year. CNET called it a “speed demon,” noting that the “menus flew by with almost blinding swiftness.” Trusted Reviews claimed it was not just LG’s best phone so far, but is “shaping up to be one of the best phones ever made.” Models pose with LG E...

Attention is being paid to whether President Park Geun-hye will replace her economic policymakers who devised a much-criticized tax code revision, after having already ordered a review of the proposal to contain the fallout. Speculation persists in political circles that Park could conduct a partial Cabinet reshuffle in the third quarter of the year to ease public anger. Some politicians started...

Lee Chang-seok Former President Chun Doo-hwan’s brother-in-law, known as one of the key figures who helped him conceal illegally accumulated assets, was questioned by the prosecution on Monday. Lee Chang-seok is the first member of Chun’s family to be summoned by the prosecution looking for the former president’s massive slush funds. Summoning Lee indicates that the authorities are not only sea...

Lee Yong-nyeo, one of the few surviving victims of Japan’s military sex slavery and a leading activist who sought for truth, an apology and compensation, has died Sunday. The House of Sharing, a shelter for the “comfort women” in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, said Lee died at a hospital early Sunday morning. She was 87. Lee Yong-nyeo At the age of 16, Lee was shipped from Busan to Yangon, Myanma...