Man who escaped drunk driving by claiming to have drunk after accident, gets jail term

An appellate court overturned an earlier ruling that cleared the defendant in a drunk driving case, instead sentencing him to a year in prison, the court said Thursday. The appellate division of the Daejeon District Court handed down a guilty verdict, saying it is unreasonable to believe that the man consumed a lot of alcohol after causing a car crash on June 16, 2024. The court rejected the defendant's claim that he drank at his parents' home after causing the accident, and then reported the ca

2026-07-30 12:00:44:00

Police lost critical evidence in 2025 motel murder case

South Korean police officers lost what would have been key evidence for an investigation into a 2025 murder case, local media outlets reported Thursday. Officials at Masan Dongbu Police Station reportedly failed to procure the clothes worn by two middle school students who were killed on Dec. 3, 2025, at a motel in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. The officers did not seize the evidence or return the items to the bereaved families; the clothes were discarded by cleaning staff at a local hosp

2026-07-30 11:43:59:00

Govt. discusses measures against online sex crimes via illegal websites

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on Thursday was to hold a working-level meeting with related agencies for a crackdown against sex crimes in cyberspace, based on an analysis of 34,628 illegal websites provided by a pangovernmental team. The meeting is to discuss key elements of the strategy against illegal websites, to be announced in August, the role of each agency and how each organization can cooperate with each other. This includes a crackdown and investigation, victim support, how

2026-07-30 10:58:54:00

Victim and perpetrator of sexual harassment end up at same Coast Guard workplace

The Korea Coast Guard came under controversy Wednesday for allowing one of its members to return to his original workplace after being transferred for sexual harassment, resulting in him working at the same station as his victim. In 2024, a subordinate alleged that a senior inspector of the Korea Coast Guard Station Pyeongtaek had made an inappropriate comment toward her in 2022. It was deemed sexual harassment, resulting in his wages being docked and forcibly transferred to another station that

2026-07-29 17:44:23:00

Record-high temperature recorded in southeast region

Temperatures in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, reached a high of 40.3 degrees Celsius Wednesday afternoon, the highest ever recorded in the city. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the temperature in Yangsan surpassed the 40 degrees mark at 3:26 p.m., then rose to 40.3 degrees at 3:34 p.m. It is the highest temperature recorded in the city since authorities began observing the city's weather on Dec. 26, 2008. Busan, the second-largest city in the country, logged its own r

2026-07-29 17:14:17:00

Driver accused of excessive speeding proves it was police error

South Korean police said Wednesday that they have cleared criminal charges against a 35-year-old man who was wrongly accused of excessive speeding on a road in Haenam-gun, South Jeolla Province. The Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency said it was closing the investigation into a 35-year-old driver who was detected operating his vehicle at 178 kilometers per hour on Nov. 15. The road's speed limit was 80 kph. But he denied the charges and submitted a driving log from his GPS navigation application,

2026-07-29 16:55:36:00

Gyeongsang residents seek gov't compensation for 2025 wildfires

Residents of North Gyeongsang Province launched a joint lawsuit against the government Wednesday, demanding compensation for the damages caused by the massive wildfires in the southeastern region last year. A committee representing 2,100 residents held a press conference in front of Cheong Wa Dae at 10:30 a.m., accusing the Lee Jae Myung administration of failing to contain the flames that started in March 2025. One of the largest wildfires in history ravaged about 100,000 hectares of land — mor

2026-07-29 13:52:06:00

Gangnam-gu holds 'Oxbridge' culture exchange program for high schoolers

The 2026 OIP (Oxbridge Intercultural Program) Summer Pathfinding Program, hosted by Gangnam-gu in southern Seoul, wrapped up Wednesday with 100 students from 17 high schools across the district interacting with mentors from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The three-day event, which kicked off on Monday, brought in eight college students from two of the most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom to conduct classes, debates, team activities and mock interviews at Poongmoon High

2026-07-29 12:43:48:00

Former World Cup coach denies using company card for personal expenses

Hong Myung-bo, former head coach of the South Korean men's national soccer team, said Wednesday that he had not personally used the credit card issued by his employers, the Korea Football Association. "I used (the credit card) in accordance with the KFA regulations, its limits and purposes. All details of my spending were presented and processed by the association. Not once was I ordered to rectify my use of the corporate credit card during my tenure (as the team's head coach)," Hong said in an

2026-07-29 11:40:21:00

1 in 20 Koreans in gray intellectual zone: survey

A state-commissioned study showed that 5.1 percent of minors and 6.8 percent of adults in South Korea are at significant risk of having borderline intellectual functioning, referring to below-average cognitive ability not severe enough to be considered intellectual disability. Of the participants under age 18, 2.6 percent were categorized as being in the BIF at-risk group, while 2.5 percent were categorized as being in the BIF search group, according to the survey on 9,000 Koreans under age 60 c

2026-07-29 11:12:24:00