Supreme Court postpones Kim Keon Hee ruling after conflicting lower court verdict in Yoon case

The Supreme Court on Wednesday postponed its ruling on former first lady Kim Keon Hee from Thursday to July 24, after the special counsel asked it to consider a lower court ruling that found former President Yoon Suk Yeol partly guilty over free opinion polls. The special counsel, investigating allegations that Kim had violated the Political Funds Act by receiving opinion polls from self-proclaimed political broker Myung Tae-kyun, submitted the written judgment from Yoon’s Monday trial and reque

2026-07-16 14:18:56:00

[단독] 네이버, 차별 논란 부른 ‘외국인 예약 받기’ 설정 명칭 변경

네이버가 외국인 고객을 가려 받을 수 있는 것처럼 안내해 차별 논란을 빚은 네이버지도 기능의 명칭을 바꾸기로 했다. 문제가 된 ‘외국인 예약·주문받기’는 네이버지도 입점 사업자가 해외 발급 카드로 이뤄지는 예약과 결제를 받을지 선택하는 기능이다. 이 기능은 사업자가 해외에서 발급된 카드로 이뤄지는 예약과 결제를 받을지 선택하도록 만든 것이다. 그러나 안내 문구는 해외 카드가 아니라 외국인 고객 자체를 받을지 선택하는 기능처럼 비쳐 차별 논란을 빚었다. 스마트플레이스는 해당 옵션에서 “ON(허용)으로 설정하면 외국인 관광객의 예약을 받을 수 있다”고 안내했고, 외국인 예약이나 주문을 받지 않으려면 설정을 “OFF(불허)”로 변경하도록 했다. 논란은 국내에 거주하는 한 외국인이 인스타그램에 관련 영상을 올리면서 확산됐다. 영상은 이 기능을 “디지털판 ‘외국인 출입금지’ 표지판”에 빗대며, 네이버가 사업자에게 외국인의 접근을 차단할 수 있는 선택지를 줬다고 비판했다. 한 이용자는 “한국에

2026-07-16 10:29:33:00

[Exclusive] Naver to change ‘no foreigners’ button after discrimination accusations

Naver will revise the wording of a Naver Maps setting that appeared to allow businesses to reject bookings from foreign customers, after critics said the feature could enable discrimination. The controversy centered on Naver SmartPlace, the platform businesses use to manage reservations, payments and store information on Naver Maps. The setting was designed to let merchants decide whether to accept reservations and purchases made with overseas-issued credit cards. But the instructions shown to b

2026-07-16 10:29:00:00

Ex-baseball player gets 10 years for running ketamine smuggling ring

A former baseball player was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for smuggling 1.9 kilograms of ketamine into South Korea from Thailand between September and October 2025. The Busan District Court found the 33-year-old guilty of violating Article 11 of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. It also ordered him to complete 40 hours of drug rehabilitation education and forfeit 100,000 won ($67). The court, however, acquitted a 30-year-old software developer accused of acting

2026-07-15 15:06:53:00

Ulsan joins SK’s push to train AI talent

Ulsan, together with SK AX, launched the SK AI Leader Academy on Wednesday as part of efforts to nurture industry-ready artificial intelligence professionals outside the Seoul metropolitan area. The employment-linked AI training program, known as SKALA, combines practical AI training with recruitment opportunities. Its five-month curriculum was developed by SK AX, SK Group’s AI transformation affiliate, and will be delivered by instructors from the company. The academy will run at Ulsan College

2026-07-15 14:19:44:00

Ex-lawmaker Min Kyung-wook collapses during election fraud lecture

Former lawmaker Min Kyung-wook collapsed Tuesday while delivering a lecture on election fraud claims and was taken to a hospital in Seoul, according to Kim Sang-hyun, a supreme council member of the minor far-right Freedom and Innovation Party. “Former Rep. Min lost consciousness and collapsed during an event and was rushed to a hospital in Seoul,” Kim wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday. Min had stopped breathing but resumed breathing after receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Medical staff in

2026-07-15 12:34:07:00

Police investigate mass leak of GitHub access tokens

South Korea’s national police said Tuesday they had launched an investigation after confirming that a large number of personal access tokens that could be used to access private GitHub repositories had been exposed. GitHub, a Microsoft-owned software development platform, allows companies and developers to store, manage and share source code. Personal access tokens, or PATs, are credentials used to authenticate users and grant access to repositories and other resources. More than 500 accounts ar

2026-07-14 15:16:56:00

Migrant-background students help improve AI Korean platform

The Education Ministry and the Korea Education and Research Information Service launched an advisory group in June, comprising 60 migrant-background students whose families come from 15 countries, the ministry said Tuesday. The group will help improve Korean for Everyone, the government’s AI-powered Korean-language learning platform for migrant-background students. The platform uses AI to assess students’ Korean proficiency, manage individual learning plans and recommend customized educational c

2026-07-14 13:56:57:00

‘Cheong Wa Dae curse’ returns with Moon Jae-in trial

Former President Moon Jae-in’s bribery case returned to court Tuesday, adding the latest chapter to South Korea’s long history of former presidents facing criminal investigations after leaving office. The Seoul Central District Court resumed preparatory proceedings after a six-month hiatus in a case accusing Moon of receiving 217 million won ($145,000) in bribes from former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, founder of budget carrier Eastar Jet. Prosecutors allege the money was indirectly provided through s

2026-07-14 11:10:19:00

[Breaking] Yoon Suk Yeol sentenced to 2 years over free polls, nomination deal

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to two years in prison Monday for accepting free political polling services during his presidential campaign. The Seoul Central District Court found him guilty of violating the Political Funds Act, recognizing 14 surveys worth 27.92 million won ($18,600) provided by political broker Myung Tae-kyun. The court also ruled that Yoon had promised to help secure the ruling party’s nomination of former lawmaker Kim Young-sun in return. “Opinion polls can inf

2026-07-13 16:33:15:00