On the 74th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, a ceremony in South Gyeongsang Province remembered the tens of thousands of Koreans who lost their lives in the foreign cities after being taken there against their will. Over 200,000 people were killed by the two atomic bombs that were dropped Aug. 6 and 9, respectively, in 1945. Most of the victims were Japanese civilians, but som...

Calls are mounting for an official commendation for a military service dog who played a key role in finding a missing 14-year-old on Friday in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. The 7-year-old Dalgwan found the missing child at around 2:40 p.m. Friday on a mountain where she had first been reported missing 10 days prior on July 23. “Dalgwan made gestures at me during a search around the area...

Police are expanding efforts to improve safety in neighborhoods with large foreign-born populations. The Korean National Police Agency rolled out additional plans for improving safety in areas with large number of non-citizens on Sunday, including a data analytics project using cellphone data. The announcement follows an earlier move on March 17, when the agency said it would apply crime preven...

A Korean woman who was forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II died Sunday. The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan said Sunday the woman had died earlier in the morning. The funeral will be held in private as per her and her family’s wishes. She is the fifth surviving South Korean sex slavery victim to die this year. This ...

A 41-year-old man surnamed Kang was sentenced to life in prison for rape and murder of a neighborhood woman. The Supreme Court on Sunday confirmed the life sentence and 200 hours of sex offender treatment program given by lower courts. Kang was arrested in May last year for forcibly taking a 59-year-old woman he met in an elevator to his home, then sexually assaulting and strangling her to deat...

A 72-year-old man was hospitalized after setting himself on fire near Sejong Center in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Thursday morning. Fire authorities said the man attempted self-immolation at 8:34 a.m. at a park near the performing arts theater. Police found at the scene a bag believed to belong to the man, inside which were a written note asking Japan to “retract export curbs” along with a fli...

Police said Thursday they had detained a Vietnamese man, 32, on suspicion of stealing nearly 1,000 items of clothing in five days using a theft alarm-proofed bag. According to Jongno Police Station, the man stole 958 pieces of clothing worth about 36 million won from seven stores between July 20 and July 24. Police said the man used a customized bag to dodge anti-theft sensors at stores. The ba...

Two Asiana Airlines mechanics were injured by a lightning strike Wednesday morning during airplane repair work at Incheon Airport. According to Asiana Airlines, the mechanics suffered an electric shock when the plane they were working on was struck by lightning at around 11:25 a.m. near the airport’s hangar. The injured mechanics, who were rushed to nearby hospital, were not in serious conditio...

Police raided the production company of the K-pop audition TV series “Produce 101” on Wednesday. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the agency’s cybercrime investigation unit executed a search and seizure operation at cable channel Mnet’s headquarters in Mapo, western Seoul. Mnet -- owned by mass media and entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM -- asked police to investigate its prod...

Long-term heavy smokers aged between 54 and 74 are eligible for National Health Insurance-covered lung cancer screenings, starting from Monday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday that individuals aged 54-74 with a smoking history of at least 30 pack-years can test for lung cancer under a state health plan every two years. A pack-year is equivalent to tobacco intake of one pack of...

Hungarian swimmer Tamas Kenderesi who is competing in the FINA world championships in Gwangju was sent to prosecutors Monday on charges of groping a teenager. On Sunday, cops from the Gwangju Seobu Station arrested the 22-year-old swimmer on suspicion of groping an 18-year-old woman at a club at around 3 a.m. Police said he initially denied all the allegations during questioning, but later admit...

Police have launched a probe into circumstances surrounding the leak of video footage taken during the arrest of Koh Yu-jeong, a prime suspect in the murder of her ex-husband. The leaked footage, released Saturday by local media, shows Koh’s arrest on June 1 at 10:32 a.m. in the parking lot of an apartment block in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. As police officers handcuff her after infor...

The Food Safety Ministry issued a warning Friday against food poisoning and flesh-eating infection associated with Vibrio bacteria, urging caution in beach-going and seafood consumption. The ministry said infections of Vibrio bacteria, which thrive in warming waters, are most commonly reported from July to September. Vibrio parahaemolyticus causes food poisoning and gastrointestinal illnesses, ...

Investigation is underway into suspicions of illegal sex business operations at a Gangnam building owned by Daesung of K-pop group Big Bang. Seoul Gangnam Police Station said Friday the case involving four tenants of the boy band member’s property was sent to prosecutors in mid-June for violating facilities regulations. In April, police suspended operation of one of the building’s businesses --...

Interior and Safety Minister Chin Young said Thursday the ministry and the Seoul Metropolitan Government are far from reaching an agreement on the city’s plans to revamp Gwanghwamun Square. The ministry and the city government have had “lengthy discussions that have reached no agreement to date,” Chin said of the square’s renewal during a press briefing. In January, Seoul City announced a plan ...