South Korea will introduce measures to protect foreign workers in the entertainment industry starting next year, the Ministry of Justice said Tuesday. The ministry said the new measures will apply to foreigners holding the E-6 visa, a long-term work visa for the culture and entertainment sectors, effective from Jan. 1, 2020. Proxy applications will no longer be allowed for stay permit evaluatio...

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- Korea is hosting an international meeting to fight the rising public health threat of drug resistance. The seventh session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission task force on antimicrobial resistance kicked off Monday in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, to be held for five days through Friday. In 2015, the World Health Assembly adopted a global action plan to tackl...

Minor opposition Bareunmirae Party, formed in February last year to challenge the bipartisan establishment, is on the verge of splitting. The party’s meeting for “nonpartisan initiative” has launched a committee to prepare for the formation of a new party with “a centrist reform agenda.” Heading the committee is Rep. Ha Tae-keung, a conservative politician who helped integrate factions supporti...

Korean Chinese make up the largest group of registered foreign residents in the country, especially in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, the latest official data showed Sunday. Meanwhile, in Daejeon and on Jeju Island, Chinese people without Korean ancestry accounted for the biggest number of registered residents. According to the Korea Immigration Service, of 1,274,775 registered foreigners here, w...

Prosecutors grilled Vice Mayor of Ulsan Song Byung-gi on Friday over Cheong Wa Dae’s suspected meddling in regional elections last year. Song’s home, office and car were also raided by prosecution agents at around 8:50 a.m. the same day. Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office launched the operation after it was revealed Thursday that Song had informed the presidential office about alleged w...

The Democratic Party went on the offensive against the prosecution Thursday, characterizing the investigations into alleged abuse of power by the Blue House as an attempt to resist prosecutorial reform. The ruling party convened the first meeting of an intra-party committee to call on the prosecution to conduct an unbiased investigation. The committee’s head Rep. Sul Hoon said, “The prosecution...

In an apparent push for the upcoming general election, the main opposition party announced on Wednesday a replacement of a key party post. During a supreme council meeting convened Wednesday by Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn, Liberty Korea Party decided Floor Leader Na Kyung-won will be leaving her post on Tuesday when her term expires. The decision comes as the party continues to lag behind the ruling...

The Ministry of Health and Welfare apologized Tuesday for a comment from the minister regarding a child-on-child sexual abuse case that has drawn public outrage. Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo said Monday morning that a recent incident of a prepubescent child’s molestation of another child at a kindergarten in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, was part of “natural behavior over stages of development...

CHEONGJU, North Chungcheong Province – He was 22 years old when the police came for him. Now 53, after spending 19 1/2 years in prison for the rape and murder of a child and another 10 years as paroled ex-con, he is to undergo a retrial to clear his name in one of Korea’s most notorious crimes. At a home for ex-prisoners in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, the man, who asked to be identifi...

Main opposition Liberty Korea Party lawmakers are taking up the outdoor hunger strike started by party chief Hwang Kyo-ahn, after he was hospitalized Wednesday night, on the eighth day of his fasting. Hwang, who fell unconscious around 11 p.m. Wednesday, was rushed to Severance Hospital in Sinchon, Seoul, where he is receiving medical treatment, party officials said. Upon regaining consciousness...

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who refused to answer any questions in two rounds of questioning by the prosecution, may be called in for a third round this week. An additional inquiry may be needed based on evidence seized during a raid of Cho’s law school office Nov. 6, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Monday. Prosecutors said they would question Cho over certai...

Singer Goo Hara, who was found dead at her home Sunday, left a note, according to police. A note written by Goo was found on a table in her living room at around 6 p.m. Sunday by her housekeeper, who then filed a report with police, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said during a press briefing Monday. Police said in the note she “despaired over personal affairs.” Police added that based on...

Three South Korean men have died after being rescued from a capsized boat near Jeju Island. The 24-ton fishing boat with 14 people aboard overturned 87 kilometers southwest of Marado, an island 8 kilometers off the southern coast of Jeju, on Monday morning. Thirteen of the 14 crew members -- eight Koreans and six Indonesians -- have been rescued and transferred to nearby hospitals, but three we...

About 200 college students gathered Saturday afternoon at Seoul Plaza and marched some 2 kilometers toward the Chinese Embassy in Jung-gu, central Seoul, in a rally opposing police brutality against protesters in Hong Kong. “We condemn state violence,” the students said. “Leaders in Korea and around the world are turning a blind eye to the horrors in Hong Kong in fear of the communist government...

A police officer was handed a prison sentence for taking tens of millions of won in exchange for covering up crimes by the operator of a prostitution website. Suwon District Court said Sunday the police officer was sentenced to six years in jail, an 80 million won ($67,780) fine and an additional 77.7 million won for embezzlement, fraud, disclosure of official secrets and dereliction of duty. T...