Prosecutors raided Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s home for 11 hours from 9 a.m. Monday, an unprecedented move that raised questions on the possibility of a biased probe as well as the propriety of Cho keeping the post. The raid at the minister’s home, initially expected to last an hour or two, continued for 11 hours, reportedly after the Cho family’s lawyer took issue with the scope of the search wa...

A 23-year-old Korean staying in Japan visited Seoul in May for a nose and jawline surgery. The clinic she chose was located in the affluent district of Gangnam, which boasted raving reviews and dramatic before-and-after images on its website. Little did she know that it was the same clinic where a college student went brain-dead during rhinoplasty -- nose job surgery -- less than a year ago. “I...

Prosecutors raided Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s home Monday in the latest move in a monthlong probe into a corruption scandal involving Cho’s family. This makes Cho the first incumbent justice minister -- a post which oversees the prosecution’s personnel and administration -- to have his home raided by prosecutors. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office sent investigators to Cho’s home in...

The prime suspect in a series of at least eight rape-murders in the 1980s and early 1990s has denied all charges in three rounds of questioning, police said Friday. Police identified the suspect, a 56-year-old man surnamed Lee, after a DNA match linked him to three of the murders. Police visited Busan Prison for three consecutive days from Wednesday to Friday to question Lee, who has been servin...

Police have vowed to crack a cold case of serial rape and murder from more than 30 years ago, with a prime suspect identified via DNA testing. Police said the suspect, already in jail on another conviction, denied charges in the first round of questioning. Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said in a press briefing Thursday morning that DNA from the suspect and from at least three of the se...

Prosecutors questioned Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s daughter Monday as part of an investigation into a college admissions scandal involving her mother, Chung Kyung-shim. The first hearing for Chung, indicted on charges of forging a document that is believed to have influenced her daughter’s admission to a medical school, will be held Oct. 18, the Seoul Central District Court said. Cho Min, 28, wa...

An 11-day health workers’ strike at the National Cancer Center ended Monday morning after the labor union and the hospital management reached an agreement on pay and working conditions. The hospital’s operations will return to normal Tuesday at 6 a.m. The management and the union agreed to a 1.8 percent pay hike, overtime pay in 10-minute increments, transportation allowances for night-shift wor...

Former President Park Geun-hye, who is serving a 32-year jail term for bribery, abuse of power and election law violations, was admitted to a hospital for surgery, the Justice Ministry said Monday. Park was transferred to Catholic University St. Mary’s Hospital in southern Seoul Monday morning for a surgery on her left shoulder. The former president, who has been in the Seoul Detention Center ...

Justice Minister Cho Kuk continues to be relatively popular as a prospective presidential candidate, seemingly unhurt by the prosecution’s ongoing probe into corruption allegations surrounding him and his family. In an opinion poll of 1,026 adults conducted by marketing agency Kantar from Sept. 9-11, Cho ranked third with 7 percent of support, falling behind Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon with 15.9 ...

Prosecutors took their probe into Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s family’s private equity fund to the next level over the weekend, with a key figure in the Cho family’s shady investment activities grilled for the second day Sunday. Justice Minister Cho’s cousin once removed was arrested Saturday morning at Incheon Airport on allegations of embezzlement, among other offenses. The arrest came three wee...

A group of activist lawyers continued to decry Wednesday a state human rights watchdog’s probe of the high-profile defection of North Korean restaurant workers in 2016, the results of which were shared with relevant authorities this week. Lawyers for a Democratic Society, more widely known by the Korean acronym Minbyun, staged a protest outside the National Human Rights Commission of Korea headq...

A group of South Korean lawyers said Tuesday it would challenge the National Human Rights Commission probe on 12 North Korean waitresses who reportedly defected here in 2016. The public human rights watchdog said Monday it found insufficient evidence to suspect state agencies intervened in the mass defection. Lawyers for a Democratic Society, more widely known by the Korean acronym Minbyun, had ...

With a labor union strike continuing at the National Cancer Center, more patients are deciding to leave the state-run hospital. Workers at the hospital went on strike over pay conditions on Sept. 6, marking the first strike at the center since it opened in 2001. “Throughout its 18 years of existence, there have never been wage negotiations at the National Cancer Center,” the NCC branch of the K...

Grandchildren of conglomerate families accused of habitual use of marijuana received suspended prison terms Friday. According to Incheon District Court, SK and Hyundai scions Choi Young-geun, 31, and 28-year-old Chung Hyun-sun were sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years for violating the narcotics law. They were also each fined 10 million won. Choi was indicted in April for sm...

The National Police Agency said Friday that 4,185 cases of dating violence were reported between July and August during a two-month crackdown. Of those reports, 2,052 led to suspects being booked and 82 led to suspects being detained. Physical assault was the most common type of abuse reported, accounting for 64.1 percent of the complaints. Forcible confinement was next, accounting for 9.6 perc...