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 ...

The closed-circuit TV clip of a man in a clown mask attempting to break into an apartment turned out to have been a viral marketing stunt by a delivery service agency, according to police. Seoul Gwanak Police Station said Thursday the police summoned the video’s publisher, a 34-year-old surnamed Choi, for questioning. The video, posted Tuesday on YouTube under the title “CCTV of psychopath burg...

Four South Korean men apologized Wednesday for mocking women who were forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II. Six surviving sex slavery victims said Thursday the men visited them at a shelter in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, kneeled and apologized. The men, who are in their 20s and 30s, spat on a statue representing a wartime sex slave on July 3 in Ansan, Gyeonggi Pr...

The government on Tuesday launched a committee to address the adoption of the World Health Organization-classified gaming disorder into Korea’s own disease code. The joint government-private sector committee is convened by the Prime Minister’s Office for Government Policy Coordination following a failed consensus between health and gaming circles, and its formation comes after nearly two-month-l...

A van carrying 16 passengers crashed Monday morning in Gangwon Province, leading to deaths and injuries of all those aboard. Upon investigation, police found the van’s driver, a 61-year-old surnamed Kang, had a criminal record involving another fatal car wreck. According to police, Kang was charged with a similar van crash 10 years ago. In January 2009, the van she was driving hit an excavator i...

Six Thai nationals were aboard the van that crashed Monday morning in Gangwon Province, that resulted in the deaths or injuries of all of the passengers, police said Tuesday. A Hyundai van carrying 16 passengers -- seven Koreans, nine foreign nationals -- crashed into a guardrail on a road in northeastern coastal area in Samcheok City at 7:33 a.m. Monday, killing four. Of the four fatalities, t...