Love kills: Gaslighting and insurance fraud surround death of husband

A murder case is gripping South Korea with a curious blend of fatal attraction, gaslighting and insurance fraud, but law enforcement authorities face a tough fight to prove the crime. It is the story of a man named Yoon Sang-yeop, who drowned in the summer of 2019 during a trip to a valley with his wife Lee Eun-hae and her friends, just four hours before his life insurance expired. How it came to light Lee, 31, is now under arrest together with Cho Hyun-soo, 30, with whom she was in an ext

Social AffairsMay 1, 2022

S.Korea should stand firm on security issues against China: FM nominee

Foreign Minister nominee Park Jin has said South Korea should not discuss issues of undermining national security and sovereignty with China, expressing opposition to the Moon Jae-in government’s China policy including its commitment to the “Three Noes.” Park clarified the dissimilarities between the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol government’s approach to China and its predecessor in a written statement presented to South Korea’s National Assembly on Saturday. The nomin

Foreign AffairsMay 1, 2022

Yoon taps foreign policy mentor as top security official

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has appointed his close aide Kim Sung-han, who served as vice foreign minister during the Lee Myung-bak administration, as the head of the National Security Office in a new streamlined presidential office. “Nominee Kim Sung-han is an authority in foreign affairs and security, who served as the second vice minister of foreign affairs and trade, and has theoretical and policy-making capabilities,” Yoon’s chief of staff Chang Je-won announced at t

PoliticsMay 1, 2022

Moon thanks workers for dedication in fight against virus on Labor Day

President Moon Jae-in on Sunday stressed the government's efforts in enhancing labor rights as he thanked workers for their dedication in the fight against the novel coronavirus. In his message marking the 132nd Labor Day, Moon said his government worked hard on guaranteeing fundamental labor rights in the past five years. "We ratified key International Labor Organization conventions, raised minimum wage and exercised the 52-hour work week system ... and made progress in work-life balance,&

PoliticsMay 1, 2022

New COVID-19 cases dip below 40,000; mask mandate set to be lifted

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 40,000 on Sunday, marking a steady decline from early last month, with the country set to lift the outdoor mask mandate in a major step toward return to normalcy. The country reported 37,771 new COVID-19 infections, including 30 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,275,649, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Sunday's tally is a marked drop from the previous day's 43,286 and 50,568 reported Friday. In terms of Sun

Social AffairsMay 1, 2022

National Assembly passes controversial bill on prosecution reform

The ruling party-dominated National Assembly on Saturday passed one of two controversial bills on prosecution reform amid strong protest from the main opposition party, heralding bipartisan standoff down the road. For the past weeks, the Democratic Party (DP) has vowed to pass the two bills on prosecution reform which would immediately deprive the prosecution of all investigative powers. Early this week, the ruling party railroaded the legislation through the judiciary committee and said it

PoliticsApril 30, 2022

Kids’ take on pandemic

Children mimic what they have observed. Through role-playing activities, they try to make sense of the world around them. So it may be only natural that the COVID-19 pandemic has permeated young children’s play, with words like corona, PCR and vaccine firmly in their vocabulary now. Here are some of social media posts that show how young kids are having fun in the COVID-19 era. Learning how to properly PCR Plastic straws for nasal swab sticks. Pieces of paper cut in a rectangular s

Social AffairsApril 30, 2022

[Photo News] Ruins of Mariupol from Ukraine-Russia conflict

The streets of Mariupol, destroyed by constant bombing and shelling from Russian troops, are now littered with rubble, shell fragments and remains of broken buildings. A local resident walks near a collapsing apartment building, likely damaged by Russian air strikes. While Russia declared victory over Mariupol last Thursday, the marks of Ukraine’s fight against Russian forces remain.  This photo shows a shrine among the debris, amid Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine, taken on Thurs

InternationalApril 30, 2022

FM nominee reaffirms push for hotline among two Koreas, US for dialogue anytime

South Korea's incoming administration will strive to establish a system for the two Koreas and the United States to have dialogue anytime through a liaison office at the truce village of Panmunjom or Washington, D.C., the nominee to become Seoul's top diplomat said Saturday. In a written report to lawmakers ahead of his confirmation hearing, Park Jin pointed out that the three nations are "core parties concerned" with Korean Peninsula security issues. Setting up such a liaison offi

Foreign AffairsApril 30, 2022

New COVID-19 cases fall below 50,000; outdoor mask mandate set to be lifted

South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 50,000 on Saturday as the omicron curve has turned downward and the country is set to lift the outdoor mask mandate. The country reported 43,286 new COVID-19 infections, including 12 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,237,878, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The number of new virus cases marks a sharp drop from 50,568 reported the previous day. There were 70 more COVID-19 deaths, with the death t

Social AffairsApril 30, 2022

N. Korean leader vows to 'preemptively' contain nuclear threats by hostile forces

  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed the need to bolster the country's military power to "preemptively and thoroughly contain" nuclear threats from hostile forces, according to Pyongyang's state media Saturday. He met with top military commanders who organized a massive street parade in Pyongyang earlier this week, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. Kim was quoted as calling on his military commanders to maintain the "absolute superiority" of the arm

North KoreaApril 30, 2022

[Interactive] Half of call center workers had suicidal thoughts due to poor labor conditions

　Almost half of call center workers have thought about taking their own lives due to poor labor conditions and extreme emotional labor, a state human rights watchdog survey showed. 　In the survey of 1,996 call center people conducted by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea from August to October, 48 percent said they thought of killing themselves and 30 percent said they had the thought in the past year. 　As reasons for having suicidal thoughts, economic difficulty was cited the most

NationalApril 30, 2022

DP nominates ex-party chief as candidate for Seoul mayor

South Korea's ruling Democratic Party on Friday picked former party chief Song Young-gil as its candidate for the mayoralty of Seoul in the June 1 local elections. In a two-way primary race, Song defeated Kim Jin-ae, a former lawmaker of the minor Open Democratic Party, which merged with the DP in January, according to the party. It did not reveal the number of votes won by each contender. Song will compete with current Mayor Oh Se-hoon of the main opposition People Power Party in one of the

PoliticsApril 29, 2022

South Korea to reopen embassy in Kyiv

South Korea will reopen its embassy in Kyiv shortly amid stabilizing situations in the Ukrainian capital, the foreign ministry said Friday. South Korean embassy officials were evacuated from Kyiv in mid-February and operated temporary offices in the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Chernivtsi, and Romania. The Lviv mission was closed on March 18. The ministry said embassy officials will return to Kyiv for smoother cooperation with the Ukrainian government and the protection of South Korean nationa

Foreign AffairsApril 29, 2022

FM nominee vows to push for Chinese leader's visit to S. Korea

Foreign Minister nominee Park Jin affirmed his commitment Friday to revitalizing high-level "strategic communication" with China, including through reciprocal visits by South Korean and Chinese leaders. Park made the remarks in his written answers to lawmakers' questions ahead of his confirmation hearing scheduled for Monday, as the incoming administration of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol faces a series of foreign policy challenges, including an intensifying Sino-US rivalry. "I

Foreign AffairsApril 29, 2022

Outdoor mask mandate to end Monday

South Korea will lift the outdoor mask mandate Monday, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said, though people will still need to wear a mask when they attend gatherings of 50 or more people or use multiuse facilities. The decision on mask wearing comes after the country last week scrapped most COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, including gathering limits and business hour curfews, as part of its effort to return to pre-pandemic normalcy amid a downward trend in COVID-19 cases. "Although ther

Social AffairsApril 29, 2022

Moon says there are not only cons but also pros to pardoning ex-President Lee

Outgoing President Moon Jae-in said Friday he will determine whether to pardon former President Lee Myung-bak after taking judicial justice and public consensus into consideration, noting there are not only cons but also pros to the proposed pardon. The remark, made in response to online petitions opposing Lee's pardon, could suggest a higher likelihood of a pardon because Moon talked about those in favor of it, though presidential aides said the remark was no more than an expression of principl

PoliticsApril 29, 2022

[Newsmaker] UN head condemns attacks on civilians during Ukraine visit

KYIV -- The head of the United Nations said Ukraine has become ``an epicenter of unbearable heartache and pain`` -- a description underscored a short time later by the first Russian strike on the capital since Moscow's forces retreated weeks ago. Russia pounded targets all over Ukraine on Thursday, including the attack on Kyiv that struck a residential high-rise and another building and wounded 10 people, including at least one who lost a leg, according to Ukraine's emergency services. The bomba

Foreign AffairsApril 29, 2022

Japanese PM unlikely to attend Yoon’s inauguration ceremony: reports

South Korea’s Foreign Minister nominee Park Jin said Friday that the incoming government will welcome a Japanese delegation if they come to the presidential inauguration of Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol. Park, however, said he did not hear whether Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would travel to Seoul for the ceremony that is scheduled on May 10, and Japanese media outlets reported Kishida will not attend due to unresolved conflicts between the two countries. Citing severa

Foreign AffairsApril 29, 2022

Democratic Party determined to bring media reforms

The Democratic Party of Korea is pushing to try again in introducing regulatory measures on the press and the media industry, proposing a series of fresh bills this month for formal consideration. The liberal party on Wednesday submitted three separate bills for review after its legislators decided in a special committee that legislative fixes are needed to fulfill the party’s vision to bring reforms to the press and the media environment after its failed attempt to do so last year. Rep.

PoliticsApril 29, 2022