Filipino gets jail term for attempted murder on stepson

Daejeon High Court on Friday upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a 39-year-old Filipino man to two years in jail for the attempted murder of his stepson. The defendant had been accused of stabbing his 22-year-old stepson in the back while he was eating lunch in the kitchen of their apartment in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, on July 4. He chased down the victim and stabbed him again, this time in the chest. The defendant said he suspected that the victim had poisoned the food of his

Social AffairsJan. 26, 2024

Opposition leader accuses Yoon of covering up first lady's allegations

Main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung accused President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday of interfering in the affairs of the ruling People Power Party and covering up suspicions of wrongdoing involving the first lady. The comments followed Yoon's public clash with Han Dong-hoon, the chief of the ruling People Power Party, over allegations that first lady Kim Keon Hee received a luxury bag as a gift in 2022 and concerns about party nominations for the upcoming general elections in April. "The pr

PoliticsJan. 26, 2024

N. Korea could turn to nukes 'more easily' in crisis: US think tank report

North Korea could resort to nuclear weapons in a crisis "more easily" as it is making "significant" progress toward implementing a more robust nuclear strategy, a US think tank report said Thursday. The conservative Heritage Foundation released the 2024 Index of US Military Strength, providing its analysis of threats from North Korea, China, Iran and Russia, as well as terrorist threats from the Middle East and North Africa. Calling the North a "perennial" problem i

North KoreaJan. 26, 2024

US not seeing indications of 'direct' N. Korean threat at this time: Washington official

The United States is not seeing indications of a direct military threat from North Korea at the moment, a US official said Thursday, after Washington officials were reported to have warned North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could take some "lethal" military action against South Korea in the coming months. Earlier in the day, The New York Times reported on the possibility of the North's military action as concerns rose over Kim's pugnacious rhetoric against the South and his regi

North KoreaJan. 26, 2024

Speaker blasts Yoon bodyguards' 'excessive' use of force

National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo on Thursday criticized the president's bodyguards' use of force against a minor party lawmaker at a recent event. Calling the restraint "excessive," he warned that such actions should not be repeated and called for the Cabinet and the parliament to have mutual respect. "Appropriate solutions must be adopted, to prevent such excessive measures from the president's bodyguards," Kim said during a speech at Thursday's pl

PoliticsJan. 25, 2024

Ruling party lawmaker assaulted by teenager

  People Power Party Rep. Bae Hyun-jin was struck multiple times in the head with a blunt object by a teenage assailant on Thursday, police said. Bae was entering a building in Sinsa-dong, southern Seoul, when she was attacked at around 5:18 p.m., according to a report filed with the police. The report identified the blunt object as a stone. The 41-year-old TV broadcaster-turned-lawmaker was immediately rushed to the hospital. Bae suffered a "1-centimeter laceration" on her scalp,

PoliticsJan. 25, 2024

Presidential office names new senior science secretary in R&D push

President Yoon Suk Yeol's office announced on Thursday it has created a new senior secretary post for science and technology to embolden the administration's push for research and development. Park Sang-ook, associate professor of science policy at Seoul National University, will take the new role, according to Yoon's office. Park, under Sung Tae-yoon, presidential chief of staff for policy, will supervise four presidential secretaries -- each dedicated to R&D-related policy,

PoliticsJan. 25, 2024

Reality check: How diverse is Korea really? LGBTQ+ and politics (4)

South Korea defaults to heterosexuality as the predominant sexual identity publicly represented by political leaders. Among national politicians and elected parliamentarians, there have not been any public disclosures of a politician's sexual orientation throughout Korea’s entire legislative history. This lack of openly acknowledged LGBTQ+ representation in the country's top political leadership underscores the degree of exclusion and discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in

PoliticsJan. 25, 2024

Workplace safety act to impact small businesses from Saturday

A workplace safety law is set to be expanded to apply to small businesses with 50 employees or less from Saturday, as rival parties failed to reach an agreement Thursday on deferring the plan. The safety law holds employers liable for serious industrial accidents, and employers could face at least one year in prison or fines of up to 1 billion won ($749,000) in the event of a fatal workplace accident. The government had earlier granted a grace period for companies with fewer than 50 employees, w

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2024

School bullying investigator scheme 'vague': teachers' group

A leading teachers' organization said Thursday that the government's plan to hire "dedicated investigators" to handle school bullying cases would be ineffective due to an inadequate payment system and unclear legal authority. “Looking at job postings for those dedicated investigators, their allowance is 300,000 ($224) to 400,000 won per case of school violence, and the amount of monthly salary they are expected to earn is only around 1 million won per month. The recru

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2024

Korean doctors perform free surgery for Madagascar neurofibroma patient

Surgeons at Korea University Anam Hospital have offered pro bono surgery to a 30-year-old neurofibroma patient named Rasoanandrasana Vaosolo from the Republic of Madagascar, the hospital said Thursday. KUAH, one of the leading health institutions here, said that it decided to conduct the operation as well as cover the patient’s medical expenses as the developing country lacks healthcare infrastructure. A neurofibroma is a type of peripheral nerve tumor that forms soft bumps on or under the

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2024

Korea unveils W134tr rail plan to cut Seoul commutes to 30 minutes

South Korea on Thursday unveiled a spending package worth 134 trillion won ($100.4 billion) to achieve a 30-minute commute for residents in the Greater Seoul area, mainly through a new suburban rail network called the GTX. The plan encompasses spending 38.6 trillion won to build GTX routes aimed at shrinking daily commute times to a quarter of what they are currently. The GTX, or Great Train Express, will comprise six lines covering the Greater Seoul area, as well as potentially parts of Gangwon

PoliticsJan. 25, 2024

North Korea claims cruise missile upgrade

The missiles North Korea launched toward the sea west of the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday had been its new strategic cruise missiles, according to its official media. The state official Korean Central News Agency said Thursday that it had test-fired the new strategic cruise missile, whose name Pulhwasal-3-31 means fire arrow in Korean, for the first time the previous day. North Korea’s Missile General Bureau said the first testing of the cruise missiles came as a “part of the proces

DefenseJan. 25, 2024

NK conducts most crypto hacks in 2023: report

North Korea-linked hackers carried out the largest number of cryptocurrency thefts in 2023, despite a decrease in the overall amount stolen, a US blockchain analysis firm reported Wednesday. The number of hacks surged to 20 in 2023, marking the "highest number on record" since 2016, according to an online report released by Chainalysis, headquartered in New York. The trend of cryptocurrency theft has steadily increased since 2020, with North Korea-associated hackers conducting five, ni

North KoreaJan. 25, 2024

103-year-old man returned home after getting lost in sub-zero temperatures

South Korean police said Thursday that a 103-year-old South Korean man who wandered off in sub-freezing temperatures in Seoul has safely returned home, thanks to a bus driver who reported him to officials. The man, surnamed Bang, left his home in Dongdaemun-gu at 5:37 a.m. on Wednesday. The police were soon notified and a search was launched. The nation's capital experienced temperatures ranging from minus 3.7 degrees Celsius to minus 11.2 C on Wednesday, according to the Korea Meteorologic

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2024

Rehab absentee found stabbed to death

A South Korean man in his 40s who had been admitted to an alcohol addiction treatment center in Gyeonggi Province was found dead in a nearby warehouse with a stab wound to his neck, police said Thursday. According to Uiwang Police Station, the victim's body was found at around 4:20 p.m. on Wednesday at an empty warehouse in Gocheon-dong, Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province. The victim had sustained a fatal stab wound to the neck, which the police believe to have been self-inflicted. The man had been

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2024

Woman gets suspended sentence for throwing dog from 3rd-floor apartment

A woman in her 40s was handed a four-month prison term with two years of probation and 40 hours of community service for throwing her dogs from an apartment balcony, according to the Yeongwol Branch of Chuncheon District Court on Thursday. The 49-year-old, whose identity has been withheld, was charged with breaching the Animal Protection Act, which stipulates that killing an animal without justification shall be punished. It was reported that the woman threw two of her one to two-month-old puppi

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2024

Indonesian sailor commended for saving woman in sea

A 37-year-old Indonesian man who saved a woman from sea received a certificate of appreciation from the Ulsan Coast Guard Station on Wednesday, according to the officials. Riyanto, a sailor of the 29-ton fishing vessel Dongchang, saw a 30-something woman fall into the water at the Bangeojin Port in Ulsan last Thursday. He jumped into the water and held onto her until the coast guard arrived for rescue. The woman was resuscitated and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. It was found that

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2024

Former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha to head Asia Society

Former South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, 68, has been appointed as the 9th president and chief executive officer of the Asia Society, according to the organization's board of trustees on Wednesday. Kang, who held the position of Seoul's top diplomat from 2017 to 2021, is set to assume her new role in April. Before becoming S. Korea's first female foreign affairs minister, she served as a special policy adviser to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Established in 19

Foreign AffairsJan. 25, 2024

Man acquitted after placing 'no parking' sign on illegally parked car

A South Korean court recently cleared criminal charges for a man who had been fined for placing a "no parking" signboard on a car that had been blocking the entrance to an underground parking at an apartment complex, the Korea Legal Aid Corporation said Wednesday. In a case made public by the state-run company, the defendant had sought out the group's help after a local court handed him a fine of 700,000 won ($520) for property damage. The owner of the car had filed charges agains

Social AffairsJan. 25, 2024