[Newsmaker] Police probe ex-YG chief on gambling charges

The police said Friday that they are probing allegations that Yang Hyun-suk, former CEO and chief producer of K-pop entertainment powerhouse YG Entertainment, gambled overseas.South Koreans are prohibited from gambling at home and abroad.Upon a tip-off, the police are looking through Yang’s financial reports to investigate whether he secured his gambling funds through illegal foreign exchange transactions.Yang, 49, is already under investigation on suspicions that he procured sexual servic

Social AffairsAug. 9, 2019

[Newsmaker] Olympic short track champion Lim Hyo-jun banned for 1 year for sexually harassing male teammate

Olympic short track speed skating champion Lim Hyo-jun has been suspended for one year for sexually harassing a male teammate. The Korea Skating Union reached the decision Thursday evening, saying Lim, who won a gold medal in the men's 1,500m at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, will be banned from all skating-related activities until Aug. 7, 2020.During training on June 17, Lim pulled down the pants of a younger teammate with female skaters present at Jincheon National Training Center in Ji

More SportsAug. 9, 2019

[Newsmaker] Interior Ministry puts brakes on Seoul City plans for Gwanghwamun makeover

The Ministry of Interior and Safety has asked the Seoul Metropolitan Government to put the city’s plans to revamp Gwanghwamun Square on hold.According to the Interior Ministry on Thursday, the ministry told the city government July 30 that a public consensus should precede the plan’s execution. The ministry asked that civic groups be involved in the discussion, citing negative public sentiment over the Seoul city project.The square renewal proposal submitted by Seoul encroaches on th

Social AffairsAug. 8, 2019

[Newsmaker] South Korea expected to conduct maritime defense drills on Dokdo this month

South Korea is planning to conduct combined maritime defense drills on and around its easternmost islets of Dokdo as early as this month, government sources said Wednesday. During a parliamentary committee session, National Security Director Chung Eui-yong confirmed Tuesday that the government would carry out two maritime drills this year. While the date has not yet been decided, military sources said the maritime drills are likely to take place before or after the Liberation Day holiday Aug. 15

DefenseAug. 7, 2019

[Newsmaker] Korean victims of WWII atomic bombings remembered in ceremony

On the 74th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, a ceremony in South Gyeongsang Province remembered the tens of thousands of Koreans who lost their lives in the foreign cities after being taken there against their will.Over 200,000 people were killed by the two atomic bombs that were dropped Aug. 6 and 9, respectively, in 1945. Most of the victims were Japanese civilians, but some of the dead and injured were Koreans who had been drafted for forced labor and other forms of exploit

Social AffairsAug. 6, 2019

[Newsmaker] Presbyterian court rules against father-to-son leadership transfer at megachurch

The court of the Presbyterian Church of Korea ruled early Tuesday that a megachurch pastor’s succession to the post previously held by his father was invalid, in what is seen as a warning about the widespread practice of hereditary leadership in Korean churches.Rev. Kim Sam-hwan, the founder of Myungsung Church in southeastern Seoul, which has a membership of 100,000, named his eldest son, Rev. Kim Ha-na, as his successor in 2017, giving him control over the church’s massive finances

Social AffairsAug. 6, 2019

[Newsmaker] Typhoon Francisco to hit Korea on Tuesday afternoon

Typhoon Francisco, the season’s eighth typhoon, will hit Korea from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday, with heavy rains expected across the country, the weather agency said Monday.The typhoon was moving northwest at a speed of 24 kilometers per hour from about 390 km east of Kagoshima, Japan, as of 3 p.m. Monday. It is expected to land on the country’s south coast between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.Francisco is expected

Social AffairsAug. 5, 2019

[Newsmaker] Sex slavery statue closed off from view at Aichi Triennale 2019

An exhibition of a statue representing victims of wartime sexual slavery by the Japanese military has been shut off to the public following pressure from the Japanese government and right-wing civic groups.Organizers of the Aichi Triennale 2018, a Japanese international art show, have closed off the area displaying the statue created by two South Korean artists. It was the first-ever museum exhibition of the “Statue of a Girl of Peace” in Japan. Similar statues are displayed in Seoul

Foreign AffairsAug. 4, 2019

[Newsmaker] 72-year-old man dies from self-immolation in apparent protest of Japan's trade curbs

A 72-year-old South Korean man died on Saturday three days after setting himself on fire in Seoul, police said, in apparent protest against Japan's trade curbs against Korea.The man, whose identity was withheld, set himself ablaze near the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in the heart of Seoul on Thursday morning. He died at 5:41 p.m. on Saturday while being treated at a hospital, police said. Police found a bag that appears to belong to the man near the location of his self-immolation. The

Social AffairsAug. 4, 2019

[Newsmaker] S. Korea cancels licenses for 10 elite high schools

South Korea pushed ahead Friday to cancel the licenses of 10 "autonomous private high schools" despite strong protests from the elite institutions and parents. Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae gave consent to regional education offices' decision to deprive eight schools in Seoul and one in Busan of their special status as they failed to pass recent performance assessments, the ministry said. They will turned into regular schools next year. One school in Seoul applied for such conversion

Social AffairsAug. 2, 2019

[Newsmaker] Three dead at construction site hit by heavy downpour

A 15-member task force team was launched under Yangcheon Police Station on Thursday to investigate an accident at a rainwater pump construction site in Seoul that left three people dead, amid criticism that the accident could been avoidedAll three workers who went missing at the site amid heavy rainfall were confirmed dead, after two bodies were found early Thursday morning, according to fire authorities. Torrential downpours on Wednesday morning isolated three workers at a rainwater drainage fa

Social AffairsAug. 1, 2019

[Newsmaker] Search continues for missing teenage girl in Cheongju

Hundreds of personnel continued the search Wednesday for a teenage girl who went missing eight days ago while hiking with her family in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.Cho Eunnuri, 14, was last seen near the upper part of a stream in Naeam-ri, Gadeok-myeon in Cheongju at around 10:40 a.m. on July 23. She has intellectual disabilities. About 151 centimeters tall, Cho was wearing a gray, short-sleeved T-shirt, black skirted leggings, gray-colored aqua shoes and blue horn-rimmed glasses at the

Social AffairsJuly 31, 2019

[Newsmaker] ‘Park Yoo-chun invited police officers home while under probe’

Police said Tuesday they are looking into suspicions that singer-actor Park Yoo-chun invited police officers, who were in charge of probing rape allegations against him, home for a meal while under investigation. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency received a tip-off that Park, 33, invited the officers for dinner and drinks at his home in 2016 while he was being investigated by Gangnam Police Station for suspected rape. Four women filed complaints against Park, then a member of boy band JY

Social AffairsJuly 30, 2019

[Newsmaker] Police probe leaked video footage of Jeju murder suspect

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 informing her of her Miranda rights, Koh asks, “Why? I never did that. I am the victim.”Ko

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2019

[Newsmaker] S. Korean Ko Jin-young wins Evian Championship for 2nd career LPGA major

South Korean Ko Jin-young has captured the Evian Championship for her second career LPGA major title, booking a return to the top of the world rankings in the process.Ko won the fourth major tournament of the 2019 season at 15-under 269 at the par-71 Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France, on Sunday, beating three players, including fellow Korean Kim Hyo-joo, by two strokes.Jennifer Kupcho of the United States and Feng Shanshan of China also finished at 13-under.This is Ko's fifth LPG

GolfJuly 29, 2019

[Newsmaker] Foreign swimmer arrested for alleged sexual harassment

A foreign swimmer participating in the FINA World Championships in Gwangju was arrested Sunday for alleged sexual harassment.Gwangju Seobu Police Station in the southern metropolitan city said it has arrested the swimmer, 22, on charges of sexually harassing an 18-year-old woman at a club around 3 a.m. Sunday. The woman called police immediately and the swimmer, whose identity was withheld, was arrested on the spot.The swimmer, accompanied by an attorney from his native country, is said to be de

Social AffairsJuly 28, 2019

[Newsmaker] Daesung denies association with alleged illegal business in his building

Big Bang’s Daesung on Friday apologized for the ongoing controversy surrounding his building in Gangnam, Seoul, while denying any association with an alleged illegal entertainment business at his property. News outlets reported earlier Friday that an illegal entertainment business had been operating in the Big Bang member’s building in the Nonhyeon-dong neighborhood of Gangnam. An initial report said that an illegal entertainment business -- speculated to involve prostitution --

PerformanceJuly 26, 2019

[Newsmaker] Ex-President Park gets reduced term

A high court on Thursday sentenced former President Park Geun-hye to five years in prison for causing losses to state coffers by unlawfully receiving money from chiefs of the country’s spy agency. The Seoul High Court handed down the five-year prison term and asked her to pay 2.7 billion won ($2.3 million) in forfeitures, a reduction of one year from the lower court’s ruling and down from 3.3 billion won. The prosecution said it would appeal. It sought a 12-year term in prison for Pa

Social AffairsJuly 25, 2019

[Newsmaker] Union of delivery workers refuses to handle Uniqlo goods

With South Koreans increasingly taking part in a boycott of Japanese goods, the Parcel Delivery Workers’ Solidarity Union on Wednesday refused to handle Uniqlo products.“Parcel Delivery workers will participate in the boycott by refusing to deliver Uniqlo (products). We object to the Abe administration’s economic retaliation,” members of the union said in a press conference in front of the former Japanese Embassy building in central Seoul.“Uniqlo (dismissed) the boy

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2019

[Newsmaker] National Assembly delegation leaves for US to discuss Japan trade curbs

A bipartisan delegation representing South Korea’s National Assembly left for Washington on Wednesday morning to meet with US and Japanese counterparts in hopes of finding a breakthrough in Japan’s latest trade restrictions. Following the five-day visit to Washington, a separate delegation is to visit Tokyo next week.“Japan argues that South Korea has violated international law, but does not provide details. I plan to address that during the Korea-US-Japan Trilateral Legislativ

PoliticsJuly 24, 2019