[Newsmaker] Pirates' Kang Jung-ho faces sexual assault probe in Chicago

Kang Jung-ho, Korean infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, is being investigated over a sexual assault allegation that emerged in Chicago, a U.S. newspaper said.Citing a police spokesman, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday (local time) that Kang faces the probe over an incident that allegedly took place when the Pirates were visiting the Chicago Cubs last month. Kang hasn't been charged with a crime.The Pirates said they are aware of the allegation and vowed full cooperation with the authoriti

BaseballJuly 6, 2016

[Newsmaker] SK-CJ HelloVision merger faces disapproval

SK Telecom faced a major setback on Tuesday over the Fair Trade Commission’s rejection of its request to take over CJ HelloVision -- a 1 trillion won deal that was widely expected to give a major boost to the nation’s leading mobile carrier in expanding its media platform business.The watchdog has notified SK Telecom that it will not permit the merger plan, saying the deal impedes fair market competition. The FTC also told the telecom giant that the two should neither carry out a merger, nor any

IndustryJuly 5, 2016

[Newsmaker] SKT launches world’s first nationwide IoT network in Korea

South Korea’s leading network operator SK Telecom launched a specialized network for the Internet of Things technology across the country on Monday, marking the world’s first commercial IoT network ever to be deployed nationwide, the company said.　SKT’s newly-launched LoRaWAN network, which stands for “long-range wide-area network,” is optimized to transmit small amounts of data at very low speeds of below 5Kbps, making it a fitting network for transferring data from a given object using limited

TechnologyJuly 4, 2016

[Newsmaker] 'I've said it all': Lotte founder’s daughter

[THE INVESTOR] Shin Young-ja, daughter of Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho and head of Lotte Foundation returned home on July 2 after 16 hours of questioning by prosecutors.“I’ve said it all,” Shin, 74, told reporters on this day, but did not elaborate. 　 Lotte founder‘s daughter Shin Young-ja (Yonhap)The authorities had summoned Shin to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ office the day before to be questioned on whether she received bribes from Jung Yoon-ho, the former head of cosmetics fi

IndustryJuly 2, 2016

[Newsmaker] Johnson withdraws from race for British PM

 Leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson on Thursday ruled himself out of the race to succeed Prime Minister David Cameron in a bombshell announcement just a week after Britain voted to leave the EU.The decision by the former London mayor upended the leadership contest in the ruling Conservative Party and added to the deep uncertainty over how and when Britain will split from the bloc.The shock outcome of the June 23 referendum has led to massive political upheaval, with warnings about the count

World NewsJuly 1, 2016

[Newsmaker] Ahn resigns amid party scandal

Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo and Chun Jung-bae, the two cochiefs of the opposition People’s Party, resigned from their posts Wednesday, assuming responsibility over the widening kickback scandal involving key party members.“I resign from (party) leadership, taking full political responsibility over this case,” said Ahn in an urgent briefing that followed a closed-door Supreme Council meeting.Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo (center) and Chun Jung-bae (left) announce their resignations as cochiefs of the People‘s Part

PoliticsJune 29, 2016

[Newsmaker] Korea’s vice president of AIIB taking leave

Hong Kyttack, the Korean vice president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank since February, has taken a six-month leave of absence from the Beijing-based institution amid a scandal back home surrounding his previous stint at Korea Development Bank. “Hong cited personal reasons for the leave,” Seoul’s Finance Ministry official said, confirming Hong’s absence at AIIB since last week. The Korean executive was absent at the regional bank’s maiden general meeting in Beijing on June 25, where

June 29, 2016

[Newsmaker] Ex-DSME chief taken into custody

Former Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering CEO Nam Sang-tae was taken into custody early Tuesday amid the widening probe into a massive accounting fraud. The Seoul Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said it was holding Nam in its custody, following a half-day questioning on Monday as a suspect in the alleged window dressing. It has found new allegations and spotted signs of destroying evidence, it added. (Yonhap)The office plans to ask the court to issue an arrest warrant for him on Wednesday. T

IndustryJune 28, 2016

[Newsmaker] Lee U-fan to take time to examine counterfeits of his paintings

Artist Lee U-fan, whose abstract paintings have become the subjects of art forgeries, took a look at the paintings the National Forensic Service identified as counterfeits for the first time Monday, but said he has yet to conclude if they are fakes. 　“I will come back (to the police) the day after tomorrow. There are things I have to check again,” said Lee as he left the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency after having examined the paintings. 　Lee’s attorney Choi Soon-yong explained that Lee would

PerformanceJune 27, 2016

[Newsmaker] Anti-EU figurehead Farage vindicated by Brexit vote

Nigel Farage has devoted his career to campaigning to leave the European Union, a once-impossible seeming goal he has now achieved following a referendum campaign peppered with his signature controversies. UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage in London on June 22, 2016 (AFP/Niklas Hallen)It was the rise of Farage’s UK Independence Party (Ukip) which effectively forced Prime Minister David Cameron to first promise a referendum in 2013.　Farage has played a high-profile role this year i

World BusinessJune 26, 2016

[Newsmaker] Cameron’s luck runs out

LONDON(AFP) -- Prime Minister David Cameron may go down in history as the man who led Britain out of the European Union, with a strong chance that he will not survive the country’s political earthquake.As Britain voted to become the first state ever to withdraw from the bloc on Thursday, according to national media forecasts, Cameron’s epitaph could be sealed after six years in power.“He’s put himself front and center of the Remain campaign, and to have lost the campaign would be a massive blow

World NewsJune 24, 2016

[Newsmaker] Syrians at airport win right to seek refugee status

　A South Korean court ruled Thursday in favor of nine Syrian asylum seekers who had been denied entry into the country to apply for the status. They stayed at an airport for the past six months awaiting the decision. 　The Incheon Administrative Court ordered the Justice Ministry to allow the asylum seekers to apply for refugee status in the country, saying depriving applicants of the chance to claim asylum should only be made in exceptional cases. 　A total of 28 Syrian asylum seekers filed a law

Social AffairsJune 23, 2016

[Newsmaker] GM union plagued by corruption charges

General Motors Korea has been hit by another setback after the prosecution found some dubious cash flow in the automaker’s recruiting process. Investigators are looking into allegations that some executives and members of the labor union were bribed in exchange for hiring subcontract workers to full-time regular workers. The new revelation came amid ongoing investigations into other corruption charges involved with its suppliers. The Incheon Prosecutor’s Office said earlier this week that it is

MobilityJune 22, 2016

[Newsmaker] [DECODED] Lotte’s ownership enigma

Cobweb, computer circuit board and maze. These are some of the words that Koreans use to describe the baffling complexity of the share ownership structure at Lotte Group, a conglomerate whose roots are in Japan but whose mainstay of business is in Korea. By any standard, whether in Korea or Japan, where poor corporate governance is considered a major drag on corporate value, Lotte’s setup looks opaque, antiquated and subpar. The image, prepared by professor Jang Ha-sung of Korea University, show

IndustryJune 21, 2016

[Newsmaker] Lawyer elected as Rome's first female mayor

ROME (AFP) -- After 2 1/2 millennia of being ruled by men, Rome will wake up Monday under new management.Virginia Raggi was elected Sunday as the Italian capital’s first female mayor, sweeping into city hall on the ticket of the populist Five Star movement with the backing of two thirds of voters. Virginia Raggi (EPA-Yonhap)A Roman born and bred, the 37-year-old lawyer is a political novice, but the campaign saw her grow increasingly assured in her public performances as it became clear she was

World NewsJune 20, 2016

[Newsmaker] Two more women file rape claims against Park Yoo-chun

　Sexual assault charges continue to pile up against JYJ member and actor Park Yoo-chun, 30, with two more women claiming that the idol star raped them, bringing the current total to four potential victims. 　According to police on Friday, a third and fourth complainant have come forward to file separate charges against Park. One woman claimed that Park had raped her in the bathroom of a karaoke establishment in February 2015, while another told police he had raped her in the bathroom of his house

PerformanceJune 19, 2016

[Newsmaker] KDB’s integrity questioned amid restructuring drive

[THE INVESTOR] Korea Development Bank, the government-owned bank in the vanguard of the country’s corporate restructuring drive, is finding itself in a crisis of its own. KDB suffered a severe blow to its credibility and integrity Wednesday, when the state audit agency said KDB was partly to blame for problems at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, including the alleged 1.5 trillion won ($1.28 billion) accounting fraud. As the firm's main shareholder and creditor, KDB had “neglected” its

June 16, 2016

[Newsmaker] Seoul Mayor struggles in quagmire

At the center of public criticism over the recent safety accident and prolonged conflicts with civic groups, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was recently seen taking steps to hear directly from interested parties.Park attended an event Sunday with citizens and a panel of a dozen experts in various sectors who came to state their views regarding lax safety regulations and unstable working conditions of contracted workers. The session was held following the death of a 19-year-old subway mechanic on May

Social AffairsJune 15, 2016

[Newsmaker] Lotte probe may have political implications

Prosecutors signaled a full-fledged crackdown on South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate and retail giant Lotte Group last week with extensive raids, in an apparent move to trace the financial malpractices of its current top executives.The intense probe, coming in the penultimate year of the incumbent presidency, has widely kindled speculation of eventually targeting the previous administration and its links to the feud-ridden conglomerate.Last Friday, Lotte Group was turned upside down as some

PoliticsJune 14, 2016

[Newsmaker] Hotel Lotte withdraws IPO as embezzlement probe deepens

Hotel Lotte on Monday officially canceled its initial public offering scheduled for next month, as a large-scale embezzlement probe into the group and its affiliates deepened with emerging reports of confirmed wrongdoings.“We are pushing back our IPO to a later time and cancelling all remaining procedures in consideration of Lotte’s current circumstances and investor interests,” Hotel Lotte said in an emailed statement.Hotel Lotte in Seoul (Yonhap)“Listing the company is an integral part of refo

IndustryJune 13, 2016