Officials employed as law firm advisors after retiring from mid- and high-level government posts will be forced to disclose their advice fees, the Justice Ministry announced Thursday.The move is part of efforts to stamp out inappropriate financial and political privileges enjoyed by former public servants. Under revised regulations announced by the Ministry of Justice, former officials will also h

Social Affairs June 9, 2011

No classified information containing telephone conversations between South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama have been leaked, the Foreign Ministry here said over the weekend, denying speculations over the Chinese hacking incident. Speculations soared over the weekend after Shin Hak-yong, lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party, claimed to have received a repo

Foreign Affairs June 5, 2011

North Korea’s disclosure of what it claims was an “under-the-table proposal” from the South for summits seems to seek a stir here that observers say will not only worsen inter-Korean ties but trigger political conflicts.Pyongyang’s National Defense Commission said Wednesday some of President Lee Myung-bak’s aides had made secretive contact with the North earlier this year to propose three summit m

North Korea June 2, 2011

Ministry says North distorting South’s ‘real intentions’North Korea said Wednesday South Korea proposed to hold three meetings between their leaders and pleaded for any gesture to appease South Koreans still angry over last year’s attacks via an unofficial communication channel.Pyongyang’s powerful National Defense Commission said senior officials from Seoul including President Lee Myung-bak’s sec

North Korea June 1, 2011

South Korean military officers have been warned not to open suspicious emails sent to them as signs of a North Korean hacking attack have been detected, a military official here said.North Korea, which is believed to be operating a special computer hacking military unit to collect secret information on South Korea, is suspected of sending spam emails carrying viruses to collect classified informat

North Korea May 31, 2011

South Korea must maintain full alert at all times for any provocations by North Korea against its western border islands, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik said Monday, while visiting the isolated regions that have been the target of North Korean attacks. South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island, one of the five islands located near the western maritime border with the North, became the target of Pyongyang’s de

Politics May 30, 2011

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s days-long trip to China appears to have done little in securing a promise of reliable financial and diplomatic support from the longstanding ally, observers in Seoul said Friday.A special train carrying Kim and the 70-member entourage left the border region of Dandong Friday morning and is expected to arrive back in Pyongyang later in the day, the South Korean med

North Korea May 27, 2011

Experts say Beijing may have pressured North Korean leader on nuke talksNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-il is likely to have pleaded for steady financial support from China, his impoverished state’s last-remaining benefactor, during his purported talks with President Hu Jintao, officials and analysts here said Thursday. The reclusive leader of Pyongyang arrived in Beijing the previous day for an appa

North Korea May 26, 2011

A U.S. fact-finding team will be departing for North Korea on Tuesday with some of its members staying over a week for detailed inspection of the food conditions there, officials here said, confirming the mission that may lead to Washington’s resumption of aid and dialogue with the communist state. The team, led by special envoy for North Korean human rights issues Robert King, is expected to stay

Foreign Affairs May 24, 2011

Kim’s trip indicates urgency in securing economic assistance from ChinaNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived in the eastern city of Nanjing and looked around industrial facilities there, the South Korean media said on Tuesday, the fifth day of the secretive trip indicating the communist state’s need to secure aid and economic support from its main benefactor. Kim traveled to Nanjing in a convoy

North Korea May 24, 2011