The special counsel team looking into President Park Geun-hye’s corruption scandal is expected to indict up to 15 more suspects, including Samsung Group’s de facto boss Lee Jae-Yong, on the final day of its investigation that is scheduled to end Tuesday. Faced with the nearing end of its term, it decided to give up on summoning the suspended president for face-to-face questioning and raiding the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae for further evidence. The independent counsel’s spokesperson Lee Ky

Social Affairs Feb. 27, 2017

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Sunday that he is still reviewing the special probe team’s request to extend its term for investigating the corruption allegations of President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil.“I’m currently reviewing opinions from all sides and still contemplating on when to announce my decision on the matter. I have until Tuesday to reply,” Hwang said in a meeting with opposition lawmakers pushing for the extension. Acting President and Prim

Social Affairs Feb. 26, 2017

Efforts to extend the ongoing special investigation into President Park Geun-hye’s corruption scandal were effectively thwarted Thursday.Having failed to put the extension to a parliamentary vote, opposition parties once again turned to Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who holds the authority to prolong the investigation upon his right as acting president. Chances, however, remain slim as Hwang has persistently expressed disapproval on granting the extra period to the investigators. Rep. Chung Woo-

Politics Feb. 23, 2017

The special prosecutor’s team investigating President Park Geun-hye has reportedly secured testimonies that the president secretly received fillers and Botox injections to improve her appearance. In the latest twist of the high-profile probe, Kim Young-jae, a general practitioner who runs an anti-aging clinic in southern Seoul, reportedly confessed that he performed cosmetic treatments on the president, although he is not part of Park’s official medical staff.Kim Young-jae, a general practitione

Social Affairs Feb. 22, 2017

President Park Geun-hye’s former aide Woo Byung-woo has avoided being arrested, but that does not mean his legal struggles are over. Special counsel Park Young-soo looks likely to indict the former elite prosecutor in the coming days on charges of abuse of power, neglect of duty and perjury, despite the court’s refusal late Tuesday to issue an arrest warrant for him. “Before the deadline, we will continue looking into Woo’s allegations and if the deadline is extended, we plan to request the writ

Social Affairs Feb. 22, 2017

With just one week to go until the Feb. 28 deadline of its investigation, the independent counsel is pursuing Woo Byung-woo, President Park Geun-hye’s former aide who is said to have wielded influence over the nation’s most powerful agencies, including the prosecution and intelligence service. Woo stood at a court hearing for his possible arrest Tuesday, accused of turning a blind eye to irregularities surrounding Park and her shadowy confidante Choi Soon-sil and abuse of power while serving as

Social Affairs Feb. 21, 2017

The Ministry of Education said Monday that a trial of the controversial state-authored history textbook will be conducted at only one school. The school -- Munmyeong High School in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province -- is among three that applied for the pilot program, which the ministry sought to promote with cash subsidies. Of the two other schools that signed up for it, Osan High School withdrew its application amid fierce opposition from its students and staff. The other, Gyeongbuk Aviatio

Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2017

A South Korean special prosecutors’ team Monday questioned former Presidential Secretary Ahn Bong-geun as part of its probe into allegations that President Park Geun-Hye allowed her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil to meddle in state affairs. Ahn, 51, showed up at special counsel Park Young-soo’s office in southern Seoul, appearing in public for the first time in almost three months. While in hiding, the former official had repeatedly ignored summons by the Constitutional Court to attend President

Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2017

Most of this year’s high school graduates will choose to further their education, but Kim Sung-woo has decided to take a different path. Instead of enrolling in a university, the Steve Jobs wannabe chose to work full-time at a local software developer, hoping to kick-start his career as an IT professional. Apprentices at Yongsan Technical High School in Seoul train how to make SoC, an integrated circuit that combines components of computers or other electronic systems. (Shin Dong-yoon)“I’ve alre

Social Affairs Feb. 20, 2017

Six-year-old Kim Lyu-hyun has yet to start school, but he is not new to sitting tight for a few straight hours to study. The child is comfortable reading and writing in his mother tongue, can add and subtract below 20 without errors -- and without using his fingers to count -- and claims to understand why one plus infinity is still infinity. He currently attends a thrice-a-week, three-hour intensive course on English, a language he rarely hears or uses outside the classroom. A boy studies at Han

Social Affairs Feb. 17, 2017

Dwight School Seoul will be hosting its fifth annual VIP Reading Day to promote the diversity of languages. Scheduled to take place at the international school’s campus in western Seoul on Tuesday, the event aims to promote linguistic and cultural diversity as well as multilingualism.  Wendy Seay, an information system officer at the US Embassy in Seoul, poses with two fifth-grade students at Dwight School Seoul. Dwight School Seoul“Our mission is to support UNESCO’s International Mother Languag

Social Affairs Feb. 16, 2017

Samsung Group’s de facto chief Lee Jae-yong on Monday faced questioning from special investigators for the second time as part of a high-profile probe into President Park Geun-hye’s alleged corruption. “I will faithfully tell the whole truth,” said the Samsung Electronics vice chairman, as he entered the Special Counsel Park Young-soo’s office in southern Seoul on Monday morning. Lee, 48, is suspected of bribing Park’s longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil to win political support for a controversia

Social Affairs Feb. 13, 2017

The special counsel team investigating the alleged corruption surrounding President Park Geun-hye is to question Samsung Group’s de facto chief Lee Jae-yong, alongside other executives Monday, while mulling over how to proceed with the most important part of its probe -- asking the president directly about the suspicions. “Since the court’s rejection for an arrest warrant three weeks ago, we have continued investigating the bribery allegation (involving Samsung’s Lee and President Park) and have

Social Affairs Feb. 12, 2017

The special counsel team investigating the President Park Geun-hye scandal indicted four more of her former aides on Tuesday, including the chief of staff and a culture minister, on charges that they were involved in the creation of a blacklist of artists deemed critical of the Park administration. With the indictments of Kim Ki-choon, Cho Yoon-sun, Kim Sang-ryul and Kim So-young, the team is close to wrapping up its inquiry into the blacklist allegation, part of its multifaceted investigation i

Social Affairs Feb. 7, 2017

President Park Geun-hye, who has been stripped of her powers since December due to a corruption scandal, is likely to undergo questioning this week, becoming South Korea’s first incumbent president to do so. “The face-to-face questioning (of President Park) is considered a necessary step for the investigation to proceed,” Independent Counsel Park Young-soo’s spokesperson said Sunday, confirming its plan to soon question the impeached president in person, without elaborating.  Lee Kyu-chul, the s

Social Affairs Feb. 5, 2017