Authorities are seeking to freeze the assets of a senior prosecutor arrested on charges of taking bribes from a major online game maker.An ad hoc team investigating the case on Tuesday filed for a court order to freeze some 14 billion won ($12.3 million) worth of assets of Jin Kyung-joon. The 49-year-old was put behind bars Sunday on charges of accepting bribes from Nexon Co. and using them for shady stock transactions.The move comes a day after both Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong and Prosecuto

Social Affairs July 19, 2016

Goalkeeper Kim Byung-ji, the oldest player ever in South Korean professional football, will finally hang up his boots.Kim, 46, announced his retirement via Facebook on Tuesday, saying he wants to put his 35-year playing career into his memory bank."I was really a happy player," Kim wrote. "Yes! I'm retiring. This is for another start (of my life)."Kim has been searching for a club after his contract with the Jeonnam Dragons in the top-flight K League Classic ended last year.He failed to sign wit

Soccer July 19, 2016

South Korea said Friday that it is meaningful that U.S. President Obama explicitly mentioned Korean victims in his historic speech in Hiroshima, while visiting a memorial site honoring those killed in an atomic bombing about seven decades ago.Obama paid a visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, where he laid a wreath for those who lost their lives and gave a speech in which he mentioned Korean victims as well. He, however, did not visit a monument dedicated to Koreans killed in the city."Whe

Diplomatic Circuit May 27, 2016

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon came back in South Korea on Friday after making a short trip to Japan to attend a G7 summit.Ban, a native South Korean, landed at Gimpo International Airport, just west of Seoul, earlier in the day. After staying here for two days, he left on Thursday for Tokyo.The U.N. chief is scheduled to meet his family members, including his mother, on Saturday and have a medical check-up at a hospital in Seoul.Ban will attend the Rotary International Convention to be held

Politics May 27, 2016

South Korea on Thursday endorsed a revision to the enforcement ordinance of the Passport Act to further tighten its travel bans on several conflict-laden countries, including Iraq and Syria, a move aimed at ensuring the safety of its citizens.The revision was endorsed during a Cabinet meeting presided over by President Park Geun-hye.The previous ordinance carried a clause stipulating that South Korean citizens can enter those war-prone countries only when they have to conduct humanitarian activi

Foreign Affairs April 28, 2016

South Korea strongly condemned North Korea for its botched launch of another intermediate-range ballistic missile on Thursday, vowing to further pressure Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and missile programs.The communist state fired off the missile early Thursday, but the launch seems to have failed, according to military officials here. The launch came less than two weeks after the North's failed launch of a similar missile."We strongly condemn the launch, which is a provocative act that is a

North Korea April 28, 2016

North Korea will be "further isolated and abandoned" by the international community if it goes ahead with its threat of conducting a fifth nuclear test, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se warned Thursday.Yun said the South Korean government is closely watching the latest developments in North Korea, including the possibility of another nuclear test, and putting its diplomatic resources to work with the international community to deter North Korea from advancing its nuclear capability and

North Korea April 28, 2016

South Korean companies have signed deals worth $11.16 million to export their broadcasting content at MIPTV 2016, the world's biggest TV and digital content market, early this month, the government said Thursday.The combined sales of South Korean broadcasting content were up 16 percent from last year's event according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and its affiliate the Korea Creative Content Agency.The KBS 2TV military-romance TV series "Descendants of the Sun" was sold to Israe

Television April 28, 2016

Two South Korean ships have been released by China after being seized for an alleged collision with a local fishing boat, officials said Wednesday.A tugboat and a barge were impounded on March 18 in the eastern Chinese port city of Ningbo after they reportedly collided with the Chinese vessel while sailing through Chinese waters west of the Korean Peninsula.Nine Chinese fishermen went missing as it sank.The owner of the ships has completed talks about compensation through an insurance firm, acco

Diplomatic Circuit April 6, 2016

Former Olympic swimming gold medalist Park Tae-hwan was ruled out of this year's Rio Summer Games Wednesday following a decision by the nation's top sports body.The Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) said it would not amend its rule preventing athletes who've served doping suspensions from representing the country for three years, starting on the day the suspension ends.Park recently served an 18-month suspension after testing positive for testosterone, and his ban ended on March 2.The KOC institute

Olympic Games April 6, 2016

Some senior diplomats have found themselves in the center of controversy after being spotted taking selfies the same day a protocol error was made during President Park Geun-hye’s participation at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington last week. Recent video footage captured the scene where U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon came to see the president before the conference’s plenary session kicked off last Friday. As the two shook hands and exchanged conversation, Choi Jong-moon, deputy minis

Diplomatic Circuit April 6, 2016