A man and woman have recently been arrested for delivering classified military information to North Korea, the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office said Tuesday. The man identified only by his surname Jang, 58, went to China to meet a North Korean agent operating missions there. He told the agent that he had been running a business to unify the two Koreas, according to prosecutors. With a 57-year-old woman surnamed Yu, he visited China 30 times since 2008 and both underwent training. In return the

Social Affairs Sept. 4, 2012

An unexpected delay in the release of results for the Test of English as a Foreign Language has baffled and upset its Korean takers, many of whom are college applicants.The Educational Testing Service, a U.S.-based developer of one of the most popular English tests, notified participants through email and its website on Aug. 28 that the release of results for the Aug. 19 test, scheduled for that day, would be postponed. The ETS did not reveal the reasons, but said that it sincerely apologizes to

Social Affairs Sept. 4, 2012

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Monday that the city government would continue to restrict the operation of so-called super-supermarkets and large retail stores run by conglomerates. He said on a radio program that the city would restart the compulsory holidays for SSMs and large retailers again from November, after revisions to related bills by each district office are finished. “The court rulings did not completely nullify the restriction on the operation of SSMs and large stores on the second

Social Affairs Sept. 3, 2012

World-renown conductor Chung Myung-whun’s elder brother is under investigation for embezzlement of government subsidies, prosecutors said Friday. The 70-year-old man who runs an arts and performance agency is suspected of misappropriating billions of won from a 14 billion won ($12 million) government subsidy for the “Incheon and Arts” project, which his company undertook to promote local art and performances from 2005 to 2010, the Incheon District Prosecutors’ office said. Prosecutors confiscate

Social Affairs Aug. 31, 2012

Typhoon Tembin slammed into Korea on Thursday, dumping heavy rains on southern and western regions, leaving at least two dead and three injured. Nearly 50 people were forced to evacuate their homes. Though smaller and less powerful than Typhoon Bolaven, which skirted the Korean Peninsula three days ago, Tembin wreaked havoc on the country as it passed through South Jeolla Province, quickly moving northeast-bound.One person was killed and another was injured when a giant steel structure collapsed

Social Affairs Aug. 30, 2012

Another typhoon is heading toward Korea, just as the nation recover, from one of the strongest storms it has seen in decades. Typhoon Tembin, the 14th typhoon this year, is expected to make landfall in Korea as early as Thursday, dumping heavy rains, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. It is expected to take almost the same route across the Korean Peninsula as Typhoon Bolaven, which pounded the country’s southern and western parts on Monday and Tuesday, leaving at least 25 dead or miss

Social Affairs Aug. 29, 2012

A North Korean defector who arrived in Jeju Island by air from China, has turned herself in, the police said Sunday.The defector, surnamed Kim, 41, arrived at Jeju International Airport at 2:30 on Sunday from Bejing. Kim passed through immigration with a fake Chinese passport. After failing to get a visa to come to the South, she reportedly chose to come to Jeju, which has not required a visa from Chinese travelers since 2008.An organization that supports North Korean defectors is said to have h

Social Affairs Aug. 27, 2012

A group of students at a private educational institute have been infected with tuberculosis, and health authorities are investigating the possible spread of the disease. The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Monday that six students at a cram school for college entrance in Mokdong, western Seoul, had been infected with TB, and that 14 others with latent TB are undergoing further tests. The health authority has isolated the 20 patients and expanded the testing to other stu

Social Affairs Aug. 27, 2012

The first test-launch of Hongsangeo, an anti-submarine light torpedo, failed last month, a Navy official said on Thursday. The military had poured more than 100 billion won ($88 million) into its development.The trial was conducted on July 25 in the sea off Pohang City, southeastern Korea. It was launched from the 7,600-ton Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyer but missed the target located 60 meters under the sea. The Navy lost the track of the weapon. “Failure in trials is not rare before roc

Defense Aug. 24, 2012

A woman in her 50s fatally stabbed a 78-year-old fellow tenant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Friday morning, adding to public jitters after a series of incidents involving knife-wielding attackers. Police said that the women had a quarrel before the younger woman attacked the older one in an alley at around 9:20 a.m. The two, both surnamed Kim, lived alone as tenants in the same house.“She was not conscious and did not breathe. We tried to resuscitate her, but to no avail,” a hospital official

Social Affairs Aug. 24, 2012

MOSCOW (AP) ― Environmental activists warned Tuesday that drilling for oil in the Russian Arctic could have disastrous consequences because of a lack of technology and infrastructure to deal with a possible spill in a remote region with massive icebergs and heavy storms.Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund unveiled a report assessing the risks of an oil spill in the Pechora Sea in Russia’s Arctic, where state-owned Gazprom has installed a huge drilling platform and is pioneering sea drilling i

Technology Aug. 23, 2012