Three men and one woman were found dead in Ansan city, Gyeonggi Province on Monday in an apparent group suicide by nitrogen gas inhalation. 　They were found at around 8:20 a.m. in an office on the second floor of a multipurpose building in Danwon-gu, Ansan.　Their faces were covered with plastic bags with a hose attached to two nitrogen gas containers.  (Yonhap)　The four were not linked by their age, occupation or residence. 　Their ages varied from 26 to 44, and each were from Jecheon, Seongnam,

Social Affairs Sept. 5, 2016

President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday reconfirmed their differences over the planned deployment of a US anti-missile system to South Korea, but agreed to strengthen their "strategic communication," Park's office Cheong Wa Dae said.During the summit on the sidelines of an economic forum in China's eastern city of Hangzhou, Park repeated that the need for a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system on the Korean Peninsula will disappear if North Korea's nuclear

Foreign Affairs Sept. 5, 2016

Two women were arrested by police Tuesday for falsely exposing ordinary women and men as sex workers on social media. The Seoul Suseo police said that two women who were behind Instagram accounts Gangnam Patch and Hannam Patch had been arrested for online defamation.  The now-defunct account of Gangnam Patch. (Instagram capture)The 24-year-old Gangnam Patch operator, surnamed Jeong, and the 28-year-old Hannam Patch operator surnamed Yang knew each other through online correspondence but were not

Social Affairs Aug. 31, 2016

South Korea will resume its policing operations next month to prevent Chinese fishermen from illegally entering neutral waters of the Han River estuary ahead of the peak season for crab fishing, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday. In June, the joint military police unit composed of the Marine Corps personnel and police forces under the approval of the UNC Military armistice commission successfully completed its first round of operations near the Han River to expel Chinese fishermen, th

Social Affairs Aug. 31, 2016

The France-based leg of the yearlong South Korea-France cultural exchange project has drawn the curtains with a colorful flourish, celebratory of the 130th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic ties.As of the end of August, the events of the "Years 2015-2016 of Korea-France Bilateral Exchanges" have hailed about 2.26 million visitors in France, which ran from September 2015, the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said on Tuesday.Being the largest cultural project between the

Foreign Affairs Aug. 31, 2016

The former university professor who forcibly fed human feces to his pupil-turned-employee was convicted with eight years in prison Tuesday. The Supreme Court found Jang, 53, guilty of abusing his 30-year-old pupil for two years since March 2013.Jang was indicted in August 2015 under charges of feeding human feces to the victim, as well as beating him with an aluminum bat and spraying tear gas over his face which was covered by a plastic bag. (Yonhap)The first trial gave Jang 12 years in prison,

Social Affairs Aug. 30, 2016

US wearable-maker Fitbit will launch its newest fitness wristband models Charge 2 and Flex 2 in Korea in September and in October, respectively, the company announced Tuesday.  Fitbit Charge 2 (Fitbit)Fitbit Charge 2 has a display screen that is four times larger than its predecessor Charge HR, which allows the wearer to see all information in one screen. Just as HR did, this Charge 2 allows non-stop monitoring of heartrate, checks the wearer’s inner oxygen level and offers recommended breathing

Technology Aug. 30, 2016

Two workers died and four were injured when the roof of a three-story building collapsed Sunday during renovation work in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, Monday.Three of the six workers were buried under the debris when the roof collapsed during work to transform the third floor from a motel to hospital offices.  (Yonhap)Two of the buried workers died, but one was found alive after a 14-hour rescue effort. The building’s structure was too weak use heavy machinery in the rescue operation, and t

Social Affairs Aug. 29, 2016

Two taxi passengers Thursday abandoned their driver, who had suffered cardiac arrest while driving, flaring up a nationwide morality discussion. Daejeon Dunsan Police on Thursday said the driver, 63, passed away after sudden heart failure while driving at around 8:40 a.m. on Thursday in Seo-gu, Daejeon. Whether he passed away while still behind the steering wheel or after, due to lack of prompt emergency measures, has yet to be discerned. The late man, unconscious after the incident, reportedly

Social Affairs Aug. 28, 2016

A court ruled Sunday that consensual sex between a teacher and an underage student still applied as sexual abuse of a minor.The Bucheon branch of the Incheon District Court gave a female cram school instructor an eight-month prison term with two years of probation for cultivating a sexual relationship with her 13-year-old pupil. Under Korean law, the teacher would only serve the prison term if she ran afoul of the law again within two years.  (123RF)The instructor, 32, was indicted for having se

Social Affairs Aug. 28, 2016

Half of Koreans have at least once thought about taking an alternative trip to avoid the “holiday stress” that comes with family holidays such as “Chuseok,” a survey by Expedia has revealed. According to the survey “holiday stress,” such as nagging family members, cooking for an enormous crowd and driving long hours back to remote hometowns, makes for restless few days.The online travel agency targeted more than 1,000 Korean men and women between ages 20 and 50 on Aug. 19 and found that 50 perce

Social Affairs Aug. 25, 2016

One woman has died and another was left injured after a man stabbed them with a knife in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province on Thursday. A 33-year-old man, identified by his surname Lee, stabbed the two senior janitresses at around 8 a.m.Both women were taken to the hospital, however, only one regained consciousness. Police used a taser gun to bring Lee under control. He then claimed to have taken cyanide poison, however, a medical check proved this statement to be false and found that he had been drinki

Social Affairs Aug. 25, 2016