Despite prosecutors’ announcement pinpointing North Korea as the culprit for the April 12 cyber attack, security experts say that it is difficult to identify its instigator given the complicated nature of the hacking process.On Tuesday, investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said the Reconnaissance General Bureau, the North’s premier intelligence body, orchestrated the “un

North Korea May 4, 2011

The happiness index for Korean teenagers was the lowest among the 23 OECD member states for the third consecutive year, according to a survey released on Wednesday by two civilian institutes.The “subjective well-being index” for Korean students between the ages of 10 and 18 was 65.98, far lower than the OECD average of 100, the survey showed. The index for Spanish teenagers was the highest with 11

Social Affairs May 4, 2011

Police on Tuesday raided the headquarters of Google Korea in southern Seoul over allegations that the multinational Internet giant’s subsidiary collected location data of smartphone users without consent.Investigators from the cyber crime unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency searched the office of Google Korea in Yeoksam-dong in the morning and confiscated hard discs and other computer fil

Social Affairs May 3, 2011

Prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for Rhee Jang-han, chairman of Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp., on charges that he raked in exorbitant profits by rigging stock prices in the process of selling one of the firm’s affiliates in 2007, officials said Tuesday.Investigators at the prosecutors’ office in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province have found a “circumstantial clue” indicating that he gained billion

Social Affairs May 3, 2011

Police raid Google Korea over personal location dataPolice on Tuesday raided the office of Google Korea in southern Seoul over allegations that its subsidiary collected personal location data without consent.Investigators from the cyber crime unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency searched the headquarters of Google Korea in Yeoksam-dong early in the morning and confiscated hard disks and ot

Social Affairs May 3, 2011

Foreigners living in Seoul were most satisfied with transport when rating a range of services last year, according to a survey released Monday by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.But satisfaction with their residential environment was rated lowest in the survey of 900 expatriates in Seoul.The city began conducting the research in 2008 as part of its globalization efforts. It commissioned the loca

Politics May 2, 2011

Investigators do not rule out possibility of information sent to N. KoreaProsecutors are investigating a 43-year-old man who allegedly stole sensitive government data from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other agencies while working for a private computer data management firm for them, officials said Monday.The case immediately sparked criticism for the “lax screening process” for personnel who hand

Politics May 2, 2011

Immigrants married to Koreans will be granted a new type of visa as early as September to better support their settlement here, officials at the Justice Ministry said Friday.The ministry is also seeking to ease rules on visa issuance for foreign businesspeople to attract more investment and create jobs.The ministry put on public notice a series of revision plans pertaining to the immigration law o

Social Affairs April 29, 2011

The Korea Baseball Organization signed an agreement with a Korean sponsor group of the International Vaccine Institute to join its efforts to improve the health of children around the world, the institute said Thursday.Under the agreement, the KBO will support promotional events to raise funds for the IVI program for children.The KBO will put an IVI logo on tickets to its official games including

Politics April 28, 2011

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court’s decision to sentence a man, convicted of raping and killing a teenage girl in Busan last year, to life imprisonment and make public his personal information for 10 years.The heinous crime perpetrated by Kim Gil-tae, 33, sent a shockwave across the nation, prompting anxious parents into calling for tougher government measures to deal with child s

Social Affairs April 28, 2011

High voter turnout in the by-elections was a result of all-out campaigns by the parties, which had forecast the elections would be a prelude to the general and presidential elections in 2012, experts said Wednesday. They also said the presence of political heavyweights in the races and big-name politicians extending their support for candidates got the attention of apathetic voters.According to th

Politics April 27, 2011