Student bodies at four universities agree on allianceThe student councils of four major universities in Seoul agreed Tuesday to vote on class suspension in a campaign against tuition fee hikes.The four schools are Korea University, Sogang University, Sookmyung Women’s University and Ewha Womans University. On June 2, students at Hanshin University skipped classes, calling for a tuition reduction.“

The government announced Tuesday strong measures to prevent match-fixing in response to an unprecedented match-rigging scandal in the country’s top football league.Players convicted of match-fixing attempts will be banned for life, and the related sports governing bodies will be suspended from receiving government funding, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said. The ministry also said it

During the parliamentary appellation on Thursday, parties blasted the Cabinet on the savings banks scandal and other vital economic issues.The opposition camp condemned the current administration for neglecting supervision over the savings banks, while the ruling party attributed the domino fall to the financial policies adopted by past administrations.Even some ruling party lawmakers aimed their

The ruling Grand National Party decided in its senior officials’ meeting to maintain a one-man, two-vote system in electing its new chairman early next month.The party’s standing national committee, held Tuesday at the Air Force Club, voted unilaterally not to adopt the one-man, one-vote system earlier suggested by the emergency policy committee last week. The committee holds the right to draw up

Scholars and experts suggested a variety of ideas to stamp out corruption in public and private sectors in a recent forum in Seoul, stressing that deep-seated illicit practices have eroded national competitiveness.Hosted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, the forum dealt particularly with measures to enhance the integrity of high-ranking public office holders and stop private-sect

The military will conduct a large-scale aerial defense exercise Wednesday across the country to bolster its capabilities to handle enemy infiltrations, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.The biannual exercise will take place between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. South Korean troops will practice intercepting enemy aircraft infiltrating South Korean airspace, officials

The planned parliamentary ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade accord is set to put to test the solidarity of opposition groups, gauging how far they could go in forming an alliance to beat the ruling party in next year’s key elections, political observers note.The Cabinet approved a new ratification bill for the trade agreement last Friday after fixing translation errors in its Korean text a

Standard & Poor’s revised its rating outlook for Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp. and Hyundai Mobis Co. to positive from stable, the ratings company said in a statement Tuesday.“The positive outlooks reflect our view that the four companies will continue to enhance their financial profiles, through stronger market positions and improved profitability.” The outlook revision came as Hyundai and K