A South Korean anti-prostitution activist, who fled to the United States in 2019 after being sought on charges of extortion, has been repatriated home, prosecutors said Friday. The Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) said the 40-year-old fugitive, whose name was withheld, was captured in the US in December and was returned to South Korea on Thursday in the form of forced deportation. He was put on a wanted list for extorting money from prostitution establishments in collusion with gangsters while

BEIJING -- In August 2008, Beijing took center stage as the host of the Summer Olympics, with the quadrennial athletic competition serving as China's coming-out party. Nearly 14 years later, Beijing is under the spotlight again as the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics. Once the Games are officially declared open later Friday at the National Stadium -- the same stage for the ceremonies of the 2008 event -- Beijing will become the first city to host both a Summer and a Winter Games. Things today

Police have opened an investigation into embezzlement allegations raised against the head of a state-funded association of national independence fighters and their descendants, officials said Friday. Kim Won-wung, a former three-term lawmaker who heads the Heritage of Korean Independence, is facing allegations that he misappropriated a total of 45 million won ($37,465) last year of the business proceeds from a cafe his organization operates inside the National Assembly compound. He allegedly

North Korea has convened a national response committee to prepare emergency measures against natural disasters, including typhoons and floods, according to its state media Friday, as the impoverished country stated plans to focus this year on developing its agriculture sector. In the session chaired by Premier Kim Tok-hun the previous day, the members of the ad hoc committee for natural disaster prevention and response reviewed last year's related measures and analyzed what can be improved, the

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned North Korea's recent missile launches Thursday, while reaffirming the US-South Korea alliance as the linchpin of peace, in bilateral talks with his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong. Blinken also reaffirmed US commitment to engage with North Korea in dialogue. "Secretary Blinken reaffirmed the alliance as the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond and discussed ways to further deepen coo

South Korea's Army has received the first batch of new homegrown 120-mm self-propelled mortar systems to replace existing decades-old mortars, the state arms procurement agency said Friday. The latest systems will supplant the Army's aging 4.2-inch mortars that have been in service for more than 40 years, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). Under a deployment project that runs through 2025, the Army will get the new mortars mounted on armored carriers, along wit

South Korea's military on Friday reported 298 additional COVID-19 cases, more than doubling from the previous day, raising the total caseload among its domestic personnel to 5,490. The new cases included 195 from the Army, 43 from the Air Force, 19 from units under the direct control of the defense ministry, 15 from the Navy, and 12 from the Marine Corps. There were also four cases from the ministry and 10 additional patients from the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command. Currently, 1,394 m

BEIJING -- South Korea has been the most successful country in Olympic short track speed skating history with 24 gold medals, and it will look to add to that total in a relay event making its debut at the Beijing Winter Games on Saturday. Following Friday's opening ceremony, the first medals of Beijing 2022 will be awarded Saturday. South Korea's first shot at a medal will come in the mixed team relay at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing. The inaugural relay race is 2,000 meters long, or 18 la

　The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics officially begin today.  　It‘s the second Olympics to take place under strict COVID-19 restrictions, as the global pandemic enters its third year. 　South Korea has sent 64 athletes competing in six sports and set a modest goal of winning one or two gold medals and finishing around the top 15 in the medal race.  　Short track champion Choi Min-jeong, skeleton slider Yun Sung-bin and snowboarder Lee Sang-ho are contenders to vie for the spotligh

필자가 만난 가장 유명한 저자는 Grammar in Use의 저자이자 Cambridge 대학 원로교수이신 Raymond Murphy이다. 이 분이 한국 사람은 영어를 어떻게 가르치는지 보고 싶다고 대표적인 강의를 소개해 달라는 요청을 Cambridge 출판부에 했고 영광스럽게도 필자의 강의가 선정되어 강의 참관, 식사, 커피까지 마시고 친필 싸인까지 받은 것을 종종 자랑한다.   Raymond Murphy는 그렇게 유명하신 분이 소탈하시다. 또한 커피를 마시면서 삼성동 봉은사의 모습을 멋지게 감동하면서 바라보던 모습이 기억에 남는다. 이 분의 책은 참 쉽게 쓰여 있어서 경지에 오른 분은 말을 어렵게 하지 않는다는 것을 배웠다.. 이 분께 그 분의 Grammar in Use에 한가지 빠진 부분이 있다고 감히 말씀 드린 바 있다. 그것이 바로 도치법(inversion)[倒置法], 즉 도치구문이다.  Grammar in Use를 ‘그래머인 유즈’

South Korean stocks opened sharply higher Friday, despite overnight losses on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) advanced 33.06 points, or 1.22 percent, to 2,740.88 points in the first 30 minutes of trading. On Thursday (local time), US stocks closed sharply lower, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunging 3.7 percent amid worries over tightening monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.5 percent, and the broad-based S&P 500 shed 2.4 percent.

South Korea's daily virus cases on Friday hit another all-time high with infections exceeding 27,000 for the first time amid the fast spread of the omicron variant after a holiday season. The country reported 27,443 new COVID-19 infections, including 27,283 local cases, raising the total to 934,656, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The previous daily record was 22,907 reported on Thursday. The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,836, up 24 from Thursday. The

The last hurdle for South Korea to clear in the top Asian women's football tournament will be China. South Korea booked a spot in the final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup on Thursday by beating the Philippines 2-0 in the semifinals in India. Later that night, China set up a date with South Korea by edging out Japan 4-3 in a penalty shootout. The final will be Sunday at DV Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, kicking off at 4:30 p.m. local time or 8 p.m. in Seoul. South K

Card spending in South Korea rose more than 10 percent in 2021 from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed Friday. Spending made with credit, debit and prepaid cards stood at about 977 trillion won ($811 billion) last year, up 10.3 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association. Card spending in Asia's fourth-largest economy has been on a steady increase in recent years with the annualized growth rate r