South Korean model who has confessed drug use recently claimed that she was forced to take drugs by an unidentified businessperson, but police said she made no such claims during the investigation. Kim Na-jung, who recently returned from the Philippines after admitting online to having used drugs, posted on her Instagram page Monday a statement made by her lawyer. She claimed that a "young businessman born in 1995" met with her in the Philippines, tied her up and blindfolded her and fo

Some 8.3 percent of middle school students in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province have used drugs, a survey by the state-run drug addiction center showed Monday. The Hwaseong Community Addiction Management Center conducted a survey between Aug. 28 and Sept. 27 of 2,450 middle school students in the city south of Seoul, which showed that 204 students of them said they have used substances defined as illegal drugs by the Narcotics Control Act. South Korea defines narcotics, cannabis and psychotropic subst

A traveler was forced to undergo an invasive body search, including the removal of her sanitary pad, after a drug detection scanner at Daegu Airport falsely flagged her for carrying drugs. On Oct. 8, a woman in her 30s was traveling from the Philippines through Daegu Airport when an ion scanner at the checkpoint detected a high level of narcotics in her suitcase, which contained e-liquid for an electronic cigarette, according to Daegu Regional Customs on Monday. She told the customs officials th

An employee of a privately run ambulance service has been fined for dropping a terminally ill patient and causing an injury to the head that ended up killing the patient. Seoul Central District Court found the 29-year-old employee guilty of death by negligence, for the death of the 85-year-old cancer patient in February. The patient, who had been given three months to live, was being taken home from a local hospital. The patient was dropped while being moved from the ambulance, resulting in ce

President Yoon Suk Yeol's office confirmed it was notified of Ukraine's plan to use US-made long-range supersonic ballistic missiles to strike Russia's Kursk region before US President Joe Biden authorized the change. Asked if there was any coordination before Biden's announcement Sunday, a senior official of South Korea's presidential office told reporters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday that Washington "notified Seoul that it was to give (Ukraine) permission for

In Lee's sixth indictment, prosecution alleges he used W106m of public money for personal use

Trade minister calls for strengthening foundation for economic cooperation with Africa Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo said Tuesday that the South Korean government will strengthen institutional foundations to expand trade and investment opportunities with Africa. Cheong made the remarks during an Africa business forum held in Seoul, a follow-up to a South Korea-Africa summit that took place in June and aimed to deepen cooperation with African partners. The forum was organized to review the outcome

The state auditor has referred senior officials of the former Moon Jae-in administration to the prosecution on suspicions of leaking intelligence related to the THAAD US missile defense system to activists and China, an official with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday. Former National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong, former Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, and two other officials who served in the preceding administration were referred to the Supreme Prosecutors Office by the Board of Audit

Telegram designates child protection officer to respond to sexually exploitative materials: S. Korean regulator The global messaging service Telegram has designated an officer in charge of protecting underage users from illicit content amid criticism over its passive response against sexually exploitative materials circulating on the platform, South Korea's media regulator said Tuesday. The Korea Communications Commission said Telegram made the designation and set up an email account as a h

The United States and Russia traded barbs Monday over President Joe Biden's reported decision to allow Ukraine to use US-provided longer-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia, amid concerns about an escalation of Moscow's protracted war in Ukraine. US officials repeated accusations that Russia was to blame for an escalation in the wake of its introduction of North Korean troops onto the battlefield, while the Kremlin accused the Biden administration of moving to "continue

MIKTA leaders call for adherence to UN Charter amid concerns over NK-Russia military cooperation The leaders of South Korea and four other middle-power countries called Monday for all UN members to comply with the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions, as concerns deepened over North Korea's troop dispatch to help Russia in its war against Ukraine. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Turkish President Recep

President Yoon Suk Yeol strongly condemned the deepening military cooperation between North Korea and Russia at the Group of 20 summit in Brazil on Monday, Yoon's office said. Yoon used the G20 sessions to urge Pyongyang and Moscow to immediately cease their "illegal" military cooperation and called for international unity to issue a stern warning against such moves, Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said. The condemnation by Yoon came shortly after Russian Fo

North Korea warned Tuesday that trilateral security cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan would prompt more "retaliatory responses," days after the leaders of the three nations decided to establish a secretariat to bolster three-way cooperation. The North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) carried the message in a commentary after President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba issued a joint statement in

The presidential office said Monday that maintaining high-level communication is crucial to strengthening ties between South Korea and China, hoping to build on the momentum from the recent bilateral summit in Peru. While President Yoon Suk Yeol has focused on reinforcing South Korea's security alliance with the United States over the past 2 1/2 years, he said in a recent interview during his visit to Brazil that South Korea does not see US-China relations as a matter of choosing sides. Whe

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has met with Russia's visiting natural resources minister and called for "more extensive and diversified" promotion of cooperative relations between their countries, state media reported Tuesday. The previous day, Kim met with Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Alexander Kozlov, who led a government delegation to North Korea for the 11th meeting of the countries' intergovernmental committee for cooperation in trade, economy, scie