A state-run human rights watchdog has decided to investigate recent abuse cases among police troops, officials said Monday. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said it will look into three separate cases, involving two deaths, to see if the policemen suffered physical assault or other forms of bullying in their barracks. A 21-year-old policeman at a combat unit in South Chungcheong Provi

The Yongsan-gu office will be connecting students from its sister city in Vietnam with top universities within its district to help promote Korea’s image, officials said Monday.Starting this year, the central Seoul district will nominate an exemplary student each year from Qui Nhon City for a full scholarship at Sookmyung Women’s University and Dankook University.The city on Vietnam’s central sout

More than 50 million people worldwide visited Seoul City’s international promotion websites last year, with hallyu entertainers the major reason for the boom. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the number of visitors to nine of its websites run in Japanese, English and Chinese marked 5,057,465 last year, about 15 times that of its official Korean site (www.seoul.go.kr). The lion’s sha

   South Korea's foreign ministry said Monday it is working on increasing the number of flights from Cairo to Seoul to transport South Korean nationals back home amid raging anti-government protests there.   "As the situation gets worse, there aren't enough flights compared to the number of our people who would like to leave Egypt," said a ministry official. "We are in talks with Korean Air to inc

Life behind the bars for the Somali pirates transferred to Korea will be tough: they are expected to struggle with lack of heat, plus food and language barriers. Since it is the first time Korean investigators have dealt with suspects of this type, the police are on alert for emergencies that could hinder a smooth investigation process.According to the Busan Coast Guard, who will conduct the initi

Korean marine and naval troops are to participate in a multinational humanitarian exercise to take place from Feb. 7-18 in Thailand, officials said.It is the second time for Korean troops to join the Cobra Gold exercise, which the U.S. Pacific Command and the Thai military command have annually organized to practice multinational peace-keeping operations since 1981.The exercise, which will occur i

When a scandal over the misuse of funds by Community Chest Korea hit in mid-October, donations to South Korea’s biggest charity plummeted.But while much of the public shunned the charity, major conglomerates such as Samsung Group, POSCO and LG Group donated large sums of money just weeks after the scandal erupted.Both Samsung and POSCO defended their donations recently, while LG declined to commen