A South Korean diplomatic mission chief in Japan has resigned over allegations that he misappropriated government money, an official said Friday, adding to concern about decaying discipline of diplomats amid a sex scandal rocking the mission in Shanghai.   The chief of South Korea's consulate general in Niigata, identified only by his surname initial Y, quit last month after an investigation into

Prosecution probes alleged illicit funding involving sponsors of Gyeonggi governorGyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-su, one of the ruling bloc’s strong presidential hopefuls, is facing a potentially critical setback as prosecutors are expanding their inquiries into allegations of illicit political funding involving several of his sponsors.Prosecutors are investigating allegations that employees of Gyeong

A diplomatic sex scandal has erupted out of the Korean Embassy in Mongolia, coming just days after a similar scandal involving a Chinese woman shook the nation, according to news reports in Seoul.A high ranking diplomat at the Korean Embassy in Ulan Bator was reported to have had an inappropriate relationship with a local woman, the government official was quoted as saying on Wednesday. When the o

The South Korean diplomat sex scandal involving a Chinese woman has been making waves across the world. (Courtesy from Seoul Shinmun)The sex-for-favor scandal, in which three S. Korean consuls in Shanghai are alleged to have given confidential government information to their 33-year-old mistress, is rocking South Korea. And now the international media have picked up on the scandal.On some foreign

U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday called on the U.S. to benchmark South Korea in rebuilding the country through educational reform.   "In South Korea, teachers are known as 'nation builders,'" Obama said during a classroom visit at Tech Boston Academy in Massachusetts' capital city. "That's how they're described. Here in America, it's time we treated the people who educate our children with the

Chief state auditor nominee Yang Kun faced tough questions about his moral standards and professional independence on the first day of his parliamentary confirmation hearing Tuesday.President Lee Myung-bak last month nominated the law professor of Hanyang University to be chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, which has been vacant for five months. The former audit chief Kim Hwang-sik was

President Lee Myung-bak urged his government Tuesday to ramp up efforts to alleviate public worries over inflation, saying the problem is something of "the inevitable" under the current economic situations at home and abroad, according to his office Cheong Wa Dae.   "The consumer price problem has an inevitable aspect due to climate change, hikes in international law material prices, and other fac

All universities with the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program in place will be allowed to recruit their female students for the program this year, officials at the Ministry of National Defense said Monday. A female ROTC cadet takes part in a bayonet drill in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, last week. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)A total of 109 four-year universities across the country will be

South Korea’s intelligence chief said Friday that North Korea was tightening control of information to keep its people from being influenced by the pro-democracy protests in the Middle East. “North Korea is strengthening its ideological training through media statements, fearing domestic spread of the news” that uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia overthrew dictatorships and spread to Libya, Won Sei-ho

U.S. President Barack Obama has suggested that Egypt could become a democracy modeled after South Korea, Indonesia and Chile.   Speaking at a meeting with American Jewish leaders at the White House Tuesday, Obama "elaborated on his optimistic vision for Egypt and for democratic change in the Middle East" and expressed optimism that "Egypt could transform itself into a democracy on the model of Ind