The number of cases of abuse involving dementia patients in South Korea has increased threefold in the past five years, data showed Thursday. The figure illustrates the problems facing elderly patients here, with public concern rising after a lethal fire at a hospital on Wednesday. According to Statistics Korea, the number of instances of abuse of dementia patients reported to the Korea Elder Protection Agency rose to 782 cases in 2012, up from 276 cases in 2007.A fire believed to have been star

A man who set his neighbor’s face on fire was arrested on Thursday, Busan police said.The man, only identified by his surname Cho, poured paint thinner on his neighbors’ face and lit it with a lighter when he answered the door late Wednesday, Yonhap reported.An eyewitness reported the incident to the police, which led to Cho’s arrest on charges of attempted murder.Police caught Cho red-handed when he returned to the scene 20 minutes after attempting to murder his neighbor. Cho was found with a 5

A barge arrived at the site of a ferry sinking off the southwest coast on Thursday to prepare to cut open part of the submerged hull to find the 16 people still missing, officials said. Despite desperate search operations for those missing in last month's sinking of the ferry Sewol, no progress has been made over the past eight days, leaving the death toll unchanged at 288. In an effort to gain access to unsearched compartments of the ill-fated ship where some of the missing are believed t

Two labor unions of top broadcaster KBS began a full-scale strike early Thursday after the KBS board delayed a vote on ousting the company president, raising fears over a continued disruption of its broadcasting service. Journalists of state-funded KBS have been boycotting news production since May 19, demanding that company president Gil Hwan-young resign for allegedly interfering in news reporting in favor of the government. The unions had threatened to walk out of their jobs unless the boa

Former government officials will be banned from high-ranking posts at private universities, the Education Ministry said Wednesday.According to the ministry, officials have agreed to revise the Public Service Ethics Act to include private universities among the institutions that cannot hire civil servants. The current law prohibits former civil servants from seeking a job at institutions such as major private enterprises, law firms and accounting firms. Officials from the top four grades of Korea

Divers were preparing to cut open windows on the fourth deck of a submerged ferry on Wednesday in their desperate search for the 16 people still missing from last month's deadly sinking, officials said. Since one female body was retrieved a week ago, no progress has been made in search operations for those missing. The death toll from the sinking of the ferry on April 16 stood at 288 as of Wednesday. As the search efforts dragged on without much headway, the government search team has deci

A Seoul district court ordered the Korean government to compensate residents living near a U.S. Air Force base south of Seoul, saying aircraft from the military installation had caused too much noise.The government is obliged to pay a sum of 826 million won ($807,000) to 1,138 residents who have lived next to the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, since 1952, according to a verdict last week, Seoul Central District Court officials said Tuesday. A judge said the government was likely

A three-day international forum on regional and global issues including security, culture and regional development will begin on Jejudo Island on Wednesday, organizers said.Under the theme “Designing New Asia,” the ninth Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity is expected to bring together some 3,700 experts, government officials and politicians from more than 55 countries for in-depth discussions on the issues.Among the participants are former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, former Palesti

The labor participation rate for 30-something South Korean women hit the highest level on record, data showed on Tuesday, suggesting a social trend in which females with higher education opt to work amid low fertility rates and delayed marriages.The labor participation rate for women aged between 30 and 39 stood at 57 percent last year, the highest since 2000 when comparable data began to be compiled, according to Statistics Korea.The labor force participation rate refers to the percentage of th

No progress was made in an underwater search for 16 people still missing from last month's deadly ferry sinking in the early hours of Tuesday, leaving the death toll unchanged at 288 for the sixth straight day, officials said.A team of divers took shifts to search the submerged hull during two periods of slow currents that began at 12:53 a.m. and 7:06 a.m. at the scene of the sunken ferry Sewol but ceased the operation without any result, according to officials of a government crisis center. Two