The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday it had ordered local council members to return travel expenses that were used for non-business purposes.Several Seongbuk-gu Council members were found to have spent about 14 million won ($13,000) during five overseas trips in the past four years, the officials said. This marks the first time the city government has decided to restore inappropriately spent public money from assemblymen after the public audit system was adopted in 2000. Seongbuk-gu

A 54-year-old woman received a suspended sentence of two years in jail for making more than 500 prank calls to a police station in Itaewon last year, the Seoul Western District Court said Wednesday. The suspect, identified by her last name, Son, called the police station 513 times between July and September from a pay phone to level abuse at them, according to the court officials. The investigators said Son blamed foreigners in Itaewon for her joblessness and called the Itaewon-based station to

Two public officials have been arrested on charges of pocketing government subsidies intended for small business owners after illegally obtaining personal data of some 120,000 people, police said Wednesday.The suspects, including a 58-year-old Ministry of Employment and Labor mid-ranking official surnamed Choi, are also under suspicion of siphoning off the detailed personal information of 128,000 recipients of the government subsidies that are devised to support small enterprises, between August

An unusual billboard ad calling future reunification of the Koreas an economic "bonanza" has appeared in New York's Times Square, a traditional mecca for advertisement."Korean Unification would be an immeasurable BONANZA for any nations with interests in the Korean Peninsula," reads the ad, installed on a main street of the ever-bustling square.On the left side is a photo of South Korean President Park Geun-hye and U.S. President Barack Obama shaking hands.It also notes Samsung, Hyundai and LG a

The Korean government has set out to review the national identification system to better protect personal information in the aftermath of a massive data theft, officials said Tuesday. The Ministry of Security and Public Administration said Tuesday it is mulling over the overhaul of the 13-digit resident registration number, or RRN, which contains personal information about every single Korean, such as birthdate, birthplace, sex and other details. But no matter which changes the government settle

South Korea’s financial regulator is planning to allow insurers to sell policies covering social ills such as domestic and school violence starting this year, industry sources said Tuesday.According to the sources, the Financial Services Commission is pushing to introduce the insurance products as part of broader efforts to cover damages related to such social problems.President Park Geun-hye has been focusing on eradicating what she called the four major social ills threatening public safety ―

A new case of bird flu was confirmed Tuesday, leading to 41 verified cases of the virus in the country, officials said. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, over 10,000 ducks at a farm in Eumseong-gun, North Chungcheong Province, were found to be infected with the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza. The ducks began to show symptoms on Sunday. Quarantine officials slaughtered the poultry as a preventive measure on Monday.As of Tuesday afternoon, a total of 10

The newly elected head of a conservative umbrella labor union said Tuesday the organization will not return to a tripartite committee comprising labor, management and government until the administration shows sincere attitude for dialogue.Since late December, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions has been boycotting the tripartite commission, a presidential advisory body designed to promote discussions and build consensus among labor, management and government."We will come forward and engage in

Prosecutors on Monday sought a six-year prison term for a son of disgraced former President Chun Doo-hwan for alleged tax evasion in a 2006 land deal. Chun Jae-yong, the second of the former president’s three sons, is standing trial on charges of colluding with his uncle to dodge2.7 billion won (US$2.4 million) in transfer taxes in the process of selling a plot of land in December 2006.Prosecutors also demanded that the uncle, Lee Chang-seok, be put behind bars for five years on the same charge.

Maritime authorities confirmed Monday that over 200 times more oil than initially expected leaked into waters off the south coast of Korea in an oil tanker collision, drawing concerns over the potential damage. According to the Yeosu Coast Guard, about 164 tons of oil spewed into the sea after Singapore-registered oil tanker Wu Yi San collided with a bridge while approaching a pier in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, on Friday. This amounts to 164,000 liters of oil. Three pipelines connecting to pe

A local court on Monday convicted a 74-year-old activist for carrying out propaganda activities to praise North Korea, in violation of Seoul's anti-communist law.The Euijeongbu District Court sentenced Kim Eul-soo, the chairman of the South Headquarters of the Pan-National Alliance for Korea's Reunification, to two years and six months in prison with a four-year stay of execution.Kim was found guilty of posting on the group's website between April 2008 and March 2013, praising Pyongyang's ideolo

Prosecutors on Monday sought a 20-year prison term for a leftist lawmaker accused of plotting to overthrow the government.Rep. Lee Seok-ki of the Unified Progressive Party is standing trial on charges of leading a clandestine organization, Revolutionary Organization, and plotting to overthrow the South Korean government in the event of an inter-Korean war, as well as sympathizing with North Korea, in violation of the South's anti-communist National Security Law.Prosecutors also demanded that Lee