South Korean doctors receive far less in fees for surgeries than other developed countries, a report showed Wednesday. According to a new report by the Korean Medical Association, the average surgery fees paid to Korean doctors in 2012 were the lowest compared to those of eight advanced countries, including the United States, Australia, Switzerland and France. In Korea, patients pay part of their medical costs as they belong to the state-regulated health insurance system. For the remainder of th

The government plans to streamline its support system for multicultural families to help them integrate into society, officials said Wednesday.The move comes as some existing services, including Korean-language education, have been redundant or failed to reach those in need who are in distant rural areas. Under the plan, immigrants can learn the Korean language at local government-designated locations in their respective neighborhoods and earn incentives that would later be helpful when they app

One in 6 public servants are open to getting a new job in the private sector in order to get higher pay, a government survey showed Wednesday. In the survey conducted by the Ministry of Security and Public Administration last year, 16.3 percent of 1,053 civil servants said that they were willing to give up their current government posts and go to the private sector. About 90 percent of respondents cited higher pay as their main reason, saying that they expected an average income rise of about 40

Three out of 10 households in Seoul were headed by women in 2010, while women also accounted for more than half the population in Gangnam, data showed Wednesday.According to statistics compiled by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the number of female heads of households in the city came to 984,000 as of 2010, taking up 28.1 percent of the total.Across the nation, 4.49 million women led households as of 2010, it showed.Of the 25 districts in the capital city, the southern district of Gangnam ha

The head of major dairy product maker Namyang Dairy Products Co. was indicted on charges of evading taxes worth 7.37 billion won ($6.9 million) through various illegal methods, prosecutors said Wednesday.Chairman Hong Won-sik is under suspicion of stashing secret funds via deals involving expensive artworks and dodging taxes in the process, they said.“Among the items are high-value pieces such as one of the series of ‘Jackie paintings’ by legendary contemporary artist Andy Warhol,” said an inves

The number of locals and foreigners going in and out of South Korea rose 9.2 percent on-year in 2013, the Ministry of Justice said Wednesday.The tally came to some 54.96 million, with the number of locals reaching 33.49 million and that of foreigners coming in at 24.61 million, the ministry said.Some 3.92 million Chinese visited South Korea last year, a 44 percent jump from a year earlier, the ministry added.The ministry attributed the sharp increase to streamlined procedures in issuing visas to

Prosecutors on Tuesday sought a six-year prison term for food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group chairman for alleged corporate crimes.Lee Jay-hyun was indicted on charges of embezzling around 165.7 billion won (US$156 million) to create slush funds and evade taxes in the process.Prosecutors also demanded that the chief of the country's 14th-largest conglomerate pay a fine of 110 billion won.  The 53-year-old tycoon is currently standing trial without being detained after a Seoul court exte

Prosecutors said Tuesday a psychologically distressed college student was indicted for murdering his former high school teacher.The suspect, identified only by his surname Yu, is charged with stabbing to death his former guidance counselor, who remains unnamed. According to prosecutors, Yu was suffering from erotomania. Sufferers of the psychological disorder falsely believe that another individual is in love with them.Yu first met his alleged victim in 2009 during his second year of high school

Late Monday, the prosecution raided one of Seoul’s district offices as part of its investigation into the leak of personal information of the former prosecution chief’s alleged love child. Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office seized several surveillance cameras at the Seocho-gu Office to identify a staffer who contacted a spy agency official surnamed Song and reportedly divulged the child’s information via phone at the office, officials said. The prosecution confirmed the phone records ahe

Inbound tourism to South Korea reached its highest level in 2013, according to data released by the Ministry of Justice on Monday, despite a weakening yen and a new Chinese law raising travel costs.More than 12 million foreigners came to South Korea, with those from China and Japan topping the list. Chinese tourists outnumbered their Japanese counterparts for the first time, increasing by 44 percent from 2012 to 3.92 million. The number of Japanese travelers decreased by 22 percent to 2.71 milli

The government on Tuesday announced a plan to greatly increase the number of public libraries, their book collections and staff capacity as part of efforts to realize its goal of building a culturally thriving country.By 2018, the government will gradually increase the number of public libraries to 1,100, from 828 as of the end of 2012, and make 2.5 books available per eligible user, up from 1.53 books per user in 2012, the presidential committee on library policy said during a press briefing he

The head of the embattled Tong Yang Group was put behind bars with a court-issued warrant on Monday for further investigation on allegations of fraud and malpractice in issuing and selling financial products.The 65-year-old chairman Hyun Jae-hyun has been probed by prosecutors for allegedly leading the issuance of fraudulent corporate bonds and commercial paper worth over 2 trillion won ($1.89 billion) since around 2007 and deliberately filing for court receivership of its five affiliates last O