Police raided the offices and residence of a veteran carpenter suspected of supplying wood imported from Russia for the Sungnyemun Gate restoration project, officials said Friday.Speculations have grown over the materials used in the restoration of the ancient gate in Seoul that some craftsmen allegedly brought wood imported Russia and other regions, instead of using homegrown wood, called geumgang-song.An intellectual crime unit at Korean National Police Agency has been investigating the allega

The nation's top court on Friday confirmed a 10-year prison term for a 44-year-old man for raping his own teenage daughter and coercing her to provide false testimony.The father, only identified as his surname Kim, was found guilty of raping and brutally assaulting his underage daughter on multiple occasions in 2012 in his house.The Supreme Court also found Kim guilty of fabricating a key piece of evidence during the course of the trials by forcing the daughter to recant earlier testimony. Kim o

South Korea's nuclear commission on Thursday approved the restart of three nuclear reactors that were suspended after being found to have used substandard parts approved under fabricated quality certificates.The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said it has approved the restart of the Shin Kori Reactor 1 and 2, and Shin Wolsong Reactor 1, effective immediately, as all problematic parts have been replaced.  The three reactors had been undergoing a special inspection since late May when an in

The South Korean parliament failed to raise this year’s budget for promoting the country’s ownership of the easternmost islets of Dokdo as originally planned, despite Japan’s growing attempts to lay claim to the territory, the foreign ministry said Thursday.The National Assembly approved a 4.84 billion won ($4.63 million) budget bill for the government’s efforts in 2014 to globally promote the country‘s ownership of a cluster of rocky outcroppings lying in the East Sea and to counter Japan’s fal

An appellate court in Seoul said Wednesday it has upheld a lower court’s decision that the Korea Military Academy went too far in expelling a cadet for having sex with his girlfriend.The Seoul High Court said it has ordered the expulsion revoked.It said the academy’s regulation banning sex should be construed as banning sex acts that go beyond moral limitations, and excessive application of the regulation could lead to a violation of Constitutional rights.The cadet was kicked out of the academy

Seoul City is likely to continue its budget deficit for the free child care program this year, despite the increase in subsidies from the central government.The city said Thursday that 60 billion won ($57 million) more was still needed to pay for the child care services, according to the new national budget plan. The National Assembly on Wednesday passed the national budget plan, which increased the public subsidy for child care provision from 20 percent of the cost to 35 percent for Seoul and f

Leaders of the state-run rail operator's labor union have no plans to appear before police to face questioning over a recently-ended strike by thousands of its members, the union spokesman said Thursday.The longest-ever rail strike in South Korea ended on Monday when rival parties cut a deal with the labor union of state-run Korea Railroad Corp. to form a parliamentary subcommittee on preventing the privatization of rail services.Despite the dramatic closure, police vowed to continue with execut

The longest-ever railway workers’ walkout ended early this week, but the nation is likely to face another major disruption in its medical sector as doctors are threatening to stage strikes protesting the government’s latest plans to overhaul medical services.The Korea Medical Association, a lobby group of physicians, said last week that it would finalize a walkout plan on Jan. 11, saying it would not “tolerate” the government’s plan to allow telemedicine and for-profit hospital subsidiaries. A s

Only the street name-based address system should be used in official documents starting this year, replacing land lot number-based addresses which were used for nearly a century, the Ministry of Security and Public Administration said. The new address system, which is based on the names of streets and designated building numbers, was initially floated as an alternative system in 1997 in order to simplify the address system and make it more consistent. In recent years, however, policymakers strug

The National Assembly has passed a bill to toughen the punishment for child abuse after a series of cases touched off a spate of public anger last year. Those who beat children to death will be sentenced to a minimum five years up to life imprisonment. Courts are no longer allowed to give probation to the offenders in question. The prosecution must file a loss of parental right to courts for habitual offenders or for those who commit serious child abuse crimes. The tougher punishment came after

Unionists of the state-run railway operator KORAIL on Tuesday ended a 22-day walkout and returned to their workplaces.However, they vowed to continue their struggle against the government's approval of the establishment of a KORAIL affiliate, which will run the new bullet train route out of Suseo in southwestern Seoul from as early as 2015."All union members returned and resumed their work as of 11 a.m. We will go back to our normal duties," said Choi Eun-cheol, spokesman of the union.KORAIL chi

Child abusers whose assault has caused death of their victims could spend their life behind bars indefinitely in the future, as a bill obliging tougher measures against child abuse passed the National Assembly’s general session on Tuesday.According to the special bill on child protection and abuse prevention proposed by Rep. Ahn Hong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party, those whose abuse resulted in death of the child victim will be subject to life sentence while those whose deeds inflicted “hard t