The prosecution has indicted 70 operators of ghost companies for issuing fake receipts worth around 2 trillion won ($1.89 billion) to assist their clients in tax evasion.The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said Sunday it has arrested 58 in a crackdown on the illegal businesses since September. They were indicted on tax evasion and other charges. An additional 12 people were also charged without detention. They are accused of making illegal profits by issuing fake receipts for dealings in waste coppe

About 200 college students braved the freezing weather Saturday to take part in an outdoor debate at a Seoul university on themes ranging from the rail workers’ strike to intelligence agents’ electioneering.The gathering was called in by a single school board post, titled “How are you doing?” put up by Joo Hyun-woo, a Korea University student, last Tuesday, calling for students to pay attention to social issues.The post asked students if they were indeed doing okay when thousands of railroad emp

Nine members of a local activist group have been indicted on charges of carrying out pro-Pyongyang propaganda activities in violation of the country’s security law, South Korean prosecutors said Sunday.The nine are under suspicion of having secret meetings regularly to praise North Korea and support the communist regime’s demands for various inter-Korean issues, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said.South Korea’s National Security Law prohibits citizens from forming organizations t

Striking rail workers on Sunday threatened to stage a large-scale protest rally in Seoul this week unless the government withdraws its decision to set up a new rail operator that they claim is the first step toward privatization.Thousands of unionized rail workers went on strike on Monday after the government decided to set up a separate rail affiliate as part of its efforts to “rationalize” its heavily indebted rail operations.Korea Railroad Corp. denied that its move to set up a separate opera

Striking rail workers on Sunday threatened to stage a large-scale protest rally in Seoul this week unless the government withdraws its decision to set up a new rail operator that they claim is the first step toward privatization.Thousands of unionized rail workers went on strike on Monday after the government decided to set up a separate rail affiliate as part of its efforts to "rationalize" its heavily indebted rail operations.Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) denied that its move to set up a separ

Prosecutors said Friday they were seeking arrest warrants for a presidential staffer and a Seoul district official accused of illegally viewing the personal information of an alleged illegitimate son of the former chief prosecutor.The presidential staffer, Cho Oh-young, is under suspicion of illegally accessing the information of the 11-year-old boy, including his name, resident registration number, family history and home address, via Cho In-je, a senior official at the Seocho District Office i

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office announced on Friday that its senior prosecutors will play a more active role in conducting investigations as part of its plans to improve its operations.Under the plans, a council of senior prosecutors serving as department chiefs will be formed to guide sensitive cases in order to prevent recurrences of recent controversies surrounding the prosecution’s investigation procedures. A scandal broke out in October when prosecutor Yoon Seok-yeol claimed

An unnamed netizen submitted an online petition to the White House on Wednesday, calling for the removal of a monument to commemorate “comfort women,” a term referring to women who were forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II.“Please remove the statue in a public park in Glendale, California. It is a statue of a Comfort Women masquerading as a peace statue while in essence, after reading the inscription, it is promoting hate towards the people and nation of Japan,” he or she said

President Park Geun-hye has no plans to issue special pardons marking Christmas Day or New Year's Day, an official said Thursday.Senior presidential press secretary Lee Jung-hyun told reporters he hasn't heard of any talk of preparations for special presidential pardons yet. That means Park has no plan to exercise her clemency power this time around, he said.South Korean presidents have issued pardons to commemorate important holidays, such as Liberation Day -- which recognizes Korea's independe