Author Hwang Sun-mi’s award-winning children’s story “The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly” has been published in the United States, her agency said Tuesday. Copyright agency KL Management said Penguin Group will promote the English edition of the novel in the New York Times Book Reviews on Dec. 15, targeting the holiday season.Although the novel falls in the children’s literature category in Korea, its English edition is classified for adult readers due to the story’s gravity, KL Management said.

Seoul City said Monday that it has selected eight sites, artifacts and traditions to push for designation as UNESCO World Heritage in the long term.The candidates include the U.S. Army garrison, remains of an ancient fortress, ancient maps of the capital and Buddhists rituals.The city plans to spend 100 million won ($94,000) in promoting the heritages next year.They have been selected by experts commissioned by the city government. The list of places includes the Yongsan U.S. Army garrison at th

Three female actresses were given suspended jail sentences on Monday for recreationally abusing propofol, an anesthetic used in surgeries.The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Jang Mi-in-ae, Lee Seung-yeon and Park Shi-yeon to eight months in jail, suspended for two years. The judge said they have been excessively addicted to the drug for years and exerted negative influence as public figures.Actresses have been indicted by the prosecution for illegally injecting the drug hundreds of times

Concerns are growing over a lack of safety measures at public zoos after a keeper was seriously attacked by a Siberian tiger.A 3-year-old tiger bit the keeper’s neck at its temporary compound at Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on Sunday morning. The 52-year-old keeper was moved to a nearby hospital, but is still in a coma. The Seoul City government on Monday officially apologized for causing concern and said it would strengthen safety measures at the park. The Seoul city governme

A Korean woman in her 20s was found murdered in Brisbane, Australia, on Monday. According to the local police and the Korean diplomatic mission, the 23-year-old victim had gone to Australia on a working-holiday visa six weeks ago. The police said that her head was severely damaged, and the victim appears to have been on her way to work when she was killed. The victim, identified by the initial P, was reportedly working as a cleaner. The victim did not appear to have been robbed, and the police f

Seoul City will provide free offices, professional counseling and other services to foreigners who start up a business in the city, officials said. The Seoul Global Center in Jongno is recruiting six foreign businesses and the global business centers in Gangnam and Yeoiudo are seeking three and five startups, respectively, to offer various support. The new businesses are allowed to stay for six months in the centers’ buildings for free starting in January next year and those with outstanding per

SOROK ISLAND, South Korea (AP) -- Kang Sun Bong once considered this tiny island a ``hell on earth,'' a place where hospital workers beat the leprosy patients exiled here and forced them into harsh labor, sterilizations and abortions. But three years ago, old, sick and broke, Kang returned to the place he'd been banished with his mother decades ago.His savings wiped out by cancer treatment, the 74-year-old now hopes to live the rest of his life with hundreds of other former patients on Sorok Isl

College entrance exam authorities came under fire amid a series of claims of ambiguous questions, one of which has prompted students to prepare a class action suit. Students claimed that at least three questions in English, mathematics and geography on the College Scholastic Ability Test were confusing and ambiguous.The state-run Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation is scheduled to notify students of the results of the national exam Wednesday. More than 650,700 high school seniors and g

The recidivism rate among sex offenders has dropped somewhat over the past year due in part to stronger oversight by the police, data showed Sunday.According to the National Police Agency (NPA), a total of 24,471 sex offenders have been arrested nationwide since November last year. Of that total, 1,556 offenders were found to have committed the same crime before, marking a recidivism rate of 6.35 percent.Over the same period between 2011 and 2012, the rate was 8.01 percent, according to the NPA.