President Park Geun-hye said Monday she is firmly committed to reforming the state intelligence agency accused of meddling in last year's presidential election, reaffirming once again that she never benefited from the alleged wrongdoing.Park made the remark during a weekly meeting with senior secretaries as the opposition party increased pressure and criticism of her over allegations that the National Intelligence Service mobilized some of its agents to post Internet comments critical of Park's

One out of four students in Seoul have had suicidal thoughts due mainly to academic worries and loneliness, a survey showed Monday. According to the survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government of 1,320 students attending primary, secondary and tertiary schools in the capital city, 25.6 percent said they have felt an impulse to commit suicide.As for the reason, 29.5 percent, or the largest share, cited stress from schoolwork and performance-oriented circumstances at school, followed by

An increasing number of students are punished for violence and bullying at schools, suggesting that school violence is still rampant despite national efforts to bring it to an end, a report showed Sunday. More than 38,000 students were punished for violence or bullying last year, almost twice as many as in 2010, according to education office data released by Rep. An Min-suk of the Democratic Party.The report showed that the number of children punished for school bullying has continued to grow. A

Prosecutors said Sunday they have seized a bank account belonging to a nephew of former President Chun Doo-hwan as part of their efforts to reclaim concealed assets of the former military dictator convicted of taking bribes while in office in the 1980s.Chun was ordered by the nation’s top court in 1997 to return to state coffers some 220 billion won ($196.8 million) he illegally accumulated through bribery from big businesses during his military-backed rule from 1980-88. Chun, who seized power t

The prosecution has launched an investigation into some Internet companies, including NHN Corp., for alleged foreign exchange transaction act violations, such as failing to report foreign investments, sources said Saturday.Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office is looking into NHN Corp. for suspected omission of investment report when its Japanese branch, NHN Japan, bought out Livedoor, a Japanese portal business, in 2010 for 80 billion won ($72 million), reports said.NHN Corp. is the Intern

Two dozen schools in Gyeonggi Province have been caught installing monitoring devices in private areas including restrooms in violation of regulations, authorities said Friday.The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education carried out an investigation into 177 schools from April to June and discovered that 25 schools operated CCTVs in a way that undermines the students’ privacy or basic human rights.According to the education supervisory body, one middle school was operating four CCTVs inside schoo

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon kicked off a world rowing championship at his hometown in central South Korea Saturday, giving pep talks to nearly 2,000 competitors from around the world."Sports have the power to bring out peace and development," Ban said in a brief speech at the opening ceremony of the 2013 World Rowing Championship in Chungju, a provincial city 100 kilometers south of Seoul.The eight-day championship drew 1,940 athletes from 75 countries, organizers said.Ban's six-day visit

A judge sentenced a high school student on Friday to three to four years in prison for murdering a man who admonished him for his misbehavior.Suwon District Court took the 17-year-old, identified by his surname Kim, into custody after passing down the prison sentence.Kim beat the man in his 30s to death with his friend Shin on a street in Gwonseon-gu, Suwon, when a quarrel erupted after the victim told Kim “not to spit on the street” on July 21, 2012.The victim allegedly fell on the ground durin

Seoul City’s cab fare is expected to increase by no later than October, as the city moves to help improve the taxi business despite lingering public concern over the heightened transportation cost and poor taxi service.The basic fare, which had remained unchanged since 2009, is expected to rise from the current 2,400 won ($2.14) to around 2,800 or 3,000 won. The city said negotiations over the fare increase are underway with the taxi union.Meanwhile, the labor and management representatives of t

Three Japanese people who are said to belong to the Unification Church, including a 53-year-old woman, set themselves on fire in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, at around 4 p.m., according to reports Thursday.The three reportedly burned themselves by spraying paint thinner. Reports said two of them were in critical condition. Friday marks the first anniversary of the passing of Moon Sun-myung, founder of the powerful religion. Tongil Foundation, the umbrella organization that controls Tongil Group

K-pop girl group Crayon Pop on Wednesday denied rumors that its members were involved with “Ilbe (Daily Best),” in an apparent attempt to avoid backlash that is rooted in the public’s widespread discontent toward the controversial website.Chrome Entertainment, Crayon Pop’s agency, said via press release that the group’s members did not participate in any activities concerning Ilbe, a humor-centered community website well known for its members’ far-right political viewpoints. In June, members of

A 29-year-old man was charged without detention for allegedly threatening to commit suicide at the military recruitment agency, after his request for an exemption from military service was denied by officials, the police said on Thursday.  According to the Suwon Jungbu Police Agency, a man identified by his surname Park visited Incheon Gyeonggi Regional Military Manpower Administration in Suwon for a consultation on his compulsory military duty on Tuesday. He demanded the exemption, saying that

Concerns are rising that the Korean government may be treating radioactive pollution from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant with dangerous complacency. The plant has generated massive amounts of radioactive pollutants since the 2011 earthquake, significant amounts of which have been released into the environment. On Tuesday, it was revealed that about 300 tons of water containing highly radioactive materials, including strontium 90, had leaked from storage tanks at the plant, and tha