A survey showed Friday that 2 out of 3 women, including middle and high school students, felt they were not safe from sex crimes.The Ministry of Security and Public Administration said of the 1,000 adults, 100 experts and 1,000 students that were surveyed, 30.4 percent, 37.0 percent and 52.2 percent, respectively, did not view society as safe.A majority of the respondents picked sexual assault as the most serious crime to be eradicated out of the four major crimes the government aims to tackle,

The Seoul Institute, a city research center, is pushing to form a research community with metropolitan cities in Asia, to build common ground for solving city issues and sharing policies. “General consensus among global cities is necessary as they all share similar issues such as environment and traffic problems. I believe Seoul can take a lead in such areas,” Seoul Institute President Lee Chang-hyun told The Korea Herald on Friday. In Asia, a coalition of local authorities called CITYNET has be

The international Red Cross has said it will provide North Korea with an emergency fund of US$320,000 to help flood victims in the communist country.In a report posted on its website Thursday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it has allocated 299,744 Swiss franc from its disaster relief emergency fund "to help the DPRK Red Cross Society in delivering immediate assistance to 5,000 families or 20,000 beneficiaries."DPRK stands for the Democratic Peop

Prosecutors sought an arrest warrant Friday for a former chief of the national tax agency on charges of accepting bribes from food and entertainment conglomerate CJ Group.Jeon Goon-pyo, 59, is accused of taking US$300,000 in U.S. bills and high-end watches from CJ Group officials in exchange for favors during a tax audit into the conglomerate in July 2006, shortly after he was named the commissioner of the National Tax Service (NTS), prosecutors said.Prosecutors detained Jeon shortly after midni

CJ Group's slush fund predicament faced new challenges on Thursday after a former National Tax Service chief admitted to accepting gifts from the conglomerate.He denied, however, that they were in exchange of any favors, prosecution sources said on Thursday.Jeon Goon-pyo, 59, appeared before prosecutors this day to face questioning over allegations that he accepted kickbacks from CJ in exchange for favors during a tax audit into the local food and entertainment conglomerate in 2006.Jeon is under

The country’s leading private university is in hot water amid lingering charges of sexual abuse that have gravely damaged its reputation.Police announced Wednesday that they were investigating a Korea University student for sexually harassing some 19 women, most of whom attend the same school. The news came only months after the university fired a professor who was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct. The 25-year-old male student, whose name was not revealed, is accused of secretly takin

Former SK Shipping Co. advisor Kim Won-hong has been arrested in Taiwan in connection to SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won’s slush fund case. Kim was singled out as a key figure in Chey’s alleged embezzlement activities, but has avoided prosecution by refusing to return to Korea from Taiwan. According to Korean authorities, Kim was arrested by Taiwanese authorities for violating immigration laws. The two countries’ authorities are said to be working closely together regarding Kim’s extradition to K

South Korean netizens recently held an online fund-raiser to collect money for a lawsuit by late pro-democracy activist Chang Chun-ha’s family, Chang’s son Ho-gwon said Thursday. His family plans to take a civil suit against the state for compensation for Chang’s wrongful conviction in the 1970s.“Thanks to support of the citizens, we are pursuing legal action against the country,” the junior Chang said. “When I saw all those people who supported and encouraged us, the thought that crossed my min

A local businessman close to a son of former President Chun Doo-hwan has undergone prosecution questioning over his suspected role in helping Chun's family manage massive slush funds, prosecution sources said Thursday.The recent summons of Ryu Chang-hee, known as a long-time business partner of Chun's second son Jae-yong, is part of the prosecution's extensive search for unpaid fines of some 167.2 billion won (US$149.3 million) levied on the former president for amassing large ill-gotten money d

The South Korean Supreme Court set a new precedent Wednesday in confirming a group of North Koreans’ legal rights as the children of a deceased South Korean.The four North Koreans were seeking legal recognition as children of their father, a deceased South Korean identified by the surname Yoon. In earlier rulings, the courts had recognized the North Koreans’ claims that they were Yoon’s children based on DNA analysis using fingernail and hair samples. The prosecution, however, argued that as Nor

A former chief of the national tax agency will be summoned this week over suspicions that he took bribes from CJ Group in return for providing favors during a tax audit into the local food and entertainment conglomerate in 2006, prosecutors said Wednesday.Jeon Goon-pyo, who headed the National Tax Service from July 2006 to November 2007, has been notified to show up for questioning at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul on Thursday morning, they said.Jeon is under su

A Japanese steelmaker has appealed a South Korean court’s ruling against the firm to pay compensation to its former Korean employees who were conscripted decades ago during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, court officials said Wednesday.Earlier this month, the Seoul High Court, in a landmark ruling, ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. to pay 100 million won ($88,000) to each of the four South Korean forced laborers for their unpaid salaries and mental suffering.Legal repres

Seoul City’s local tax revenue decreased 4.3 percent on year to 5.3 trillion won ($4.75 billion) in the first half of the year due to an economic slowdown, officials said Wednesday.Its tax intake reached 42 percent of the original goal for the whole year.Income tax collection dropped by 180 billion won from the same period last year, mainly due to the reduction in corporate tax. Real estate acquisition tax revenue also decreased by 100 billion won to 1.2 trillion won due to the tax breaks aimed

The government shut down or suspended over 80 international marriage agencies in the first half of the year, the Gender Equality and Family Ministry said Wednesday.The number of such firms dropped by 12 percent to 1,204 during the period, slightly declining since last year. The ministry closed 27 for failing to meet qualifications and halted operations of 54 firms for not writing out contracts with their clients. (rene@heraldcorp.com)