South Korea's top court on Friday partly reversed a lower court ruling that said two U.S. producers of a toxic chemical should compensate most of the South Korean Vietnam War veterans who sued the firms for their exposure to the defoliant.Sending the case back for review, the Supreme Court said the Seoul High Court should reconsider its 2006 verdict of a combined 63 billion won ($61 million) in damages awarded to 6,795 South Koreans.In a ruling, the court did not recognize epidemiological correl

Passengers who called emergency services minutes after a Boeing 777 crashed at San Francisco International Airport said not enough help had arrived and they were doing their best to keep the critically injured alive, according to the calls that portray a scene of desperation.Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash-landed Saturday when it came in too low and too slow, killing two passengers and injuring many others as it skittered and spun 100 feet (30 meters). Most of the injured suffered minor injurie

Nearly 91 percent of citizens in Seoul are exposed to second-hand smoking everyday with their daily exposure time averaging 13 minutes, a poll showed.According to the survey of 1,000 citizens aged 19 years or older, 90.8 percent experienced passive smoking each day as of end-December last year, down by 1.6 percentage points from four years earlier. They were exposed to second-hand smoking 1.4 times per day for 13 minutes on average.While their involuntary exposure came more frequently in outdoor

Police said Thursday that they will launch a full-fledged investigation into allegations that a detained local construction contractor hired women to provide sexual favors to a number of high-profile figures in return for business benefits.On Wednesday night, the 52-year-old construction contractor, surnamed Yoon, was put under detention immediately after a Seoul court approved the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant for the businessman who has been at the center of a massive sex scandal

The defense ministry said Thursday it will require surveillance cameras to be installed in all female barracks for better monitoring and enforcing stronger punishment of soldiers who commit sex crimes.The ministry reviewed the discipline and security of military troops in a meeting with senior officers and came up with a string of measures aimed at curbing sex crimes and suicides in barracks. "The ministry will appoint a sexual harassment counselor for each unit and require the establishment of

Former spy agency chief Won Sei-hoon was arrested on charges of taking bribes from a local construction company in exchange of business favors. The Seoul Central District Court approved the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant for Won, a close associate of former President Lee Myung-bak.In a separate case, the former head of the National Intelligence Service was indicted last month on charges of masterminding an online smear campaign against opposition parties to sway public opinion ahead

An appellant court on Wednesday ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. to compensate four former Korean employees forced into labor during Japan’s colonial rule. In a retrial, the Seoul High Court ruled that the steel giant (formerly Nippon Steel Corp.) should pay 100 million won ($88,000) each in delayed salary, and additional damages. “Then a key defense contractor, Nippon Steel committed anti-humanitarian, illegal acts together with the Japanese government such as mobilizing manpower for

The prosecution raided five locations including Daewoo International headquarters on Wednesday in a widening investigation into offshore tax evasion and money laundering allegedly attempted by weapons brokers here.Investigators believe that the arms dealers illegally transferred billions of won they received in kickbacks to a paper company overseas and brought the money back to Korea.Brokers allegedly took kickbacks from an Indonesian aircraft manufacturer that won a 150-billion-won bid to sell

The former Lee Myung-bak administration pushed the four-river refurbishment project with the intention to build a cross-country canal network, the state auditor said Wednesday.The hidden long-term plan caused a number of serious problems such as bid rigging, increased costs and poor water quality management, the Board of Audit and Inspection said in its report.Later in the day, Cheong Wa Dae said that the previous administration caused great damage to the state if the BAI’s report was true.“(The

Seoul City said Wednesday it is to provide job training and entrepreneurship programs for marriage migrant women.The one- to three-month courses on beauty care, hotel room assistance and SNS marketing will be run in seven women career centers in various districts, including Jungnang, Gwanak and Seongdong.A government survey showed that 41.5 percent of migrant women in the country were unemployed last year. Applications will be received through each center starting Thursday. (rene@heraldcorp.com)

The Supreme Court has finalized the jail term for a man who refused to perform compulsory military service due to his religion, court officials said Wednesday.The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced the 21-year-old man, identified only by his surname Choi, to one and a half years behind bars after he failed to participate in South Korea’s mandatory military conscription last September, citing his religious conviction.“Conscientious objectors should not be exempt from punishm

Nearly half of Korean universities with laboratories have taken advantage of loopholes in supervision and broken wastewater discharge regulations, with some releasing toxic chemicals, the Ministry of Environment said Wednesday.The ministry and local governments conducted an inspection of wastewater disposal at 215 universities across the country between March 20 and April 2.The inquiry found that 105 universities, or 49 percent, have dumped contaminants which were either unauthorized or in exces

 A joint investigation to identify the exact cause of the crash of a South Korean passenger jet in San Francisco got underway with an analysis of the flight data recorder (FDR) from the crashed jet, the government said Wednesday.A joint investigation of the FDR began shortly after two South Korean investigators arrived in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday (U.S. time), according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.Two pilots from Asiana Airlines Inc., the South Korean operator of the

Nearly half of “super supermarkets” and convenience stores in Seoul are illegally selling alcohol to teenagers, a survey by the city government showed Tuesday.The city government announced the result of its one-month undercover inspection of retail stores, in which 40 teenage volunteers and college students participated.A total of 43.5 percent of 200 SSMs and 55.2 percent of 1,000 convenience stores violated the Juvenile Protection Act that prohibits the sale of alcohol to those under 19.They us

President Park Geun-hye offered condolences Tuesday over the deaths of two Chinese schoolgirls in the Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash and instructed the Cabinet to clearly determine what caused the crash and take preventive steps.“I offer words of condolence to the Chinese students killed in the airliner crash and to their families. The most important thing I think of is the safety of people, and it is truly regrettable that this accident has happened,” Park said during a Cabinet meeting. (Yonh