Prosecutors indicted eight people on Thursday including a member of one of South Korea’s largest chaebol families for allegedly smoking marijuana.The Incheon District Prosecutor’s Office said the 28-year-old member of the Hyundai Group owner family was indicted on charges of distributing and smoking the drug.“Many of the suspects were sons of prestigious families who had studied abroad,” an official at the prosecutor’s office said.Another four, including the second son of Kim Seung-youn, chairma

Seoul education authorities on Wednesday ordered the closure of eight private institutions accused of leaking U.S. Scholastic Aptitude Test questions. Another four cram schools were suspended and 12 were fined over the scandal, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.The authorities are widening a crackdown on hagwons providing SAT preparation classes. The education office has been conducting on-site inspections at 61 SAT hagwons, mostly located in Gangnam in Seoul. The authoriti

The prosecution on Wednesday rejected a police request for an arrest warrant for a former vice justice minister accused of receiving sexual services in return for business favors.The prosecution instead instructed the National Police Agency (NPA) to refile an arrest warrant with a stronger argument on the charges against Kim Hak-ui who remains in a hospital following surgery.Kim's medical conditions should be considered when a warrant will be sought again, prosecution officials said.The NPA has

The police requested an arrest warrant Tuesday against former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui for his alleged involvement in a sex-for-favors scandal. Sources said he faces charges of rape. “(The police) requested an arrest warrant for Kim on Tuesday afternoon. We can’t say what charges are being sought for him because the investigation is still ongoing,” an investigator at the Korean National Police Agency said.Investigators suspect Kim of raping a number of women at a luxury weekend house in

Prosecutors said Wednesday that they will seek an arrest warrant against a CJ Group executive accused of playing a key role in managing massive slush funds for the conglomerate's chairman.The vice president, surnamed Kim, of the conglomerate's Chinese corporate body, is suspected to be fully aware of the size and current situations of Chairman Lee Jae-hyun's slush funds both at home and abroad, and the scale of assets kept in borrowed names.The Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office probing the case

The majority of college students in South Korea think “parents should prepare for their elderly life on their own,” according to a survey conducted by National Pension Service released on Tuesday.The organization’s Gwangju headquarters surveyed 486 local college students on their understanding of the country’s pension system. Of them, 86 percent said they were unwilling to financially support their parents after retirement.Reasons for their unwillingness were that their parents should rely on th

Heavy rain is forecast to fall across the country through Thursday, with more than 100 milliliters of precipitation expected for some regions.According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the rainy season is to begin in the central region on Tuesday, three or four days earlier than usual. The monsoon season is likely to continue until mid-July, it added.The heavy rain is expected to spread across the entire nation on Tuesday, officials said.The rain front, coming from North Korea, is exp

Korea’s corruption watchdog Monday started a two-week training program for Asian and African public officials to help emerging countries tackle graft and boost transparency. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said 13 officials from different countries including China, Singapore, Thailand and Zimbabwe were participating in the session. In his welcoming address, chairperson Lee Sung-bo stressed the importance of international cooperation to combat corruption. “Corruption is a transnat

More than 200 international experts will gather in Seoul for a U.N. conference aiming to set bioethical standards in step with fast developing life science and technologies. The 20th annual UNESCO International Bioethics Committee will open Wednesday for a three-day run to discuss equal access, human rights and other various issues arising from biotechnological and medical advances. The committee launched in 1993 will announce a draft report on the principles of non-discrimination and non-stigma

　Iksan Police Station in North Jeolla Province said on Sunday it would reinvestigate the murder of a taxi driver after claims that the police may have forced a confession from an innocent teenager. 　The move came after claims made on SBS investigative program “Unanswered Question” on Saturday.　The 15-year-old delivery boy insisted during his trial that the police forced him to make a false statement, but he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. 　After the teen had spent three years behind bars, G

Prosecutors said Sunday they were looking into new allegations that CJ Group raised massive slush funds through its branches in the U.S. and Indonesia.The family-owned food and entertainment giant is under intensive investigation for allegedly running secret funds at home and abroad using borrowed-name accounts, ghost companies and fraudulent accounting. CJ is also suspected of evading taxes. Prosecutors said they confirmed that the group had illegally transferred tens of millions of dollars rai

Seoul City will publicize standard taxi fares on 56 routes popular among foreign tourists as part of efforts to protect them from overcharging. The price estimates will be available online (www.visitseoul.net) from the end of this month, and later via smartphone applications and tour guidebooks, it said.The information will cover courses linking 12 spots ― two airports, five lodging facilities and five tourist attractions, it said. To stamp out the illegal practice of taxis overcharging, one of