The number of deaths from chemical accidents soared nearly 40 percent in 2012 from a year earlier amid a spate of fires, explosions and gas leaks at industrial plants across the country, government data showed. A total of 98 people were killed in chemical accidents last year, up 38 percent from 71 a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The number marked the highest level since 2008 when 112 such deaths were reported. The annual death toll from chemical acc

The number of elderly Seoulites with jobs has leaped 50 percent over the past 10 years, while that of working youth has plunged more than 20 percent, data showed Tuesday.A total of 513,000 Seoul citizens aged 60 or older were employed in 2012, compared with 342,000 people in 2002, according to the data by a municipal-run think tank. The annual growth rate averaged 4.1 percent over the 10-year period.In contrast, the capital city’s employed population in the 15-29 age group tumbled 25.1 percent f

The education ministry said Tuesday it will initiate a pilot test-free semester program for middle school students this year to provide them with chances toexperience a wide range of learning activities for their future career.   In March, the Ministry of Education announced its plan to implement the so-called free semester system for middle school students, where schools shift the focus away from test scores and teach students through such diverse engaging methods as discussion, experiments, ou

Prosecutors said Monday that they are tracing stock trading records of CJ Group as part of its investigation into the conglomerate suspected of amassing illegal funds and evading taxes. Investigators suspect that the food and entertainment giant may have used offshore slush funds and disguised itself as a foreign fund to repeatedly purchase and sell shares of its affiliates in recent years. The share values of CJ subsidiaries have been inflated during this process of alleged stock manipulation,

A team of Korean researchers has developed a system for predicting when suicides are more likely to occur using data available on social networking services.This is the first time SNS posts have been used to predict suicide rates, according to professor Kim Doh-kwan of Samsung Medical Center, who led the research in collaboration with the data analysis company Daumsoft“Using suicide forecasting systems could make prevention programs more effective and ultimately contribute to shedding the title

Seoul’s police agency is under fire for trying to conceal evidence related to its alleged attempt to whitewash a probe into national intelligence officials.Prosecutors believe the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s cyber crime unit deliberately erased investigation data of the National Intelligence Service’s illegal interference in the presidential election last December.According to the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office, a head of the cyber unit, whose name was undisclosed, is currently under i

All public offices, schools and municipalities will be obliged to provide educational programs to prevent sex crimes starting from June 19, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Monday. Under a revised law on prevention of sex-related crimes and protection of the victims, educational programs will be offered at least once a year at about 67,000 public offices and educational institutions nationwide including central and provincial government offices, and state-run firms and institutes.

A 77-year-old man in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, who had shown symptoms of a killer tick virus died Monday, health authorities said.According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control, the man was suspected to have been bitten by a tick and showed signs of thrombocytopenia syndrome, or SFTS. The KCDC will conduct an epidemiologic investigation to define the cause of the death, officials said. Currently, a total of 31 patients are suspected of having been infected by the virus, with two o

The Seoul police agency on Monday denied allegations that it had destroyed evidence and hampered a probe into the national spy agency's alleged attempt to influence public opinion ahead of last year's presidential election.Prosecutors on Sunday said that a mid-ranking official of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA), whose identity has been withheld, had allegedly permanently deleted data on a computer hard disk ahead of a prosecution raid into the agency's headquarters.A team of prosecut

Childbirths in South Korea fell for the third straight month in March amid worries over the country's chronically low birthrate, a report showed Monday.According to the report by Statistics Korea, the number of babies born in March came to about 38,800, down 10.2 percent or 4,400 from the same month a year earlier. The decline followed 0.4 percent and 9.1 percent falls in January and February.The latest childbirth report comes as South Korea is pushing to raise its chronically low birthrate, whi

A Seoul court has ruled that users of pirated computer software are obliged to fully compensate their manufacturers, regardless of the period of illegality, court officials said Sunday. The ruling by the Seoul High Court was delivered to seven software firms, including Microsoft and local firm Hancom, which filed lawsuits against two local medium-sized companies for illegally using rip-offs of their computer software, the court said Sunday.The two companies installed pirated Windows XP computer