Summer starts a half month earlier and lasts longer compared with 50 years ago due possibly to global warming, the weather agency said Sunday. Summers in the 2000s started on average on May 27, 15 days earlier than those during the 1950s, the Korea Meteorological Administration said, citing previous data.With the early start of summer, the length of summer has been extended by 20 days for a total of 121 days on average since 2000 compared with the 1950s, the weather agency said. The agency defin

The number of South Korean babies born with deformities has sharply increased over the past seven years due largely to the increased maternal age, government data showed Sunday.According to data released by the National Health Insurance Service, the number of newborns with records of hospital treatment for congenital deformity shot up 136.5 percent from 13,786 in 2005 to 32,601 in 2011.As of 2011, 730 babies per 10,000 were born with congenital malformations, the government agency said, noting 6

Prosecutors questioned a former Seoul police chief Saturday over suspicions that he had hampered a police probe into the national spy agency’s alleged attempt to influence public opinion ahead of last year’s presidential election.It was the second time that Kim Yong-pan, who had headed the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) for about two years until early this year, has undergone questioning in connection with the case.Kim is alleged to have pressured a police investigation team not to delv

South Korea officially joined an international treaty on adoption to provide protection for children, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Friday.According to the ministry, South Korea became a member state of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, as Health Minister Chin Young signed the deal on Friday.The convention establishes protection for children, birth parents and adoptive parents while endorsing the concept of internat

Private education institutions suspected of leaking exam questions for the U.S. college admission test will be subject to severe penalties, including business shutdown, Seoul's education authorities said Sunday.The announcement came as about 10 local private institutions providing lectures for the U.S.-based Scholastic Aptitude Test(SAT) have been under prosecution investigations on suspicions of leaking test questions to exam takers. Amid the suspicions, the SAT operator College Board canceled

 South Korea's large businesses are found to hold some 5.7 trillion won (US$5.1 billion) worth of assets through their corporate entities in tax haven regions, data showed Sunday.   According to the data by market researcher Chaebol.com, 24 local conglomerates were found to run corporate entities in nine tax havens, including the Cayman Islands, Panama, the Marshall Islands, Samoa and Cyprus.   The businesses cited in the data are private conglomerates holding 1 trillion won or larger in total a

Two Japanese scholars said Saturday that they have been warned by their government in Tokyo for visiting South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, to which Japan has also laid claims.Norio Kuboi, a former professor at Momoyama Gakuin University, Yoshihiro Kuroda, a former lecturer at the Kobe Shoin Women's University in Osaka, and another Japanese made the visit to Dokdo on Thursday where they declared the islets Korean territory. Right after the trip, the scholars said they were visited by two

Former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui has been asked to appear for questioning by police sometime next week on suspicions that he received sexual favors from a local contractor in return for business favors, according to an officer Saturday.The sex bribery scandal centers around allegations that a number of high-profile figures, such as former and incumbent high-ranking government officials including Kim and the head of a hospital, received sexual services from about a dozen women hired by the

Prosecutors are tracing overseas bank accounts with international authorities in the widening probe into food and entertainment giant CJ Group, which is suspected of massive income tax evasion through offshore slush funds and illegal wealth transfers to the chairman’s children. Sources said the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office are currently working to retrieve data relevant to CJ Group’s overseas account transactions with the help of related local and international organizations includ

South Korea plans to expand support for foreigners who establish a business here as part of efforts to attract more foreign talent into the country and thus help boost its economy, government officials said Friday.Under the plan that focuses on better working and living environments for foreigners here, the government will set up a start-up assistant program where up to 70 percent of the cost for starting technology-based establishments will be subsidized.Foreign entrepreneurs who set up a busin

South Korea officially joined an international treaty on adoption to provide protection for children, the health ministry said Friday.According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, South Korea became a member state of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, as Health Minister Jin Young signed the deal on Friday.The convention establishes protection for children, birth parents and adoptive parents while endorsing the concept of in

Prosecutors are tracing overseas bank accounts of CJ Group with help from the banks to secure evidence to allegations that the local food and entertainment conglomerate amassed a massive slush fund offshore, sources close to the investigation said Friday.The country's 14th largest conglomerate has been under a probe on allegations that the company managed a slush fund worth about hundreds of billions of won in total in foreign countries, including the British Virgin Islands, a well-known tax hav