Elderly South Korean women forced by Japan into sex slavery during World War II plan to visit the neighboring country this week to hold rounds of rallies to let the people know of their predecessors’ wrongdoing, a local organization said Wednesday.Two victims ― 88-year-old Kim Bok-dong and 86-year-old Kil Won-ok ― will head to Japan on Friday to hold street rallies and press conferences to testify about the hardship they were forced to endure, according to the Korean Council for the Women Drafte

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on Monday that it would test-run a dog park inside Seoul Children’s Grand Park in July. The area will be created near the park’s Guui entrance, a five-minute walk from the parking lot and an area that has much greenery. The city plans to install a separate toilet area for dogs and maintain its sanitary conditions through frequent cleaning and sterilization.“We chose Children’s Grand Park (as the place to trial the idea) considering various conditions i

A Korean man charged with manufacturing and transporting narcotics was sentenced to death by a Chinese higher court and is awaiting a final ruling from the top court, sources here said Monday.The suspect, whose identity was withheld except for his surname, Lee, is a resident of Japan but holds Korean nationality, according to the sources. Though he was given the death sentence by the lower court in April last year and the sentence was upheld by the higher court in December, this information was

Concerns are spreading over the reckless online and social media exposure of a woman claimed to be the alleged Korean-American victim of groping by sacked presidential spokesman Yoon Chang-jung.The alleged victim’s name, Facebook address and pictures have been quickly distributed through social media and some portal sites.The 21-year-old Korean-American intern assisted the former presidential secretary while he was accompanying President Park Geun-hye in Washington. Yoon is suspected of groping

A German Embassy official in Seoul has been questioned over an alleged assault against a conglomerate owner’s wife and son, the police said on Monday.The official allegedly pushed and kicked the son during an argument after the diplomat’s dog bit the woman in a park last Thursday, according to the police in Yongsan.The police said the diplomat was strolling around Namsan Park in central Seoul with his dog at the time.The 72-year-old victim was identified as the wife of the head of one of Korea’s

Two former senior officials of a now-delisted local display panel manufacturer have been indicted on charges of making millions of dollars in illegal profits through stock manipulation, prosecutors said Monday. This is the first arrest by the government’s joint investigation team on security crimes, which was launched earlier this month as part of efforts to swiftly investigate price-rigging activities. The team involves dozens of officials from the prosecution, the Financial Services Commission

Women in Seoul gave an average 2.67 on a scale of one to five in grading their level of happiness, according to a report released Sunday by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family, a city-affiliated policy developer and evaluator. Among the total of nine categories covered in the report, personal satisfaction in city life (3.23) and safety (3.07) received the highest scores while co-prosperity (2.29) and care (2.36) were among the lowest rated categories. The participants also rated sub-categor

The government will discuss this week whether to open duty free shops at airport arrival gates as part of efforts to boost consumption, according to government sources on Sunday. Discussions on opening duty free shops in the arrivals zone at Incheon International Airport will be one of the key agenda items for a meeting between Cheong Wa Dae and financial authorities on Tuesday, the sources said. The talks on the issue started in 2001 when the airport opened, but policymakers failed to reach an

More than half of married South Korean women said that having a child is not a must in their married lives, a survey showed Sunday, an indication that theimportance of children in marriage is fading in South Korean society.   The survey, released in a report by a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, showed that 53.5 percent of some 4,500 married women responded that havinga child is not a must, though it's better to have one, while 46.3 percent think otherwi

An arrest warrant is being sought for a well-known muckraking journalist accused of spreading false information that a younger brother of President Park Geun-hye was involved in a murder case, prosecution officials said Friday.Joo Jin-woo, a reporter of the monthly news magazine Sisa Journal, has been questioned by prosecutors for reporting that the president’s younger brother, Park Ji-man, was behind the deaths of two of his relatives.In September 2011, police found the body of a nephew of the

A local construction contractor has admitted to playing a role in hiring women to provide sexual favors to a number of high-profile figures in return for business benefits, an officer close to the investigation said Friday.The 52-year-old construction contractor, surnamed Yoon, returned home earlier in the day after being quizzed for more than 14 hours over allegations that the social elites, including former and incumbent high-ranking government officials and the head of a hospital, received se

President Park Geun-hye’s promise to address businesses’ concerns about the “ordinary wage” system has sparked a heated debate in labor, management and political circles. During a meeting with U.S. business leaders in Washington on Wednesday, Park said the government will redress the complicated wage rule which GM chairman Daniel Akerson cited as a key barrier to investment in Korea. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Friday a tripartite panel of labor, management and government will begi