Police said Wednesday they launched an investigation into allegations that some officials in the Korea Freedom Federation, the nation’s largest anti-communist civic organization, misappropriated government subsidies and donations for personal use and other purposes. A report said Wednesday that around 470 million won ($434,000) of 1.4 billion won pro­vided by the government was not spent as intended in 2011.For example, 57 million won of a 100 million won budget for a KFF project was used instea

Two American soldiers who are accused of shooting a BB gun into crowds and fleeing in a car gave different accounts Wednesday over who drove the car at high speeds and tried to hit a police officer chasing them.Three soldiers from the 8th U.S. Army are under investigation by South Korean police after they shot a BB gun at pedestrians in the multicultural Itaewon district late Saturday night and fled in a car, leading to the police pursuit. A police officer who chased the soldiers shot at the car

A teenage boy suspected of torching a construction site last year was taken into custody, police said Wednesday.According to Incheon Nambu Police Station, the 17-year-old male suspect set fire to a layer of dust at a construction site in Nam-gu, Incheon. The fire was extinguished in 10 minutes, and no injuries were reported.The CCTV images taken at the crime scene showed that the arsonist was wearing women’s clothes at the time, misleading the investigators to think the arsonist was a young woma

Seoul will host the headquarters of CITYNET, an international organization of Asia-Pacific cities for sustainable development this month, an official said. CITYNET is a regional network of local authorities committed to improving the sustainability of human settlements. The secretariat office will relocate from Yokohama to Seoul with the opening ceremony scheduled for March 26, and Mayor Park Won-soon will take office as president in November, he said.“Holding a general council in early November

Former President Lee Myung-bak was sued on Tuesday by a local civic group for long-raised suspicions of conducting irregularities during the course of pushing for his now-scrapped retirement pension project.The People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy said it lodged an accusation with Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office against Lee for breach of duty and abuse of authority, claiming he is suspected of playing a key role in the fraud-ridden project.Lee left the office on Feb. 25 upo

A breakdown of a ventilator at a chemical factory in southeastern South Korea caused the leakage of chlorine gas on Tuesday, injuring 11 employees, police and company officials said.Around 1 liter of the toxic gas was leaked at around 8:50 a.m. at the Gumi Chemical factory located in the Gumi National Industrial Complex, some 200 kilometers southeast of Seoul, while workers there were trying to transfer the liquid gas from a tanker.A 35-year-old employee was sent to a nearby hospital for difficu

One in 10 female migrant workers in South Korea has been raped or subjected to sexual harassment, a report said Monday.The findings by the Korea Support Center for Foreign Workers and MNTV, an Internet broadcasting company for migrant workers, showed that 10.7 percent of the 1,218 people polled said they were victims of sexual abuse.Of the 975 male and 205 female workers surveyed, 22 women and 15 men claimed they were abused or harassed at their workplaces by their Korean employers or co-workers

South Korea's retail giant E-mart, apparently under pressure, granted 10,000 dispatch workers regular employee status Monday after the government ruled that they were working for the company illegally.These dispatch workers, who E-Mart had previously paid a sub-contractor for them to work in 146 stores nationwide, will now be directly hired by the company.Regular employees are ensured employment until retirement age, various welfare benefits including medical care, education support and pay up t

South Korean police say they are questioning U.S. soldiers over a high-speed car chase that resulted in a Seoul officer shooting a soldier after being hit by a car.The soldiers reportedly fired a BB gun at pedestrians on a Seoul street Saturday night before fleeing in a car.Police say an officer chased them in a taxi and fired at the car as it rushed by him. Police say the officer was injured and one U.S. soldier was shot in his shoulder but their injuries aren't life threatening.Police say two

The human rights watchdog said Monday it has decided to launch an extensive probe into possible human rights violation cases in which employers have illegally used electronic surveillance devices to monitor their employees.Since 2001, the National Human Rights Commission has received a total of 663 petitions from employees who complained of being watched by their companies, with the number of such cases on the steady rise from three in 2002 to 57 in 2008 and 169 cases in 2012, according to offic

South Korean police said Monday U.S. military officials have asked them to delay questioning of an American soldier who was shot and wounded in a car chase as he is currently under treatment. The 23-year-old private first class, who serves in the 8th U.S. Army at Yongsan Garrison, was shot in the shoulder after midnight on Saturday during a car chase through the capital city. The soldier refused to cooperate with police officers who were dispatched to Itaewon subway station after receiving calls