South Korea‘s state-run electricity supplier warned of a possible power shortage Monday due to a surge in consumption caused by low temperatures.The Korea Power Exchange said the country’s electricity reserve was expected to drop to 680,000 kilowatts for two hours from 10 a.m. and again at 5 p.m.“A ‘red’ alert is expected to be issued as the electricity reserve level is expected to dip to 680,000 kilowatts,” it said in a press release.“As the power supply is expected to face serious conditions,

 (Yonhap) -- South Korean maritime police said Sunday they have arrested 24 Chinese sailors who violently resisted the authority's crackdown on their illegal fishing in the Yellow Sea.   The latest clash took place in waters near the western port city of Incheon on Nov. 27, when Chinese sailors aboard three vessels fought against Korean maritime police officers, hurling fishing gears and wielding steel pipes at them, Incheon Coast Guard officials said.    Four officers sustained minor injuries i

The Ministry of Public Administration and Security unveiled the names of the worst tax delinquents Sunday with former Hansol Group vice chairman Cho Dong-man and GS Engineering and Construction topping the lists of individuals and corporations, respectively. The disclosure is part of the government’s efforts to tighten its reins on high-income tax dodgers and address growing concerns of the budget balance. The list includes 7,546 individuals and 3,983 corporations that owe at least 30 million wo

All dogs three months or older in Seoul should carry registered labels on microchips, pendants or tags that can identify them when lost beginning next year, the city government said Sunday.Otherwise their owners will be fined 1 million won ($924) under a new regulation aimed to better protect pets.Dog owners can choose from three types for the registration: electronic microchips which are embedded under dogs’ skin, electronic pendants that have microchips in them, and tags on which the owners’ n

The Korean police are permitted to conduct preliminary investigations into U.S. Army officers and soldiers who are caught red-handed in criminal cases before they hand them over to the U.S. military police, the National Police Agency said Sunday. The police will also have the right to investigate all types of crimes committed by the U.S. servicemen under detention.Previously the U.S. military was only required to give “sympathetic consideration” when Korea requested a transfer even before indict

Almost one-third of Koreans aged 15 and above have drunk “poktanju” ― a mixture of spirits and beer ― this year, with nearly half of those in their 20s having done so.According to the survey conducted by the Korean Food Drug Agency 626 of 2,066 respondents, or 30.3 percent, said they had more than one glass of the Korean boilermaker. The rate of people drinking poktanju was highest among those in their 20s, with 49.2 percent, followed by people in their 30s and 40s with 34.9 percent and 32 perce

Kim Kwang-jun, a senior prosecutor in Seoul, was indicted Friday on bribery and influence-peddling charges in the largest-ever corruption case involving an incumbent prosecutor. The 51-year-old official of Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office is accused of receiving money and entertainment worth over 1 billion won ($922,934) from several people, including a fugitive con artist, in return for favors, a special prosecutor investigating the case said. Kim has been under arrest since mid-November. “We’re

A medical doctor was sentenced to 20 years in prison in a retrial on Friday for murdering his pregnant wife.The 32-year-old doctor surnamed Baek initially received the same jail sentence by a district court and an appeals court for strangling his nine-month pregnant wife to death during an early-morning quarrel early last year.The Supreme Court, however, overturned an appeals court's conviction and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court for reconsideration, citing a lack of objective evidenc

South Korea's state-run electricity distributor issued a power shortage alert Friday due to a surge in electricity consumption caused by cold temperatures.The Korea Power Exchange issued the "watch" warning, the fourth-highest level, at 11:25 a.m. as the country's electricity reserve dropped below 4 million kilowatts for more than 20 minutes.The company's "attention," the third-highest level, comes when the reserve level drops to between 2 million and 3 million kilowatts. The second-highest warn

A female criminal suspect, accused of offering sex to a prosecutor questioning her in return for leniency, sued three people for circulating her photo on the Internet, the woman's lawyer said Thursday.A photo of the 42-year-old woman began to spread on the Internet when the sex scandal was reported by news media in late November. More photos of her were later put online.The woman asked the police to investigate those who had leaked and circulated her photo on Nov. 28 for the first time, the lawy

Korean prosecutors’ inquiry into suspicions that a Korean firm carried out fake intermediary trade with Iran is expected to move forward with the emergence of circumstantial evidence.There is a big gap between the amount of money the firm received from Iran for its marble exports last year and the amount Tehran appears to have actually paid, according to Yonhap News.Some observers suspect that the Islamic republic used the Korean firm to launder money deposited in the Iranian central bank’s won-