The ex-wife of a Korean singer has been stabbed to death after getting into a quarrel with a man at a bar in southern Seoul on Wednesday. Police arrested a 38-year-old suspect later in the day. The 36-year-old victim, who divorced popular K-pop group Cool member Kim Sung-soo, was having drinks with four others including her close friend Chae Ri-na, a member of K-pop group RooRa.According to the police, the quarrel started after a man asked the five to be quiet, complaining that they were too lou

Investigators raided the offices and residences of President Lee Myung-bak’s son and eldest brother on Wednesday as part of a probe into suspicions over a now-scrapped project to build Lee’s retirement home. The raid came one day after the independent counsel team banned 10 people involved from traveling overseas. They included the president’s son Si-hyung, former presidential security service chief Kim In-jong, former presidential chief of staff Yim Tae-hee and former presidential secretary of

Despite sagging economic conditions, Koreans’ donation for charity increased 20 percent in 2011 from 2009, according to a survey. The Beautiful Fund, a nonprofit organization, unveiled the result of its survey of 1,029 people conducted in June and July to look into Koreans’ charitable activities and attitudes.The average amount of yearly donation per person was 219,000 won ($198), up 20 percent from 182,000 won in 2009, according to research.The rate of participation in charity donation also sli

A U.S. solider of the 2nd Infantry Division was arrested on Wednesday on allegations of attempted rape and assault.According to police, the soldier attempted to rape an employee of a drinking establishment in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province. The solider is also suspected of assaulting the owner of the establishment who tried to intervene. The soldier, who is currently being held at the police station in the nearby city of Uijeongbu, is denying the allegations. “The 2nd Infantry Division deeply re

Suh Nam-pyo, the president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, said Wednesday he will step down in March amid internal disputes over his reform drive.“I will leave office in March 2013, despite my remaining term, and will cooperate to elect the new president before January,” Suh said in a news conference in Seoul.His term ends in 2014. Suh has been at odds with rank-and-file professors and the student association. Earlier this year the board of directors demanded his resig

People who work in the creative professions are treated more often than the general population for mental illness, researchers in Sweden say.Simon Kyaga of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm said the findings give cause to reconsider approaches to mental illness.Kyaga and the research team tracked almost 1.2 million patients and their relatives, identified down to second-cousin level. The resu

A Chinese fisherman aboard a boat illegally fishing in South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea was shot dead on Tuesday by a South Korean Coast Guard officer during a raid, officials said.The South Korean Coast Guard caught 30 Chinese boats that were illegally fishing in the southwestern sea about 90 kilometers northwest of Hong Island in Shinan County, South Jeolla Province, at around 3:10 p.m.The

Special prosecutors investigating the now-scrapped project for President Lee Myung-bak’s retirement home Tuesday asked the Justice Ministry to ban about 10 people involved from leaving the nation, including Lee’s son Si-hyung and former presidential chief of staff Yim Tae-hee. Lee Sang-eun, the eldest brother of the president, was not included on the list since he left the nation on Monday, raising suspicions of a tip-off. Si-hyung allegedly borrowed money from Sang-eun, the majority shareholder

The government plans to impose an R-rating on visual materials that evoke sexual images of underage female entertainers by zooming in on the chest, bottoms and other suggestive areas.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on Tuesday put up a public notification of the revision to the Youth Protection Law. The measure is a part of efforts to protect underage entertainers from being depicted as sexual objects as well as minors who watch them perform, officials said.The new standard is an addit

Prominent scholars, politicians and business leaders will discuss women’s leadership in the future at the World Women Economy Forum that kicks off Thursday at COEX InterContinental Hotel in Seoul. The speakers include former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former Finnish President Tarja Halonen, Canadian Senator Yonah Kim-Martin and Wharton School professor Stuart Diamond, also known as the author of best-selling book “Getting More.”Under the slogan “New horizon for women leadership: From sur