South Korea is considering expanding the use of chemical castration of sex offenders and putting repeat criminals under closer watch with growing calls for tougher measures against rapists and pedophiles, government officials said Monday. Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and senior officials from related agencies agreed to adopt stricter measures to curb sex offenses and increase staff to monitor rapi

A group of students at a private educational institute have been infected with tuberculosis, and health authorities are investigating the possible spread of the disease. The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Monday that six students at a cram school for college entrance in Mokdong, western Seoul, had been infected with TB, and that 14 others with latent TB are undergoing further tests. The health authority has isolated the 20 patients and expanded the testing to other stu

The highest court in South Korea on Sunday dismissed former President Roh Tae-woo’s claim to ownership of his nephew’s company although it was founded with his slush fund.Roh gave some 12 billion won ($10.6 million) to his younger brother Jae-woo before a local court ordered the former leader in 1997 to return to state coffers roughly 263 billion won he had amassed during his five-year tenure from 1988. The younger Roh used the funds to set up a cold storage company with the help of a friend ide

A woman in her 50s fatally stabbed a 78-year-old fellow tenant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Friday morning, adding to public jitters after a series of incidents involving knife-wielding attackers. Police said that the women had a quarrel before the younger woman attacked the older one in an alley at around 9:20 a.m. The two, both surnamed Kim, lived alone as tenants in the same house.“She was not conscious and did not breathe. We tried to resuscitate her, but to no avail,” a hospital official

Police said Friday they will provide tear gas guns to officers on security duty in Seoul, as part of efforts to reinforce countermeasures against violent crimes.The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said they requested the National Police Agency to set aside a budget worth 180 million won ($158,800) to purchase gas guns for conscripted riot police and combat police forces stationed in the capital c

The government will hold an extensive meeting on Friday to brace for a powerful typhoon expected to affect the nation early next week.Typhoon Bolaven, which is named after a highland region in Laos, is expected to be the most powerful storm of the season for the country and to bring heavy rains to the southern island of Jeju from Monday before affecting the whole country the following day, according to the state weather agency.The typhoon will likely cause huge damage to the country already suff

A nuclear reactor in South Korea's southeastern region shut itself down after its reactor operation system gave a warning signal, the state-run plant operator said Thursday. The Reactor-1 in Uljin Nuclear Power Plant, automatically stopped operating its nuclear reactor and turbine generator as of 6:41 p.m., according to the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. It froze itself on the warning signal and

(Yonhap) -- Torrential downpours in the southern parts of South Korea flooded local farms and houses, leaving two people dead and causing damage across the region, the police and weather agency said Thursday.   An 85-year-old woman, surnamed Yeom, was found dead by alandslide in Boseong, a town in South Jeolla Province, 397 kilometers southwest of Seoul, after being buried in soil for an hour unti

A mine of a cement manufacturer in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, collapsed, trapping at least two workers under the rubble, police said Thursday.The mine of Lafarge Halla Cement Corp. caved in at around 7:05 p.m. Four were initially buried under the rubble. But police rescued one, and another made his way out of the debris.The two trapped miners are out of contact, the company said.The police are carrying out a search and rescue operation at the scene.By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)

The Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled the online real-name system unconstitutional. The decision will thus repeal the system that was introduced in 2007 to prevent malicious postings and comments on the Web.“In order to preliminarily restrict freedom of expression, there must be a clear effect (from such a system) on the common good. After the (real-name system was introduced), the amount of illegal postings did not make a significant decline and instead led users to use overseas sites, whi