The Korea Herald

US soldier sentenced to 6 years for rape in SKorea

May 11, 2012

A Seoul court has sentenced an American soldier to six years in prison for raping a teenage South Korean girl last year.The Seoul Central District Court’s sentencing of Pvt. Kevin Robinson on Wednesday follows the sentencing in November of another U.S. private to 10 years in prison for a similar crime.The two cases rekindled anti-American sentiments in South Korea and prompted U.S. officials to ap
Seoul aims to become fair trade city

May 10, 2012

Seoul City is joining a global movement to assist farmers in poor countries and protect the environment with the ethical and fair trade of produce. The city plans to adopt a declaration and launch a range of events on Saturday to mark World Fair Trade Day, officials said Thursday.The statement will include five goals including establishing related laws, a government-civilian committee and a center for research and education. The city will also launch campaigns to expand the use of fair trade pro
Cyberspace ills blamed for crimes

May 10, 2012

Some blame apparent surge in serious youth crime on Internet activityA recent string of heinous juvenile crimes has sparked public concern over increasingly violent teenagers who spend most of their time in the seemingly lawless cyberspace.Experts say the unrestrained and uncultured life in online communities that allows anonymity is one of the critical factors motivating young students to commit brutal criminal acts without remorse.“As young children play games in which they should stab and kil
Senior Buddhist monks quit over gambling scandal

May 10, 2012

High-ranking monks of South Korea's largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order, resigned en masse on Thursday, a day after prosecutors launched a probe into video footage showing eight of the sect's monks gambling while playing poker. The investigation was launched after the video footage, which filmed the eight monks with hundreds of millions of won in play at a hotel in southern South Korea on April
Man attempts a robbery at a police station

May 10, 2012

A man remains in a Texas jail after allegedly attempting to hold up a police station, a report said.Police said Keithan Manuel, 18, entered the Police Department building in Wilmer, Texas, near Dallas, Saturday evening with a towel covering his hands and a demand for money."A young man walked into the lobby and approached the dispatch window and told our communications officer, 'Give me all your m
Cracking study makes nanotech breakthrough

May 10, 2012

Korean researcher makes Nature magazine with nanotech breakthrough Korean scientists have developed technology that can control the way a solid material cracks for the first time in a breakthrough that could have applications in a range of fields from semiconductors to medicine.The research was featured on the cover of Wednesday’s issue of Nature. It is the first time a Korean study has been on the cover of the world’s most authoritative scientific journal. Nam Koo-hyun of Ewha Womans University
Seoul eases rehiring rules for foreign workers

May 9, 2012

Starting in early July, “exemplary”foreign workers can be re-employed in South Korea three monthsafter returning home under a new law that makes rehiring them here simpler and easier, officials said Wednesday.South Korea softened its rules on the rehiring of foreign workers with E-9 non-professional work permit visas in February, as part of efforts to help small firms retain skilled migrant workers and preventing those with expired visas from overstaying. The revised law will take effect on July
Ex-police chief questioned over Roh defamation

May 9, 2012

Former Police Commissioner-General Cho Hyun-oh on Wednesday was questioned by the prosecution over allegations that he defamed the late former President Roh Moo-hyun with remarks indicating his creation of slush fund. “I am sorry to have caused a stir with my inappropriate comments,” he said as he entered the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul on 1:50 p.m. But he refused to elaborate. “It will be inappropriate for me to say anything before the questioning,” he said. The investig
Anti-corruption body gets U.N. recognition

May 9, 2012

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced Wednesday that its Integrity Assessment system was awarded the top prize in the U.N. Public Service Award’s anti-corruption category. Under the system, the ACRC surveys a large number of civil servants and members of the public lodging complaints to assess the level of integrity at government organizations. Since its introduction in 2002, the ACRC has increased the number of organizations assessed to 684. The ACRC also carries out follow-
Metro scraps plan to hike Line No. 9 fares

May 9, 2012

The operator of subway Line No. 9 has canceled its plan to raise its fare under pressure from citizens and the municipal government. Seoul Metro Line 9 Corporation announced a plan in April to increase the fare by 500 won to 1,550 won on June 16.Citizens already suffering from inflating living costs criticized the plan. The company apologized Wednesday for causing concern. The operator and Seoul Metropolitan Government said they will resume negotiations over the fare and try to make efforts to m
New York Air Controllers Slept, Watched Movies, U.S. Report Says

May 9, 2012

Air-traffic controllers in the New York area slept on the job, watched movies on duty, left work early and repeatedly violated safety rules, a U.S. investigative agency told the White House and Congress.Controllers at the facility that monitors traffic in a radius of about 80 kilometers around New York also used careless and casual languages in communications with pilots, leading to at least one s
Ex-vice minister arrested in bribery investigation

May 8, 2012

Prosecutors arrested Park Young-joon, a former vice knowledge and economy minister and key aide to President Lee Myung-bak, for bribery late Monday night.Seoul Central District Court approved the arrest of Park citing ample evidence supporting the bribery charge against the former official nicknamed the “king’s man,” and the risk of an attempt to destroy evidence or abscond.But it refused an arrest warrant for Kang Cheol-won, a former Seoul Metropolitan Government official facing the same briber
IBS taps 10 scientists as directors

May 8, 2012

Ten of Korea’s top scientists, including chemist Kim Ki-moon from POSTECH and biologist Kim V. Narry from Seoul National University, have been named to lead the state-run research center for basic sciences. The Institute for Basic Science announced the list of its directors after four months of assessment. The IBS was established in Daejeon in 2011, as a part of the government’s 5.2 trillion won science belt project, with the aim of developing human resources through basic scientific research.A
Cha hospitals raided over rebates

May 8, 2012

Police recently raided hospitals affiliated to Cha Group, a leading medical service and research concern, on suspicions that some of its workers received illegal rebates from a pharmaceutical company. Officers at Gyeonggi Metropolitan Police Station said Tuesday that they have searched the hospital giant’s offices in Seoul as well as Bundang and Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province last Wednesday. They also raided the office of a pharmaceutical company which holds contracts for nearly half of the drugs us
Korean scientists step forward on creating ‘invisibility cloak’

May 8, 2012

A Korean research team has made a further step toward inventing an “invisibility cloak,” by developing a way of producing artificial materials that deflect lights on a large-scale production It is not the first time scientists have tried to manipulate light to create invisibility.But the research team, led by Kang Tae-wook from Sogang University, claims that they have found an innovative way of producing metamaterials, man-made nano materials, to manipulate light and create a cloaking effect.The