The Korean Gender Ministry signed an agreement Tuesday with the Philippine government to ensure safer international marriages for both spouses.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said it signed a memorandum of understanding with the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, which upholds the interests of Filipino emigrants, to ensure safer international marriages.The government hopes to accommodate the rising number of marriages between Korean men and Filipina women by offering education and voca

Students at Chung-Ang University can now report misconduct discrimination at its human rights office, officials announced Monday. As the nation’s first university to adopt such an office, the school hopes that the Chung-Ang University Human Rights Center will help to better handle students’ grievances involving discrimination.The center will be an expansion of the existing Center for Gender Equality, which already handles issues of sexual harassment and rape.The office will deal with racial and

A suspected case of avian influenza (AI) was reported for the first time in South Korea in nearly 10 months with test results of a more detailed examination due later in the day, the government said Monday.A suspected case was filed Sunday by a poultry farm in South Chungcheong Province where about

Construction on the Jeju Island naval base continued through its first weekend alongside protests from activists and local residents.Contractors blasted more natural rock until Saturday, following through on demolition to clear the way for the construction.Officials ceased blasting on Sunday, citing poor weather conditions, but continued other construction.“We will start again next week,” said a Navy public affairs official.Saturday’s blasting was met by some 300 protestors from Gangjeong Villag

Police have questioned an employee of Samsung C&T Corp. for allegedly conducting an illegal surveillance on the chief of CJ Group, amid a growing feud over the family inheritance fight over Samsung, South Korea’s biggest conglomerate, officials said Saturday. The summons came as CJ Group sued the 42-year-old Samsung employee, identified only by his surname Kim, for suspicions of following its chairman Lee Jae-hyun late last month after the chairman’s father filed an inheritance suit against the

Police are preparing to summon an incumbent judge to verify whether he pressured a prosecutor to indict a netizen who slandered his wife. They have already conducted written questioning of two prosecutors. The case came to light when prosecutor Park Eun-jeong of Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office Bucheon Division claimed to her superiors last month that Judge Kim Jae-ho called her in 2006 and asked her to indict a blogger who posted a slew of articles criticizing Kim’s wife, Na Kyung-won. The

Drivers may need a separate license to get behind the handlebars of a motorcycle, police officials said Sunday.The National Police Agency is looking to create a separate license for motorcycles with engines bigger than 50 cc.Car drivers can ride motorcycles with engine displacements smaller than 125 cc without any additional education or testing.Police officials have begun revising traffic laws and hope to pass the revision through the National Assembly by September, taking effect next year.The

Prosecutors have secured testimony that Hyundai Motor Group bribed eight former lawmakers of then ruling liberal party in 2006 while its chairman was on trial over bribery charges, according to prosecution sources Saturday.The special investigation team delving into the savings bank scandal said Kim Dong-jin, a former Hyundai Motor vice chairman, told investigators he bribed then lawmakers of the Uri Party, a ruling party of late President Roh Moo-hyun, in late 2006.Kim, 62, said he gave 10 mill

It was an unusual backdrop for a fistfight: Maestro Riccardo Muti was nearly through the second movement of Brahms Symphony No. 2 at the normally staid Chicago Symphony Orchestra when two patrons got into a fistfight.Concert-goers at Orchestra Hall were all the more stunned Thursday because the two

About 300 nude bicyclists have ridden through the Peruvian capital of Lima to call attention to safety conditions and demand measures protecting cyclists.Event organizer Octavio Zegarra says the protesters took to their bicycles nude Saturday to show that ``this is our body. With this we go out in t

One of the surviving victims of sexual slavery by Japanese military during World War II is seeking a proportional representation seat with the main opposition Democratic United Party.Lee Yong-su, 84, said she wanted to become a proportional representative through the April 11 parliamentary elections so that she can demand an official apology and compensation from the Japanese government as a lawmaker. “Japan hasn’t changed its stance a bit on the issue for the last 20-30 years. I want to make su

The commanding general of the country's top special forces unit has been relieved of his duties for allegedly having inappropriate relations with a subordinate, Army officials said Friday. Brig. Gen. Choi Ik-bong, commander of the Special Warfare Command, also recently expressed his intention to