Seoul police said Friday they will question an incumbent court judge, also the husband of former ruling party lawmaker and mayoral candidate Na Kyung-won, next week over allegations that he used his influence for prosecutors' indictment of a blogger who uploaded online postings critical of his wife.

A bill to replace resident registration cards with microchips containing personal information is unlikely to pass parliament within this term, officials said Thursday.According to the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, the revision for the Resident Registration Act has yet to be placed before the National Assembly’s judicial committee. Considering that the present National Assembly has effectively ceased to sit in preparation for the April 11 general elections, it is unlikely that t

A group of Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery during World War II pledged on Thursday to help Congolese women suffering because of sexual abuse and rape, if they receive financial compensation from Japan for its wartime atrocities against them.“I decided to help those who were treated much worse than me. If I get the compensation, I hope the people helping me fight for compensation as well as an apology from Tokyo will send it to the Congolese women,” said Kim Bok-dong at a press c

Prosecutors here have indicted a U.S. soldier without detention for bringing synthetic marijuana into the country, prosecutors said Thursday.According to Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, the U.S. Eighth Army sergeant first class was caught trying to ship in AM-2201, a synthetic cannabinoid.The soldier, whose name was not disclosed, had ordered 50 grams of the drug online and shipped it into the country.“I brought it in so I could use it,” said the soldier as quoted by prosecutors.Offi

Builders hit hardest; labor group cites relaxed rules on massive dismissalsMore than a million workers lost their jobs last year as a result of restructuring, layoffs or bankruptcy amid a sluggish domestic economy, government data showed Thursday. According to employment insurance statistics provided by the Labor Ministry, a total of 2.13 million workers exited the national employment insurance scheme due to involuntary termination of employment, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total who

As the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement effectuation nears, foreign law firms are seeking ways to penetrate the Korean market. Whether they will aggravate the trade balance in the field is questionable, but domestic firms are also gearing up to take measures against the “invasion.”According to the Ministry of Justice, seven U.S.-based law firms applied to gain licenses as advisers on foreign law Tuesday, the first day of applications. They are Paul Hastings, Ropes & Gray, Sheppard Mullin, Cleary

Prosecutors have placed Oh Deok-gyun, head of CNK International, on Interpol’s wanted list to get him back to Korea from Cameroon for questioning on the company’s stock rigging scandal, officials said.Despite the prosecution’s repeated requests to return home, Oh is still believed to be staying in Cameroon.He is under suspicion of intentionally leading the Foreign Ministry to publish an exaggerated press release about a diamond mine’s reserves for which the company won the mining rights. He is a

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency will summon the husband of former ruling party lawmaker Na Kyung-won over allegations that he used his influence as a judge to ask a prosecutor to indict a netizen for posting slanderous remarks about Na on the internet in 2005.The allegations were first brought forward by SisaIN reporter Choo Chin-woo on the podcast “Naneun Ggomsuda.” In the podcast Choo alleged that Na’s husband Kim Jae-ho used his influence in the prosecution of the netizen. Following the

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Wednesday it will provide medical aid to undocumented foreign workers in the capital, who are not entitled to social security and health care insurance. The city government plans to cover surgery costs and hospital charges up to 5 million won ($4,400) and provide interpretation and nursing services for up to a month depending on patients’ conditions, officials said. “We are focusing on uninsured foreign workers. We are going to visit districts such as

Police said Wednesday they have arrested three Malaysians suspected of going on a lavish shopping spree on forged credit cards in South Korea‘s famous department stores and tax-free shops. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said the three, including a 41-year-old man identified by the initial of his name J, used forged credit cards to purchase 290 million won ($257,600) worth of designer handbags and watches as well as high-end IT gadgets like the iPad and Galaxy Note. They made three one-nigh

The government identified 95 Koreans who died during the bombing of Tokyo during World War Two, a prime ministerial commission said Tuesday. This is the first time Korean casualties of the attack have been identified.The incident refers to the carpet bombing of Tokyo made by the U.S. Air Force that began on March 9, 1945. About 2,400 metric tons of incendiary bombs were dropped on the Japanese capital during the raid, killing more than 100,000 people.According to Korean and Japanese research, be

Women are taking a bigger role in devising and implementing national policies in South Korea as the number of mid-to-high level female public officials has increased fivefold over the past decade, data showed Tuesday.According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, 2,143 female officials were ranked at grade 5 or higher in the administrative branch in 2010, up from 420 in 2000. South Korea’s officialdom is classified in nine grades, with grade 1 being the hig

A Japanese pastor has visited South Korea seeking immigration for dozens of residents after their region was devastated by a nuclear disaster last year, an official said Tuesday.Pastor and civic activist Nagato Tsuboi from Fukushima visited the southwestern county of Jangsu last month, a county official told AFP on condition of anonymity.“He came with several South Korean estate developers and said he was looking to buy land at a place similar to Fukushima, like our county and Jeju,” he said. Je

Investors claiming to have lost money as a result of the Deutsche Bank’s stock manipulations have filed a lawsuit against the bank and Korea Investment and Securities Co. According to the Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday, six investors brought a suit against the two institutions seeking 100 million won ($89,000), claiming that an equity linked securities investment program operated by Korea Investment and Securities made a loss due to Deutsche Bank’s stock manipulations. In the complaint,