The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday it will impose a 100,000 won ($90) fine on those caught smoking at bus stops in the capital from March. Smoking at 339 major bus stops, including at Seoul Station and Gangnam will be completely banned. The city government designated public bus stops as non-smoking areas in December as part of efforts to protect citizens from second-hand smoke, but has campaigned for three months without imposing fines.Officials said it will remind citizens of the smo

More than a thousand teachers who scored poorly in evaluations last year will undergo teacher training and development programs starting next month, the Education Ministry said Sunday. Out of 343,725 teachers in primary and secondary schools, as well as special education schools nationwide, 1,119 teachers have been selected for the training session.Until August, 64 teachers evaluated as “unsatisfactory” by both students and coworkers will attend either online or offline courses for up to 210 hou

The police tackling school gangs across the country are blacklisting students engaged in school violence or likely to commit violent acts, causing concerns about what areas in which the police should be active.According to the Korean National Police Agency, they expanded the category of perpetrators subject to their investigation from school gangs to unruly students involved in or likely to be involved in school violence.The agency recently ordered its units throughout the country to profile the

Motorboat racing Friday became the latest local sport to be marred by match-fixing allegations.Prosecutors in Uijeongbu in Gyeonggi Province said they have arrested a 36-year-old racer, surnamed Park, on suspicions of fixing races. The racer allegedly took cash from a gambling broker in exchange for giving him the predicted orders of finishes in races.The broker, a 47-year-old also surnamed Park, has been booked without physical detention. The two aren’t related.Prosecutors said the racer receiv

Former president Roh Tae-woo has been admitted to the hospital with a high fever, just days after being discharged, his aides said Friday. “He was admitted into the Seoul National University Hospital on Thursday after showing signs of a high fever of unknown origin,” said Roh’s secretary Moon Dong-hee.Tests so far showed no signs of serious illness in the 79-year-old, he added. Roh is expected to remain hospitalized for the next couple of days before being released, according to a source quoted

The government said Friday it will designate a non-smoking zone for the country’s national parks starting in 2013 as part of efforts to protect the environment and promote public health.Currently, smoking is allowed in several spots within the national parks, including restrooms, parking lots and snack bars. According to the Korea National Park Service, smoking will be completely banned in national parks starting next year, and violators will face a fine of 100,000 won ($88.9).“We plan to launch

The Navy has revived the use of its slogan “Ocean-Going Navy,” signifying its commitment to strengthening open water operational capabilities, a source said Friday.“The Navy is officially using the term ‘Ocean-Going Navy,’ which hadn‘t been in use since the sinking of the Cheonan,” the source said, referring to the deadly North Korean torpedoing of the warship in March 2010. “The term Korean Ocean-Going Navy has appeared in documents and PR materials.”The source also said the Navy is looking to

Korea’s spending on private education dropped for a second straight year in 2011 as the number of students declined, affected by a chronically low birth rate, a report showed Friday.South Korean parents spent a total of 20.1 trillion won ($17.76 billion) last year on private education for their children, down 3.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the report by Statistics Korea.The decline followed a 3.5 percent fall in 2010, which was the first private education spending drop since the a

Police said Friday they have arrested and detained five people, including a Korean man with Canadian nationality, suspected of dealing marijuana in two separate drug rings.Police also booked 31 others, including a 36-year-old college professor from the U.S., for investigation without physical detent

The government said Friday it will designate a non-smoking zone for the country's national parks starting in 2013 as part of efforts to protect the environment and promote public health.Currently, smoking is allowed in several spots within the national parks, including restrooms, parking lots and sn

Local doctors successfully transplanted seven organs to a 7-year-old girl last fall, Asan Medical Center said Thursday. It is the first simultaneous transplant in Korea involving that many organs, and a sign of a new era of treatments for hard-to-cure disease, the medics said.According to the hospital, Dr. Kim Do-yeon and his team in October transplanted liver, pancreas, small intestine, stomach, duodenum, large intestine and spleen to Cho Eun-seo, who had suffered from chronic intestinal pseudo