Prosecutors launched an investigation into whether President Lee Myung-bak’s brother-in-law fabricated a scandal to put one of Lee’s former business partners in trouble and allow Lee to evade stock fraud charges.The case may deal a blow to the ruling party in the general elections, as it involves a close relative of the president, who is already under fire for other financial scandals. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Lee’s ex-business partner Kim Kyung-joon had filed a compla

The VIP guest house formerly operated by Ilhae Foundation in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province is being opened to the public for the first time in 27 years. On Tuesday, the Korea International Cooperation Agency announced that the exhibition marking 20 years of Korea-Vietnam diplomatic relations and 1,000 years of exchange between the two nations will be held at the facility starting Wednesday.The exhibition will run for six months. The KOICA gained management rights over the facility from the Ministr

SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is suspected of masterminding last year's attempt to hack into the e-mail accounts of a Seoul university's graduate school alumni, school officials said Tuesday.The Graduate School of Information Security at Korea University said it has conducted a joint invest

A Chinese man booked for throwing firebombs at the Japanese Embassy in Seoul has reportedly been hailing Korea and showing signs of other bizarre behavior, officers reported Monday.According to the Jongno Police Station, 38-year-old Liu who was arrested last week for throwing four Molotov cocktails at the embassy here has been singing Korea’s national anthem and cursing Japan in fluent Korean.The Chinese, here on a tourist visa, has gained popularity among the officers as an “eccentric” individu

The government plans to renew the employment contract of 340,000 irregular workers at government and public organizations on a regular basis, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Monday. Those irregulars whose job status will be upgraded to quasi-regular with a contract renewal guarantee will be able to retire at the same age as other regular workers, but will be paid less than them.The Labor Ministry asked government agencies and their affiliate organizations, including public corporations

South Korean customs officials say they have arrested eight men over a scheme to allegedly smuggle gold bars out of the country by hiding them in their rectums.The Korea Customs Service said Monday the men allegedly transformed $260,000 in gold bars into small beads and smuggled them in their rectum

The gap between workers in the highest and lowest wage brackets hit its widest margin ever last year, a labor research institute said Sunday, pointing to the country’s increasing wage polarization.Last year, the country’s highest wage bracket representing the top 20 percent of wage earners took home 5.4 times the salary received by the lowest bracket representing the bottom 10 percent, the Korea Labor Institute said. Last year’s gap marks the starkest level recorded since the country’s statistic

Police said Sunday they will significantly increase the number of officers tasked with tackling school violence, which has been the subject of public uproar following several suicides by bullied students.The National Police Agency said it will soon begin talks with the government to increase the number of new hires for its anti-school violence mission.The new employment plan is expected to help equip the 249 police stations nationwide with at least one police officer exclusively tasked with figh

A state-funded think tank on health found that more than half of Koreans are anxious about the increasing number of foreigners and immigrant workers entering the country.According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs on Sunday, a large number of Koreans are worried that immigration could bring about problems in social resources and culture.A telephone survey of 1,000 men and women over 20 found that 63.9 percent believed the statement, “if there are more children of foreigners an

Seoul’s 24-hour medical service call center was dialed 436,025 times by citizens and 6,241 times by foreign residents last year ― up about 17 percent from the previous year.“We will continue to make sure our citizens and foreign residents receive fast, kind and appropriate medical services from our professional doctors, nurses and urgent medical staff,” said Mo Hyun-hee, director of health policy. About 92 percent of citizens said they are satisfied with the service, up by 32 percent from the pr