Air in Seoul has been as clean as that on the resort island of Jeju for 202 days this year, with the dust level falling to the lowest in about a decade, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Sunday.The annual average dust particle concentration in the air was 47 micrograms per cubic meter this year, the lowest since 1995 when the city started to measure the dust level in the air. In 1995, the dust concentration in the air was 78 micrograms. The number of days as clean as in Jeju, that is 45 mic

Hundreds of college students will get a chance to receive internships abroad, as part of a government program to help them develop global mindsets and land jobs after graduation, the Education Ministry said Sunday. Under the global internship program launched in 2005, the ministry will select 850 college students ― 250 from four-year universities and 600 from community colleges ― as 2012 overseas interns to be sent to English-speaking countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Australia, a

Ministry to tighten restructuring to weed out underperforming schoolsUniversities found to have committed admission scams and academic irregularities such as hiring unqualified faculty or giving undeserved grades will face a cut of up to 10 percent in their freshmen enrollment, the Education Ministry said Sunday. Schools committing irregularities will face penalties including bans on freshmen recruitment in the first stage and cuts in their number in the second stage, according to a revised law

The police are seeking the extradition of a man from Germany who confessed to murdering his wife in Seoul. The 48-year-old German is currently under police custody in Berlin after he confessed to murdering his Korean-German wife at about 4 a.m. on Dec. 22.The man left Korea soon after the murder and

At least 30 people were injured Saturday in a multi-vehicle pile-up on a highway in the central part of the nation, police said.Around 90 vehicles were involved in the crash that took place at 10:10 a.m. on the highway that runs between Cheonan and Nonsan, according to the police.The injured were ta

The prosecution on Friday filed for an arrest warrant for SK Group vice chairman Chey Jae-won for alleged embezzlement. According to Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office, Chey Jae-won, the younger brother of SK chairman Chey Tae-won, is suspected of having orchestrated money-laundry of 49.7 billion won ($43.2 million) out of 280 billion won set aside by 18 affiliates of the group for investment into Benex Investment. He is suspected of handing it to his elder brother who has allegedly spent as much

The prosecution said Friday that Chung Bong-ju, the former opposition lawmaker convicted of spreading false information about President Lee Myung-bak, will be jailed Monday afternoon.The decision came as Chung’s solicitor asked the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office that the politician, sentenced to one year in prison by the Supreme Court on Thursday, could spare Christmas with his family. “We told him to report to the prosecutors’ office by 1 p.m. Monday to allow him to put his affairs

The nation is expected to enjoy a white Christmas this year as snow is forecasted to blanket most of the country on Saturday, the country’s weather agency said Friday.According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Seoul and most other parts of the country are expected to see heavy snow between the early morning and noon on Christmas Eve.Some parts of the nation are expected to see up to 30 centimeters of snowfall, with Jeju between 10 to 20 centimeters and Seoul a more manageable one to t

SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors said Friday they have requested a warrant to arrest the vice chairman of South Korea's No. 3 conglomerate SK Group on suspicions of embezzling a massive amount of group funds. Chey Jae-won, 48, is suspected of embezzling up to 100 billion won (US$87 million) fr

83 years of the Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign There are few surer signs that Christmas is upon us than when the familiar red kettles and bell chimes of the Salvation Army appear in the streets. Now in its 83rd year, the Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle Campaign has long been one of the easiest ways to participate in philanthropy. All one has to do is toss spare change into the red kettle while passing by or secretly leave a larger amount of cash or item for the less fortunate. This year s

From as early as next year, cough drops and pain killers will be sold at 24 hour-convenience stores while cigarette packaging will be labeled with images to discourage smoking, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Friday. A day before the ministry’s report of next year’s plan to President Lee Myung-bak, the Korean Pharmaceutical Association said Thursday that its members will agree on sales of the so-called over-the-counter drugs at stores operated around-the-clock. “In order to ease public a