The number of foreigners residing in Seoul has risen since the beginning of this year due mainly to the increased number of marriage immigrants and the city’s overall convenient circumstances, the government data showed Friday.According to the statistics by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, 285,618 foreign nationals were living in the South Korean capital at the end of the third quarter, up 4.1 and 1.36 percent from the end of the first and second quarters, respectively.Compared to the end of l

Six crematory workers have been arrested on suspicion of stealing gold from the teeth of bodies after cremation, police said Thursday.One of the suspects, identified only by his surname Lee, allegedly sold the precious metal he illegally collected from the bottom of braziers of a Seoul crematory he

The following article is an excerpt from the outcome document of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan from Nov. 29-Dec. 1. ― Ed.1. We, heads of state, ministers and representatives of developing and developed countries, heads of multilateral and bilateral institutions, representatives of different types of public, civil society, private, parliamentary, local and regional organizations meeting here in Busan, Republic of Korea, recognize that we are united by a new partnership

Somali pirates have released a chemical tanker they hijacked seven months ago, but are still detaining four South Korean crew members in an apparent attempt to win the release of five pirates awaiting trial in South Korea, an official said Thursday.“The MT Gemini itself was released at 3 a.m. yesterday (local time), following negotiations with the Singaporean ship owner,” an official at Seoul’s foreign ministry told reporters on condition of anonymity.“It appears that the pirates took the four S

As global warming continues to take a toll, the amount of snowfall on the Korean Peninsula is forecast to more than halve in 70 years from the current levels, a group of researchers forecast Thursday.The average volume of snowfall near the Han River, which runs through Seoul, reached 48.4 centimeters annually in the 2000s, but the figure will likely drop to around 30 cm in the 2040s before further diving to the 13.9-18.6 cm level in the 2080s, a research group from Konkuk University said in its

Seoul has won the right to host about 100 major international events by 2018, thanks to its efforts to become one of the top convention cities in the world.City officials said Thursday that the international events would each draw more than 1,000 participants. They include the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine, to be held in 2015 with more than 8,000 participants.The fields of the events vary from medicine and mathematics to architecture. Among renowned world

Public prosecutors investigating alleged embezzlement at SK Group summoned the group’s vice chairman Chey Jae-won on Thursday.Chey is the younger brother of SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, who is also under investigation. Prosecutors are said to be considering summoning Chey Tae-won at a later date.

A local court on Tuesday rejected the prosecution’s request to arrest a man accused of assaulting Jongno Police Chief Park Geon-chan. The Seoul Central District Court said it was unclear whether Park was assaulted, and that the accused, identified by his family name Kim, had the right to defend himself from the accusations.Kim, 54, was apprehended on Nov. 27 after police film footage showed him grabbing Park’s cap and yelling at him around 9:30 p.m. during a rally against the ratification of the

BUSAN ― U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged newly emerging countries to be “smart” when building a partnership with donor countries for development.“You need to be smart and sharp because donor countries can be interested more in extracting your resources than building your capacity,“ Clinton said during her speech at the opening ceremony of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan on Wednesday.“Quick fixes will not produce sustainable growth.”Clinton’s other advice fo