Prosecutors are considering calling in SK Group's vice chairman next week for questioning on suspicions of embezzling nearly 100 billion won ($88.3 million) of company funds, prosecution sources said Thursday.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is investigating allegations that SK Group C

A prolonged labor dispute at Hanjin Heavy shipyard finally came to an end on Thursday, after workers approved a deal reached a day earlier between union leaders and the management. In a unanimous decision, unionized workers of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. approved the compromise deal, which calls for the company to rehire 94 laid-off workers within a year. Following the endorsement, labor activist and former Hanjin worker Kim Jin-suk came down from a giant tower crane at the compan

More than 690,000 high school students and graduates took the state-administered annual college entrance exam on Thursday, a crucial test seen as a deciding factor in an applicant’s choice of college and subsequent career.The number of test takers dropped 2.6 percent from last year to 693,634, of which about three-quarters were high school students and 22 percent were graduates, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said. The test were administered at 1,207 centers nationwide.The sta

Police have uncovered dozens of convicted sex offenders working at schools and other educational facilities for minors in violation of a law banning their employment at such places, officials said Thursday.Under the law, those convicted of sex crimes and sentenced to a minimum punishment of a fine a

An unemployed South Korean man has been booked for investigation after he cut off part of his left pinky and sent it to the Japanese embassy in protest of Tokyo's territorial claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo, police said Wednesday.The 47-year-old, identified by his family name Choi

Farmers staged sit-in protests at five regional offices of lawmakers of the Grand National Party on Wednesday, demanding the conservative ruling party drop its move to ratify the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.Protesters had occupied offices of three more GNP legislators, including Rep. Lee Sang-deuk, the older brother of President Lee Myung-bak, but they dispersed in the afternoon after they conveyed their demand to the lawmakers’ aides.“The protests are to denounce the GNP, which is moving to

The morning rush hour and public transportation schedule will be adjusted Thursday for the annual state-run examination for college admission.The College Scholastic Ability Test, a key decider of college entrance, will take place throughout the nation on Thursday.Government offices and companies with over 50 employees advised their employees on Wednesday to come to work one hour late to alleviate traffic for students heading to test sites, government officials said.And more subways trains and bu

State prosecutors said on Wednesday they had found enough circumstantial evidence to accuse SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won of embezzling at least 99.2 billion won ($88.8 million) in company funds to make up for the losses from his investment in futures. The prosecution is looking into materials confiscated from its raid a day earlier on five SK affiliates ― SK C&C, SK Holdings, SK Gas Co., SK Telecom and SK E&S ― as a prelude to summoning of suspects including Chey and his younger brother Jae-wo

BUSAN, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction hammered out a tentative agreement with its unionized workers on Wednesday to end an 11-month-long labor dispute sparked by the shipmaker's massive layoffs. The provisional deal calls for the shipmaker to reinstate within one year 94 f

A Seoul appellate court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling and sentenced the father of a teenage girl to a suspended prison term for beating her with a bamboo stick and forcing her to do long physical workouts.The father, identified as Choi, 48, was indicted last year on charges of harsh treat

A senior South Korean actor was found dead in his small rented room on Tuesday of an apparent suicide, police said.Kim Choo-ryun, a 64-year-old actor who had his heyday in the 1970s, was found hanging in his studio in Gimhae, 449 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the police said.He seemed to have kille

A popular stream running through downtown Seoul, which is visited by millions of people annually, has been severely polluted by bacteria, a report by the city government showed Tuesday.According to the report, submitted to Seoul council member Jang Hwan-jin of the Democratic Party, parts of the Cheonggyecheon stream contain as many as 53 times the legal limit of colon bacillus. The standard for the number of bacteria for a body of water suitable for swimming is 1,000 per 100 milliliters.The stud