Most of resources to come from budget cuts in construction projectsThe Seoul city administration’s welfare budget for next year is expected to increase by 300 billion won ($254 million) to 3.2 trillion won, city officials said Sunday. According to the municipal government, new mayor Park Won-soon directed a readjustment of the minimum cost of living. Once the cost is readjusted, an additional 300 billion won will be needed to fulfill the new standard, officials estimated. They said given the fac

One fifth of capital to be designated smoke-free zones by 2014Smokers will find it harder to light up in Seoul, as smoking will be banned in a fifth of the capital’s total area by 2014, city officials said Friday.Seoul Metropolitan Government will expand non-smoking areas from the current 23 locations ― three squares and 20 parks ― to some 9,000 places covering 21 percent of the city within the next two years.For commuters like Lim Hae-sun, 25, this is a welcome change. “When I’m waiting for bus

Police said Friday they had uncovered South Korea's largest insurance fraud, involving more than 400 people and 15 billion won ($13.5 million).The fraud was carried out by three hospitals, insurance workers and residents of Taebaek, a mining town in the eastern province of Gangwon, police said in a

Private and public universities in South Korea have engaged in creative accounting practices resulting in excessive hikes in tuition fees, the state audit agency said Thursday.Wrapping up an investigation into 35 randomly chosen universities, including nine public institutions, the Board of Audit and Inspection said the institutions had habitually manipulated their accounting books over the past five years to justify steep rises in tuition expenses.The BAI estimated the creative bookkeeping prod

The curfew for U.S. military personnel here will be extended another two months.U.S. Forces Korea Commander General James Thurman chief announced the move Tuesday, citing the need to assess the current operational environment.Thurman said the curfew, originally intended to end at the beginning of this month, would be extended to Jan. 6.The USFK said the move was a temporary measure to ensure the continued mission readiness of the command.“I firmly believe that military discipline is the foundati

A Seoul appellate court ruled Thursday that the top national university’s 2006 dismissal of disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk was illegal, overturning a lower court’s previous decision.Hwang, a former veterinary professor at the Seoul National University, filed a suit against the school chief in November 2006, demanding his dismissal from the school be rescinded. “The dismissal was made in violation of the proportionality principle or beyond (the school’s) discretion,” Seoul High Court

A Seoul appellate court ruled Thursday that the top national university's 2006 dismissal of disgraced stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk was illegal, overturning a lower court's previous decision.Hwang, a former veterinary professor at the Seoul National University (SNU), filed a suit against the sch

The curfew for U.S. military personnel here will be extended another two months, the U.S. Forces Korea chief said Tuesday, citing the need to assess the current operational environment.According to USFK Commander General James Thurman, the curfew, originally intended to last until the beginning of this month, will be extended to Jan. 6.The USFK said the move was a temporary force protection measure to ensure the continued mission readiness of the command.“I firmly believe that military disciplin

SEOUL, Nov. 3 (Yonhap) -- Divorces filed by international couples in South Korea grew nearly 5 percent last year, data showed Thursday, possibly leaving many of their children vulnerable to poor parental care and education.According to the data by Statistics Korea, a total of 14,319 couples with dif

DOHA ― The third World Innovation Summit for Education, one of the largest international education forums, kicked off its three-day run in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday with more than 1,000 attending. The forum has attracted about 1,200 participants and 140 distinguished speakers from about 120 countries, including Colombia University professor Jeffrey Sachs, former U.K. prime minister Gordon Brown and Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales. They will discuss the future of education and global challenges.The a

SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- An Army non-commissioned officer was killed and another officer injured when a light attack helicopter made an emergency landing southeast of Seoul during an exercise, the South Korean military said Wednesday.An official said an MD 500 helicopter made the emergency landing

SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors indicted a former chief financial regulator Wednesday for a breach of ethics law, wrapping up a months-long investigation into a corruption scandal engulfing the troubled Busan Savings Bank.Kim Jong-chang, who in March ended his three-year term as chairman of th