Two young men and two women were found dead in a car Thursday in an apparent Internet-based group suicide, Korean police said.Police said the four, including a 25-year-old woman identified only as Park, left suicide notes in their bags in the car parked next to a river in Seongju, 210 kilometers southeast of Seoul.They apparently inhaled toxic fumes after burning coal briquettes inside the vehicle

U.S. says it has found no official records of orders given to remove materials yetA U.S. Army commander told South Korean officials on Thursday that there was no confirmation that chemicals were removed from Camp Carroll, contrary to earlier statements that herbicides were disposed offsite.Earlier in the month, Lt. Gen. John D. Johnson, commander of the Eighth U.S. Army and head of the Joint Inves

The prosecution plans to summon for questioning a former chief of the nation’s financial watchdog in a widening investigation into corruption at Busan Mutual Savings Bank. Kim Jong-chang, who was until March this year governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, is suspected of exerting his influence to help the lender survive regulatory inspections.  Kim Jong-changThe FSS is the nation’s top fi

Ministry to begin health survey of residents living near U.S. baseSouth Korean and U.S. officials agreed to use ground-penetrating radars, and underground water analysis within a southern U.S. army base to help verify whether a toxic defoliant was buried there nearly three decades ago, officials said Wednesday.The results of their meeting Wednesday were announced during a briefing at Camp Carroll

Controversy over when U.S. sprayed defoliants in Korea continuesA Korea-U.S. probe team on Tuesday began taking soil samples just outside Camp Carroll, a U.S. base in Waegwan, North Gyeongsang Province where a considerable amount of Agent Orange was allegedly buried in 1978.A separate investigation team also kicked off its first basic onsite inspection at the now-defunct Camp Mercer in Bucheon, Gy

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is considering forcing cigarette companies to label toxic chemicals and their quantities on cigarette packets, news reports said Tuesday.If implemented, it would be the nation’s strongest-ever antismoking warning on cigarette packaging. A family walks past a no-smoking sign, warning smokers that starting this June, those caught smoking at Seoul, Gwanghwamun and C

Experts say diverse lifestyles reflect changes in socio-economic environmentLee, a 65-year-old woman who lives in an apartment near the Han River in Seoul, has recently been troubled with the small dog her daughter leaves with her on weekdays.Her married daughter, 33, began keeping the dog a few months ago and felt sorry leaving it at home alone while she and her husband were at work. So she asked

Former gang leader Cho Yang-eunPolice are investigating allegations that former gang leader Cho Yang-eun blackmailed a singer to compensate his acquaintance for loss from his stock investment. Police said the notorious gangster, 60, intimidated the singer in August 2009, and threatened to chop the man’s leg off and bury it unless he paid back 1.7 billion won.Cho denied the charges, though he admit