Singer Kim Gun-mo, 51, on Friday countersued a woman who accused the singer of sexual assault, denying all allegations made against him. On the same day, Kim’s agency Guneum announced the cancellation of the singer’s nationwide concert tour that was to take place Dec. 24 to Feb. 29, 2020.On Monday, the woman, surnamed Kim, sued the singer, claiming he had sexually assaulted her in August 2016 at a bar in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where she worked. “Kim Gun-mo does not know the woman a

A same-sex couple of Korean nationality were recognized as family members by Korean Air’s membership rewards program, South Korea’s flag carrier said Thursday, a step hailed by sexual minorities’ rights advocates. The female couple, who are in their 40s, completed registering as family members in Korean Air’s SkyPass program on Monday after the country’s largest airline accepted their marriage certificate, which had been issued in Canada. The couple, who have b

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld lower courts' conviction of a male rapper indicted for sexually insulting a female rapper in his songs and concerts.Black Nut, the defendant rapper whose real name is Kim Dae-woong, was sentenced by the top court to an imprisonment of six months, suspended for two years, and ordered to conduct 160 hours of social service.Lower courts had previously handed out the same guilty verdict and sentences to Black Nut, who was accused of inserting controversial words

A sexual assault allegation against singer Kim Gun-mo will be investigated by the Gangnam Police Station, according to the prosecutors’ office Tuesday.Lawyer Kang Yong-seok filed a case Monday at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on behalf of a woman who claims to have been sexually assaulted by the singer. In the complaint, Kang accused Kim of raping his client. Kim’s agency denied the sexual assault allegation and said it would take legal action for defamati

Big Hit Entertainment has denied a recent report that the agency and BTS have been in dispute over profit distribution and the renewal of a contract. On Monday, broadcast station JTBC’s “News Room” aired a report that said the band and its members’ parents have been looking into taking legal action against the agency. A few hours after the news was broadcast, the agency released a statement saying, “The report is groundless.” “BTS and the members&rs

Nine of 12 crewmen onboard ship remain missing

Minor opposition Bareunmirae Party, formed in February last year to challenge the bipartisan establishment, is on the verge of splitting.The party’s meeting for “nonpartisan initiative” has launched a committee to prepare for the formation of a new party with “a centrist reform agenda.”Heading the committee is Rep. Ha Tae-keung, a conservative politician who helped integrate factions supporting two former third-party presidential candidates, Ahn Cheol-soo and Yoo Se

The Seoul High Court on Sunday sentenced the leader of South Korea's largest drug-trafficking syndicate to nine years in prison for distributing about 730,000 doses of methamphetamine smuggled from Taiwan.The 63-year-old leader, identified by his surname, Yoon, and an accomplice, surnamed Woo, 53, were charged with distributing 22 kilograms of methamphetamine. That amount was part of a total of 112 kg of methamphetamine smuggled by a Taiwanese crime ring in July and August last year. Woo was sen

Major political parties on Friday reached a tentative agreement to normalize parliament through the withdrawal of the main opposition party's filibuster and the postponement of contested fast-track bills.The floor leaders of the ruling Democratic Party, main opposition Liberty Korea Party and minor opposition Bareunmirae Party reached a consensus and are set to finalize and soon announce the details at a meeting led by the National Assembly speaker, according to party officials.Under the agreeme

A National Assembly committee on Friday passed a revision bill on effectively outlawing the controversial taxi business of Tada, a South Korean ride-hailing service operator.The revision to the passenger transport service act, approved by the parliamentary transportation panel, restricts the outsourcing of drivers for the use of rental vans with 11-15 seats to tour purposes only. Cars must be rented for at least six hours and users are required to possess boarding passes if vehicles are rented o

Two Defense Intelligence Command officers are being investigated by the military prosecution for allegedly raping a North Korean defector multiple times, the Defense Ministry confirmed Thursday. The North Korean defector brought charges against a first sergeant surnamed Kim and a lieutenant colonel surnamed Sung, both working for the DIC, for repeated offences that took place over a period of more than a year.  The Defense Ministry’s Criminal Investigation Command in late November ref

Actor Kang Ji-hwan, who was indicted in July on charges of raping a woman and molesting another at his home, was given a suspended prison sentence by a local court on Thursday.The Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court sentenced 42-year-old Kang to an imprisonment of two and a half years, suspended for three years, after finding him guilty of sexually assaulting two female production staffers.He was also ordered to conduct 120 hours of social service, undergo 40 hours of sexual offender tre

Jehovah’s Witnesses refusing mandatory military service have regularly been found guilty or not guilty of evading conscription based on whether they had “true faith.”A 24-year-old Jehovah’s Witness received a notice of enlistment from the Daejeon-South Chungcheong Regional Military Manpower Administration in September 2017, and refused conscription citing religious grounds.He submitted to the authorities papers stating that he belongs to the religious group and that he re

Eight people were indicted on Tuesday in connection with a widening vote-rigging scandal involving the high-profile audition show “Produce X 101,” prosecutors said Tuesday.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors‘ Office said it has indicted Ahn Joon-young -- a director at entertainment giant CJ ENM’s K-pop-oriented music channel, Mnet -- and the program‘s chief producer, Kim Yong-beom, with physical detention.　The two are charged with fixing the final vote result in

The Ministry of Health and Welfare apologized Tuesday for a comment from the minister regarding a child-on-child sexual abuse case that has drawn public outrage. Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo said Monday morning that a recent incident of a prepubescent child’s molestation of another child at a kindergarten in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, was part of “natural behavior over stages of development.”“But it poses a problem when that behavior is expressed in excess,” he