The missing 2007 inter-Korean summit records have driven the main opposition Democratic Party on the defensive as the debate has shifted to how the transcript went missing.At the core of the dispute is Rep. Moon Jae-in, the former right-hand man to late President Roh Moo-hyun, who is alleged by the ruling camp of having ordered the transcript in question be deleted upon leaving office.Moon, supported by the pro-Roh forces against the current party leadership, had spearheaded the calls to view th

Two years ago, “Buses of Hope,” carrying thousands of people from different backgrounds, emerged as an icon for peaceful protest.The sympathy rally was launched in support of Kim Jin-suk, a female labor union member, who protested alone on a 35-meter-high crane for more than 300 days against Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction after the shipbuilder laid off more than 400 workers. Ferried in by buses, about 8,000 participants from across the country visited the shipyard in Busan on five occa

Prosecutors said Sunday they indicted lobbyist-turned-businessman Choi Kyu-sun for embezzlement. The chief executive of UI Energy Corp., a resources developer, and Hyundai P&C, a maker of coating and paint products, is suspected of misappropriating about 41.6 billion won ($34.2 million) in funds from the two companies. He was not detained. Choi was at the center of a series of influence-peddling scandals in 2002 including one involving then President Kim Dae-jung’s third son Kim Hong-gul. He ser

Revising the Constitution could become a priority next year, with National Assembly Speaker Rep. Kang Chang-hee suggesting a rough timeframe for processing the issue. Kang’s comments could revive talks on constitutional amendment, which have been on the backburner for some time.“It would be right to make constitutional revision a public issue from early next year and to conclude the matter within the 19th National Assembly,” Kang said on Wednesday. Kang also said that Korean society has transfor

Former President Chun Doo-hwan’s rule in the 1980s arguably marked some of the darkest days of Korea’s modern political history. The Army general overthrew the government, ordered a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests, destroyed democratic institutions and took hundreds of billions of won in bribes. He took power through a military coup in 1979 and held that power until 1988. Chun removed opposing forces using any means necessary, even ordering the military to use lethal force against civ

The Bank of Korea appointed a woman as deputy governor for the first time since its foundation in June 1950.Suh Young-kyung, who has worked for the BOK for 25 years, embarked on her three-year term as one of the seven executives at the central bank on Tuesday.There are five deputy governors at the bank, who share the No. 3 rank following Governor Kim Choong-soo and Senior Deputy Governor Park Won-shik. Each may be reappointed for a second three-year term.Born in Seoul in 1963, Suh joined the BOK

Park Hee-young showed winning for her was par for the course on Sunday, scoring her second LPGA Tour win and tying for an all-time low in shot count.She captured the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic at Grey Silo Golf Course in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, on Sunday, beating American Angela Stanford with a birdie on the third playoff hole.Park and Stanford tied for an LPGA Tour all-time low with 258 shots over 72 holes. The record was first set by Karen Stupples of England at the Welch’s-Fry’s Champ

The number of taxpayers signing up in an online campaign to abolish the state-run pension system is nearing 100,000, signaling a growing opposition against the mandatory program for all employees in the country.The Alliance for Taxpayers Korea said on Saturday that the number of people who think the current pension scheme is unfair and disagree with a plan to raise subscribers’ contribution rate, is fast growing. The civic group claimed that the government should enact a dramatic reform to impro

Lawmakers are set to file a complaint with the prosecution against South Gyeongsang Province Governor Hong Joon-pyo after he refused to attend a parliamentary hearing on his closure of a provincial public hospital. The Assembly’s special committee on the inquiry into the current status of public medical institutions, which is looking into the shutdown of Jinju Medical Center, will determine whether to take legal action against the political bigwig on Friday.After Hong refused to stand before the

Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, who is also co-chairman of CJ Group, officially resigned from his KCCI post on Tuesday, explaining that he could no longer carry on have chairmanship duties due to his extensive involvement in CJ Group’s crisis-management committee. Since CJ Group chairman Lee Jay-hyun’s arrest on July 1 for allegations of embezzlement and tax evasion, Sohn ― who is Lee’s uncle on his mother’s side ― has led Korea’s largest food and entertainment c

Secret video footage showing a group of monks playing poker while drinking and smoking in a hotel room shocked the nation last year as the news of a handful of local Buddhist monk leaders from the Jogye Order, the country’s largest Buddhist order, caught gambling made headlines.At a press conference held in the Pohang City Hall Briefing Room on Monday, Ven. Jangju further revealed the severity of the gambling addiction among some monks, who even went abroad to gamble with the order’s donation mo

Kim Jong-shin led Korea’s nuclear industry when it began to flex its muscles in the world market, culminating a $40 billion contract to build plants in the United Arab Emirates in 2009.It is becoming increasingly clear that the former president of the state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power was also at the center of a corruption scandal and safety blunders that tarnished the atomic power sector. The Busan District Prosecutor’s Office arrested him Sunday over an allegation that he took more than

Asiana Airlines on Sunday apologized over the deadly jet crash that killed at least two people and injured more than 180 others in San Francisco over the weekend. The Boeing 777 passenger jet traveling from Seoul crashed while landing Saturday at San Francisco International Airport, smashed into pieces and caught fire. “I sincerely apologize to the public for the crash landing,” Asiana Airlines CEO Yoon Young-doo said Sunday during a press conference at the company’s headquarters in western Seou

The ejection of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi will likely divide the country into those who call it the toppling of a democratic government, and those who say there is more to democracy than elections.Morsi was elected to power in June 2012 after mass protests prompted the military to eject longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak. The armed forces repeated their trick Wednesday, after four days of protests against Morsi that were even bigger than those against his predecessor.Estimates put the numbe

The government’s plan to enhance Hanja, or Chinese character, classes sparked backlash from civic groups and advocates for Hangeul, or the Korean writing system, who claim it would hamper efforts to defend the purity of the Korean language and further burden students. They launched a sit-in protest in front of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Jongno demanding the authority cancel the plan which would “revive an old-fashioned and unnecessary” education program. The plan could impose acad