A 22-year-old medical student was found dead in the Han River on Friday after going missing for six days, and his family is awaiting the results of an autopsy to learn how he died. Sohn Jung-min was last seen asleep at the riverside park in Banpo, Seoul, early on April 25 by his friend, who had also fallen asleep. The two had been drinking together. An autopsy was conducted at the request of Sohn’s family, as two wounds were found behind his left ear. Sohn’s father told Yonhap New

Football star Ki Sung-yueng has been summoned by police and questioned on charges of illegally buying and using farmland in the southwestern city Gwangju, police said Monday. Ki, the captain of FC Seoul in the K League 1, was grilled as a suspect by investigators at the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency for three hours, beginning at 2 p.m. on Sunday, the police agency said. Ki and his father, Ki Young-ok, have been booked without detention on charges of violating the Agricultural Land Act and

Unseasonal snow fell on parts of Gangwon Province over the weekend, an unlikely event for May, when early summer weather is typically seen across the country. It is the first time in 22 years that it has snowed in South Korea in the month of May. The Korea Meteorological Administration said Sunday that up to 18.5 centimeters of snow blanketed Gangwon Province from Saturday evening to Sunday morning. An influx of strong wind from the east concentrated a pack of rain clouds in mountainous regions

Police said Sunday they have arrested 94 suspects over allegations of creating or distributing illegal deepfake content in the past five months amid calls for tightened scrutiny over crimes using the deep learning technology. Deepfake content refers to digitally manipulated images or videos that could lead viewers to wrongly perceive the processed media to be real, often becoming a source of fake news, fraud and defamation. Of the arrested suspects, 65, or 70 percent, were teenagers, while 17

Authorities will come up with ways to make room for the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s art collection, the country’s largest donation of its kind in history, the government said Friday. “The government is seeking ways to hold artworks donated by Lee including improving storages at museums or building new museums if needed. President Moon Jae-in also raised the issue yesterday,” a Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official told The Korea Herald. &ldquo

MERON, Israel  (AFP) -- A massive stampede at a densely packed Jewish pilgrimage site killed at least 44 people in northern Israel on Friday, with rescue workers facing chaotic crowds while trying to evacuate the injured. The disaster occurred in Meron at the site of the reputed tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second-century Talmudic sage, where mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews flock to mark the Lag BaOmer holiday. Closed last year due to coronavirus restrictions, this year's pilgrimage wa

President Moon Jae-in received his second dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine Friday, a few weeks earlier than initially scheduled, as he plans to visit Washington for talks with President Joe Biden in late May. He got the first shot at the Jongno Ward public health center in Seoul on March 23 in order to attend a Group of Seven (G-7) summit to be held in Britain from June 11-13. At that time, he was scheduled to get the second dose in May.     Later, South Korea and th

Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung, 73, is loved not just for her acting, but also for her candid and humorous remarks. The veteran actor of over 50 years said on a US television show on Tuesday that she doesn’t “admire” Hollywood. “When some project comes from America, people in Korea think I admire Hollywood,” Youn told NBC Asian America. “No, I don’t admire Hollywood. The reason I keep coming is because if I come to the States and work, maybe I’m ab

President Moon Jae-in paid respect to the late cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, former archbishop of Seoul, on Thursday. Moon visited Myeongdong Cathedral in central Seoul, together with first lady Kim Jung-sook, to pay his last respects to Cheong. He passed away Tuesday at age 89, having suffered an unspecified illness. His funeral will be held at the cathedral on Saturday. Moon wrote on his social messaging accounts Wednesday that, "He left us a teaching on sharing and coexistence&quo

Debate on drafting women reflects men’s frustration, perception that they’ve been taken for granted

SEONGJU -- The Ministry of Defense on Wednesday successfully delivered non-weapon materials and construction equipment onto a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) base here after briefly running into protests from residents and activists opposed to the deployment of the American missile defense system. Early in the day, a few dozen protesters staged a sit-in and blocked the passage of vehicles heading to the base for the THAAD system in the central town of Seongju, about 300 kilometers s

Conscripted soldiers couldn’t brush teeth or shower in early days of mandatory service

South Korea's major business lobby groups on Tuesday said they have submitted a petition for the pardon of Lee Jae-yong, the imprisoned de facto leader of Samsung Group, to the presidential office for the sake of the national economy amid a global semiconductor shortage. The five major lobby groups -- the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Korea Enterprises Federation, the Korea Federation of SMEs, the Korea International Trade Association and the Federation of Middle Market Enterprise

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung and opposition lawmaker Rep. Yoon Hee-sook argued on Monday over Lee’s proposal of a system where the amount of fines is based on how rich the offender is. Lee, who has long been among the ruling party’s strongest presidential hopefuls in public polls, wrote via Facebook on Sunday that the amount of fines should be proportionate to the offender’s property. “Finland adopted the system 100 years ago in 1921, and Germany in 1975,”

A senior official of the Pocheon municipal government has been indicted on charges of land speculation, in a first for a government task force investigating speculative behavior by public officials, prosecutors said Monday. The Uijeongbu District Prosecutors Office indicted the 52-year-old official, surnamed Park, on Friday for allegedly using information he gained at work to purchase land near the site of a planned train station in September. Park, who was in charge of railway planning for th