The death of a young woman is under investigation after her body was discovered inside a car owned by a pop singer, police said Wednesday.The body was discovered around 3:00 p.m. Tuesday inside the vehicle parked near an apartment building in Gangnam-gu in southern Seoul, according to the Gangnam Police Station.The car is owned by pop singer Son Ho-young, the police said, adding that an empty bottle of sleeping pills and a used briquette were found along with a suicide note."The deceased woman i

'국가정보원의 대선•정치 개입 의혹'을 수사 중인 서울중앙지검 특별수사팀(팀장 윤석열)은 21일 경찰 단계에서의 수사 축소•외압 의혹과 관련해 김용판 전 서울경찰청장을 소환 조사중이다.김 전 청장은 이날 오전 10시께 피고발인 신분으로 변호인과 함께 검찰에 출석했다.김 전 청장은 지난해 경찰이 국정원 여직원 댓글 사건을 수사할 당시 사건을 맡은 수서경찰서에 부당하게 개입해 수사를 축소시킨 의혹을 받고 있다. 검찰 관계자는 이날 "그동안 조사를 통해 확인된 게 있어 소환했다"고 말했다. 이 관계자는 "일단 오늘 한 번으로 조사를 끝내는 게 맞겠지만 압수물 분석을 해보고 의미 있는 게 나오면 더 부를 수도 있다"고 말했다. 검찰은 김 전 청장을 상대로 수사 실무진 혹은 지휘 라인에 수사를 축소하라고 압력을 넣었는지, 이 과정에 특정 정치권과 모종의 협의가 있었는지 등을 집중 추궁 하고 있다. 권은희 전 수서서 수사과장(현 송파서 수사과장)은 민주당이 작년 12월 수서서에 국정원 댓글 의

Prosecutors summoned a former head of the Seoul police agency Tuesday for questioning over suspicions that he had hampered a police probe into the nation's spy agency's alleged attempt to influence public opinion ahead of last year's presidential election.The summons came after a female detective, who led the police investigation, claimed that high-ranking police officers of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) had pressured her to treat the case lightly.Kim Yong-pan, who headed the SMPA

South Korea is seeking to resume talks on a free trade deal with Russia as part of efforts to expand its economic cooperation with the country, the government said Tuesday.Free trade agreement (FTA) talks with Russia came to a halt in 2008 when Russia suspended negotiations unilaterally. In a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok to discuss trade affairs, the government decided to resume FTA talks with Russia as quickly as possible, a move aimed at pre-empting the market there and lay

South Korea has reported the first confirmed case of a person infected with a tick-borne virus in the country following reports of deaths in China and Japan, the state-run disease control agency said Tuesday.Out of five suspected cases, a 63-year-old woman was found to be infected with the virus transmitted by one species of tick, the Haemaphysalis longicornis, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.The infected patient died in Seoul in August last year and four others w

A monstrous tornado of rare power roared through an Oklahoma City suburb, killing at least 51, flattening neighborhoods with winds up to 200 mph (320 kilometers) and destroying at least one school. Officials said children were among the dead.The death toll was expected to rise, an Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office spokeswoman said. More than 120 people were being treated at hospitals, including about 70 children. Some were in critical condition.“Hearts are broken” for parents looking for their

A North Korean concentration camp escapee will receive an international human rights award for raising global awareness of atrocities taking place in the communist country, a news report said Tuesday.The Voice of America (VOA) said the Switzerland-based non-governmental agency UN Watch decided to give the 2013 Moral Courage Award to Shin Dong-hyuk, who has been made famous by his biography "Escape from Camp 14." The award ceremony will be held in Geneva's League of Nations Hall on June 5 with th

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday as investors scooped up key exporters amid the eased concerns over the weak Japanese yen, analysts said.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) increased 4.49 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,986.92 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Tech blue chips led the gain, with market behemoth Samsung Electronics adding 0.07 percent and top chipmaker SK hynix climbing 0.16 percent. Samsung Techwin, a defense and precision machinery firm, added 0.76 pe

South Korea's credit card spending grew at a slower pace in April from a year earlier as the economic slowdown continued to dent consumer sentiment, a trade association said Tuesday.Purchases made with plastic cards totaled 44.8 trillion won ($40.1 billion) last month, up 4.5 percent from the 42.9 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association (CREFIA).The country's card spending sank to an all-time low in February, growing 3.4 percent on-ye

President Barack Obama will hold his first summit with President Xi Jinping in California next month, with Sino-U.S. relations rattled by alleged Chinese cyber spying and tensions in the Pacific.Obama will welcome Xi to the plush Sunnylands estate resort in Palm Springs on June 7-8, as Washington seeks Chinese help to subdue North Korean belligerence and seeks a diplomatic breakthrough to end the slaughter in Syria.The talks will be the first major move by Obama in the crucial but delicate relat

The Pentagon sought Monday to play down a stream of North Korean short-range missile launches, saying tensions on the peninsula are low compared with "a few months ago."The U.S. military also announced a plan to test-fire a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile this week, a move that it delayed last month amid worries over Pyongyang's provocations.Speaking to reporters, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said, "We have noticed broadly that North Korea has ratcheted back its provoc

Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist and founding member of The Doors who had a dramatic impact on rock `n' roll, has died. He was 74.Manzarek died Monday in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family, said publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald. Robinson-Fitzgerald said his manager, Tom Vitorino, confirmed Manzarek died after being stricken by bile duct cancer.Manzarek founded The Doors after meeting then-poet Jim Morrison in California. The band went on to become one of the most successful rock `n' ro

South Korea's antitrust watchdog has launched an investigation into an online marketing and advertisement unit of NHN Corp. in what appears to be its stepped-up efforts to crack down on unfair business practices, industry sources said Tuesday.The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) started to send a team of investigators on May 13 to the offices of the NHN Business Platform (NBP) located in Bundang, south of Seoul, to obtain related data and documents, according to the sources. The investigators are rep

Prosecutors raided CJ Group, a major local conglomerate, on Tuesday as part of an investigation into allegations that the food and entertainment conglomerate managed a massive slush fund overseas.The prosecution has been looking into suspicions that the business group had set aside a large sum of the fund worth tens of billions of won and brought it into the country.A team of investigators and prosecutors of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office seized computer hard discs and relevant d