The National Tax Service said on Thursday it has requested the country’s major Internet portals such as Naver and Daum to provide personal information about some 1,300 influential bloggers.The tax agency’s move comes as a growing number of local bloggers with a large pool of readers get enmeshed in money-for-article scandals. Recently, a high-profile blogger who belongs to the country’s largest po

A ruling party lawmaker on Wednesday disclosed fresh allegations of embezzlement involving Busan Savings Bank, insisting that the corruption-ridden lender bought real estate along the southwest coast for inflated prices that were up to 10 times more expensive than the market value.Rep. Ko Sung-doug of the Grand National Party (GNP) said the Busan-based institution, which was suspended in February

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) -- China announced Wednesday that it has decided to take part in next year's World Expo in Korea's southern city of Yeosu in a bid to show the world its efforts to protect the marine environment.The 93-day event will kick off in the Korean port city of Yeosu in May and is expected to attract more than 8 million visitors from more than 100 countries around the world.The orga

North Korea is holding more than 138,000 people in its detention facilities across the country, a private organization on North Korean human rights said Wednesday.The Database Center for North Korean Human Rights said about 130,500 people are being detained in five harsh political prison camps while the others are languishing in at least 182 ordinary detention centers.It also reported serious viol

Korea will acquire a new generation of stealth fighter jets from overseas to better counter North Korean provocations, the local defense procurement agency said Wednesday.The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said it has narrowed down the candidates to four fighters: the F-15SE Silent Eagle by Boeing, F-35 Lightning II by Lockheed Martin, Eurofighter Typhoon by the European Aeronau

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is set to hold a referendum in the fourth week of August to ask residents whether they approve the free lunch program for all or selected groups of students, officials said Wednesday, in the latest debate over welfare populism.The free lunch program, passed by the opposition-controlled city council last December, has been a key welfare issue, along with calls for

President Lee Myung-bak will hold a summit with Indian President Pratibha Patil early next week to discuss ways to further ties between the two countries, Korea's presidential office said on Wednesday.The talks scheduled for Monday in Seoul will focus on ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in all fields, including diplomacy, security, economy, trade and culture, Cheong Wa Dae said.Shortly after

A man who allegedly beat up a man in his 60s for offering a seat to his wife was booked without detention, according to Busan Dong-nae Police Station.The accused, whose name has only been released as Lee, was travelling in a bus with his spouse last Thursday when an older man let the wife take his seat.Lee hurled abuse at the old man for showing hospitality to “someone else’s wife.” He then tried

LONDON (AP) -- Police say Sean Hoare, the whistleblower reporter who alleged widespread hacking at the News of the World, has been found dead.Police said Hoare's death at his home in England was not considered to be suspicious, according to Britain's Press Association news agency.Hoare was quoted by The New York Times as saying that phone-hacking was widely used and even encouraged at the News of

PARIS (AFP) - Ratings agencies are again under attack, with EU leaders objecting that Standard&Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Ratings are an "oligopoly" which issues self-fulfilling prophecies of doom, greatly aggravating the eurozone debt crisis.The EU's Internal Markets Commissioner suggested a partial gag to prevent them from grading debt issued by EU economies being rescued with official funds.Ther