Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il on Wednesday denied a prosecution team’s claim that he wielded influence during an investigation into alleged illicit hiring at a state-run casino operator. On Tuesday, the prosecution’s independent investigation team looking into the Kangwon Land Casino scandal accused Moon and other ranking officials of intervening to delay the team from requesting an arrest warrant against Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, who has been implicated

Celebrating Teacher’s Day on Tuesday, Lee Seo-hee felt a sense of awkwardness receiving a paper carnation from a student, as he has often been a troublemaker who would never listen to her.“I know I have to embrace all students, but still it is difficult for me to deal with students when they often tease me and do not respect me as their teacher,” Lee, who has been teaching in an elementary school for three years, told The Korea Herald. In her career, she has experienced some cases of sexual rema

Wang Kena, a naturalized Korean citizen who originally came from China, believes that in order for migrant families and individuals to have a voice in Korean society, it is important for them to contribute to society. Working to improve awareness of migrant households and their children for the past five years, Wang ran for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s proportional representative seat in the Suwon City Council for the upcoming local and gubernatorial election slated for June 13. While

Three-term lawmaker Rep. Hong Young-pyo was elected as the new floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Friday.The new floor leader faces the task of reducing differences with the opposition parties to normalize the National Assembly that has been crippled for the past two months. Hong decisively beat Rep. Noh Woong-rae for the leadership position, garnering 78 votes out of 116 ballots cast. Noh, who is also a three-term lawmaker, obtained 38 votes. Hong, a close aide of President

Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho on Thursday quit the top post in Jin Air Co. amid ongoing investigations into his family over a series of allegations of physical and verbal violence as well as tax evasion and smuggling.Jin Air made the announcement in a regulatory filing with the Financial Supervisory Service. The low-cost carrier said Cho’s resignation from its CEO post is intended to strengthen a responsible management system by a professional manager. Cho Yang-ho (Yonhap)Jin Air is the budget

Police said Thursday that a female model was suspected of having secretly taken photos of her male colleague who was working as a nude model for a fine art class at Hongik University and leaking them to an Internet community site.Police have been investigating the leak of a photo showing the male model in the nude since last Friday as what appeared to be a person attending the class allegedly uploaded it to the website. Hongik University (Yonhap)Police said that they are investigating one of fou

The State University of New York Korea established a development advisory committee to make improvements as a leading institution in the age of the “fourth industrial revolution,” the school said Thursday. The 13-member Development Advisory Committee led by former Health and Welfare Minister Lim Chae-min, aims to lay the groundwork for SUNY Korea to become the first US university in Korea to lead in innovative education for Asia, the school said.  Participants pose at the opening ceremony of SUN

The Sewol ferry at the southwestern port of Mokpo was moved from its side to an upright position Thursday to facilitate the search for the remains of victims still missing. The Sewol Investigation Commission and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, which took on the task, announced they completed making the 6,825-ton ferry stand at 94.5 degrees at 12:10 p.m. It took 190 minutes for the 10,000-ton crane used for the mission to set the ferry upright.(Yonhap)After the ferry reached the target angle on T

Rival parties blamed each other Wednesday for failing to narrow the differences to normalize the National Assembly after marathon negotiations the day before.The main sticking point is the demand by the opposition for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea to accept a special counsel probe into an opinion rigging scandal involving an online blogger who is allegedly linked to the ruling party’s lawmaker.The National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun had set Tuesday as the deadline for negotiations, a

Twenty patients who were treated while under propofol anesthesia at a dermatologist clinic in Seoul have been transferred to nearby hospitals after showing symptoms of blood poisoning, the police said Tuesday. According to the Gangnam District Police, 20 patients treated at a dermatologist’s located in Sinsadong, Gangnam-gu, are being treated for septicemia, or blood poisoning and low blood pressure, in six nearby hospitals including Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital.  (Yonhap)One man and 19 w

Rival parties continued a standoff Monday, failing to normalize the National Assembly that has been paralyzed since April. Lawmakers have been clashing over several agenda items, including a recent opinion-rigging scandal, a supplementary budget and a set of contentious bills.　A closed-door meeting of the four negotiating blocs in the morning ended without reaching an agreement. The main sticking point was a demand from the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, which insists that a special counse

The historic meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has raised hopes for a lasting resolution to the inter-Korean standoff. But American human rights activist Suzanne Scholte urged for caution, saying that the nuclear issue and human rights should not be separated. She added that the South Korean government seems to care the least about the abuse of human rights in North Korea -- when it should care the most. “I feel like it is the exact same play

Seo Ji-hyun, the prosecutor whose disclosure of sexual misconduct by a senior Justice Ministry official ignited a nationwide #MeToo movement here, strongly condemned the prosecution’s independent team for its lax investigation.Calling it cursory work, Seo said Tuesday the investigation team had lacked the will to look thoroughly into the sexual misconduct case she had brought against former senior Justice Ministry official Ahn Tae-geun in January. The prosecution last week indicted former senior

The main opposition Liberty Korea Party’s barrage of criticisms against a recent inter-Korean summit may be causing fissures in the party. On Tuesday, Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hong Joon-pyo continued his attacks, warning that politics swept up by the atmosphere always fail. “What I intended (through hard-line remarks) was to raise concerns, and that we need to look at the situation with levelheadedness,” Hong said in a post on his Facebook account“It is good that the government dragged the N

President Moon Jae-in on Monday urged the National Assembly for a swift ratification of the Panmunjeom Declaration, which came after the historic inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in order to make sure the agreement is legally implemented.But his plan looks set to face an uphill battle, as it faces strong backlash from the main conservative opposition, “Please quickly take the steps needed to ratify and promulgate the joint statement according to the Development of Inter-