A couple in the U.S. allegedly provided alcohol to South Korean exchange students and molested them under the pretense of playing a game, U.S. media reported. The Atlanta Journal and other American media said Yi Woo-ki and his wife Yi Hyun-ju, who were running a homestay house on Regal Oaks Drive in the city, were charged with two counts of child molestation and six counts of offering alcohol to minors. Six exchange students, ages 15 to 18, were given alcohol and pushed to play what is called “

미국에서 홈스테이를 제공하는 한인부부가 한국 유학생들에게 술을 제공하고, 추행을 유도한 혐의를 받고 있다.애틀랜타저널(AJC)과 미국의 다른 언론들은 애틀랜타의 스와니 지역, 리걸옥스 거리에서 유학생들을 대상으로 홈스테이 업체를 운영하는 이우기씨(41)와 이현주씨(40)가 아동 성추행과 미성년자 주류제공 혐의로 구속됐다고 보도했다.15세에서 18세인 피해학생  6명은 술을 마시고 이른바 ‘왕게임’을 해, 벌칙으로 옷을 벗고 서로에게 입맞춤을 하라는 강요를 받았다.피해자들은 전부 한국에서 온 조기유학생들인 것으로 밝혀졌다.경찰의 수사는 피해학생 중 한 명이 학교 직원에게 홈스테이 집에서 학대를 받고 있다며 불평 한 것을 단초로 시작됐다.부부는 현재 보석이 불허된 상태이며, 유학생들의 부모로부터 1년에 각각 1만 5천 달러의 하숙비를 받아온 것으로 알려졌다.한편, 미국 언론들의 잇단 보도에 애틀랜타 한인사회는 당혹감을 감추지 못하고 있다.한 한인단체 관계자는 “외국인이 연루된 범죄의 경

A Seoul appellate court on Monday overturned the acquittal of former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook and sentenced her to two years behind bars for bribery.The Seoul High Court, however, did not put the country's first female prime minster under custody, taking into consideration that she is a sitting lawmaker.Han, who was prime minister between 2006 and 2007 under the late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, was found guilty of receiving 880 million won (US$760,000) as political funds from a head of

The majority of Japanese people expressed distrust toward Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s remark on the leakage at the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant, a survey showed. Abe tried to calm public jitters about the problem plaguing the nuclear plant, saying, “The situation is under control,” but his effort seems to garner little, if any, positive response among the Japanese public. According to a telephone poll conducted on Saturday and Sunday by Kyodo News, 64.4 percent of respondents did

The government will give utmost priority to boosting welfare and job creation in its spending plans next year, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Monday.In a briefing to the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said that the Park Geun-hye administration seeks to invest more than 100 trillion won ($92.4 billion) in various welfare projects next year, by far the biggest investment in the sector by a single Korean governm

South Korean stocks closed 0.96 percent higher as investor sentiment was boosted on abated concerns over the U.S Federal Reserve's tapering of its quantitative easing, analysts said. The local currency gained against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 19.05 points to finish at 2,013.37. Trading volume was low at 244.1 million shares worth 4.05 trillion won ($3.73 billion), with losers outstripping gainers 444 to 369. Analysts said Seoul shares closed hi

Japan has recently provided Seoul with additional records on radioactive water leaked from its tsunami-hit reactor amid a growing radiation scare in South Korea, a foreign ministry official said Monday.In mid-August, the South Korean foreign ministry asked Japan to provide records on the radioactive water leak, and Japan sent its first packet of records late last month. "Japan has recently dispatched additional records upon our request," the ministry official said, adding that Seoul received alm

South Korea is positively considering raising the issue of Japan's wartime sexual slavery issue during the United Nations General Assembly meeting next week, sources here said Monday.The foreign ministry is discussing the plan to cover Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of Korean women in Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se's address to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 27, said the sources on condition of anonymity.The plan is part of Seoul's efforts to turn up the heat on Japan to settle the compen

South Korea's welfare spending will likely exceed 100 trillion won (US$92.4 billion) next year, with its ratio to the government's total budget rising to the highest level ever, the country's top economic policymaker said Monday."The scale of our investment in the welfare sector will likely exceed 100 trillion won for the first time, which would represent the largest portion of the total budget ever," Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said during a meeting with lawmakers."We will push to spend more

The amount of user telecom data that South Korea’s telecom operators provided to authorities spiked in the second half of last year, coinciding with the presidential election, a report showed. Local telecom operators provided a total of 425,379 user communications data to police and other state agencies in the latter half of 2012, up 31.2 percent from the preceding six-month period, according to the report by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. “The ministry should keep an eye on t

정부의 후쿠시마 제1원전 주변 8개현의 수산물 금수조치가 한•일 외교갈등으로 번질 기미를 보이고 있다.  한국 정부는 후쿠시마 제1원전 오염수 해양 유출 사태로 국민 불안이 커지자 후쿠시마•이바라키•군마•미야기•이와테•도치기•지바•아오모리 등 8개 현에서 나오는 50종의 수산물의 수입을 지난 9일부터 금지했다.  이와 관련해 일본 수산청의 가가와 겐지(香川謙二) 증식추진부장이 16일 세종시의 식품 의약품 안전처를 방문해 관계자들을 만나고 외교부와 국토해양부 등의 당국자들과도 대담할 예정이다.  가가와 국장은 한국 정부 당국자들에게 수입금지의 근거와 경위 등에 대한 설명을 요구하는 한편 더불어 금수 조치의 철회를 요구할 것으로 예상된다. 일본은 한국정부의 수입금지 조치가 “과학적 근거가 없다”고 주장하고 있다. 하지만 최근 발전소 수질 분석에 의하면 기준치의 두 배 이상인 1L당 150,000 베크렐(Bq)이 검출됐다.  일본 정부는 한국의 수산물 수입금지 조치에 대해 세계무역기구(W

BEIJING-China's foreign minister on Sunday welcomed the deal between the United States and Russia to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons, which headed off the prospect of US strikes against Bashar al-Assad's regime."The Chinese side welcomes the general agreement between the US and Russia. This agreement will enable tensions in Syria to be eased," Wang Yi said at a meeting with his visiting French counterpart Laurent Fabius.Fabius, who arrived in Beijing Sunday morning and was due to head back to

All four junior weightlifters from South Korea have won medals in an international competition underway in North Korea, leading to the South Korean flag and anthem being raised and played in the communist nation for the first time.Kwon Ye-bin won bronze in the women's junior 69 kilogram event at the Asian Cup and Interclub Weightlifting Championship on Friday, becoming the first South Korean athlete to raise the country's national flag in the North, according to the Korea Weightlifting Federatio