Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, now a presidential contender, said his heart aches when he thinks about ex-Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, who were jailed for corruption as a result of investigations that he led. “No matter the reasons, (I) offer consolation and express regrets to all who have gone through pain because of me,” Yoon said in an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo published Monday, about the political corruption probes that he led as chief of the Seoul

Former prime minister and presidential hopeful of the ruling party Rep. Lee Nak-yon said on Thursday it doesn’t make sense that former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl is running for president given what he said earlier about his convicted mother-in-law. “When he was in the prosecution, (the prosecution) did not indict his mother-in-law, and he told Parliament that he will obviously have to step down as prosecutor general if she is guilty,” Lee said in a radio interview Thurs

Presidential hopefuls and the leader of the main opposition party have begun talking about scrapping the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, saying all it does is carry out campaigns and make gender conflicts worse. The ministry, launched in 2001, has often been slammed for underperforming, making divisive statements, and responding passively to sexual harassment by the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. “Fifteen to 20 years of trial and error is enough for campaigns based on se

Gyeonggi Province governor and presidential front-runner Lee Jae-myung asked in a televised debate “shall I pull down my pants again?” when asked to explain his scandal with an actor. During the debate among eight candidates for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s primary for next year’s presidential election Monday evening, former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun asked Lee to explain a previous scandal, saying the morality of a president is very important. Lee explaine

Cyworld, the dominant social networking site here before the era of Facebook throughout the 2000s, was set to reopen Monday evening, with many in their 30s and 40s ripe with anticipation to revisit their past. Cyworld Z, the company that bought Cyworld in January this year, said it has recovered some 17 billion photos and over 100 million videos stored in the old servers. With nearly 32 million members at one point, Cyworld was the uncontested champion of social media here, as the country&rsqu

Seoul’s Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon admitted hypocrisy in pushing to get rid of elite private high schools while having sent his own kids to such schools. “(I) admit it was ‘naeronambul’ to have sent my children to foreign language high schools while calling for the abolishment of autonomous private high schools,” Cho told the city council on Wednesday, referring to a popular term that translates into “If I do it, it’s romance. If you do it, i

Jailed former President Lee Myung-bak said it was a shame that the country has come to its current state in a letter to a fellow university alumnus, which was disclosed on an alumni website. On the online community of Korea University students and graduates called Kopas, a person who introduced himself as a plastic surgeon and graduate of the university’s medical school said in a post on Tuesday that he wrote to Lee, and Lee wrote back. “It is such a shame that the country has come

Former Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae got herself in trouble by saying she opposes feminism in an interview on YouTube. Among those who criticized her remarks was Rep. Sim Sang-jung of the minor Justice Party. Choo, who has vowed to run for president next year on the ruling Democratic Party ticket, said in an interview with an online media outlet Friday that she opposed feminism and that “if one wants to be treated like a flower because she’s a woman, women will always be ornamental.&

A high school student was found dead on a hill in Bundang in Gyeonggi Province, Monday morning, six days after he went missing on June 22. Police suspect that Kim Hwi-seong, 18, took his own life. He was found lying down with a plastic bag over his head, and there were no signs of external injuries. Police suspect that he suffocated to death, but said they will determine the exact cause of death after an autopsy by the National Forensic Service, upon the agreement of his family. Kim, a senior

Choi Chan-wook, 26, who is accused of using boys aged between 11 and 13 to produce videos of sexual exploitation, and in some cases molesting them himself, said he was “grateful that adults saved” him before his actions got worse, stoking public outrage online. Choi, who stood in front of press cameras Thursday before police turned him over to the prosecution, said, “(I) got here after starting out of curiosity. … I’m grateful that adults saved me before it got wo

The district office of Busan’s Haeundae-gu said on Wednesday it will crack down on the violation of social distancing rules on Haeundae beach with local police and US military police over the period of July 2-4, which culminates with the US Independence Day holiday. American soldiers who violate social distancing rules will be immediately identified by US military police and slapped with fines, the ward office said, as there have been complaints against US servicemen in the area on US pub

Dust, fire-flakes and contaminated water from the massive fire at a Coupang warehouse in Icheon last week have been killing fish, damaging farms and causing health problems among local residents. More than 1,800 dead fish were found in three reservoirs about 1 kilometer away from the Coupang warehouse in the three days to Monday, according to Icheon city officials. A city official said a natural surface active agent used in the firefighting water could have killed the fish as it blocks the air

Most female victims of sexual violence in the military were soldiers and civilian workers of less than five years in service, government data showed. A majority of the perpetrators were non-commissioned officers senior to their victims, and field officers, showing how sexual violence that involves taking advantage of one’s superior status at work was prevalent. A total of 771 sexual offenses, ranging from harassment to rape, were committed against women in the military last year, accordi

An opposition lawmaker claimed on Friday that a hacking unit of the North Korean intelligence agency attacked the internal network of a South Korean state-funded atomic energy think tank which holds critical information on nuclear power plants and nuclear materials. Rep. Ha Tae-keung of the People Power Party, who sits on the parliamentary intelligence committee, held a press conference Friday morning and disclosed information about the alleged cyberattacks on the Korea Atomic Energy Research I

Small modular reactors currently under development can help supply energy to North Korea which suffers from chronic power shortage, ruling Democratic Party leader Song Young-gil said on Wednesday. “With the North’s denuclearization as a precondition, SMRs can be a useful way to supply energy to North Korea which is mountainous and has a weak power grid,” Song said in his first speech as the representative of a parliamentary negotiating group since taking office as DP chairman