South Korea’s state employment insurance funds could run out if the current job climate continues through the yearend, according to a report. The number of people receiving unemployment benefits could reach 1.84 million in December if the level of job losses seen in April lasts till then, said a report by The National Assembly Budget Office that was commissioned by Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of United Future Party. In this case, the country would need 12.6 trillion won to meet jobless claims th

Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong asked the prosecution to convene a committee of outside experts to review whether he should be indicted over his controversial succession process involving the merger of two affiliated companies. Lee’s lawyers filed for the panel review Tuesday, as prosecutors have investigated for 18 months the 2015 merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, and suspected window dressing by Samsung BiolLogics in 2015. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors&rsqu

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung officially asked the central government to draw an extra budget to pay all Koreans 200,000 won ($163) as a second disaster relief to help them cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee’s suggestion runs counter to the Finance Ministry’s position against additional disaster relief grants. The provincial government of Gyeonggi said on Tuesday that it made the official proposal last Friday based on Lee’s decision to include the 10.37 trillion won

Medical students at Inha University are likely to face penalties for allegedly cheating on online exams by sharing answers in person or via phone and messenger services, as virtual lessons continue amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Ninety-one medical students -- 50 in their first year and 41 in second year -- met in groups of up to nine to solve the problems together or shared answers electronically, the university said Monday. The second-year students cheated in chapter review tests for the muscul

Hacking attempts from abroad targeting South Korean defense information nearly doubled last year, but no data was stolen, the Defense Ministry said Thursday. The number of foreign hacking attempts involving South Korea’s defense information system -- all equipment and software related to the collection, processing, storage, transmission, reception and use of military information -- surged from about 4,000 in 2017 to 5,000 in 2018 and 9,533 last year, the ministry said. Most of the IP ad

The prosecution arrested Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho’s former election campaign manager over suspicions that he accepted illegal campaign funds from a local used car dealer in 2018. Prosecutors are investigating allegations that the presidential office helped Song, a longtime friend of President Moon Jae-in, win the 2018 mayoral race by pressuring police to investigate his rival to sway public opinion. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office is questioning the former aide to

A 27-year-old man was sentenced on Tuesday to four months in prison for breaking self-quarantine. It was the first court ruling in a COVID-19 case since the infectious disease control law was toughened last month. It is also the first time a jail term has been handed out in South Korea for a quarantine violation. The man, surnamed Kim, was required to self-isolate for two weeks upon being discharged in early April from the Catholic University of Korea Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital, whe

The COVID-19 epidemic spread four times faster in Korea after the mass infections in Itaewon nightclubs early this month, according to research by a medical expert.　 The basic reproduction number (R) of the novel coronavirus, or the average number of people one infected person is expected to transmit the disease to, had dropped to 0.58 by May 1 thanks to extensive social distancing, but jumped to an average of 2.58 between May 2 and 12, according to an estimate by Ki Mo-ran, a professor of pre

Former presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok told a behind-the-scenes story about the 10 months of dialogue leading up to the most recent US-North Korea summit in February 2019 in a periodical to be published Friday. In the summer issue of the Quarterly Changbi, Im said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was “candid and confident” when he met with President Moon Jae-in for their first summit in April 2018 at the border village of Panmunjom. Im, who sat in on the meeting, said: &ld

Police said on Thursday it requested court warrants to detain two paying members of an online chat room that distributed photos and videos of violent sex acts on charges of joining a criminal group as well as violating the child protection law. Police suspect that the two were heavily involved in criminal activity while knowing that the chat rooms were run not just by a single person, but by a group of people with different tasks. “We suspect that unlike other paying members, they took

North Korea’s trade with Southeast Asian countries has dropped while its trade with Central and South American countries rose under toughened United Nations sanctions. Seven of North Korea’s 10 largest trading partners have been replaced since the UN tightened sanctions against the reclusive state, and its exports last year amounted to a 17th of the level in 2015, Voice of America reported on Wednesday, citing the Korea International Trade Association’s reports and past data.

The father of the world’s largest child porn site operator pressed charges against his son in an apparent bid to prevent his extradition to the US by getting him prosecuted in South Korea. The father of Son Jong-woo, who ran the Welcome to Video site on the dark web, filed a complaint against his son with the prosecution on Monday for violation of the law on criminal proceeds concealment. He wrote in the complaint that his son used his personal information without his consent to open a

The ruling Democratic Party is calling for swift review of the third extra budget bill to tackle the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Democratic Party leader Kim Tae-nyeon said on Thursday the newly elected parliament must begin reviewing the third supplementary budget bill as soon as it completes organizing its leadership and standing committees. “The 21st National Assembly must open on time and begin discussing ways to tide over the economic crisis such as the third extra bu

The election watchdog confirmed that the ballot papers an opposition lawmaker claimed were “proof of vote rigging” were indeed leaked from its Guri branch, and requested the prosecution to investigate. Rep. Min Kyung-wook of the United Future Party disclosed the unmarked ballot papers for proportional representation on Monday, saying the fact that they were in his hands was evidence of manipulation, since in early voting, ballot papers are printed each time a voter arrives at the p

Three out of four universities in Korea are expected to continue with remote learning throughout the first semester of this year as part of efforts to keep the COVID-19 from spreading. The Korean Association of Private University Presidents said on Tuesday that a survey of 193 private, public and national four-year universities nationwide showed that 75 percent, or 145 schools, will continue with remote lessons until the end of the first semester in June. Seventy-one universities decided to g