North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s late step brother Kim Jong-nam had refused a request from an anti-Pyongyang group to lead a government-in-exile, a Japanese newspaper reported Thursday.Citing Park Sang-hak, who leads an organization of North Korean defectors, the Sankei Shimbun said that Adrian Hong Chang, leader of the group that led infiltrated the North Korean embassy in Spain in February, told Park that he had sounded Kim out on leading a government-in-exile. Kim refused, saying he wished t

The court is set to rule on Thursday on Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung who has been indicted on charges of abuse of authority and violation of election law.The Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court is expected to rule at 3 p.m. on Thursday on whether he is guilty of the charges of wrongly committing his estranged brother to a psychiatric hospital, and publicly lying during election campaigns.The prosecution has demanded a year and half in jail for abuse of authority, and fines of 6 million wo

The Justice Ministry’s special commission on past misconduct by the prosecution is set to announce next week whether an actress’s death in 2009 should be reinvestigated. A fact-finding team under the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office wrapped up its 13-month probe and submitted a final report to the commission Monday. The panel said they had requested the team to revise some parts of the report and that they would announce the results of their review on Monday. Actress Jang Ja-yeon killed herself in Ma

Scores of people from the Blue House are expected to run in next April’s parliamentary elections.Seven assistant secretaries to the president recently resigned to prepare for the general election in their respective constituencies.A number of senior presidential aides who left Cheong Wa Dae late last year have been getting ready for elections as well. (Yonhap)President Moon Jae-in is expected to replace some of his secretaries and vice ministers next week, and this is believed to be groundwork b

US special representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun was set to arrive in Seoul on Wednesday evening to discuss Pyongyang’s recent firing of short-range projectiles and possibly food aid to the North.During his four-day visit, Biegun is expected to meet with his South Korean counterpart Lee Do-hoon, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs at the Foreign Ministry, and attend a joint working group session on denuclearization and inter-Korean relations, where food

Labor Minister Lee Jae-kap said Tuesday there was no need for excessive pessimism about the economy as the economy and hiring conditions will improve in the second half of this year. During a meeting on employment policy in central Seoul, Lee mentioned the 6.7 trillion-won revised supplementary budget that the government submitted to the National Assembly, and said he believes increased fiscal spending, recovery of exports and investment in plant and equipment would help improve the economy and

North Korean state media on Friday chided a weeklong Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense drill by the US Forces Korea, calling on the South Korean government to “behave with discretion.”The exercise at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, focused on reloading inert munitions in launchers of a THAAD battery.(Yonhap)North Korea’s propaganda website Uriminzokkiri said in its commentary that the recent drill was a “military provocation that ruins the hard-won peace atmosp

Representatives of the ruling party, government and presidential office agreed in a meeting Thursday to each set up new “control towers” to coordinate and manage youth policies that are scattered across ministries.A new office for youth policies will be opened at the Blue House, while the government launches a committee to coordinate and manage jobs, housing and welfare policies for the youth. Democratic Party of Korea floor leader Hong Young-pyo said in the beginning of the meeting that his par

Police have begun reinvestigating allegations that VIPs of a Gangnam club illegally shared via group chat rooms both sex videos and lascivious photos of women.Fourteen VIPs of the club, including actors, a promoter of the club Arena and children of wealthy people, are suspected of sharing illegally filmed sex videos and photos of women taken without their consent through two KakaoTalk group chats between 2014 and 2015.  (Yonhap)An official at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Monday they

Prosecutors on Thursday indicted a former environment minister and presidential secretary for alleged abuse of authority, obstruction of business and coercion in replacing an auditor of an agency under the ministry.Kim Eun-kyung is the first ex-minister of the Moon Jae-in administration to be indicted.(Yonhap)Prosecutors cleared of charges Cho Kuk, senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, and others involved in the alleged surveillance of civilians by a Cheong Wa Dae special inspection t

A writer has filed a complaint with the police against Yoon Ji-oh, an actress who claims to have seen a suicide note written by her colleague Jang Ja-yeon 10 years ago, on charges of defamation and contempt.The accuser’s lawyer said at a press conference in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency after filing the complaint on Tuesday that Yoon was using Jang’s death when all she had seen was Jang being molested. Yoon Ji-oh (Yonhap)Yoon has said Jang’s suicide note contained a list of men J

Police have hospitalized a number of mentally ill people since a murder and arson case in Jinju made headlines last week, involving a suspect believed to be mentally ill.The Gimhae Jungbu Police Station in South Gyeongsang Province booked a 39-year-old man accused of threatening the chief manager of his apartment complex with a weapon, and had him admitted to a mental hospital last week.  (123rf)Upon his arrest, the man told police he was suffering from schizophrenia and depression. The court de

The leaders of North Korea and Russia are expected to hold summit talks around April 25 in Vladivostok, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported Friday.Citing a high-ranking official in the Kremlin, NHK said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un would visit Russia next week and hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin around April 25.Russian news outlets reported on Thursday, citing the Kremlin, that Kim would visit Russia in late April to meet with Putin at the Russian president’s invitation.Seni

Former President Park Geun-hye, imprisoned since March 2017 for corruption and abuse of power, has asked for a temporary suspension of the execution of her penalty, citing health reasons.Park’s lawyer Yoo Young-ha asked the prosecution for a stay of execution on Wednesday, according to sources on Thursday.Park has received treatment on multiple occasions to relieve pain stemming from a lumbar disc condition, but there has been no improvement, Yoo said. (Yonhap)“She can’t sleep normally as she su

The main opposition party is taking steps to discuss disciplinary action against a lawmaker and a former legislator over their remarks concerning those who lost family members in the sinking of the Sewol ferry five years ago, which killed more than 300 people.On Tuesday morning, Rep. Chung Jin-suk of the Liberty Korea Party posted on Facebook what he said was a message from a friend, “Tell them to stop taking advantage of Sewol. They really shouldn’t be acting like this if they feel sorry for th