An inquiry team under the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office is scheduled to announce in late March the results of its reinvestigation into the case of actress Jang Ja-yeon, who died 10 years ago after saying she had been sexually abused by influential people in the media, entertainment and business.Jang was found hanging at her home on March 7, 2009, with a handwritten note that read, “I am a powerless actress. I want to get out of this agony.” (Yonhap)Police concluded at the time that she took her ow

Prosecutors reinvestigating the sex scandal of a former vice justice minister have obtained a statement that Choi Sun-sil, the infamous confidante of former President Park Geun-hye, had played a role in getting the ex-vice minister appointed.Kim Hak-ui, who resigned over a sex-for-favors scandal six years ago, had faced multiple charges including rape, bribery and narcotics use, but was cleared of the charges in 2013. Video footage appearing to show intimate encounters between Kim and others at

Police investigating the alleged drug use and bribery involving a well-known Gangnam club are zeroing in on a co-president of the club and an ex-police officer.Lee Mun-ho, co-president of Burning Sun, underwent a police interrogation for 10 hours until late Tuesday for alleged violations of the narcotics law. (Yonhap)Lee, 29, left the narcotics investigation division at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at midnight, refusing to answer questions from reporters.Lee had been questioned by police

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un returned to Pyongyang early Tuesday via train through China after a trip to Vietnam. The North’s state-run Korea Central News Agency reported that Kim had arrived at the Pyongyang station at 3 a.m. Tuesday after wrapping up his official visit to Vietnam and the second North Korea-US summit last week.  (Yonhap)The KCNA’s English news service, however, did not mention Kim’s summit with US President Donald Trump.North Korean state-run media have so far refrained from

The nation’s human rights panel said it does not “deny” same-sex marriage, but that a policy review and social consensus are necessary before same-sex marriages can be recognized under the law. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea made the remarks in rejecting a petition filed by a gay couple who got married overseas and asked for their marriage to be recognized here.National Human Rights Commission of Korea (Yonhap)A 35-year-old British man named Simon Hunter-Williams married a South K

Combined land assets held by Korea’s five-largest conglomerates increased 2.8fold in terms of gross book value in the 10 years leading up to 2017, a civic group said Tuesday.The total value of land assets reported by Hyundai Motor, Samsung, SK, Lotte and LG to the financial authorities stood at 67.5 trillion won ($60.3 billion) as of late 2017, up from 24 trillion won in 2007, the Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice said in research released Tuesday. (Yonhap)As of late 2017, Hyundai Motor h

Police are tracking transactions between a Gangnam club called Burning Sun and police officers upon finding that the club, reportedly a hotbed of drugs and sexual violence, offered money to the police.A regional investigation unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is questioning former and incumbent officers of Gangnam Police Station over how they closed an underage clubbing case at Burning Sun last year, and booked a number of the ex-officers on bribery charges. (Yonhap)Gangnam Police Sta

A court on Thursday sentenced former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin to 2 1/2 years in prison for ordering the military cyberwarfare command to engage in political activities. The Seoul Central District Court found Kim, 70, guilty of political interference under military criminal law, but decided not to detain him while he appeals to higher courts. Kim Kwan-jin (Yonhap)The ex-defense minister was found not guilty of abuse of authority and obstruction of exercising of rights. He had allegedly raise

Some 182 cases of hiring irregularities were found through a three-month survey of hundreds of public institutions, the government said Wednesday. In response, the government said it would require public institutions to disclose the number of new hires with family ties to existing staff members and would also take steps to introduce legislation to address conflicts of interests, which would limit public officials’ ability to influence their relatives’ careers.The survey took place Nov. 6 through

A revised narcotics bill that goes into effect March 12 will give the green light to imports of medical cannabis for self-treatment under strict conditions.Under the revised law, cannabis derivatives that have been approved abroad for self-treatment purposes can be brought into South Korea through the Korea Orphan and Essential Drug Center, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.(Yonhap)People with diseases for which there are no alternative means of treatment in Korea can import four

An aide to a ruling party lawmaker said on social media that a man who set himself on fire in front of the National Assembly building was “barbecued.”　A man in his 60s suffered third-degree burns and is now semiconscious after the car he was in caught fire outside the parliament building on the morning of Feb. 1. Fire authorities believe he set his car on fire. (Yonhap)An aide to Rep. So Byung-hoon of the Democratic Party, surnamed Lee, posted a photo on Instagram of the man lying on the ground

The ruling party, the government and the presidential office on Thursday agreed on a bill to introduce a local autonomous police system, in which governors and mayors appoint the heads of police forces in their regions. Seoul, Sejong, Jeju and two other local governments will run a pilot program of the system this year, Cho Jung-shik, head of the ruling Democratic Party’s policy committee, said during a press briefing after a meeting with representatives of the government and Cheong Wa Dae.Some

With two weeks left till the second US-North Korea summit in Hanoi on Feb. 27-28, the four governments involved -- Seoul, Pyongyang, Washington and Hanoi -- have started moving toward their own diplomatic goals.Vietnamese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang tweeted on Monday: “At the invitation of HE. Mr. Ri Yong-ho, Foreign Minister of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh will pay an official visit to the DPRK from Feb. 1

Korea will spend some 1.04 trillion won ($925 million) this year to help pay for the stationing of US troops here, under an agreement that was preliminarily signed Sunday.Seoul has shared the financial burden for the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea since 1991 under the Special Measures Agreement.Korea’s contributions, increased by 8.2 percent this year, are spent to pay wages for Koreans hired by the USFK, for military construction and on logistics. Chang Won-sam (right), South Korea‘s delegate to

Sohn Suk-hee, a popular news anchor and president of cable TV network JTBC, has been countersued by a freelance journalist who threatened to go public about a car accident involving Sohn.Kim Woong, 49, sued Sohn, 62, for assault, blackmail and libel on Thursday.According to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office, Kim claimed that Sohn not only punched him, but also pressured him to agree to a settlement, and spread false information by issuing a press release.Kim had filed a police repor