A former Navy chief is under investigation over suspicions that he took bribes from a now troubled shipbuilding conglomerate four years ago in return for business favors, state investigators said Tuesday.Sources at a government anti-corruption task force said they were investigating whether retired Adm. Jung Ok-geun played any role in STX Group’s provision of 700 million won ($648,000) to a yacht company in a sponsorship deal in October 2008.The group’s two subsidiaries, which produce high-speed

The number of illegal foreign residents in South Korea again surpassed the 200,000 mark last year, reaching to the highest level in seven years.The Ministry of Justice said Tuesday that the number of illegal migrants came to 208,778 as of Dec. 31, 2014, up 14 percent from 183,106 from a year earlier.After peaking at 223,464 in 2007, the figure slid from 200,489 in 2008 to dip below 200,000 from 2009 to 2013.Officials said most illegal immigrants in the country do low-paid, difficult jobs shunned

South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy left for Japan on Tuesday to hold talks with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts on ways to resume the long-stalled multilateral talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear program, officials said.Hwang Joon-kook is scheduled to meet with Ambassador Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, and Japanese chief envoy Junichi Ihara in Tokyo on Wednesday, according to the Foreign Ministry.Hwang will make a three-day visit to Tokyo that also in

A provincial government said Tuesday it would push to build a casino resort on reclaimed land along South Korea’s southwestern coast to attract tourists and boost the local economy.North Jeolla Province said it has been in consultations with foreign investors to build an integrated resort in the Saemangeum area ― the world’s longest seawall at 33.9 kilometers, creating 40,100 hectares of land ― after the central government announced plans earlier this month to build two more foreigners-only casi

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may attend an international meeting to open in Indonesia in April, a government source here said Sunday.If Kim does so, it would be his debut to the international diplomatic scene as the isolated nation’s leader.There has been no report of overseas trips by him since he took power in December 2011.Keen attention is being paid to whether Kim attend a Moscow ceremony in May to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory in World War II.South Korea

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman will visit South Korea next week for discussions on North Korea and the alliance between Seoul and Washington, the State Department announced Friday.Sherman will be in Seoul on Jan. 28-29 for meetings with senior officials and non-governmental experts to discuss the alliance and North Korea issues, as well as regional and global priorities, the department said in a statement.It did not provide further specifics. Seoul is the secon

The now-defunct minor opposition party said Sunday it is seeking to overturn a high-profile constitutional court ruling last month that ordered its disbandment.In the first ruling of its kind, the Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the Unified Progressive Party on Dec. 19, saying it posed threats to South Korean democracy.A former UPP lawmaker, meanwhile, had been standing a separate criminal trial over allegations that he planned to overthrow the South Korean government in case of

The United Nations will provide $2 million in aid to North Korea as part of its humanitarian efforts, a news report said Saturday. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, part of the U.N. Secretariat responsible for humanitarian actions, plans to deliver the financial support to its peer organizations working in the reclusive regime, according to a new report by Radio Free Asia.The aid will be provided through the Central Emergency Response Fund, which has offered a total of $6.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for more efforts to bolster tourism and cultural exchanges with South Korea, expressing his eagerness to further strengthen the already-robust economic ties between the two countries, an official Chinese government website said Saturday.Xi made the remarks in his congratulatory message marking the launch of the “Year of Visit to China” in South Korea on Friday, according to the message posted on the website of China’s foreign ministry on Saturday.During th

The number of annual foreign visitors to South Korea is projected to climb 64 percent, surpassing 20 million, in about five years, a private think tank report showed Sunday.In a report by the Hyundai Economic Research Institute, research fellow Park Da-mi predicted that the number of foreign visitors to the country would reach 23 million in 2020, compared with an estimated 14 million in 2014.The 2014 figure marked an all-time high in the number of inbound travelers, breaking the former record of

The top nuclear negotiators from South Korea, the United States and Japan will meet in Tokyo next week to discuss ways to resume the long-stalled six-party talks on North Korea‘s denuclearization, officials said Thursday.Seoul’s top nuke envoy, Hwang Joon-kook, will meet with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts, Sung Kim and Junichi Ihara, on Wednesday to discuss Pyongyang‘s nuclear weapons program and situations on the Korean Peninsula, according to Seoul’s foreign ministry.For the talks, Hwang

The Park Geun-hye administration will seek legal grounds to disband entities abetting the enemy, including North Korea, by pushing forward a revision of the National Security Law.The government plan was publicized during the 2015 policy briefing session by eight ministries at the presidential office Wednesday. Park, in particular, reiterated the details reported by the Ministry of Justice, which unveiled its pledge to hand down stern punishments to those disrupting law and order.Justice Minister