The U.N. Security Council is expected to take up North Korea’s human rights problem as early as later this month as 10 council members signed a letter calling for adding the issue to its agenda, the U.S. human rights envoy said Friday.Australia, the United States and South Korea were among the countries that signed the letter to the council’s president earlier in the day, one more than the nine countries needed to put an issue on the 15-member council’s agenda, Amb. Robert King said during a Woo

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office is scheduled to summon Chung Yoon-hoi, a former adviser to President Park Geun-hye, this week, amid speculations that he was improperly exercising power in the administration.Investigators said Sunday that they are looking for any telecommunication records between some presidential aides and the 60-year-old Chung.The prosecution, which has been investigating a scandal involving Chung, recently secured the phone logs of Chung and former presidential

Student bodies at Seoul-based universities are campaigning to curb sexual abuse on campus, calling for measures to prevent professors from molesting students.Recent cases of sexual harassment by professors have raised questions over university faculty ethics. The uproar peaked last week, when a math professor surnamed Kang at Seoul National University, one of Korea’s most prestigious universities, was arrested for groping several of his students.SNU swiftly issued a public apology over the scand

North Korea has removed the legal limit for wages paid to its workers at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the North’s propaganda site said Saturday, a move that could cause tension with South Korea, which co-runs the industrial park with the reclusive regime.The North revised the Act on Gaeseong Complex laborers late last month, scrapping the upper ceiling for workers’ wages, according to Uriminzokkiri, one of the country’s major propaganda sites.The site also said that raises will be set every

The Defense Ministry is pushing changes in standards in draft exemptions for people with a history of mental illness, a ministry official said Sunday.“We’re working on revising the standards on a large scale in evaluating the depth of mental diseases during physical exam for conscription,” the official said. “In particular, we’re aggressively pushing for measures to lower the minimum history of hospital treatment in judging the level of mental disorders.”Currently, those who have received hospit

Chinese travel firms specializing in tours to North Korea have been bearing the brunt of dwindling revenues as the North continues to ban all foreigners from visiting the country due to fears over the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, according to a Chinese state media report on Saturday.Reclusive North Korea began barring foreign tourists from entering the country on Oct. 23 and required all foreigners visiting the North to be put under quarantine for 21 days as a precaution against the spread

Chinese travel firms specializing in tours to North Korea have been bearing the brunt of dwindling revenues as the North continues to ban all foreigners from visiting the country due to fears over the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, according to a Chinese state media report on Saturday.Reclusive North Korea began barring foreign tourists from entering the country on Oct. 23 and required all foreigners visiting the North to be put under quarantine for 21 days as a precaution against the spread

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles police opened an investigation on Friday into a woman's claims that Bill Cosby molested her when she was 15 years old, a department spokeswoman said.The investigation was opened after Judy Huth, who is suing Cosby for sexual battery, met with Los Angeles police detectives for 90 minutes.Los Angeles Police Officer Jane Kim said the department opened its investigation after the meeting.Huth's civil suit claims Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom

North Korea has removed the legal limit for wages paid to its workers at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the North's propaganda site said Saturday, a move that could cause tension with South Korea, which co-runs the industrial park with the reclusive regime.The North revised the Act on Gaeseong Complex laborers late last month, scrapping the upper ceiling for workers' wages, according to Uriminzokkiri, one of the country's major propaganda sites.The site also said that raises will be set every

A soon-to-be-released comedy film about a plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will likely be a "blockbuster" thanks to the strong protests Pyongyang has raised about it, the U.S. human rights envoy said Friday.The North has expressed strong anger about the movie, "The Interview," which tells the story of two Americans journalists who land an interview with the North's leader in Pyongyang but are then recruited by the CIA to kill him."It will probably be a blockbuster when it comes out t

The U.N. Security Council is expected to take up North Korea's human rights problem as early as later this month as 10 council members signed a letter calling for adding the issue to its agenda, the U.S. human rights envoy said Friday.Australia, the United States and South Korea were among the countries that signed the letter to the council's president earlier in the day, one more than the nine countries needed to put an issue on the 15-member council's agenda, Amb. Robert King said during a Woo

A Seoul apartment complex in a wealthy district has inflamed public anger with a decision to lay off its temporary workers en masse, following an incident in October of a security guard at the complex setting himself on fire after reportedly suffering repeated insults from residents.A group of resident representatives of the New Hyundai Apartment complex said Thursday that it decided not to renew the contracts of 106 workers ― 78 security guards and 28 cleaners ― all of which expire on Dec. 31.F

A group of public interest lawyers issued a statement requesting Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon to reverse his decision to indefinitely postpone the enactment of the charter of human rights, a decision influenced by fierce protests from gay rights opponents.“Human rights is a value that cannot be compromised,” the 38 lawyers said in a statement. “Just as we cannot compromise the rights of ethnic Koreans in Japan with anti-Korean groups, and the rights of people of color with white supremacists, we ca