North Korea asked South Korea Saturday to halt the cross-border scattering of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets, declaring that there would be no government-to-government dialogue to improve ties unless its demand is met.The Rodong Sinmun, the North’s main newspaper, claimed that the Seoul government is behind the leaflet campaign being waged by civic activists in the South. Separately, the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, a powerful party organization, took t

Former STX Group chairman Kang Duk-soo was sentenced to six years in prison for incurring huge losses to business units, financial firms and investors by rigging the conglomerate’s financial statements and pocketing company funds.The Seoul Central District Court ruled on Thursday that Kang, 64, took the initiative in committing the debt-ridden group’s irregular bookkeeping worth 584.1 billion won ($556.2 million) and embezzlement worth 67.9 billion won.The figures were much smaller than the char

The corporate sector is paying close attention to a Seoul court’s upcoming verdict on former STX Group chief Kang Duk-soo over his business malfeasance charges, while the prosecution and the group’s subcontractors differ in their assessment of his “irregularities.”The Seoul Central District Court is scheduled to rule on the case Thursday, which alleges that the ex-STX chairman orchestrated the group’s irregularities including accounting fraud worth more than 2 trillion won ($1.9 billion), embezz

A Seoul court handed down jail sentences to several officials of the National Intelligence Service and aides on charges of fabricating documents used as evidence to back up allegedly groundless espionage charges against a North Korean defector.The Seoul Central District Court sentenced a 48-year-old senior NIS official, surnamed Kim, to two and a half years in prison, for forging the Chinese immigration records of Yoo Woo-seong, a 34-year-old defector who was then an employee of the Seoul munici

The prosecution said Tuesday that it had cleared former president Lee Myung-bak of the allegations that he provided the Australia-based Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund with preferential treatment while he was Seoul mayor.A month ago, two consumer advocate groups filed a complaint with the investigative agency against Lee, saying that “former president Lee, during his time as mayor, inflicted great losses on Seoulites by signing an irregular contract with a key shareholder of the Seoul Subway

The number of American soldiers at the main U.S. military base in central Seoul is expected to be reduced by two-thirds to around 200 despite a postponement in the transfer of a major military authority, a South Korean defense ministry official said Sunday.South Korea and the United States agreed Thursday to delay again a plan to give Seoul wartime control of its troops. In accordance with the agreement, several facilities, such as the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command headquarters and 8t

The prosecution is scheduled to unveil its criminal action against 15 crew members of the capsized ferry Sewol on Monday.A key issue is whether the prosecution will seek capital punishment for the ferry’s caption Lee Joon-seok, 69, during the trial at the Gwangju District Court. He has been charged with homicide through willful negligence.Apart from the possibility of a death penalty, the prosecution could choose to call for life imprisonment for the indicted Sewol captain.On April 16, Lee and o

U.S. President Barak Obama made a surprise appearance at the swearing-in ceremony Friday of new U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert in a show of his closeness and friendship with the new envoy, officials said.Obama showed up at the end of the ceremony at the State Department, South Korean Ambassador to Washington Ahn Ho-young said during his own reception for the new ambassador later in the day.Ahn quoted Obama as telling him, “Give Mark Lippert a lot of bulgogi.” Bulgogi is a Korean dis

Prosecutor General Kim Jin-tae clarified Thursday that the investigative authority would not scrap its position to take stern punitive measures against defamation by the Internet and mobile users.Kim, however, admitted that the prosecution had caused unnecessary controversy involving the alleged cyber-surveillance on ordinary people, by using irregular expressions in its statement about turning up the heat on rule-violators.His remarks came during the National Assembly’s audit on the Supreme Pro

Judges nationwide were found to have issued 9 out of every 10 warrants requested by investigative agencies last year, according to the latest Supreme Court data.District courts across the nation approved the issuance of warrants for 319,136 out of a total of 345,650 suspects, or 92.3 percent, sought by the prosecution or police.About 81 percent, or 27,089 out of 33,116, warrants for suspects to be taken into custody were issued, while 91 percent, or 166,877 out of 182,263, warrants for suspects’

The Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute said Monday that it will hold the Eco-Expo Korea 2014, an environmentally-friendly fair, at Coex in Samseong-dong, Seoul, from Oct. 21-24.“Building on 10 years of experience in disseminating sustainable lifestyles and consumption patterns, the fair is paving the way toward sustainable development in conjunction with the nation’s top-notch eco-businesses,” said the state-run institute.KEITI is scheduled to cohost the event with the Ministr