District heads in Seoul on Tuesday called for swift central government action to ease the financial burden of the Park Geun-hye administration’s free child care policies. In a press briefing, 10 district chiefs warned of drastic action if their demand was not met. They asked the central government to cover the 270 billion won ($241 million) further needed to meet the costs of the welfare services.“The necessary budgets of the district offices have increased 518 billion won compared to those of t

Seoul City Mayor Park Won-soon said Monday that raising the minimum taxi fare was “inevitable” due to rising costs. Speaking on a radio show, Park said increases in gas prices had not been reflected in the taxi fares and many other cities and provinces had already raised the minimum charge.The current minimum taxi fare is 2,400 won in Seoul, and each local government has the authority to adjust the base fare. The city government is reportedly working on setting on an appropriate increase and pla

Prosecution investigators raided the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Monday as part of an inquiry into its alleged cover-up last year of a probe into intelligence agents’ illegal interference in the presidential election. More than 25 officials from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office searched the police agency’s cyber crime unit and seized documents, computer hard disks and other related materials. The cyber unit is accused of hampering the investigation led by the Suseo Police Stat

A survey showed that around 80 percent of the public believed the alleged sexual assault by former presidential spokesperson Yoon Chang-jung would likely affect President Park Geun-hye’s state management. According to the survey conducted by private poll taker Mono Research last week, 76 percent of 1,191 survey participants agreed “his acts would inevitably affect state management of the current government” for either a short or long period of time. Another 22 percent agreed that “it might not h

Seoul City won four United Nations Public Service Awards, which are given to public officers or organizations in recognition of their excellence in public services. The city government said Wednesday that the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the organizer of the annual award competition, notified the city of the achievements in three sectors: Preventing and combating corruption in the public service, fostering participation in public policy decision making through innovative mecha

Women in Seoul gave an average 2.67 on a scale of one to five in grading their level of happiness, according to a report released Sunday by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family, a city-affiliated policy developer and evaluator. Among the total of nine categories covered in the report, personal satisfaction in city life (3.23) and safety (3.07) received the highest scores while co-prosperity (2.29) and care (2.36) were among the lowest rated categories. The participants also rated sub-categor

Hacktivist group Anonymous staged another round of online attacks against the North Korean regime’s websites from Sunday morning, closing down those for public organizations and companies run by the regime. The group reportedly used DDos (Distribute Denial of Service) in their online hacking operation named “OpNorthKorea.”Some of the group’s members posted notifications through their Twitter accounts in advance that Anonymous would launch the operation at 1:00 a.m. (GMT) on May 12, which was 10

The U.S. envoy on the North Korean nuclear program will visit South Korea next week as part of his Asian tour, a diplomatic source here said Thursday, as the leaders of Seoul and Washington vowed no concessions to Pyongyang after months of simmering tensions.U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies plans to arrive in Seoul on May 13 for a three-day stay as part of his trip to Asia which also includes China and Japan, the source said, requesting anonymity.During the visit, D

Korean construction companies are likely to be hurt by lower-priced deals they clinched in the Middle East in recent years, analysts said.The builders bagged a combined $112.5 billion worth orders in the Middle East between 2009 and 2011, according to data compiled by the International Contractors Association of Korea and financial companies.The move came as the builders sought to win orders in overseas markets following the 2008 global financial crisis that dealt a heavy blow to the local const

Oscar-winning Taiwanese-American director Ang Lee said Thursday he is excited to be working on his first TV project "Tyrant," but dismissed reports he would stay away from movies to focus on television."'Tyrant' is Middle East intrigue. The subject matter is touchy and pretty scary. I like scary, to scare myself... I am very excited about this project," Lee told a press conference."I am still choosing my next (film) project and developing the next one. Of course movie is my first love," he said,

Indonesia's elite anti-terrorism unit conducted several bloody operations to root out suspected Islamic militants, killing seven and arresting 13 others, police said Thursday as they continued to investigate an alleged plot to bomb the Myanmar Embassy.Investigators said the suspected militants robbed banks and committed other thefts to fund terrorism. Police were trying to determine whether any of the groups raided Wednesday and Thursday were connected to last week's alleged plot to retaliate ag

Sony is back in the black for its fiscal fourth quarter, recording a 93.9 billion yen ($948 million) profit, with big help from a weaker yen that boosts overseas earnings. The Japanese electronics and entertainment company also dragged itself back to profit for the fiscal year ended March 31, following four straight years of red ink. It reported Thursday annual earnings of 43 billion yen, a reversal from a loss of 457 billion yen the previous year -- the worst in the company's nearly seven-decad