Prosecutors said Sunday they will levy heavier fines on Chinese boats caught illegally fishing in Korea’s exclusive economic zone. The Supreme Public Prosecutors Office said it has ordered prosecutors to raise the amount of security collateral for captured ships which trespassed the Korean EEZ from up to 70 million won ($62,000) to 100 million won beginning this month. Those caught transferring fish to other ships will face a fine of up to 70 million won, while breaching fishing zones and the nu

The number of foreigners seeking medical service in Korea has grown dramatically in recent years as domestic medical institutions actively promote the quality of their staff and equipment.As many as 81,789 foreigners visited medical centers in the country last year for checkups, surgery or other medical services, up 36 percent from a year earlier, industry sources said Sunday.This year will likely bring a further surge of more than 30 percent, the sources said, noting the popularity of Korean po

MANILA (AFP) ― Pillipine police have arrested six Koreans suspected of running a massive, high-tech dogfighting operation where matches in the outskirts of Manila were shown online to overseas bettors, police said Saturday.About 240 pitbulls were confiscated in the raid late Friday from a secluded compound where the dogs were kept and the matches held, the local police intelligence chief said.“They had an arena enclosed with mirrors. They had videocams, computers and they would show live fights

Villages near Mount Bukhan and Mount Bulam in northern Seoul are vulnerable to landslides, recent research has found, sparking fears of a repeat of July’s fatal landslides in the south of the capital. According to the study released by Konkuk University’s Earth Information Engineering Lab on Sunday, the yearly sediment yields from erosion, which are directly linked to landslides, are projected to increase up to 28 percent by 2080 in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province. Mount Bukhan and Mount

Prosecutors plan to indict SLS Group chairman Lee Kuk-chul on Monday on several charges including bribing a former vice culture minister and other high-ranking government officials. According to the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office on Sunday, they plan to hand the 73-day-old case to judicial officials after first summoning Lee on suspicions of bribing former vice culture minister Shin Jae-min.Prosecutors decided to indict the corporate chief on Monday, as the custody time limit expires the same

Major plazas and boulevards in downtown Seoul were closed off over the weekend as police sought to block the assembly of protestors against the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. But the organizers of the rallies vowed to continue their protests every evening until the government responds to their demands for the pact to be withdrawn or renegotiated. On Sunday, police placed scores of officers at the Gwanghwamun and Seoul plazas in central Seoul and parked dozens of buses to block people from gath

Some 170 judges nationwide are planning to urge the Supreme Court to establish a task force to study whether the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement is unbalanced and infringes on the rights of Koreans. The team will be aimed at drawing up guidelines for possible renegotiation with the U.S., which President Lee Myung-bak promised ahead of the pact’s ratification on Nov. 22. According to media reports, Judge Kim Ha-neul of the Incheon District Court has started writing a petition to file with the Chi

BEIRUT (AP) ― Nearly nine months into the Syrian uprising, many protesters are pinning their hopes on an increasingly bold group of army defectors to give their revolution a fighting chance against President Bashar Assad’s fiercely loyal forces.But as the Free Syrian Army gains power, the defectors could make it harder for the West to give strong diplomatic support to a movement that so far has been largely peaceful. The FSA also could give the regime an excuse to crack down even more strongly,

Korea’s four major refiners saw more than 40 percent growth in earnings on average this year as petrochemicals exports spike despite a dim outlook for the global economy.SK Innovation, GS Caltex, S-Oil and Hyundai Oilbank were among few local corporations that enjoyed brisk third-quarter results as persistent global economic uncertainties slacken exports. Large firms’ revenue fell almost 40 percent during the three month period.The four refiners control more than 90 percent of total domestic pet

South Korean stocks are expected to move upward this week, as an upcoming central bank meeting and a summit in Europe drive investor expectations for more actions to tackle the eurozone crisis, analysts said. The benchmark KOSPI jumped 7.86 percent, or 139.64 points, to 1,916.04 on Friday from a week earlier, as investors scooped up risky assets after global central banks said they will lower dollar-funding costs. A bank reserve ratio cut by China and strong employment reports from U.S. private

Luxembourg is looking for investment from Korean tech companies interested in the European online game market. “In the past, Luxembourg was known as a financial center, but now it’s turning more and more into an ICT (information, communication and technology) center,” said Romain Fouarge, information communications and technology director for Korea and Japan at the Luxembourg Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade.Online gaming has become big business due to the combined growth of console, PC and