A drug dealer who smuggled 10 billion won ($8.3 million) worth of methamphetamine abroad was nabbed at Incheon International Airport, the Korean police said Thursday. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said a 44-year-old drug ring member surnamed Song was arrested on charges of secretly bringing in a total of 3 kilograms of meth from the Philippines since last October and distributing them here. Police at Incheon International Airport. (Yonhap)Song was arrested on Jan.12 by police who had been wai

Six more suspected cases of the Zika virus are under probe, Korean health authorities said Thursday. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that six new suspected cases were reported from Tuesday afternoon to Thursday morning, totaling 13 cases reported here so far. Of them, the first seven cases tested negative. Health officials spray mosquito repellent as part of preventive measures against the Zika virus at the underground septic tank of an apartment in Oksu-dong, Seoul, Th

Lee Geun-myeon, minister of personnel management.The work performance evaluation of high-ranking public servants will be tightened, possibly even leading to their dismissal, officials said Tuesday.The Ministry of Personnel Management said starting next year the evaluation criteria and penalties will be strengthened to raise the work efficiency of civil servants who had thus far enjoyed great job security.The move came after public pressure to enhance the “superficial” performance evaluation.Unde

The government Friday heaped pressure on labor unions preparing for another massive antigovernment rally next month, warning that it will sternly clamp down on illegal protests at any cost. “Illegal and violent protests are serious and clear challenges to the country’s rule of law and to the public who love peace. Those who ignore the law and deride the government’s power will rightly pay the cost in the name of the public,” said Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong in a press briefing. Justice Minis

A United Nations special investigator on Friday expressed concerns over the Korean government’s insufficient measures that have left a huge burden on Korean industrial accident victims to prove the causality between their diseases and work conditions by themselves.  Baskut Tuncak (Yonhap)Baskut Tuncak, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes, released a preliminary report after investigating a toxic humidifier tragedy and the deaths of Samsung Electronics

Controversy is escalating over lowering the minimum age for criminal punishment after the suspect of the recent “Cat Mom” case was found to be a nine-year-old boy. Under the current law, offenders under 10 cannot be prosecuted. Those between 10 and 13 can only be subject to punitive measures that include community service and long-term or short-term probationary periods. According to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, tens of thousands of juveniles annually face criminal punishments. Earlier this

A historical underground bunker in Seoul will be opened to the public temporarily this month, a decade after its discovery, officials said Thursday.The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it will temporarily open the secret underground bunker of 790 square meters in Yeouido to the public from Oct. 10 to Nov. 1 on a reservation basis. The city will gather public opinion from visitors on how to use the mysterious site ahead of the expected official opening in October next year.  One of the bunker r