Youngest winner at 15 to choose agency among top three K-pop companiesFifteen-year-old Park Ji-min became the winner of SBS’ “K-pop Star,” beating out her rival Lee Ha-yi by one point in the neck-and-neck competition on Sunday evening. With Sunday’s win, Park also became the youngest and first female winner of a local TV singing audition program. “I’m happy because I feel like I’m being rewarded for all the hard work up until now. I would like to thank my parents and the three judges,” said Park

Seoul police chief Lee Kang-deok was named commissioner general of the Korea Coast Guard on Saturday. Lee has headed the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency since November last year. A close aide to President Lee Myung-bak, he was regarded the number one candidate for National Police Agency commissioner. But he was dropped in the wake of a scandal involving the government’s illicit surveillance of civilians.He formerly served as the presidential secretary of public safety and head of public order t

Korean scientists succeeded in cutting a damaged strand of DNA with engineered nuclease technology, or a “molecular scissors,” without generating mutation. The progress in gene editing is expected to help increase the effectiveness of gene therapy which in most cases fails to achieve intended results, said Kim Jin-soo, a chemistry professor at Seoul National University, who led the research. His team was able to prevent mutation with a new DNA-cutting enzyme that cuts only one DNA strand entwine

Korea’s growth is threatened by a dearth of interest in science and technology and the weakening of entrepreneurship. Ko San, a former astronaut trainee and now venture consultant, has a solution ― linking innovation to business swiftly, massively and without fear of failure.“We have to establish a virtuous circle that creates successful start-ups like those venture practices in Silicon Valley,” Ko, 36, chief of TIDE Institute, a non-profit institute supporting start-ups. said in an interview wi

Chadwick International School has appointed David Maher, academic dean of a U.S. secondary school, as the inaugural principal of its high school.Maher is academic dean of the Fountain Valley School of Colorado and also an academic director at World Leadership School, which facilitates global immersion education programs for U.S. students in developing countries.He will oversee the high school program of Chadwick International Upper School slated to begin this fall semester. “It is a tremendous h

Seoul education chief Kwak No-hyun vowed to stay in his position, resisting pressure to step down after receiving a one-year jail term from an appeals court Tuesday for bribing his rival candidate in the education superintendent election last year. “I will continue my duty as superintendent,” said Kwak at a news conference at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Wednesday. He also pledged to fight off the accusations regarding the 2010 election process. “There was no illegal deal between