Companies that provide online file storage services bear limited responsibility for preventing the distribution of pirated videos, a South Korean court said Monday. The Seoul Central District Court ruled against a Korean company that sued a cyberlocker service provider on behalf of 12 Japanese producers and distributors of adult videos. The plaintiff argued that the online storage company had ai...

Ahead of the commemorative summit between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations members that opens Monday, the host city of Busan is seeking to attain its goal of rising as a global hub of shipping and tourism. Busan is the nation’s biggest port city and the main sea gateway. The port in Busan was ranked the sixth-busiest container harbor last year, handling 21.6 million twe...

Whenever a young Basira Yeusuff wondered how much chili there was in her soup, her grandmother would always say, “Agak agak.” Meaning “roughly” or “rough estimate” in Bahasa Malaysian, the phrase is used widely in Malaysian kitchens to explain seasoning amounts in home-cooking recipes, said Yeusuff, now a chef, using the tips of her fingers to explain how much “agak agak” could be. It sums up t...

A family of three and a woman living with them were found dead in a public rental apartment in Incheon, marking the third apparent family suicide reported in the past 20 days. According to the Incheon Gyeyang Police Station on Wednesday, the local fire authorities found a woman, 48, her son, 23, and her daughter, 19, dead in their house at around 12:40 p.m. Tuesday. The body of the daughter’s fr...

The unionized workers of state-run rail operator Korail and its affiliated companies began an indefinite strike at 9 a.m. Wednesday. A crowd bustled in front of the ticket boxes at Seoul Station on Wednesday afternoon, several hours after the Korean Railway Workers’ Union started their general walkout. Three to four Korail staff were ushering customers to the self-service kiosks while many stood...

Public rage is escalating after a newborn baby suffered brain and skull injuries owing to alleged violence at a hospital. As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, 203,880 South Koreans had signed an online petition requesting a proper investigation and punishment of the person responsible for the infant’s injury. The petition was filed by the baby’s father on Oct. 24 at the website of presidential office Cheong Wa...

Five people were found inside a rented lodging in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, with two dead and one seriously injured among them. When officers from the Gapyeong Police Station arrived at the two-story accommodations around 1:40 a.m., a woman in her 20s and a man in his 30s were found dead inside a room on the first floor. Notes of apology addressed to their families, believed to be wr...

As senior citizens increasingly make up a higher proportion of the population, roads here are becoming ever more dangerous for older people. Around 7 p.m. on Sunday, an 82-year-old man was hit consecutively by a taxi and a sedan making a right turn at an intersection in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province. He was taken to a hospital, but died within an hour. The police investigation showed the m...

More than 10,000 people were caught driving under the influence of alcohol during a 50-day nationwide crackdown on reckless driving, the National Police Agency said Sunday. During the clampdown between Sep. 9 and Oct. 28, 11,275 people were caught for dangerous driving acts, including 10,593 drunk drivers and 662 reckless drivers. Among those caught, 13 have been arrested with detention, includ...

A South Korean lawyer who illegally helped foreign nationals apply for refugee status was give a one year jail term, suspended for two years, the court said Sunday. The Seoul Central District Court ordered the 46-year-old attorney, surnamed Kang, for violating the Immigration Control Act on Wednesday. The court also gave the law firm to which Kang was affiliated a 5 million won ($4,280) fine for...

Authorities are investigating an explosion at a state-run weapons development facility in Daejeon that killed one and injured six others on Wednesday. The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency said Thursday that it has set up an on-site probe team with the fire agency, the National Forensic Service and other investigative agencies, to identify the cause of the chemical explosion at the Agency of De...

Former President Park Geun-hye’s confidante Choi Seo-won, better known as Choi Soon-sil, has officially requested that the Korean media stop using her old name, saying that doing so amounts to defamation. According to Choi’s lawyer on Wednesday, Choi sent letters to 93 media outlets in South Korea, asking that they use her new name when reporting about her. Choi reportedly changed her name from ...

Some 40 gay couples and rights activitists held a press conference in front of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea in Seoul on Wednesday, calling for legalization of same-sex marriage and filed a petition with more than 1,000 signatures with the human rights panel The coalition of civic groups filing the petition shed light on intolerance toward same-sex relationships. “Rejecting disc...

Three students were awarded the grand prize at the 19th International Youth Fellowship English Speech Contest on Saturday. A total of 1,500 students competed nationwide in the regional preliminary competition and the best 78 made it to the finals of the annual speaking contest, held at Sejong Hall in the Seoul Human Resource Development Center. Each of the middle and high school students compet...

Police booked a high school student in Incheon for sharing child pornography through a mobile messaging application. Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said Tuesday a teenager -- whose name and age were withheld -- was booked Monday for violation of the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse. The male student is accused of sharing thousands of online links to pornograp...