South Korea's foreign ministry said Wednesday that it is conducting an internal investigation into allegations that a diplomat stationed in Ethiopia sexually assaulted a female subordinate. A local news outlet has reported that the high-ranking diplomat working at the South Korean Embassy to Ethiopia raped a subordinate official on Sunday (local time). The incident happened after they worked tog...

Hidden camera detectors are gaining popularity here, amid the growing number of incidents involving videos being secretly filmed. However, such detectors are largely useless, a local media outlet reported Wednesday. According to cable channel TV Chosun, finding hidden cameras with commonly used detectors is almost impossible. Radar detectors, currently a best-selling item, cannot find any spy c...

A growing number of Korean high school students are considering Japan for their college education amid the soaring cost of living and lack of jobs here. Both Seoul and Tokyo are known for expensive housing prices, but some Korean students find the conditions of studying in Japan attractive, local media reported. Japanese universities are reportedly trying to attract more foreign students with g...

Young South Korean students are mimicking the format of a popular audition program to compare classmates, a local media reported Tuesday. According to local newspaper Chosun Ilbo, students imitate an audition program by giving letter grades to one another on looks, personalities and academic achievements. They even evaluate economic status of other students. This strange classroom phenomenon is...

Korea continued to enjoy an overflow in tax income through the first five months of the year on a steady hike in corporate and value added taxes, the government said Tuesday. The government collected 123.8 trillion won ($93.1 billion) in dues in the January-May period, up 11.2 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The amount is equal to 51.1 percen...

The head of North Korea's missile development agency has been promoted to a colonel general after the country's first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, an analysis of media reports showed Tuesday. Jang Chang-ha, president of the Academy of National Defense Science, was seen sitting next to leader Kim Jong-un at a performance with his military rank being raised by one notch from lieu...

Busking is a common sight in Hongdae and other districts frequented by Korean youths, but the practice is not without its side effects. According to a report by The Herald Business on Monday, a growing number of Korean citizens are frustrated by street performers who generate loud music without considering the neighborhood. “Some just want the attention rather than playing the music,” a store o...

What has been dubbed “burger phobia” is wreaking havoc on South Korea’s fast food chains following the lawsuit in which a mother sued McDonald’s Korea over her daughter’s serious illness. The mother claimed that her four-year-old daughter contracted hemolytic uremic syndrome after she ate a burger at the US hamburger chain. She argued that an undercooked patty was the cause of the illness, which...

Some South Korean men are considering seeking refugee status to avoid military service, a local media outlet reported Monday. Lee Yong-seok, an official at the civic group “A World Without War,” revealed to a local media outlet that a significant number of people consider applying for refugee status in order to avoid the country’s mandatory military service. “About 20 people visit us to consult ...

Police detained two people Monday as suspects for last month’s Changwon golf club murder. Shim Cheon-woo, 31, and his girlfriend Kang Jung-im, 37, were arrested around 10 a.m. at a motel in Seoul, after being on the run for nine days. The two suspects from Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, had been wanted by police in connection with the kidnap and murder of a 47-year-old woman at a golf clu...

President Moon Jae-in headed home Saturday, ending his four-day trip to Washington, during which he held what his aides called "productive" bilateral talks with US President Donald Trump on ways to denuclearize North Korea and strengthen their countries' alliance. Moon's visit here marked his maiden trip as a South Korean president. He came into office May 10. The trip largely sought to reaffir...

President Moon Jae-in on Saturday expressed great satisfaction over his earlier meeting with his US counterpart in Washington, calling US consent for the resumption of dialogue with North Korea a great achievement. "As you may well know, the US government placing its top priority on resolving the North Korean nuclear issue marks a significant change in its foreign relations policy," Moon said wh...

A small North Korean boat carrying five sailors crossed the maritime border into South Korean waters Saturday, a government source said. The small boat was spotted near the Northern Limit Line (NLL) in the East Sea and was guided southward by the maritime police, according to the official. The NLL is the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas. The maritime police are interviewing the ...

The South Korean government has no plan to raise diesel prices in the near future as it tries to reduce fine dust levels in the air, the finance ministry said Monday. "We have considered many scenarios related to tax rate hikes for diesel, but all have been found to be ineffective," Deputy Finance Minister for tax and customs affairs Choi Young-rok said in a briefing. "The government has no plan...

High household debt and a possible capital flight following expected US rate hikes pose major risks to South Korea this year, a local think tank said Monday. In a seminar held by the Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) in Seoul, KERI Vice President Song Won-geun said faced with downside risk factors such as a record high household debt and a possible capital outflow sparked by further US ra...