"We are just at the very early stage to set up the systems, create organizations and programs to help (the socially withdrawn) start anew," Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said as he visited a private rehabilitation facility in Eunpyeong-gu, northern Seoul. "Seoul will spare no investment to bring about the changes." On the regional and central levels, the government is offering policy measures, but does...

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo expressed South Korea's bid to expand development aid in Africa as he received his Eswatini counterpart Cleopas Dlamini, the prime minister's office said in a statement Friday. Han stressed Seoul's willingness to take the relationship between Korea and African countries to the next level, in line with President Yoon Suk Yeol's announcement in November to host a specia...

Won reiterated his stance that plans to urge government-backed institutions to buy homes where tenants who have fallen victim to such a scam are on the verge of eviction cannot salvage the victims, because the purchase money cannot go to the victims under current Korean rules. As to a plan floated for such institutions to buy jeonse deposit guarantees that have become nearly worthless, Won said ...

A South Korean court ordered the Korea Electric Power Corp. to compensate 8.7 billion won ($6.6 million) to 60 people who were affected by a 2019 wildfire that killed two people in Goseong County, Gangwon Province. The payout is a third of the 26 billion won the victims were seeking in compensation for damages, as the court held the state-run utility firm only partly responsible for the wildfire...

Among the 780 construction projects were reconstruction plans to build upscale apartment complexes, including Lotte World Tower's Signiel Residences, Daechi Prugio Summit and Gaepo Xi Presidence. The news comes months after the prosecution raided the offices of furniture and kitchen furnishing firms in February. The prosecution service has teamed up with anti-competition authorities here for the...

The Yoon administration has invited lawmakers to cooperate on legislation to minimize the impact of phishing attacks. Phishing attacks attempt to dupe victims into providing information or money. At a meeting at the Government Complex Sejong, a pangovernmental entity on Wednesday discussed how to swiftly pass revision bills designed to prevent them. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sop...

The stricter measures come in the wake of high-profile drug crime cases here, Bang said during a press briefing held at the Government Complex Seoul. Earlier in April, seven people were arrested for making and distributing 100 bottles containing drug-laced material disguised as drinks that help students concentrate while studying in a neighborhood in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. According to police, eight...

Main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung on Monday delivered a public apology for concerns over intensifying allegations that illicit, unreported funds were distributed in envelopes containing cash at the party's convention in 2021. The Democratic Party of Korea chairman said he has asked his predecessor Song Young-gil, a suspected beneficiary of the alleged illicit campaign financing scheme, ...

Former co-chair of Green Party Korea Kim Ye-won has been under police investigation and was arrested for illegally possessing and using cannabis, police said Friday. Police arrested Kim in February for allegedly using cannabis for entertainment purposes and keeping the product, which is strictly banned in Korea, at home since late 2022, it said. An investigation was launched in January, it added...

South Korea's main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung said Friday that Seoul should consider a joint investigation with Washington over the leakage of US intelligence documents that Seoul believes may have been fabricated. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration's "attempted cover-up" of the controversy translates into a diplomatic humiliation, with which it "would defend neither sovereignty nor the...

The recent leaking of US intelligence documents "inevitably had an effect" ahead of the summit between Seoul and Washington, a high-ranking South Korean official told reporters in Washington on Thursday. Consequently, the upcoming summit scheduled to start on April 26 will touch upon ways to restore trust in bilateral information gathering and sharing in the wake of the leakage, the official sai...

The government on Thursday unveiled plans to combat child abuse by conducting a nationwide inspection. Under the plan, the government will keep track of toddlers aged 2 or younger who have either not seen a pediatrician in the past year, or who have not completed the essential vaccination program that a baby has to go through within four months after birth. Korea estimates the number of such ch...

The top South Korean court sided with internet users here on Thursday, ruling that Google should disclose records of how its consumer data had been transmitted to a US spy agency upon the request of consumers. The ruling by the Supreme Court of Korea, after a decadelong wait, indicates that Google's policy of prohibiting the provision of such records to consumers and mandating that lawsuits be f...

The Ministry of Justice on Wednesday announced plans to clear the way for the execution of inmates who have been on death row for over 30 years through a law revision. Those who are sentenced to the death penalty will no longer be able to avoid execution according to the revision proposed by the Justice Ministry. The government is to put up the legislative notice for the revision Thursday, after...

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and his Portuguese counterpart, Antonio Costa, on Wednesday agreed to foster development cooperation during bilateral talks held in Seoul for the first time in 39 years. Han said in a speech before the talks that there is ample room for bilateral cooperation, which would lay a cornerstone for the rules-based international order. In response, the Portuguese Cabinet lea...