An ex-prosecutor who led the investigation into bribery allegations surrounding former president Roh Moo-hyun said Thursday he treated the late president with respect, rebuking a Roh aide’s claim that he didn’t.Roh killed himself during a prosecutorial probe in 2009 into suspicions that his associates and family took kickbacks from a Busan-based businessman named Park Yeon-cha. As then chief of th

Politics June 16, 2011

Arrest warrants sought for 2 tradersThe police on Tuesday sought arrest warrants for two people suspected of brokering illegal sales of human eggs and booked 13 ovum donors without detention.The ovum brokers identified only by their last names Koo and Chung ran a website where people shared information on fertility and received applications for ovum transplants or donations for a year until last S

Social Affairs June 14, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak on Monday stressed he would root out the widespread practice among government officials and judges of giving favors to their retired colleagues.The “jeon-gwan-ye-woo” practice, which means giving “honorable treatment to former officials,” refers to the custom of private companies offering high-paying jobs to retired senior government officials in exchange for their connecti

Politics June 13, 2011

Students, civic group members and politicians flocked to Seoul’s Gwanghwamun area Friday evening for the candle light vigil urging the government and the ruling party to follow up on their pledge to halve college tuition.Students, nongovernmental organizations and opposition politicians have called on the ruling Grand National Party to keep its promise to halve college tuition. GNP’s new floor lea

Social Affairs June 10, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak on Monday urged North Korea to end its hostility and seek peace and prosperity, less than a week after Pyongyang apparently rejected Seoul’s behind-the-scenes proposal for summit talks.“North Korea should break away from the path of confrontation and conflict, and come out onto the path of peace and prosperity,” Lee said during a Memorial Day speech at the National Cemetery

Politics June 6, 2011

Despite checkered history, not much known about Shin’s connectionsProsecutors are zeroing in on Shin Sam-kil, the arrested honorary chairman of Samhwa Mutual Savings Bank, as they deepen the probe into savings banks’ irregularities.Circumstantial evidence shows that Shin lobbied a number of politicians and senior government officials to save his troubled business, but very little is known about wh

Social Affairs June 6, 2011

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's second-largest mobile phone maker, said Thursday that its new Galaxy Tab tablet computer will hit U.S. shelves next week, mounting a challenge on Apple Inc.'s iPad 2.The wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 will be launched on June 8 through the U.S. retailer Best Buy Co., Samsung said in a statement.The upcoming Android-based tablet, which

Industry June 2, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak should take moral responsibility for a snowballing influence-peddling scandal in which a troubled savings bank allegedly bribed influential government officials and politicians to avoid punishment for its irregularities, his prime minister said Thursday."President Lee, who appointed top officials in charge of supervising the bank, is morally responsible for the scandal, not

Politics June 2, 2011