Five-month probe into Marine’s death ends with 33 indictments

Korea’s special counsel wrapped up its 150-day probe into the death of a young Marine on Friday, indicting 33 people, including former President Yoon Suk Yeol, for allegedly obstructing the investigation and abusing their authority to shield senior military officials. Announcing the conclusion of the investigation during a press briefing, the team stated that its work centered on “determining the extent of pressure from those in power” — such as the presidential office and military leadership —

Nov. 28, 2025

Self-harm, suicide levels in young women worrying: report

Preventing self-harm and suicides among young women is an urgent national priority, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Thursday. According to the agency’s Injury Factbook, which analyzes in-depth data from ER patients with “injuries” at 23 hospitals, cases of intentional self-harm in young women were significantly high. “Injury” is defined as a health problem caused by external factors such as accidents, natural disasters, self-harm, suicide and violence. The analysis found tha

Nov. 28, 2025

Ex-intelligence chief charged with covering up Yoon's martial law attempt

South Korea’s special counsel indicted former National Intelligence Service chief Cho Tae-yong on Friday, alleging he helped conceal former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt to impose martial law by abusing spy agency resources, violating political neutrality rules and overlooking plans to arrest political opponents. Cho, who was arrested on Nov. 12, was charged and sent to trial in custody on counts including dereliction of duty, violations of the National Intelligence Service Act, perjury, des

Nov. 28, 2025

Digital crime overtakes other gang-related violence in Korea for first time, police say

For the first time, members of South Korean gangs are being arrested more for online scams than crimes such as assault or extortion as organized crime rapidly migrates to cyberspace. According to figures released by the Korean National Police Agency this week, 2,363 organized crime members were arrested in 2024. Among those, 56.3 percent — 1,330 individuals — were tied to digital crimes such as voice phishing, romance scams and illegal online gambling. The data was obtained by Rep. Suh Bum-soo o

Nov. 28, 2025

Key suspect arrested in kidnap-murder of Korean college student in Cambodia: report

A Chinese man of Korean ethnicity accused of leading the kidnapping and killing of a Korean college student in Cambodia has been arrested, according to local news reports on Friday. SBS reported that the suspect, identified as Rhee Kwang-ho, was taken into custody by local authorities at around 2 a.m. Thursday at a restaurant in Phnom Penh. He was reportedly dining with other Koreans at the time. The college student had left Korea on July 17, telling his family he was going to visit an exhibitio

Nov. 28, 2025

N. Korean hacking group Lazarus suspected behind recent crypto hacking: sources

North Korean hacking group Lazarus is suspected to be behind a recent breach of around 45 billion won ($30.6 million) worth of cryptocurrency from South Korea's largest crypto exchange Upbit, sources said Friday. According to government and business sources, authorities plan to carry out an on-site investigation at the crypto exchange with a belief that Lazarus was behind the hacking. Dunamu, which operates Upbit, said Thursday it confirmed the transfer of 44.5 billion won worth of Solana-affili

Nov. 28, 2025

Woman found dead after 44-day search, ex-lover arrested

A woman in her 50s who had been missing since mid-October was found dead on Thursday, bringing an end to a 44-day search. The Chungbuk Provincial Police Agency said the woman’s body was discovered inside a sack at a waste disposal facility in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, at around 8 p.m. Thursday. Her former lover, surnamed Kim, also in his 50s, had earlier confessed to killing her and hiding the body at a client’s business site. Police initially booked him for involuntary manslaughter

Nov. 28, 2025

Car recovered, but woman remains missing as suspect denies murder

The car belonging to a woman who went missing last month was recovered from a lake on Thursday as police investigate her ex-boyfriend for his suspected role in her disappearance. The SUV driven by the missing person was salvaged from Chungju Lake in North Chungcheong Province. The woman in her 50s was last seen 68 kilometers away in Cheongju as she left work on Oct. 14. Surveillance footage showed that the car had headed to the Chopyeong Reservoir in Jincheon-gun later that day, and to the Okseo

Nov. 27, 2025

Jeju farmer finds entire tangerine orchard stripped overnight

A tangerine farm on Jeju Island, spanning about 56,000 square meters, was stripped clean overnight, local media reported Thursday. According to the reports, the farm owner arrived at her farm in Bongae-dong, Jeju, on Monday, only to find that every last tangerine had disappeared. “I thought I was in the wrong field,” she told a Jeju broadcaster. “All the tangerines that had been hanging from the trees were gone, and all I could see were green branches. It was unbelievable.” Local police, based o

Nov. 27, 2025

Korea's lonely deaths climb again as isolation deepens

The number of people dying alone in South Korea rose to nearly 4,000 last year, extending a steady upward trend driven largely by middle-aged men, government data showed Thursday. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 3,924 solitary deaths, defined as deaths in social isolation discovered only after some amount of time had passed, were recorded in 2024, up 7.2 percent from a year earlier. The tally has risen every year since 2020, climbing about 20 percent over five years. Men made up

Nov. 27, 2025

Youth job hunt nears 2 years, longer outside Seoul

Fresh university graduates outside the Greater Seoul region, which includes Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, take an average of three months longer to secure their first job compared to their counterparts in the capital region, according to a new study published Thursday. According to the Korea Employment Information Service, while the average job search period for youth living in metropolitan areas such as Seoul stood at 21.2 months, those in non-capital regions observed a longer period of 24.6 m

Nov. 27, 2025

Court overturns conviction in 'Choco Pie theft' case

A security guard who was prosecuted for eating snacks worth less than a dollar at a logistics company in Wanju, North Jeolla Province, has been acquitted on appeal, overturning a conviction that had threatened his job and livelihood. The Jeonju District Court on Thursday reversed a lower court ruling that fined the 41-year-old guard 50,000 won for theft, declaring him not guilty. “The defendant cannot be deemed to have had intent to steal, given that he had been told he was free to eat snacks st

Nov. 27, 2025

3 women found dead at apartment complex after alleged fall from rooftop

Three women were found dead after apparently falling from the rooftop of an apartment complex in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, according to local news reports Thursday. Two of the deceased were identified as being in their 20s, and one as a teenager. The identity of the third woman had not yet been confirmed. “The two whose identities were confirmed were not residents of the apartment complex and lived separately,” police said. Investigators believe the women fell from the apartment’s rooftop b

Nov. 27, 2025

Govt. launches working group with Samsung, Hyundai to advance AI plan involving Nvidia GPUs

The government on Thursday launched a working group with Samsung Electronics Co., Hyundai Motor Group and other companies to advance a nationwide effort to establish an artificial intelligence infrastructure utilizing 260,000 graphics processing units to be supplied by US chip behemoth Nvidia Corp., officials said. The inaugural meeting of the group, chaired by Second Vice Science Minister Ryu Je-myung, comes about a month after Nvidia announced a plan to supply up to 260,000 Blackwell GPUs to t

Nov. 27, 2025

[Exclusive] Ukraine says posters recruiting South Koreans to Ukrainian Army are 'Russian hoax'

Photos of posters urging South Koreans to enlist in the Ukrainian military have circulated online, prompting Kyiv to dismiss them as a “Russian hoax.” The images — showing a poster attached to a streetlight in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province — were uploaded to the online publishing platform Medium on Nov. 20 by a freelance journalist based in the Philippines. The poster, headlined “Join the Ukrainian Army!” in large Korean letters, lists purported benefits of enlistment, including high pay, provisio

Nov. 27, 2025