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Ex-professor receives prison term for forcing students to write paper for daughter's admission

A former professor has received a finalized prison term for making her students write a research paper for use in her daughter's admission to a top dental school, legal sources said Wednesday. The 67-year-old, who was a professor at Sungkyunkwan University's School of Pharmacy at the time, was convicted of obstruction of business for instructing her students to conduct animal experiments for her daughter's college research project and write up a paper based on the results in 2016-2017. The paper helped the daughter gain admission to Seoul National University's School of Dentistry in 2018. In a May ruling, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court's sentence of 3 1/2 years in prison for the former professor and a suspended 10-month term for her daughter. The mother was also found to have instructed her students to manipulate some data to better support the experiment's hypothesis. The daughter, meanwhile, was listed as the paper's co-author even though she had only participated in the experiments two or three times as an observer, and also received an award for the work, which was published i

Jul 22, 2026By Yonhap
Ex-professor receives prison term for forcing students to write paper for daughter's admission

Korea busts record 1 ton of smuggled drugs in 1st half of 2026

Korean customs authorities seized a record 1,007 kilograms of narcotics intended for the domestic market in 767 cases during the first half of the year, the Korea Customs Service (KCS) said Wednesday. While the number of cases rose 24 percent from a year earlier, the total weight fell 62 percent because last year's figures included drugs merely transiting through Korea. Excluding those transit shipments, this year's haul was the largest on record for drugs destined for the domestic market. KCS Commissioner Lee Jong-wook said during a media briefing that the increase was driven by traveler smuggling, vowing to step up inspections of arriving passengers by expanding a multilayer screening system, including random inspections immediately after arrival and X-ray screening of all checked baggage. The number of traveler smuggling cases jumped 79 percent, while the amount seized rose 23 percent from a year earlier. By contrast, seizures through international mail dropped sharply after customs strengthened secondary inspections at five international mail centers late last year, prompting traffic

Jul 22, 2026By Jun Ji-hye
Korea busts record 1 ton of smuggled drugs in 1st half of 2026

Jailed ex-first lady appears for special counsel questioning over presidential residence relocation

GWACHEON — Former first lady Kim Keon Hee appeared before a special counsel team Wednesday for questioning over alleged irregularities in the 2022 relocation of the presidential residence. Kim, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, arrived at special counsel Kwon Chang-young's office in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, over allegations she intervened in the selection of construction company 21 Gram for the project. The special counsel team suspects 21 Gram won the project despite being unqualified in exchange for gifts to Kim, including a Dior jacket. A lawyer for Kim dismissed the allegations as "one-sided claims" before entering the office. The investigation stems from Yoon's relocation of the presidential office to the defense ministry compound in central Seoul and the presidential residence to the foreign minister's official residence as part of his campaign pledge. Incumbent President Lee Jae Myung has since returned the presidential office to Cheong Wa Dae. Kim is currently jailed while standing trial in multiple bribery and corruption cases. An appellate court sentenced her to

Jul 22, 2026By Yonhap
Jailed ex-first lady appears for special counsel questioning over presidential residence relocation

Police bust China-based ring behind TOPIK cheating

Police said Tuesday they have apprehended about 10 people suspected of either taking the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) on behalf of others for money or using advanced equipment, such as tiny earpieces, to relay answers to test-takers. Most of them are Chinese nationals based in China who are believed to have promoted cheating on TOPIK through Chinese social media, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA). TOPIK is a language proficiency test for foreigners whose native language is not Korean. A 28-year-old Chinese national arrested for acting as a broker for the TOPIK cheating ring was sentenced to three years in prison last month after being referred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, the SMPA said. The police have also booked two other members of the ring, including an equipment courier, without detention and are continuing to investigate the remaining members, the agency added. In addition, 11 Chinese and Korean nationals have been booked on charges of serving as proxy test-takers after allegedly receiving 800,000 won ($542) per exam from the brok

Jul 21, 2026By Yonhap
Police bust China-based ring behind TOPIK cheating

Protecting travelers abroad, Korean police expand reach to Croatia

What began as a summer safety initiative for Korean vacationers in Croatia has evolved into a full-scale law enforcement partnership, as police agencies from both nations agreed Tuesday to deepen ties on transnational crime and international fugitive tracking. The National Police Agency in Seoul said Tuesday that it had dispatched two officers to major Croatian travel hubs for a monthlong deployment through Aug. 13. Working in four-member mixed teams alongside local authorities, the officers are tasked with protecting Korean vacationers during the peak holiday season, responding to emergencies and maintaining direct communication channels for overseas citizens. The seasonal patrol comes as the two countries take formal steps to widen their security alliance. Officials from both nations signed a memorandum of understanding at the Croatian Embassy in Seoul earlier this week, transforming a seasonal tourism safety initiative into a comprehensive pact to combat transnational crime. Under the expanded framework, law enforcement agencies in both countries will coordinate on joint operations,

Jul 21, 2026By Lee Kyung-min
Protecting travelers abroad, Korean police expand reach to Croatia

Police investigation headquarters raided over alleged mishandling of Gwangju murder case

Prosecutors and police separately raided the national police investigation headquarters Tuesday as part of their probes into allegations of police mishandling of a high-profile murder case in the southwestern city of Gwangju, officials said. The investigators were seeking to seize evidence related to the murder investigation, which has faced growing controversy over allegations that police in Gwangju leaked investigative material to the suspect's father, who is also a police officer in the city. Officials from the Gwangju District Prosecutors Office executed a search-and-seizure warrant at the National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation before a special police team tasked with investigating the allegations carried out its warrant. Prosecutors sought to secure evidence to confirm allegations that police leaked investigative material and destroyed evidence related to the murder case. The special police team, on the other hand, sought to seize records to check whether the police investigation headquarters intervened in the case. The suspect in the murder case, 23-year-old Jang

Jul 21, 2026By Yonhap
Police investigation headquarters raided over alleged mishandling of Gwangju murder case

Special counsel says NIS ordered officials to be dispatched to martial law body

A special counsel team said Monday it has uncovered signs of the National Intelligence Service's (NIS) involvement in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's martial law bid, such as ordering the dispatch of investigators to a martial law body. Assistant special counsel Kim Ji-mi shared details about the NIS' alleged role during a press briefing on special counsel Kwon Chang-young's team's investigation into Yoon's failed bid to impose martial law in late 2024. According to Kim, Hong Jang-won, then first deputy director of the NIS, instructed officials to establish communication channels with the Defense Counterintelligence Command after Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. Other senior officials also allegedly ordered the creation of contact points with the National Police Agency and made instructions for NIS officials to be dispatched to the martial law command's joint investigation headquarters. "(We) have identified circumstances indicating that the NIS made very specific instructions to implement martial law," Kim said. "(We) are currently verifying whether these instructions were ac

Jul 20, 2026By Yonhap
Special counsel says NIS ordered officials to be dispatched to martial law body

Acting police chief vows to revamp entire investigation system

The nation's acting police chief on Monday reiterated his commitment to overhauling the entire police investigation system amid an ongoing controversy over the alleged mishandling of a high-profile murder case in the southwestern city of Gwangju. Yoo Jae-seong, acting commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA), told reporters that the police will use the Gwangju case as an opportunity to thoroughly overhaul the entire investigation system and restore public trust. The controversy centers on allegations that police in Gwangju, 270 kilometers south of Seoul, leaked investigative material to the murder suspect's father, who is also a police officer in the city. The suspect, 23-year-old Jang Yoon-gi, is accused of killing a 16-year-old female high school student and attempting to kill a 17-year-old male student on May 5. Yoo said the police will launch an investigation reform task force this month to prevent a recurrence of such a controversy and move forward with a rotational personnel system, which has faced strong internal opposition, after gathering feedback from of

Jul 20, 2026By Yonhap
Acting police chief vows to revamp entire investigation system

Police raid anti-corruption commission over ex-first lady Kim's handbag case

Police raided the state anti-corruption commission on Monday as part of a probe into the agency's controversial 2024 decision to drop a case involving former first lady Kim Keon Hee's acceptance of a luxury handbag. A special investigation team under the National Police Agency carried out a search and seizure at the offices of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission in Sejong, 107 kilometers south of Seoul. The investigation is looking into allegations of abuse of power by Ryu Chul-whan, former chairperson of the commission, and Chung Seung-yun, the commission's former deputy chairperson, over the controversial decision to close the case on Kim, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. The commission at the time terminated the case on Kim's acceptance of a Dior handbag from a pastor in 2022 without further investigation after concluding that there was no regulation for a presidential spouse to report gifts. It launched a task force in March this year to look into the controversial decision, after a new chief took office following the ouster of former President Yoon over his fa

Jul 20, 2026By Yonhap
Police raid anti-corruption commission over ex-first lady Kim's handbag case

Foreign ministry-affiliated diplomatic academy suffers cyber breach

An online education system operated by an institution affiliated with the foreign ministry was found to have been attacked by hackers, prompting authorities to launch an investigation into possible data leaks, the ministry said Monday. The foreign ministry said it received a notification from a relevant government agency in early February regarding suspicious access to the online education system of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA) and immediately shut down the system. According to the investigation, an unidentified attacker took control of the system server between April and May 2025 and was believed to have maintained access to the system until February. The compromised server is believed to have stored educational videos and information on trainees, including their names and user IDs. "It was difficult to detect the attack through conventional methods as the intruder exploited a previously undisclosed software vulnerability, known as a zero-day vulnerability," a ministry official said. "Currently, we are unable to determine exactly what data, if any, may have been leaked. T

Jul 20, 2026By Yonhap
Foreign ministry-affiliated diplomatic academy suffers cyber breach
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