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VIDEO 10 Korean kindergarten students killed in China bus blaze

The burning bus in which 10 Korean kindergarten students died. / YonhapBy Lee Han-sooTen Korean kindergarten students were among 12 people killed in a bus blaze in a tunnel in Weihai, China, Tuesday, according to the South Korean Embassy in China.There were 13 people in the vehicle, owned by an international school, when it caught fire in the tunnel, according to reports. The school, “Zhongshi Korean International School,” largely caters for Koreans but has not been certified by the Korean government. A Chinese preschooler and the bus driver were also killed. A Chinese teacher is reportedly in a critical condition.The exact cause of the fire is unknown.South Korea's acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn expressed "grave sadness" over the deaths and directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to closely cooperate with the Chinese government to determine the accident’s cause.Smoke billows from the tunnel in Weihai, China, where the deadly accident happened. / Screen capture from WeiboHwang has also directed the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yun Byung-se,

May 9, 2017

10 Korean kindergarten students killed in China bus blaze [VIDEO]

Presidential candidates woo voters with unique campaign ads

Voters pack the street to hear a campaign speech by one of the five leading presidential candidates in Busan, Monday, on the eve of the presidential election today. YonhapFunny, heartwarming and ‘party-signature’ messages seek to attract young voters  By Lee Kyung-minThe five leading presidential candidates are making last-ditch efforts to lure voters via social networking services (SNS) campaigning, Monday, a day ahead of the presidential election, today.Campaign offices say frequently reaching out to voters online with consistent messages is as effective and important in cultivating loyalty from them as face-to-face interaction including handshaking and making eye contact during street campaigning.Candidates, in particular, seek to create a well-organized story in online advertisements with a funny twist, thereby piquing the interest of young voters apathetic to “old and corrupt” politics.Frontrunner Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has www.moon1st.com, a website that explains his campaign pledges in detail specific to regions, gender

May 8, 2017

Presidential candidates woo voters with unique campaign ads

Voting enters final hour (Turnout: 75.1% at 7 p.m.)

Moon assassination threat 'online flop'

Moon Jae-in from the Democratic Party of Korea gives a free hug to a supporter on his back in Seoul’s Hongdae district on Saturday. / YonhapBy Ko Dong-hwanAn unidentified man threatened to assassinate Moon Jae-in in an online post, above, at DC Inside, May 5.  An anonymous online threat to assassinate a leading presidential candidate turned out to be a nonsensical flop. An unidentified man, 26, turned himself in to Goseong-gun police in South Gyeongsang Province on Friday evening, confessing that hours earlier he had threatened online to assassinate Moon Jae-in the next day while he was giving free hugs to citizens in  Hongdae district in western Seoul.The unemployed college graduate told police he posted the threat as a joke to see how people would react.But when the post went viral, he became frightened and decided to confess.Ninety minutes earlier, he had apologized to visitors to animation/cartoon online site Ruliweb for making the threat, saying he “did it out of curiosity” and asking for“forgiveness.”“I had no intention to prov

May 7, 2017

Forest fire in Samcheok continues to burn

By Lee Kyung-min  Firefighters conducted overnight operations, Sunday, to put out a wildfire that has burned more than 100 hectares, the equivalent to 140 times the size of a football field, in the eastern city of Samcheok, Gangwon Province. Korea Forest Service (KFS) said 340 officers will be mobilized to continue efforts to put out the fire that broke out Saturday. After sundown, 26 firefighting helicopters and 3,200 officers returned home due to poor visibility at night. At least 15 firefighting helicopters and 1,500 officers resumed operations to put out fire at sunrise Sunday.The cause of the fire remains unclear, authorities said. “Dispatching officers on the ground is difficult as the mountainous area is very steep and highly dangerous for them to conduct operations on,” a KFS official said. “Water from the helicopters is feared to scatter in the air, not touching the ground. Extremely dry air and strong wind is also exacerbating the situation,” he added. When a wind blows at the speed of 6 meters per second, a fire spreads up to 15 meters farther

May 7, 2017

Firefighters still battling Samcheok blaze after Gangneung fire put out

Presidential candidates seeking to reduce working hours

 Small firms criticize them as ‘populist’ pledge By Lee Kyung-min    Five leading presidential candidates are seeking to reduce the current 68 hour-a-week working hours set by the government. But their plan is drawing a backlash mostly from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as they will need to bear the burdens for further holidays and extra pay.Many of them complain such a “populist” campaign pledge will force them to shut down their businesses due to uncontrollable labor costs.Frontrunner Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party of Korea and Hong Joon-pyo of the conservative Liberty Korea Party both pledged they would reduce working hours to 52 a week.Yoo Seong-min of the Bareun Party agreed to the reduction of hours in general but plans to put a yearly cap on working hours.Ahn Cheol-soo of the People’s Party is seeking to adopt 1,800-hours-a-year working hour limit. Justice Party candidate Sim Sang-jung opting for 35 hours a week.The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business said their pledges simply fail to reflec

May 7, 2017

Candidates go all out for final stretch

Crime Scene Driver booked for deliberately ramming police car

By Lee Han-sooA driver has been booked for ramming a police vehicle several times, according to Gyeyang Police Station Saturday.The unidentified driver, 51, had initially turned himself in, saying he had been driving while drunk. But his blood alcohol level was zero.When police recommended that he go home, the man deliberately rammed a patrol car several times.The man reportedly had criticized the police for “not doing enough inspections for drunk driving” and had told police he was “dissatisfied with society.”  Police said they were unaware if the man had any history of psychiatric problems.

May 7, 2017

[Crime Scene] Driver booked for deliberately ramming police car

S. Korean broadcaster under probe over report on Sewol's 'delayed salvage'

Seoul's prosecutors said Saturday that they have launched an investigation into possible election law violations surrounding a recent television news report that appeared to slander presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in.On Tuesday, private broadcaster SBS reported that the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries was suspected of attempting to collude with Moon while intentionally delaying the salvaging of the ferry Sewol, which sank off the southwestern coast in April 2014, killing more than 300 people aboard.Citing a ministry official, the broadcaster said the ministry was suspected of delaying the operations to win favors from Moon in terms of expanding its staff number and affiliated organizations. SBS later offered an apology to Moon and the bereaved families and deleted all the relevant reports on its website.Moon's liberal Democratic Party immediately dismissed the report as groundless and filed a petition with the prosecution.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it has allocated the case to its public security department, which is in charge of investigations into elect

May 6, 2017

Bone believed to be human found in Sewol's salvaged site

A diver has found a bone fragment believed to be from a human's shin near the site of a deadly ferry sinking, officials said Friday.The 34-centimeter bone was found on the country's southwestern coast near Jindo Island earlier in the day.Officials said they asked the National Forensic Service to conduct DNA tests on the bone fragment.The 6,800-ton Sewol ferry sank off the country's southwestern coast near Jindo Island on April 16, 2014, claiming the lives of 304 people, mostly high school students on a school excursion.The hull was raised from the bottom of the sea and put into dry dock at a local port in Mokpo, some 410 kilometers south of Seoul, last month. The bodies of nine people, including four students and two teachers, have not been found.The nine are two Danwon High School teachers (Go Chang-suk and Yang Seung-jin), four Danwon students (Nam Hyun-chul, Park Young-in, Cho Eun-hwa and Hu Da-yun) and three passengers (Kwon Jae-geun, Kwon Hyuk-gyu and Lee Young-sook). (Yonhap) 

May 5, 2017

Bone believed to be human found in Sewol's salvaged site

영상 유승민 딸 유담 성희롱 용의자는 '30대 일베남'?

(서울=코리아타임스) 우지원 기자 = 유승민 바른정당 대선 후보의 딸을 강제추행한 혐의로 경찰에 검거된 이모(30)씨가 세간에 도는 ‘일베설’을 부인했다.이씨는 지난 4일 서울 마포구 홍익대학교 인근의 유세현장에서 유권자들과 사진 촬영을 하던 유 후보의 딸 유담 씨와 사진을 찍는 도중 유 씨의 어깨에 팔을 두르고 얼굴을 밀착한 채로 혀를 내미는 포즈를 취했다. 당시의 사진과 영상이 인터넷에 유포되면서 성추행 논란이 일자 바른정당은 경찰에 수사를 요청했고, 경찰은 이씨를 강제추행 혐의로 불구속 기소했다.보도에 따르면 이씨는 정신장애 3급에 무직으로 조사됐으나 성추행을 비롯한 동종 전과는 없었다. 이씨는 경찰에서 "이유 없이 장난치려고 (그랬다)"라고 진술한 것으로 알려졌다.또한 이씨는 세간에 극우 인터넷 사이트 '일간베스트저장소'(속칭 일베)의 회원으로 알려졌으나 경찰은 본인이 이를 부인했다고 전했다. 이씨는 경찰 조사에서 "혼자서 홍대에 나왔다가 우연히 유세현장을 보고 사진을 찍었다"고 진술했다.경찰은 이씨가 "글과 사진을 일베에 올리지 않았다"고 진술함에 따라 사진을 인터넷에 올린 사람이 누구이며 공범이 있는지 등을 추가 조사할 방침이다. 또 피해자가 성적 수치심을 느꼈는지 등을 판단해 강제추행죄 적용을 결정하겠다고 밝혔다.이씨는 유 씨에게 전할 말이 없냐는 취재진들의 질문에 깊은 한숨과 함께 "죄송하다"고 했다.앞서 하태경 바른정당 의원은 같은 날 자신의 SNS 계정을 통해 “범인의 이름과 나이, 거주지 그리고 일베 사용자라는 사실까지 모두 확인됐다”는 소식을 전하며 “네티즌들의 신속한 제보 덕분”이라고 밝힌 바 있다.한편 가해자의 신상정보가 확보됨에 따라 유 씨는 이날 새벽 대리인을 통해 이 씨를 고소한 것으로 알려졌다. 현재 예정됐던 유 씨의 모든 선거 유세 일정은 취소된 상태다.소식을 접한 심상정 정의당 후보 측 선거대책위원회 한창민 대변인은 같은 날 오전 국회 브리핑에서 "유담씨가 큰 상처를 받지 않기를 진심으로 바란다"며 "충격적인 상황에서 아버지를 돕기 위해 미소를 버리지 못한 그 마음이 전해져 안타깝다. 격려와 위로를 보낸다"고 말했다. 한 대변인

May 5, 2017

Early voters crowd polling stations

 By Lee Kyung-min and You Soo-sun Hundreds of voters cast their ballots at Seoul and Yongsan train stations, Thursday, as part of a two-day early voting period ahead of the May 9 presidential election. Seoul Station, the major transport hub in the country, is where one of more than 3,500 polling stations has been set up nationwide for early voting.The National Election Commission (NEC) said the polling booths are available between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., to better accommodate the 42.4 million eligible voters who are unable to vote on May 9.Some of voters set up tents near the polling stations to stay there overnight to be the first to cast their ballot.At least six voters were among those who stayed up all night to line up even before the polling booths opened at 6 a.m. at Seoul Station.An IT industry worker surnamed Seo, 33, said he voted for Hong Joon-pyo of the far-right Liberty Korea Party (LKP).“Moon is pro-North Korea. The country is bound to self-destruct if a man holding such sympathetic views toward the North takes office,” he said.Seo said hi

May 4, 2017

Election 2017 Early voting turnout strong

Law & Crime

Law & Crime

VIDEO 10 Korean kindergarten students killed in China bus blaze

Presidential candidates woo voters with unique campaign ads

Moon assassination threat 'online flop'

Forest fire in Samcheok continues to burn

Presidential candidates seeking to reduce working hours

Crime Scene Driver booked for deliberately ramming police car

S. Korean broadcaster under probe over report on Sewol's 'delayed salvage'

Bone believed to be human found in Sewol's salvaged site

영상 유승민 딸 유담 성희롱 용의자는 '30대 일베남'?

Early voters crowd polling stations

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