‘They’re my babies’: The surprising reasons we still love physical books

The nominee to lead the newly launched Serious Crime Investigation Agency (SCIA) pledged Thursday to end the "politicization" of investigations and to maintain their independence. The SCIA launched last Friday as part of a major overhaul of the criminal justice system that strips prosecutors of their power to conduct direct investigations amid criticism that they had pursued political probes. "(I) will first put an end to the politicization of investigations," Kim Ji-yong told reporters. "The prosecution in the past conducted targeted, dirt-digging probes with political purposes, leading to numerous harms. "(I) painfully recognize the current situation that has ultimately led to the dismantling of the prosecution." The former prosecutor said he would make efforts to ensure the new agency "firmly" protects political neutrality and the independence of investigations. Kim is scheduled to undergo his parliamentary confirmation hearing next Wednesday. His nomination has faced opposition from some ruling Democratic Party of Korea hardliners, who have claimed the nominee had once opposed prosecut

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's acquittal of HSBC's Hong Kong unit on charges related to violating Korea's short-selling rules. Prosecutors earlier indicted the bank in March 2024 for violating the Capital Markets Act, which bans naked short selling, marking the first criminal case of its kind in the country. Naked short selling refers to short selling stocks without first securing them or ensuring they can be secured. Prosecutors alleged three bank employees knowingly engaged in illegal naked short selling of shares of nine publicly traded companies worth about 15.8 billion won ($11.8 million) from August to December 2021. In the first-instance trial, the Seoul Southern District Court acquitted the bank, ruling there was no evidence to prove the employees engaged in naked short selling with the knowledge that they were violating local rules. An appellate court upheld the acquittal before it was finalized by the top court.

South Korea's top military commander said Thursday he had not thought of the recent mine blast near the inter-Korean border as anything other than a "provocation" by North Korea, while vowing to review response measures. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Gen. Jin Yong-sung made the remarks as some opposition lawmakers have raised issues with the South Korean military for allegedly refraining from depicting the Sept. 21 blast as a "provocation" by the North. "There was not a single moment when I thought it was anything other than a provocation when one of my men was seriously injured," Jin said during a parliamentary audit. "But I had not paid close attention to the fact that the term 'provocation' was not included in the announcement," he said when asked why the military had left out the term during Monday's briefing. The JCS concluded its joint investigation with the U.N. Command into the mine blast on Monday, confirming its preliminary findings that resin antipersonnel mines deliberately planted by Pyongyang south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) were the cause of the blast. T

Nearly 1.5 trillion won ($1.1 billion) worth of shares held by the Korea Securities Depository (KSD) remain unclaimed by some 26,000 shareholders, data showed Thursday. According to data released by Rep. Han Min-soo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the KSD held 800.84 million unclaimed shares worth a combined 1.47 trillion won as of the end of August. Unclaimed shares typically arise when shareholders fail to claim shares issued through rights offerings, bonus issues or stock dividends. Shareholders may be unaware of the newly issued shares or miss notifications after changing their addresses. In such cases, the shares are held by the KSD or other designated transfer agents until their rightful owners claim them. The value of unclaimed shares rose by about 26.4 billion won in the first eight months of this year, from 1.44 trillion won at the end of last year, when 763.54 million shares remained unclaimed. The number of shareholders with unclaimed shares also increased by 931, from 25,349 at the end of last year to 26,280 as of August. The figure included 22,526 individual sharehol

The Australian data centre operator’s blockbuster landing on the Australian sharemarket is on thin ice as its bankers pull out all stops to convince sceptical buyers.

The fitness guru and former reality television star is accused of assaulting and strangling his wife as the family holidayed in Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

The fitness guru and former reality television star is accused of assaulting and strangling his wife as the family holidayed in Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

A former Buddhist monk who sexually abused six young girls 30 years ago has been jailed for 13 years.

The release of an AI-generated video during One Nation’s campaign in Victoria has sparked a push to ban election deepfakes.

A new police command has been unveiled, bringing heavily armed police onto Sydney's streets.

Notorious Snowtown murderer James Vlassakis has been spotted leaving the Adelaide Pre-release Centre just weeks after his parole was confirmed.

The company’s clients include major miners Rio Tinto, BHP, Fortescue, Hancock Iron Ore, Talison Lithium, Newmont and Northern Star Resources.