Most Popular
-
1
Korean labor force to shrink by 10 million by 2044: report
-
2
[AtoZ Korean Mind] Does your job define who you are? Should it?
-
3
Allegations surrounding BTS resurface, enraged fans demand apology
-
4
Students with history of violence will be barred from becoming teachers
-
5
Probe of first lady on Dior bag allegations set to begin
-
6
'Super Rich in Korea' will leave viewers appreciating Korea more: producers
-
7
Top prosecutor pledges 'speedy, strict' probe into first lady's luxury bag allegations
-
8
Medical feud leaves hospitals in financial crisis
-
9
'Queen of Tears' riding high on Netflix chart
-
10
Chip up cycle won’t stay long: SK chief
-
Police tracking anti-American arsonists
Police in Daegu are searching for two suspects in an arson attack on a private English institute which the self-proclaimed anti-American activists apparently mistook for a U.S. government facility. Police said the fire appeared to have been started by improvised explosives on Monday morning. A cleaning worker, surnamed Lee, called the police after she heard an explosion and found smoke with fliers scattered in front of the institute on the third floor of a nine-story building in the city. Police
April 23, 2013
-
Parliament agrees to extend retirement age to 60
Consensus was reached between ruling and opposition parties on Tuesday to extend the legal retirement age of South Korean workers to 60 beginning in 2016.Under the agreement, the public sector and big businesses with 300 or more employees should mandatorily set the retirement age at 60 from 2016 and other firms from 2017.The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party recommended the public sector and big businesses to gradually adopt the new retirement age. Currently, n
April 23, 2013
-
Ministry to cut school class sizes further
The education ministry said Monday it plans to match the class sizes of primary and secondary schools to international standards by 2020 in an effort to provide a better educational environment.Under the plan, the class size of primary schools will be cut to an average of 21 students per class by 2020 from last year's 24.3. The average number will be reduced to 23 from 32.4 at middle schools, with the number to be lowered to 23 from 32.5 for high schools.The goals are designed to be in line with
April 22, 2013
-
Police chief vows to uncover alleged attempt to cover up spy agency scandal
The nation's police chief pledged Monday to investigate claims that high-ranking police officers had tried to affect the outcome of a police probe into allegations that government spy agents intervened in December's presidential election.Wrapping up a four-month-long probe, Seoul's Suseo Police Station announced Thursday that two National Intelligence Service agents had illegally intervened in politics by posting a slew of politically sensitive comments on the Internet ahead of the Dec. 19 presi
April 22, 2013
-
Hospitals have high level of airborne bacteria
The main floors at major hospitals in Korea ― usually filled with visitors, patients and staff throughout the day ― are generally contaminated with airborne bacteria that could cause a secondary infection in people with a weak immune system, a report showed Monday.“The average levels of bacteria, gram-negative bacteria and fungi indicated that all hospital lobbies were generally contaminated,” said the report’s coauthor Park Dong-uk, an environmental health professor at Korea National Open Unive
April 22, 2013
-
Korean executive abuses female flight attendant
An executive of a local conglomerate was refused entry to the U.S. after being accused of hitting a female Korean Air flight attendant for “poor services,” airline industry sources said Sunday.The executive allegedly hit the flight attendant’s face with a magazine as she did not service him with well-cooked instant noodles during his business trip on board a plane to Los Angeles.The flight attendant reported the assault to the U.S. police as soon as the plane landed, and the U.S. authorities tol
April 21, 2013
-
Concerns grow over Korean gun violence
Calls for more stringent regulations on guns are mounting in the wake of four shooting incidents within a month in a nation that many believed to be free from the dangers of firearms.On Tuesday, a 42-year-old man shot a 38-year-old man who had an affair with his wife with an air gun in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. He had held the weapon for years to fend off wild animals. The three other cases involved unauthorized guns. On the previous day, a man in his 30s armed with two guns that had
April 21, 2013
-
Prosecution likely to expand Lee’s river project probe
The prosecution is considering expanding its investigation into former President Lee Myung-bak’s four-river restoration project which has been criticized for causing serious environmental damage and budget waste, sources said Sunday.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office is planning to launch a joint investigation into allegations that local builders had colluded to win the bids and raise massive slush funds.A special investigative team is currently looking into a complaint filed by civi
April 21, 2013
-
NIS, police hit by whistle-blowing; DUP demands wider investigation
An investigation into intelligence agents’ alleged interference in politics took a new turn over the weekend upon whistle-blowing by a police chief investigator that sent ripples through political circles and the nation’s intelligence agency. Kwon Eun-hee, a former chief investigator at the Suseo Police Station, confessed Saturday through several media interviews that there was pressure from high-ranking police officers from the National Police Agency during the investigation against agents of t
April 21, 2013
-
Earthquakes shake Japan, Korea
Two earthquakes struck in the waters off Korea and Japan on Sunday, while China was struggling to find survivors from a powerful quake that hit the country’s inland a day earlier.In Korea, a magnitude-4.9 earthquake hit near the waters off of Sinan, South Jeolla Province, at 8:21 a.m. on Sunday, recording the strongest tremor detected in South Korea this year. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the quake’s epicenter was 101 kilometers northwest of Heuksan County, a small town
April 21, 2013
-
Magnitude-4.9 earthquake shakes Korea’s southwest
A magnitude-4.9 earthquake hit near the waters off of Sinan, South Jeolla Province, at 8:21 a.m. on Sunday, recording the strongest tremor detected in South Korea this year. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the quake’s epicenter was 101 kilometers northwest of Heuksan County, a small town in Shinan. No damage or causalities were reported, as the quake happened underwater far from the coast, officials said. But many residents in Heuksan county said they felt the shock and saw
April 21, 2013
-
Prosecution mulls expanded probe into river project
The prosecution is considering expanding its investigation into the previous government's highly controversial project to refurbish the country's four major rivers, sources said Sunday.The administration of former President Lee Myung-bak carried out the 22.2 trillion won ($19.8 billion) project to refurbish the rivers to prevent floods and boost tourism. But environmental activists and the opposition party have long accused it of causing irreversible environmental damage.Local large construction
April 21, 2013
-
Ex-president’s in-law indicted in admission scam
The prosecution on Friday indicted Park Sang-ah, the daughter-in-law of former President Chun Doo-hwan, on charges of forgery as part of an investigation into admission fraud at foreign schools in Korea.Park, 40, forged school certifications to help her two children gain admission to a foreign school in Seoul, according to Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office.Under the current law, only children with foreign citizenship or who have lived overseas for more than three years are eligible to attend
April 19, 2013
-
U.S. soldier indicted for role in BB gun shooting
An American solider stationed in South Korea has been indicted for his alleged involvment in last month's BB gun shooting in a crowded Seoul nightlife district, prosecutors said Thursday. Prosecutors said the soldier, a staff sergeant surnamed Lopez, has been arrested and charged with obstructing police in the execution of their duties and with breaching traffic laws.According to prosecutors, Lopez allegedly shot a BB gun at pedestrians in downtown Seoul last month and later led South Korean p
April 18, 2013
-
Foreign executives briefed on new policies
A special forum hosted by Herald Corp. was held in Seoul on Thursday to offer a better understanding of President Park Geun-hye’s key policies to the foreign business community.About 100 foreign business executives from multinational companies and financial groups gathered for the “Hear from the New Government” forum where senior Korean officials of the new government introduced Park’s new policy directions and goals.The list of speakers included Phang Ha-nam, Minister of Employment and Labor, C
April 18, 2013
-
Over 70 percent of Seoul students receive private education: data
More than 7 out of 10 primary and secondary school students in Seoul participated in private education and other extracurricular activities last year, with a majority of their parents feeling the pinch of high education costs, data showed Thursday.According to the data compiled by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, 73.5 percent of the city’s primary, middle and high school students received supplementary education services in 2012, with their monthly expenditure averaging 425,000 won ($388).Some
April 18, 2013
-
‘Calm, effective approach needed for Dokdo, East Sea’
A Korean community leader in Chicago on Thursday called on Korea to take a calm yet more effective approach to counter Japan’s claim over Dokdo and promote East Sea as a name of the body of water between the two countries.“Rather than noisy protests or performances, we should focus on building our rationale academically and theoretically to back up our claims,” Kim Jong-gab, the president of the Korean American Association of Chicago, told The Korea Herald.“When any disputes regarding Dokdo and
April 18, 2013
-
Shinsegae vice chairman fined for boycotting parliamentary audits
A Seoul court on Thursday imposed a 15 million won ($13,400) fine on the vice chairman of Shinsegae Group for not attending parliamentary audits over the company’s alleged infringement of business rights of small retailers. Chung Yong-jin, 45, the vice chairman of the country’s second-largest retail conglomerate, was found guilty of not responding to the government’s call to appear at the hearings and audits of the National Assembly between October and November of last year, citing different rea
April 18, 2013
-
Seoul to launch campaign to fix foreign-language street signs
Seoul City government said Thursday that it would start a campaign to correct incorrect foreign-language street signs on streets from April 22 to May 21. Currently, 144,000 signs are installed in areas such as parks, tourist attractions, and historical sites, but they are only in Korean and English.The city has been trying to improve the signs by providing information in two more languages, Chinese and Japanese, while unifying sign designs and Romanization standards. The city expects not only fo
April 18, 2013
-
Spy agency officials intervened in presidential election: police
Police concluded Thursday that two national spy agents illegally intervened in the last presidential election by posting comments critical of the opposition party on the Internet closely before the poll.Police have looked into suspicions that a female employee of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) tried to influence the Dec. 19, 2012 presidential election on behalf of the agency by writing more than 120 online posts about politically sensitive issues under multiple IDs months before the pol
April 18, 2013