Korean conglomerate Hyundai Steel lost its suit against the state’s move to allocate carbon credits to businesses, a court announced Thursday. The Administrative Court dismissed the steelmaker’s request to revoke the Environment Ministry’s action to allocate a set amount of carbon credits to the company. This is the first verdict released over the controversial carbon credit quota after a numbe...

Seoul City and the International Organization for Migration installed a sculpture work in Seoul Plaza to mark International Migrants Day, slated for Friday, officials said Wednesday. Titled “My Migrant Neighbor,” the large sculpture representing three multicultural siblings offers distinguished looks through different angles, delivering a message of importance of embracing diverse cultures, the ...

Seoul City said Wednesday that it has requested prosecutors to investigate Gangnam district’s alleged online smear campaign against the city government. Last week, Seoul Metropolitan Government said it caught signs that Gangnam-gu Office had systematically posted slanderous online comments against Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. The two parties have been in discord over various infrastructure project...

Seoul City will put the names of subway stations up for sale from next month to help subway operators raise profits, city officials said. Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would sell the names of 10 stations on Subway line Nos. 1-8 on a trial basis. The new names will be used together with the original subway names at subway entrances, platforms, metro maps and in announcements. Companies w...

Hundreds of more potential victims of toxic humidifier disinfectants were reported over the past month amid concerns over the government’s move to stop receiving health damage reports from next year, a civic group said Tuesday. The Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health said a total of 310 potential victims made health complaints to the Environment Ministry to join the third round of ...

South Korea is less peaceful than last year, due mainly to domestic political discord, a report showed Monday. According to the Global Peace Index released by the World Peace Forum, Seoul ranked 51st with 72.9 out of 100 points, down four notches from last year and 10 steps from 2013. The average of a total of 143 countries recorded 67.4 points, the lowest figure since 2000. In subrankings, Ko...

South Korea is expected to beef up its anticarbon moves in order to meet the targets of the Paris agreement approved by the global community Saturday. Envoys of 195 countries made a historical accord in Paris to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, which experts consider the threshold for catastrophic climate change. As part of efforts to scale up the countries’ commitment, their pl...

Seoul City on Thursday warned it would approach the Constitutional Court against the central government’s attempt to block its youth welfare policy in an escalating controversy over its plans to subsidize unemployed youth. As an alternative, it proposed creating a social consultative body to discuss the differences. On Dec. 1, the central government passed an ordinance that would allow the state...

Seoul City will inject about 2.3 billion won ($2 million) to promote its new slogan “I·SEOUL·U” starting next year with a variety of events, including a large-scale K-pop concert, officials said Thursday. The capital’s new slogan was picked in October through a series of public votes and is set to replace “Hi Seoul,” which had been used for 13 years. The budget is currently being reviewed by th...

Seoul City said Wednesday it had confirmed signs that the Gangnam district office conducted an online smear campaign against Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon amid deepening conflicts between the two parties over various infrastructure projects. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it verified circumstantial evidence that the Gangnam district government had systematically posted slandering online comm...

Herald Corp. acquired a family-friendly certification from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in recognition of promoting employees’ good balance between work and family life, the company said Thursday. The family-friendly certification is given to companies that provide exemplary welfare schemes for workers. The certification is valid for three years and can be extended for two addition...

South Korea’s economic inequality widened over the past year, with the poverty rate showing little improvement, a report showed Tuesday. According to statistics released by the Korea Institute for Health and Science Affairs, the country’s Gini coefficient, or Gini index, based on expenditures surged to 0.262 last year, nearly equivalent to the figure from 2009, suggesting widening economic dispa...