Former US President Barack Obama will visit South Korea on Monday and meet with former President Lee Myung-bak at a hotel in Seoul.  Former US President Barack Obama and former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak are seen in the photo taken in November 2009. (Yonhap)Obama is to visit Seoul to give a keynote speech at an international forum hosted by the local newspaper Chosun Ilbo. It will be his first visit to South Korea since he finished his term as a president in January. He and Lee last me

Social Affairs July 2, 2017

South Korea will resume the underwater search of the 2014 ferry sinking site in the hope of finding the still-missing five victims, the Ministry of Oceans of Fisheries said Sunday.　The ministry said the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology conducted the topography investigation and completed the measurement on the seabed to install 200-by-160 nets underwater where Sewol was lying before the recovery. Divers will walk on the seabed and use sonar radar to detect the bodies. A worn-out c

Social Affairs July 2, 2017

With a monsoon front approaching, heavy rainfall is expected throughout this week, the weather agency said. 　On Sunday, many cities nationwide saw much needed rain, which was delayed about 10 days compared to last year, along with cooler daytime temperatures. 　Around 80 to 150 millimeters of rain poured down in Seoul, while other regions saw about 10 to 100 millimeters of rain. 　Pedestrians walk in the heavy rain at a street in the southern city of Daejeon on Sunday. (Yonhap)Due to continued rai

Social Affairs July 2, 2017

The remains of 16 humans found at a construction site in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, last week have raised questions over who they were as well as when and why they were buried there.According to Sokcho Police Station, the bones and skeletons were discovered under a Gingko tree Thursday by a worker who was digging there with an excavator for the setting up of a parking lot. The bones found have no visible signs of injuries. Investigators look at human remains found at a construction site in Sokcho

Social Affairs July 2, 2017

A couple in the southeastern city of Changwan are wanted by police in connection with the kidnap and murder of a 47-year-old woman at a golf club in the city. Police are seeking to apprehend Shim Cheon-woo, 31, and his girlfriend Kang Jung-im, 37, both former golf caddies, after arresting Shim’s cousin, a suspected accomplice, on Tuesday night. The cousin reportedly told police that he was asked to drive a vehicle used in the crime and received 1 million won ($877) in return. Police found ropes,

Social Affairs June 29, 2017

Seoul’s subway stations have “bad” levels of fine dust in the air, an environmental activist group revealed, citing data from subway operator Seoul Metro. Gongdeok Station and Beotigogae Station on Subway Line No. 6 showed the highest level of fine dust concentration, reporting 116.2 micrograms per cubic meter each, according to data released by the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement.(Yonhap)The average for Seoul’s 278 subway stations was 81.2 micrograms per cubic meter, a slightly bad

Social Affairs June 28, 2017

A subway maintenance worker died after being hit by an incoming train, police said Wednesday. The accident occurred at around midnight Monday at Noryangjin Station in central Seoul. The 57-year-old employee of Korea Railroad, surnamed Kim, was walking on the railroad to put up a signboard notifying that maintenance work was scheduled to take place from midnight to 4 a.m.  (Yonhap)Six others were working at the site, but they were not hurt. Kim was rushed to a nearby hospital, but died shortly af

Social Affairs June 28, 2017

Closet reorganization has long been a seasonal chore for South Koreans, but climate change is prompting some people to do away with the cumbersome task. South Korea’s once distinctive four seasons, spread out almost evenly over 12 months, seem to be giving way to two long and seasons of extreme heat and cold, with short transition periods in between. “I no longer put short-sleeved shirts into boxes. It feels like summer comes right after winter now,” said a 32-year-old office worker Kim Jin-hee.

Social Affairs June 23, 2017

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday that it has selected 5,000 recipients for its cash subsidy program for unemployed youth, which will run from July. The subsidy amount is 500,000 won ($439) per month for up to six months. Providing cash is the most practical and effective way to help underprivileged youth to escape long-term unemployment, Seoul officials said. The recipients consist of 2,629 women and 2,371 men who were unemployed for about 20 months on average. About 60 percent of

Social Affairs June 22, 2017

The first stage of the search of the ferry Sewol wrapped up Tuesday with five passengers remaining unaccounted for. During the 63-day search of the ferry’s wreckage, which was brought onshore on April 9, the remains of four of nine unaccounted for passengers were identified. During the first stage, about 120 search operators sifted manually through bags of mud retrieved from the third to fifth decks of the ferry, where cabins are located.Workers sort through sand and mud from the wreckage of the

Social Affairs June 20, 2017

The poor breeding conditions at poultry farms in South Korea may have accelerated the spread of the bird flu virus, said a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. According to the report titled “OECD Producer Incentives in Livestock Disease Management: Korea Case Study,” battery cage-facilities at poultry farms and stockbreeding farmhouses have made worse the bird flu damage and fast spread of a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu in recent decades. Such facilities,

Social Affairs June 20, 2017

The state audit agency on Monday revealed that a controversial cable car project on Seoraksan is riddled with irregularities, calling for related Yangyang County officials to be penalized. The project, initiated by Gangwon Province’s Yangyang County in 1995, aims to build a 3.5-kilometer cable car system on the southern region of the mountain in Yangyang. Environmental groups have opposed the project and filed for an audit in December.Mount Seorak (Yonhap)According to the Board of Audit and Insp

Social Affairs June 19, 2017

South Korea’s youth unemployment has grown by the largest margin among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, data showed Sunday.As of April, the jobless rate among Koreans aged 15 to 24 stood at 11.2 percent, a 2.5 percentage point increase from 8.7 percent recorded in December last year, according to data from the OECD.(123RF)Out of 21 member countries of the OECD, Korea topped the list with the sharpest growth in youth unemployment, followed by Austria

Social Affairs June 18, 2017

Kori No. 1, South Korea’s oldest nuclear reactor located in Busan, ceased operation Sunday at midnight after four decades. Its operator Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. said that it cut the power supply Saturday and began the cooling-down process of the reactor.Kori No.1, South Korea’s first and the oldest nuclear reactor is seen in southern city of Busan. (Yonhap)It was officially decommissioned, with the temperature of the reactor gradually dropping to 90 degrees Celsius, from its normal oper

Social Affairs June 18, 2017

A farmer knocked down by a blast from a police water cannon during an anti-government rally in November 2015 died due to an external force, not illness, Seoul National University Hospital said Thursday, in a correction made nine months after his death. However, the hospital denied political consideration was the reason behind the rare decision. 　Kim Yon-su, vice president of SNUH, told a press conference that the death certificate of Baek Nam-gi will be revised following a monthslong discussion

Social Affairs June 15, 2017