Articles by Kim Yon-se
Kim Yon-se
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3 in 4 workers support wage peak system
About 3 out of 4 salaried employees welcome the wage peak system, which is actively pushed by the finance and labor ministries for overall economic expansion, a recent poll showed.The wage peak system will extend the retirement age to 60 from the current ages ranging from 53 to 58. The paycheck for elderly workers will be slashed by about 10 percent over their last several years at work.According to Saramin, an online recruitment portal, 72.3 percent of the surveyed 559 salaried workers said the
Social Affairs Dec. 9, 2014
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Court rules fixed bonuses part of ordinary wages
A Seoul court ruled Tuesday that regular bonuses should be regarded as part of ordinary wages if they are paid out periodically, clarifying that employers are obligated to raise the amount on an on-year basis.The verdict from the Seoul Central District Court came during the litigation filed by 4,509 workers of the Korea Land & Housing Corp. against the state-run agency. The workers demanded payment of combined 2.3 billion won ($2 million) in reflection of yearly growth in monthly wages.The court
Social Affairs Dec. 9, 2014
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Korea behind OECD average in job security
South Korea lags behind major members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in job security for regular employees in the private sector, the Paris-based organization said Monday.An OECD report showed that Korea posted 2.17 in the index for employment protection last year, under the average of 2.29 for the global entity’s 34 member countries.Korea ranked 22nd in the regular job security comparison, while Germany topped the list with 2.98, followed by Belgium with 2.95, the
Social Affairs Dec. 8, 2014
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Appeals court rules in favor of antitrust fine on Lotte
An appellate court ruled Monday that the antitrust regulator’s decision to impose fines on Lotte Department Store for bullying subcontractors was legitimate.Though the department store filed a litigation against the Fair Trade Commission demanding withdrawal of the fine levy, it lost the suit at the Seoul High Court following a lower court’s ruling.Lotte Department sanctioned some suppliers after comparing the 35 businesses’ sales performance from January-May 2012. The sanction included a variet
Social Affairs Dec. 8, 2014
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U.N. Security Council to take up North Korean human rights issue
The U.N. Security Council is expected to take up North Korea’s human rights problem as early as later this month as 10 council members signed a letter calling for adding the issue to its agenda, the U.S. human rights envoy said Friday.Australia, the United States and South Korea were among the countries that signed the letter to the council’s president earlier in the day, one more than the nine countries needed to put an issue on the 15-member council’s agenda, Amb. Robert King said during a Woo
North Korea Dec. 7, 2014
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Prosecution to summon ex-aide of Park
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office is scheduled to summon Chung Yoon-hoi, a former adviser to President Park Geun-hye, this week, amid speculations that he was improperly exercising power in the administration.Investigators said Sunday that they are looking for any telecommunication records between some presidential aides and the 60-year-old Chung.The prosecution, which has been investigating a scandal involving Chung, recently secured the phone logs of Chung and former presidential
Social Affairs Dec. 7, 2014
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U.S. House Foreign Affairs committee chairman says Dokdo is right name
The chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee said “Dokdo” is the right name to refer to South Korea’s easternmost islets, rejecting Japan’s long-running claims that the East Sea islets are its own.“It’s another one of those issues where we have to understand history and what abuses occurred because it is relevant to our understanding today,” Rep. Ed Royce (R-California) said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency earlier this week. “The proper name is Dokdo island.”Japan’s claims to
Foreign Affairs Dec. 7, 2014
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Sex abuse shows ugly side of ivory tower
Student bodies at Seoul-based universities are campaigning to curb sexual abuse on campus, calling for measures to prevent professors from molesting students.Recent cases of sexual harassment by professors have raised questions over university faculty ethics. The uproar peaked last week, when a math professor surnamed Kang at Seoul National University, one of Korea’s most prestigious universities, was arrested for groping several of his students.SNU swiftly issued a public apology over the scand
Social Affairs Dec. 7, 2014
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North Korea scraps wage ceiling for Gaeseong workers: state media
North Korea has removed the legal limit for wages paid to its workers at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the North’s propaganda site said Saturday, a move that could cause tension with South Korea, which co-runs the industrial park with the reclusive regime.The North revised the Act on Gaeseong Complex laborers late last month, scrapping the upper ceiling for workers’ wages, according to Uriminzokkiri, one of the country’s major propaganda sites.The site also said that raises will be set every
North Korea Dec. 7, 2014
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Defense Ministry may raise mental health requirements in conscription health check
The Defense Ministry is pushing changes in standards in draft exemptions for people with a history of mental illness, a ministry official said Sunday.“We’re working on revising the standards on a large scale in evaluating the depth of mental diseases during physical exam for conscription,” the official said. “In particular, we’re aggressively pushing for measures to lower the minimum history of hospital treatment in judging the level of mental disorders.”Currently, those who have received hospit
Defense Dec. 7, 2014
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Ebola travel ban in Pyongyang takes toll on Chinese tour firms
Chinese travel firms specializing in tours to North Korea have been bearing the brunt of dwindling revenues as the North continues to ban all foreigners from visiting the country due to fears over the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, according to a Chinese state media report on Saturday.Reclusive North Korea began barring foreign tourists from entering the country on Oct. 23 and required all foreigners visiting the North to be put under quarantine for 21 days as a precaution against the spread
North Korea Dec. 7, 2014
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Apartment complex sticks to mass layoffs plan
A Seoul apartment complex in a wealthy district has inflamed public anger with a decision to lay off its temporary workers en masse, following an incident in October of a security guard at the complex setting himself on fire after reportedly suffering repeated insults from residents.A group of resident representatives of the New Hyundai Apartment complex said Thursday that it decided not to renew the contracts of 106 workers ― 78 security guards and 28 cleaners ― all of which expire on Dec. 31.F
Social Affairs Dec. 4, 2014
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Seoul mayor blasted for human rights hold-up
A group of public interest lawyers issued a statement requesting Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon to reverse his decision to indefinitely postpone the enactment of the charter of human rights, a decision influenced by fierce protests from gay rights opponents.“Human rights is a value that cannot be compromised,” the 38 lawyers said in a statement. “Just as we cannot compromise the rights of ethnic Koreans in Japan with anti-Korean groups, and the rights of people of color with white supremacists, we ca
Social Affairs Dec. 4, 2014
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Former Constitutional Court justice cleared of burglary
A Seoul district court on Thursday cleared former Constitutional Court Justice Cho Dae-hyun of charges that he had broken into an office along with several other suspects.Cho, who is working for a law firm, had been indicted for colluding with members of a church who attempted to steal internal documents from the church office. He was the attorney for the church members who were embroiled in a legal dispute with other devotees.But the Seoul Central District Court made it clear that Cho had not u
Social Affairs Dec. 4, 2014
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Man posthumously cleared of security law violation
An appellate court on Wednesday acquitted a deceased man of his charges that he spread groundless rumors on Park Chung-hee’s military regime 42 years ago.At a park in Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in October 1972, the man, surnamed Park, reportedly told his friends that “amendment to constitution (which was dubbed the authoritative Yushin Constitution) is a dictatorship.”He was arrested and indicted as the martial law proclaimed by then-President Park Chung-hee allowed investigators detain
Social Affairs Dec. 3, 2014
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