As the scorching weather continues, several regions across South Korea suffered blackouts caused by circuit failures following high electricity demands. According to Korea Electric Power Corp. on Sunday, the electricity went out in 756 households of nine apartment buildings in Gwangju at 10:10 p.m. on Saturday. While the power came back for most of the houses after two hours, the outage continued as of Sunday noon for 252 households in the three apartment buildings.(Yonhap)In Busan, 200 househol

Social Affairs July 22, 2018

The hostile sentiment against asylum seekers in South Korea has grown because public anger about other unresolved social problems is being directed at the foreigners, experts said Thursday.At a parliamentary seminar on how to deal with the influx of refugees on Jeju, Lee Il, a lawyer from Advocates for Public Interest Law, claimed the social anxiety caused by issues such as low unemployment rates and sex crimes have been directed toward asylum seekers -- minorities and strangers in society.  (Yo

Politics July 19, 2018

A principal of a special school for disabled students in Gangwon Province was found dead Thursday morning, days after the revelation that one of the teachers had sexually harassed and raped students with mental disabilities over several years.According to police, an apartment security guard found the 68-year-old principal lying dead in a flower bed in front of the apartment building, and reported it to police at 4:55 a.m. (Utolmage)The principal is presumed to have died by suicide, police said.

Social Affairs July 19, 2018

The Education Ministry said Wednesday it will conduct inspections on sexual misconduct and human rights violation cases at all schools for students with disabilities, after a special school teacher was reported to have raped students.The ministry and regional education offices on Tuesday held a meeting where they decided to inspect 175 special schools across the country from August to mid-September, to come up with measures to prevent sexual misconduct and violence against disabled students. (12

Social Affairs July 19, 2018

A Marine Corps helicopter crashed in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, on Tuesday, leaving five dead and one injured, according to the authorities.Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters said the Surion (MUH-1) carrying six passengers crashed on the landing strip at the Navy’s Sixth Air Command in Pohang around 4:45 p.m. The helicopter was landing when it crashed from 10 meters above ground and caught fire, according to the authorities. (Yonhap) This photo provided by the Marine Corps on July 17 sh

Social Affairs July 17, 2018

Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters on Monday launched a special unit for investigating attacks against personnel to better protect them in the line of duty. According to Seoul’s fire department, the unit will operate to specifically deal with illegal acts committed against firefighters to protect them while they are on duty. It is the first time for the headquarters to have an internal police team for the specific purpose, it said. (Yonhap)The move comes in line with rising calls

Social Affairs July 16, 2018

The Korean online entertainment media outlet Dispatch is under fire after it revealed the personal information of a celebrity’s husband who is not a public figure. As of Monday, more than 200,000 people in an online petition on the presidential office’s website have called for its abolishment. The petition was first filed on June 26, but after an exclusive report from Dispatch was released on July 10 revealing detailed personal information about Korean actress Choi Ji-woo’s husband, the number o

Social Affairs July 16, 2018

The wife of former South Chungcheong Provincial Gov. An Hee-jung on Friday testified that the plaintiff who claims to have been raped by An, liked him as a lover. Seoul Western District Court opened the fifth hearing on An’s case in the morning, calling witnesses including An’s wife Min Joo-won, An’s former aides who worked for his presidential campaign team and a provincial government official who worked with An.An Hee-jung (Yonhap)The disgraced politician, who competed in the Democratic Party

Social Affairs July 13, 2018

JEJU -- For many Yemeni asylum seekers on South Korea’s southern island of Jeju, obtaining medical treatment and finding places to stay are the most challenging tasks they face daily. To help these asylum seekers who fled their war-torn country thousands of kilometers away, Sister Cristina Evelina Gal from the Naomi Migrant Pastoral Center of Joongang Cathedral of the Jeju Diocese works day and night to take those who are ill to hospitals and deliver goods they need.Sister Cristina, 41, came to

Social Affairs July 12, 2018

The first part of the annual ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop organized in South Korea by ASEAN-Korea Centre ended on Friday, with a closing ceremony held Seoul. During the five-day program in South Korea, which kicked off on Monday, 70 students from Korea, Japan, China and Association of Southeast Asian Nation countries took on various activities on the theme of “Global Digitalization.” Seoul National University Asia Center co-organized the event here.  (ASEAN-Korea Centre)The second part of

Social Affairs July 6, 2018

DAEJEON -- Kim Mi-hee was born and raised in China until her father married a Korean woman and moved to South Korea in August last year. For the 12-year-old Chinese who transferred to a public elementary school here, the language barrier would have been a big stumbling block in adjusting to school and life here. But thanks to the Korean as a Second Language program provided by the school, Kim quickly managed to raise her proficiency in Korean.  Students with muticultural backgrounds speak with t

Social Affairs July 5, 2018

The National Assembly provided a total of 24 billion won ($21.4 million) to lawmakers for the purpose of supporting their “special activities,” and the money was used like salary by lawmakers without providing proof of usage, a civic group said on Thursday. The People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a liberal civic group, released a report on the details of “special activity fund” spent at the National Assembly from 2011 to 2013. They analyzed 1,296 disbursement documents they received

Politics July 5, 2018

A senior staff attorney of a law firm has been arrested for filing fraudulent refugee applications for foreigners who are not asylum seekers, the Justice Ministry said Tuesday. Seoul Immigration office has transferred cases of three people, including a 46-year-old lawyer surnamed Kang, to the prosecution for violation of the immigration law.  (Yonhap)According to the ministry, the lawyer abused the country’s refugee application program to help foreigners that are not refugee-status seekers to il

Social Affairs July 4, 2018

The nomination of three Supreme Court justices on Monday appears to break away from its long-standing convention of picking candidates based on their hometowns.Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Meong-su has recommended three nominees to President Moon Jae-in, including Kim Seon-soo, who has worked as an attorney for 30 years since passing the bar exam. If appointed, he will be the first person to take the post at the top court since 1980 without having a career as a judge or a prosecutor.  Supreme

Social Affairs July 3, 2018

A 10-day annual youth network workshop organized by the ASEAN-Korea Centre kicked off Monday in Seoul, aimed at forging a strong network among Asian students while learning about various implications of digitalization.Some 70 youths from the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, plus Korea, China and Japan are participating in lectures on the theme of “Global Digitalization” and cultural exchange programs during the 2018 ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop in Seoul and Manila f

Social Affairs July 2, 2018