Lawmakers will hold the parliament‘s annual inspection of state affairs this week with North Korea’s recent killing of a South Korean civil servant and a row over special treatment for the justice minister’s son expected to be key agenda items for the three weeks of hearings. The parliamentary audit will start Wednesday and runs until Oct. 26, covering more than 640 government organizations. The Defense Committee, which will audit the Ministry of National Defense and the

Politics Oct. 5, 2020

The push for tougher legislation requiring labels on consumer products that contain genetically modified organisms has struggled to gain momentum for years in South Korea, which depends heavily on imports to satisfy its demand for corn and soybeans. Calls to introduce stricter GMO labeling rules have been persistent, but President Moon Jae-in has yet to fulfill his campaign promises to stop the use of GMO products in schools and to require transparency from firms that use GMOs in their product

Social Affairs Oct. 3, 2020

Rep. Lee Nak-yon, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, has faced myriad challenges to consolidate his foothold in the liberal party and prove his mettle as a presidential candidate. His return to the partisan politics had been smooth sailing after serving as prime minister under the liberal Moon Jae-in government, winning a seat in the Jongno district in central Seoul -- a symbolic constituency in Korean politics -- and becoming leader of the ruling party. But his first month

Politics Sept. 28, 2020

Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday it will provide 300 billion won ($255.6 million) in soft loans to small business owners hit hard by COVID-19 containment measures. Facilities that have been suffering financial losses due to shut down or operational restriction orders by the government are eligible to apply for loans up to up to 100 million won with interest rates ranging from 0.03 percent to 0.53 percent. The types of businesses that can take part in the finance assistance progra

Social Affairs Sept. 28, 2020

Opposition lawmakers are stepping up attacks on President Moon Jae-in over the killing of a South Korean civil servant by North Korea, framing the incident as a case of mishandling or even neglect of duty by the top office. 　 Five members of the People Power Party took turns holding one-person protests outside Cheong Wa Dae, each staging an hourlong rally with a sign that read “President Moon Jae-in, where are you now,” denouncing the president and the government for a “dela

Politics Sept. 27, 2020

Police are making a last-ditch effort to ensure that they will be on equal footing with prosecutors as the government moves to finalize the revised laws that would reorganize the jurisdictions of police and prosecutors in criminal investigation procedures. As part of President Moon Jae-in’s drive to reform the prosecution, which has a monopoly on indictment powers and investigation oversight, the National Assembly passed revision bills to the Criminal Procedure Act and the Prosecutor

Social Affairs Sept. 23, 2020

President Moon Jae-in on Monday called on the government to step up efforts to complete the reform of the prosecutors’ office, police and state intelligence agency, saying that remaining tasks will require more effort despite the progress made so far. “Our government‘s reform of the power institutions is making irreversible progress,” Moon said at the meeting with government and ruling Democratic Party officials including Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, Interior and Safety

Politics Sept. 21, 2020

The government decided Sunday to extend its current social distancing guidelines for another week as the country seeks tighter control of the new coronavirus ahead of a long holiday week approaching next week. Areas outside Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon have been under Level 2 social distancing measures for a month since Aug. 23. They were initially planned to end Sunday at midnight. With the Sunday decision, all parts of the country will be on Level 2 social distancing until Sept.

Social Affairs Sept. 20, 2020

Yoon Ji-oh, an actor who has been engulfed in donation fraud and defamation allegations related to late actress Jang Ja-yeon, denied the Justice Ministry’s statement that the investigation against her had been suspended because her location was unknown. The Korean-Canadian has been in Canada since April last year, after several lawsuits were filed against her including damage suits filed by those who made donations to her. The donations were in support of Yoon‘s decision to come

Social Affairs Sept. 17, 2020

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug on Wednesday suggested holding the presidential election and local elections simultaneous in 2022. “I hope that we can conclude this issue next year as the two elections will be held three months apart in the first half of 2022, which could lead to quite a bit of waste of national resources,” he said during a press conference held to mark his 100-day anniversary in office. He urged lawmakers to deal with bills related to COVID-19 and o

Politics Sept. 16, 2020

The government announced Tuesday that it had decided to make an upfront payment worth 172 billion won ($146 million) as part of its plan to secure COVID-19 vaccines to administer to 30 million people, or roughly 60 percent of the total population. The country will take a two-track approach. For 20 million doses for 10 million people, the government will look to the COVAX Facility, the global vaccine initiative in which South Korea participates along with more than 150 other countries. It a

Social Affairs Sept. 15, 2020

The country’s highest court decided to strengthen sentencing guidelines for digital sex crimes Tuesday, enabling producers of child pornography to be punished by up to 29 years in prison. The decision from the Supreme Court’s sentencing commission came following public outcry over lenient punishments handed down to offenders involved in child pornography here, compared to those in other countries. The new guidelines recommend judges sentence people convicted of producing child

Social Affairs Sept. 15, 2020

The Ministry of Education said Sunday it would provide an artificial intelligence-based mathematics program to elementary schools across the country, starting Monday. This marks the first time the country will incorporate AI technology in school curriculum. The AI-base program which is designed for the first and second grade students at elementary schools features a system that recommends educational content that matches the learning level of each student after analyzing their ability to perf

Social Affairs Sept. 13, 2020

The number of people who deliberately harmed themselves surged nearly 36 percent in the first half of 2020 compared to a year ago, amid a growing concern that the COVID-19 pandemic is aggravating psychological distress here. The number of medical treatments conducted on patients involved with intentional self-harm stood at 1,076 cases in the first six months of this year, up 35.9 percent, from 792 in 2019, according to data the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service submitted to Rep.

Social Affairs Sept. 13, 2020

The controversy over allegations that Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae pulled strings to obtain special treatment for her son during his compulsory military service years ago intensified Thursday, leading prosecutors to expand their investigation and inviting demands for her resignation from opposition parties. The Defense Ministry on Thursday dismissed speculation that the minister’s son, 26, surnamed Seo, may have used his mother’s influence as a political bigwig and breached militar

Social Affairs Sept. 10, 2020