Public outcry grows against welfare grants for child rapist

Public outrage is mounting after it was reported that Cho Doo-soon, one of Korea’s most notorious child rapists, and his wife are receiving basic livelihood grants and the pension for senior citizens. Cho, 68, who was released from prison on Dec. 12 after serving a reduced sentence of just over a decade for kidnapping, beating and grotesquely raping a young girl, now lives with his wife in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, and is unemployed. After news surfaced that Cho and his wife began to re

Social AffairsFeb. 3, 2021

Harvard professor invites fury by calling ‘comfort women’ prostitutes

A journal article written by a Harvard professor has provoked fury here for its assertion that “comfort women” were not sex slaves, but prostitutes who chose to work at military brothels under voluntary agreements.  In the paper, titled “Contracting for sex in the Pacific War” and published in the International Review of Law and Economics, Mark Ramseyer, Mitsubishi professor of Japanese legal studies at Harvard Law School, argued that Korean comfort women -- as th

Foreign AffairsFeb. 3, 2021

Swindler sentenced to 2 yrs in prison for mask-related fraud

DAEGU -- A person was sentenced to two years in prison for defrauding people of more than 200 million won ($179,000) by promising to buy them protective face masks at a cheap price, among other things, a local court said Wednesday. The Daegu District Court, about 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, convicted the 48-year-old of fraud, saying the defendant used the money to repay personal debts and cover entertainment expenses. "Stern punishment is required as there are serious concerns the

Social AffairsFeb. 3, 2021

Opposition advises lawmakers to focus on ‘sexual assaults’

The main opposition party instructed its lawmakers to focus on the topic of sexual assaults among others when they shoot questions at the government during a series of interpellation sessions beginning Thursday. In an internal document revealed Tuesday, the People Power Party advised 12 participating legislators to concentrate on framing the government and the ruling party as “anti-corporation, anti-market economy, anti-rule of law and (prone to) sexual assaults.” An administrativ

PoliticsFeb. 3, 2021

UN puts faith in Seoul’s leaflet ban

The UN secretary-general’s office said Monday that it believes South Korea will respect human rights when it implements the ban on the cross-border launching of anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets. The leafleting is set to become a felony in March under legislation introduced by Seoul to protect residents near the border, in fear of retaliation by Pyongyang, which fired at balloons carrying leaflets, food and medicine in 2014. The two countries exchanged gunfire at the border. “W

North KoreaFeb. 3, 2021

S. Korea confirms 5 domestic cases of COVID-19 variants, total now at 39

South Korea's health authorities said Wednesday they have identified five more cases of contagious variants of COVID-19, which were all domestically transmitted, sparking concerns over the spread of the more transmissible virus here. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said four people were confirmed to have been infected with a variant from Britain and one tested positive for the South African variant, raising the total caseload to 39. Four patients with the British strain

Social AffairsFeb. 3, 2021

Seoul says it can't accept Japan's 'unjust complaint' over defense white paper

The defense ministry said Wednesday it cannot accept Japan's "unjust complaint" over Seoul's latest white paper blaming Tokyo for straining relations between the two countries with a claim to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. On Tuesday, Japan's defense ministry called in South Korea's military attache in Tokyo to complain about the 2020 white paper's statement that military cooperation between the two countries has been hampered due to Japan's continued claim to Dokdo and a

DefenseFeb. 3, 2021

N. Korea accelerates efforts to improve irrigation system ahead of farming season

North Korea is accelerating efforts to improve its irrigation system and recover from last year's flood damage ahead of the spring farming season, state media said Wednesday. Last summer, North Korea was hit hard by heavy rains and back-to-back typhoons in several regions, including the rice-producing areas in its southern parts. As part of recovery efforts, the North is repairing its reservoirs and building waterways in typhoon-hit regions, including in Gangwon and South Hamgyong provinces, a

North KoreaFeb. 3, 2021

Preliminary heavy snow advisory issued for Seoul, surrounding areas

A heavy snow advisory has been issued for Wednesday evening in the greater Seoul area, the state weather agency said. The advisory goes into effect at 5 p.m. in Incheon and parts of Gyeonggi Province and at 7 p.m. in Seoul and the rest of Gyeonggi, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. The warning is given when the snowfall is expected to reach 5 centimeters or more within 24 hours. Snowfall will be heaviest between 9 p.m. Wednesday and 3 a.m. Thursday in the capital area, the

Social AffairsFeb. 3, 2021

Main opposition leader proposes bipartisan consultative body on COVID-19 relief

Rep. Joo Ho-young, the floor leader of the main opposition party, proposed Wednesday the ruling party and the government form a consultative body with it to coordinate COVID-19 relief measures. "I propose that concerned officials of the ruling and the main opposition parties and the government form a consultative body to enable the speedy and practical provision of assistance to victims reeling from (antivirus business restrictions)," the floor leader of the People Power Party (PPP) s

PoliticsFeb. 3, 2021

New park on Mount Nam to retrace history of colonialism, military dictatorship

Seoul's landmark Mount Nam will have a new park by May, offering plenty of greenery and memorials to the country's turbulent history under military dictatorships and Japanese colonial rule, the city government said Wednesday. The park, which was built on the former martial arts training grounds of soldiers during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), is made up of an upper area consisting of a 13,036-square-meter forest and a lower underground area dedicated to memorializing the past, according to th

Social AffairsFeb. 3, 2021

PM asks for Protestant community's cooperation amid church-linked virus outbreaks

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun has called for Protestant churches' cooperation with state antivirus measures amid a string of outbreaks tied to churches throughout the country. On Tuesday, Chung met with leading members of the United Christian Churches of Korea and the National Council of Churches in Korea at the government complex in Seoul and asked for their help in containing the new coronavirus pandemic. "Last week, COVID-19 cases spiked again after showing a decrease," Chung said

PoliticsFeb. 3, 2021

Farmers oppose improved shelter requirements for foreign workers

Local farmers are protesting strengthened regulations on living shelters for foreign laborers introduced in the wake of a Cambodian worker’s death, claiming the measures are ill-devised and demanding more support from the government. In a press conference Tuesday near the Ministry of the Employment and Labor building in Sejong, the Korean Advanced Farmers Federation demanded the government retract the measure that stipulates improved shelter conditions for foreign workers. “Chaos i

Social AffairsFeb. 3, 2021

Leading Seoul mayor contender Ahn to compete with independent rival in preliminary race

Ahn Cheol-soo, the chief of a minor opposition party and a leading Seoul mayoral contender, on Wednesday accepted an independent rival's offer to compete in a preliminary race as a step to field a single candidate for the opposition bloc in the April 7 mayoral election. The latest decision by Ahn, the chief of the People's Party, will pit him against former lawmaker Keum Tae-sup and other potential contenders in a preliminary election to pick a common opposition candidate outside the main oppos

PoliticsFeb. 3, 2021

S. Korea confirms another case of highly pathogenic bird flu

South Korea confirmed another case of highly pathogenic bird flu in poultry Wednesday, bringing the total caseload to 85.    The latest case of the H5N8 strain of avian influenza came from a duck farm in Chungju, about 150 kilometers south of Seoul, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said.    The farm was raising 7,000 birds. All poultry within a 3-kilometer radius of the infected farm were culled, officials said.    The country has now confir

Social AffairsFeb. 3, 2021

Moon inspects coronavirus vaccine delivery system in mock drill

President Moon Jae-in made an on-site inspection Wednesday of South Korea's preparations for COVID-19 vaccine receipt, handling and distribution, as inoculations are scheduled to begin here later this month. He visited the Korean Air's cargo terminal station at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, where a pan-governmental mock drill was under way ahead of the shipment of the initial batch of foreign-made vaccines.    Later in the day, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety sa

PoliticsFeb. 3, 2021

Three South Korean service members on missions overseas test positive for COVID-19

Two South Korean Army officers on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon and one Navy officer dispatched to Bahrain have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Wednesday. It is the first time that the country reported COVID-19 cases among its service members stationed overseas. The two Army officers affiliated with the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNFIL) underwent tests after one local worker on their base tested positive, and they were confirmed to have been

DefenseFeb. 3, 2021

New virus cases over 400 again on pileup of cluster infections

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 400 after four days on Wednesday as cluster infections continue to rise despite extended virus curbs. The country added 467 more COVID-19 cases, including 433 local infections, raising the total caseload to 79,311, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily caseload rebounded after staying under 400 for the past three days. The rebound comes after health authorities extended tough social distanci

Social AffairsFeb. 3, 2021

Donations to N. Korea drop sharply amid pandemic: UN data

Only about $1.3 million has been pledged as humanitarian assistance to North Korea so far this year, an over 80 percent plunge from the same period last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, UN data showed Wednesday. According to the data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Switzerland has promised to donate $1.21 million in humanitarian aid to the North since the start of this year. Of the total, $1.16 million has been assigned to help provide nutrition to No

North KoreaFeb. 3, 2021

Top 500 firms' hiring falls in 2020 on coronavirus impact

South Korea's major companies reduced their hiring of new employees in 2020 in an effort to cut costs amid the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. According to CEO Score, 497 out of the country's top 500 firms by sales newly hired 264,901 workers last year, down 5,902 from the previous year. The decline compares with an on-year increase of some 17,200 in 2019. Out of the 22 business sectors, 12 recorded on-year decreases, with the construction and construction materials

Social AffairsFeb. 3, 2021