Consumer watchdog finds ‘not safe’ heated vests

Four types of heated vest products were found to fail safety standards due to high surface temperatures, the Korea Consumer Agency said Monday. Based on a consumer survey, the watchdog selected 10 heated vests, one each from among the top 10 most popular brands, and conducted various tests on the safety, warmth and usability of the products. As the vests use batteries for the heating element, they have to follow electrical appliance safety standards, which require heated clothing’s sur

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Victim of ex-Seoul mayor's sexual harassment urges lawmaker to resign

A victim of sexual harassment by former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Monday urged a ruling party lawmaker to resign and apologize over the suspected leakage of information about her complaint against the mayor. “I am horrified by the fact that the complaint against Park could be revealed to him even before I filed the complaint with the police,” the victim and her family said in a statement. Rep. Nam In-soon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is under investigation over su

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Foreign residents to get COVID-19 vaccine for free

The South Korean government on Monday said that foreign residents in the country will also be given the COVID-19 vaccine for free, as will Korean nationals, once the vaccines are rolled out. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s chief Jung Eun-kyeong, who will helm the immunization efforts in the country, told a news briefing that “everyone here, including foreign residents, will be given the vaccines free of charge.” The announcement comes as the authorities s

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Uncontrolled carbon emissions could warm Korea by 7 degrees in 60 years, weather agency warns

If carbon emissions are kept at the current level, the temperature on the Korean Peninsula could rise by 7 degrees Celsius within the next 60 years, the Korea Meteorological Agency said Monday. Based on a recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the state-run weather agency released its Korean Peninsula Climate Change Forecast Report 2020. The KMA’s report divided the climate change outlook into two scenarios -- “high-carbon” and “low-carbon.&r

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

S. Korea withdraws destroyer to negotiate tanker release

South Korea pulled its anti-piracy Cheonghae Unit from the Strait of Hormuz near Iran in a show of good faith in the negotiation to release a South Korea-flagged tanker seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps for polluting the sea, Seoul officials said Monday. Tehran lodged a strong complaint with Seoul on Jan. 5, a day after it seized the tanker, when South Korea deployed the unit to the strait off the Iranian coast. South Korea withdrew the destroyer in a sign of goodwill before fi

DefenseJan. 18, 2021

Webtoon artist creates stir for defaming independence fighters

South Korean webtoon artist Yoon Seo-in was mired in controversy after writing a post that appeared to hail pro-Japanese collaborators and insult Korean independence fighters on his Facebook. The controversial cartoonist faces a lawsuit from an association of the independence fighters who fought against Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, after describing them as “people who have lived lazily.” “While descendants of pro-Japanese collaborators lived th

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Moon hopes Biden will turn tide of talks with NK

President Moon Jae-in on Monday expressed high expectations in working with the upcoming Joe Biden administration, saying the launch of the new US government will become a “turning point” in resuming the stalled US-North Korea and inter-Korean talks. “I think the launch of the Biden administration is a turning point for beginning US-North Korea, inter-Korean talks anew. The talks should inherit and develop from the achievements from the Trump administration,” Moon sai

PoliticsJan. 18, 2021

Discussions on corporate profit sharing heat up amid pandemic-driven economic polarization

The ruling Democratic Party (DP) has set out to find ways to get lucrative companies to share some of their profits with small businesses vulnerable to losses amid the coronavirus pandemic, but it is facing vehement objection from the business community and opposition lawmakers. Last week, a DP task force addressing the growing economic bipolarization from the pandemic began discussions on how to promote profit sharing between the supposed corporate winners and losers amid an economy weighed do

PoliticsJan. 18, 2021

Race for Seoul mayor heats up as political heavyweights announce bids

The race for the upcoming Seoul mayoral by-election is all but set, with the ruling and opposition parties likely to finalize their candidates by the end of this week. The competition has heated up with the addition of each new runner, the latest being former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who declared his candidacy on the ticket of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) on Sunday. All eyes are now on the decision of Park Young-sun, minister of SMEs and Startups, who is widely expected to throw

PoliticsJan. 18, 2021

S. Korea reports 1st COVID-19 variant case from Brazil

South Korea's health authorities on Monday confirmed the country's first case of the new coronavirus variant that was first identified in Brazil. The latest discovery brings the total caseload of new coronavirus variants to 18 here, including 15 with the British COVID-19 variant and two with the South African variant, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Reports say the British and South African variants may spread more readily between people than the original v

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

NK parliament reshuffles economic officials

North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament gathered Sunday to pass decisions made by a recent ruling party congress and carried out a major reshuffle of officials in charge of economic affairs, state media said Monday.   　 The 14th Supreme People’s Assembly gathered for a fourth session in Pyongyang on Sunday, with delegates unanimously approving the five-year economic development plans unveiled at the Workers’ Party congress that ended last week, according to the North&rsquo

North KoreaJan. 18, 2021

Samsung heir sent back to jail

An appellate court sentenced Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong to 2 1/2 years in prison Monday for bribery in a high-profile case involving former President Park Geun-hye, reopening a leadership vacuum at South Korea’s biggest tech giant. In the final verdict, announced at around 2:20 p.m., judges at the Seoul High Court said, “Considering all circumstances, it is inevitable that Lee is sentenced to prison and arrested in court.” Choi Ji-sung and Jang Choong-ki, two other Samsung ex

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Moon rules out immediate pardons for ex-presidents, divides parties

President Moon Jae-in on Monday ruled out pardoning two former presidents in the near future, but left open the possibility of pardons down the line when backed by public consensus. Moon said Monday during a New Year’s press conference that he is not considering pardoning the previous two presidents, Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, both of whom are serving prison sentences for corruption. “Two former presidents being incarcerated is a lamentable situation for the country, and as t

PoliticsJan. 18, 2021

Moon says S. Korea will seek dialogue with Japan over solution to wartime sexual slavery

President Moon Jae-in said Monday that South Korea will seek dialogue with Japan to find a solution to Tokyo's wartime sexual slavery amid renewed tensions following a recent court ruling on the thorny issue. During his New Year's press conference, Moon also renewed his call for a diplomatic solution to the issue of Japan's colonial-era forced labor, while stressing his two-track approach separating historical issues from efforts to forge "future-oriented" bilateral ties. His remarks

PoliticsJan. 18, 2021

Over 35% of non-regular workers lost jobs amid pandemic: survey

Over a third of non-regular workers have experienced unemployment since the new coronavirus broke out in South Korea in January 2020, a survey showed Monday. According to a survey by Embrain Public conducted on 1,000 salaried workers aged between 19 and 55 on four occasions in April, June, September and December, the average rate of respondents who said they have lost their jobs stood at 17.2 percent in December, up 11.7 percentage points from April. The rise was sharper among non-regular work

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

[Newsmaker] ‘My son is not a ghost,’ parent files petition

A parent of an autistic child filed a presidential petition Friday after having received numerous complaints by neighbors in their apartment building. According to the presidential office’s petition website, a petition titled “Please save our family of autistic children” was posted under the category of “child-rearing/education.” The petitioner noted that he lives with a 9-year-old son who has autism in an apartment in Seo-gu, Incheon. He said, “Some residen

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Govt. to train specialists in agriculture and food sectors to lead post-virus era

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs will begin training officials and workers in the agricultural and food sectors to lead the post-coronavirus era, the Food and Agriculture Officials Training Institute said Sunday. The plan is to foster 32,000 agricultural and food experts through 162 different training courses this year. As the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to conduct large, offline classes, the Food and Agriculture Officials Training Institute said 27.5

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

‘Biden administration turning point’ for talks with North Korea

This is an excerpt from President Moon Jae-in’s New Year press conference. -- Ed.  Q. North Korea doesn’t appear likely to give up nuclear weapons. What is the starting point of restarting denuclearization talks, and is there a change in South Korea’s policy direction in light of Joe Biden’s inauguration? A. I think that the launch of the Biden administration is a turning point for beginning US-North Korea, inter-Korean talks anew. The talks should inherit and deve

North KoreaJan. 18, 2021

‘Herd immunity will be achieved by September’

This is an excerpt from President Moon Jae-in’s New Year press conference. -- Ed. Q. Do you regret not procuring vaccines earlier? A. No. Vaccines will be rolled out sufficiently quickly, and a sufficient amount has been secured. As they are newly developed vaccines, risk has been distributed by purchasing many different vaccines. As inoculations take time, and there is the matter of storage time, vaccines will be brought in in stages. The plan is to start in February and complete the

Social AffairsJan. 18, 2021

Moon hopes stalled NK nuke diplomacy will pick up from Singapore Declaration

President Moon Jae-in on Monday expressed hope for the stalled diplomacy on North Korea's denuclearization to move forward from the agreement reached in the Singapore summit between Washington and Pyongyang. "The Singapore Declaration achieved under the Trump administration was a very important declaration in terms of denuclearization and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula," Moon said during a New Year's press conference held at Cheong Wa Dae, referring to the agreement produc

PoliticsJan. 18, 2021