People Power Party leader vows to downsize National Assembly to 250 seats after election victory

The leader of the ruling People Power Party on Tuesday proposed reducing the number of lawmakers from 300 to 250 as part of political reforms, vowing to pass the proposal through the National Assembly after winning April's parliamentary elections. "The People Power Party will first initiate and pass the law revision ... after achieving victory in the upcoming general election," Han Dong-hoon, chairman of the People Power Party's emergency committee, said during the party'

PoliticsJan. 16, 2024

S. Korea to join US-led multinational anti-submarine exercise

South Korea will join a US-led multinational anti-submarine exercise in waters off Guam on Tuesday, the Navy said, in an effort to hone capabilities against underwater threats. The Navy will deploy some 40 personnel and a P-3 maritime patrol aircraft for the annual Sea Dragon exercise that is set to begin later in the day through Jan. 25, which will also involve India, Australia and Japan. The exercise will train troops aboard maritime patrol aircraft to identify and track submarines with detect

DefenseJan. 16, 2024

Govt. to front-load record yearly state budget in first half

Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said Tuesday the government will administer more than 65 percent of this year's fiscal spending in the first half in a move to boost domestic demand and support vulnerable people. "It would be far from easy for the people to feel an economic recovery in the first half due to high inflation and interest rates," Choi said during an emergency economic-related ministers' meeting. "The government will administer more than 65 percent of this year

PoliticsJan. 16, 2024

Five more members leave DP to join new party ahead of general elections

A group of former lawmakers and mayors quit the main opposition Democratic Party on Monday, saying they would join a new party that former DP leader Lee Nak-yon is trying to launch, amid attention over how deep the DP's split will go. The departures of the five people -- former lawmakers Shin Kyoung-min and Choi Woon-youl, former Goyang Mayor Choi Sung, former Bucheon Mayor Jang Deog-cheon and former Jecheon Mayor Lee Keun-kyu -- came four days after Lee Nak-yon left the DP to create a new

PoliticsJan. 15, 2024

Dogs abandoned twice by the same owner

A local animal rights group and the city of Cheonan said Monday they are planning to file charges of animal abuse and abandonment against the owner of a poodle and a Maltese poodle who is suspected of abandoning the dogs twice last week. According to the city government, the owner left the dogs in front of a convenience store in Seobuk-gu, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, on Jan. 10. A resident of the area took the dogs to the city's animal protection center, which acquired the informat

Social AffairsJan. 15, 2024

Only 2 out of 10 in Seoul hail cabs the old fashioned way

Using a mobile application has become the standard in catching a taxi in Seoul, as a recent study shows 72.2 percent of its citizens use taxi-hailing apps while only 22.7 percent hail a passing cab on the street. The city-run Seoul Institute announced the result of its annual study on Seoul citizens' perception of the taxi service in the South Korean capital, based on a survey of 4,370 people who used Seoul taxis, another online survey of 1,001 people living in Seoul, and a survey on 42

Social AffairsJan. 15, 2024

No indication of foul play in woman's death at Han River: police

South Korean police said Monday that they have found no indications of a crime in the death of a young woman found floating in Han River with a knife lodged in her chest. In a regular press briefing, a high-ranking official of the National Police Agency said that security camera footage and other evidence showed that it was the victim herself who bought the weapon, and that she did not meet anyone on the day of her death. "We (the police) will check (the victim's) credit card record, f

Social AffairsJan. 15, 2024

Seoul mulls restoration of Donuimun, tunnel underneath

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is looking into restoring Donuimun, one of the Four Great Gates of Seoul, the city government said Monday. Donuimun, also known as the West Gate or Seodaemun, is one of a series of historic gates around Seoul. It served as the opening to the Fortress Wall of Seoul that surrounded the city during the Joseon era. However, Donuimun was destroyed in 1915 during the 1910-1945 Japanese occupation of South Korea to make way for trams and has not been rebuilt since. It

Social AffairsJan. 15, 2024

Unskilled jobs hit record low, in blow to those on low incomes

The number of people employed in blue-collar jobs saw the biggest decline since the 1998 financial crisis in 2023 due to a slump in manufacturing, data showed. According to Statistics Korea's National Statistics Portal on Monday, 3.92 million people worked in low-skilled, manual-labor jobs last year, 118,000 fewer than the previous year, representing a 2.9 percent drop. This is the largest decline since 2013, when Statistics Korea began collecting relevant data on the seventh occupational c

Social AffairsJan. 15, 2024

N. Korea says tests hypersonic missile

North Korean state media on Monday claimed that the country had successfully test-fired a solid-fuel hypersonic missile with an intermediate-range for the first time on Sunday, the same day the country's foreign minister arrived in Russia. The South Korean military said it was evaluating North Korea's claim. Hypersonic missiles fly at lower altitudes, offering greater maneuverability up through the terminal phase, and travel at speeds of at least Mach 5, equivalent to five times the sp

North KoreaJan. 15, 2024

Employment data service launches English newsletter

The Korea Employment Information Service said Monday that it released the first issue of the KEIS e-Letter, an English newsletter on Korea's latest employment trends and labor market information, on Jan. 4. The KEIS is affiliated with the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and is in charge of collecting, analyzing and providing information related to employment, careers and jobs, supporting the advancement of employment services and running the employment information system. “This ne

Social AffairsJan. 15, 2024

Men account for 85% of lonely deaths

Middle-aged men accounted for more than 85 percent of so-called “lonely deaths” in South Korea, while it took an average of more than three weeks for the bodies to be discovered, a study showed Monday. The Act on the Prevention and Management of Lonely Deaths defines the term as one in which a person dies alone after falling out of contact with friends or family, with his or her body remaining undiscovered for at least three days. The phenomenon is also referred to as a “solita

Social AffairsJan. 15, 2024

Yoon throws full weight behind W622tr chip cluster plan

President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Monday that the semiconductor chip cluster in southern Gyeonggi Province will draw combined investments of 622 trillion won ($471.4 billion) for facilities and create 3 million jobs. With the investments, South Korea plans to double the number of chip-producing plants across southern Gyeonggi Province to 37. The investments came along with South Korea‘s plan to consolidate chip plants -- including 16 new ones to be built by 2047 -- into a large chip cluster

PoliticsJan. 15, 2024

[Bills in Focus] Bills to detect deepfakes, promote biogas use

Proposed Bill: Whole Amendment to the Act on the Protection and Use of Location Information Proposed by Rep. Hong Suk-joon (People Power Party) ● With the expansion of the mobility market based on location information, location information is being used in various fields to provide customized services to users, but there are high barriers to entry for new companies. This amendment unifies the concept of personal location information and object location information and eases entry regulations by

PoliticsJan. 15, 2024

Vietnam marks Hometown Spring

The Vietnam Embassy in Seoul hosted a Hometown Spring event with the Vietnamese community in Korea on Sunday. Vietnam’s traditional spring festival symbolizes hope, health, luck and prosperity for the upcoming lunar year. Attended by more than 500 members of the Vietnamese community, the event not only honored age-old traditions but also highlighted the spirit of togetherness among Vietnamese who have left their hometown. The Vietnam Embassy's charge d'affaires ad interim Nguyen

Foreign AffairsJan. 15, 2024

How to avoid punishment for drunk driving? Drink more, apparently

There have been multiple legal cases in South Korea in which an alleged drunk driver dodged punishment by drinking more alcohol after being caught by local authorities, touching off calls for legislative revisions to prevent such actions. Local media outlets on Sunday reported that the Supreme Court recently cleared a 2019 drunk driving charges for a person who consumed a bottle of soju mixed with a soft drink, some 18 minutes after apparently being at fault in a car accident. He claimed that he

Social AffairsJan. 15, 2024

Police investigate teen for beating up old man, after public furor

South Korean police said Monday they had launched an investigation into a high school student on suspicion of inflicting bodily injury on a security guard in his 60s, after a video of the attack sparked public outrage. Nambu Police Station in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, is questioning the suspected attacker. The security guard had scolded the teen and his friends for causing a disturbance Friday at a commercial complex in Dasan-dong, Namyangju, which is believed to have led to the assault. The

Social AffairsJan. 15, 2024

S. Korea considering support measures for safe passage in Red Sea

South Korea is considering various measures to secure safe passage for cargo ships in the Red Sea amid rising tensions on the major shipping route, the defense ministry said Monday. Tensions in the Red Sea have escalated as the United States and Britain conducted strikes on military targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen last week following more than two dozen attacks by the rebels since mid-November. "The defense ministry is making all efforts to ensure Korean vessels' safe shipp

DefenseJan. 15, 2024

Nuclear envoys of S. Korea, US, Japan condemn N. Korea's missile launch

The top nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan have condemned North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch during their phone talks earlier this week, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday. The North test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on Sunday in its first ballistic missile launch this year, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. It came after North Korea fired hundreds of artillery shells near the inter-Korean mari

Foreign AffairsJan. 15, 2024

Trump says America was 'safe' while boasting ties with N. Korean leader Kim

Former President Donald Trump on Sunday boasted his personal ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that he had built during his presidency, stressing America was "safe" then. Trump made the remarks during a rally in Indianola, Iowa, on the eve of the first vote of the Republican Party's nomination contest in the lead-off state. Hours earlier, Pyongyang fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea in its first missile launch this year. "Kim Jong

Foreign AffairsJan. 15, 2024