Another S. Korean wartime sexual slavery victim dies; survivors now at 12

Another South Korean woman who was forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II has died, the gender equality ministry said Thursday, reducing the total number of the country's registered surviving victims to 12.    The woman, whose name was withheld, died on Feb. 17, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Other information, including her age, was not available.    The bereaved family notified the government of her death after completing funera

Social AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

More deaths reported among kids in COVID-19 home recovery

Despite reassurances from health officials that hospitals are running smoothly, deaths continue to be reported in patients in South Korea before they get access to care. 　 Two more children died after they were initially told to recover at home, raising the cumulative death toll in under-10s to five, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s latest updates. In North Gyeongsang Province, a 7-year-old died Tuesday after spending two days at the hospital. She was dia

Social AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

Disability groups suspend subway protests calling to improve the right to travel

Groups representing people with disabilities have announced they have stopped subway protests which went on for weeks after being acknowledged by presidential candidate Sim Sang-jung of the minor opposition Justice Party during a recent TV debate. During a TV debate earlier this week, Sim dedicated her last minute to the protestors. “Disabled people are protesting on the subway every morning, urging for a budget for their rights to travel. “Though many citizens who commute on the

Social AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

Jim Rogers still bullish on united Korea

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- The renowned American investor Jim Rogers still bets on the Korean Peninsula as the most exciting place for investment in the next 20 years once the heavily fortified border opens up, despite no signs of Pyongyang abandoning nuclear weapons and returning to diplomacy with the outside world. 　 “Once we open the 38th parallel, this is going to be the most exciting country in the world,” Rogers said during an interview with The Korea Herald on the side

Foreign AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

Weighing Russia sanctions success tough in Ukraine conflict

WASHINGTON (AP) -- As the Biden administration prepares its response to Russia's attack on Ukraine, the Treasury Department is tasked with finding ways to choke off parts of Russia's economic development. One key question for the administration is how to measure the success. With inflation already at record highs, a global pandemic that keeps businesses struggling to reopen and an energy shortage throughout Europe, the mathematics on punishing one of the world's biggest economies can be complex

Foreign AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

Russia attacks Ukraine; conflict reverberates around globe

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. Ukraine's government said Russian tanks and troops rolled across the border and accused Moscow of unleashing a "full-scale war" that could rewrite the geopolitical order and whose fallout already reverberated around the globe.    In announcing a major military operation, Russian President Vladimir

Foreign AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

Blame game intensifies to reveal under-the-table negotiations

The blame game is intensifying between the main opposition People Power Party and minor People’s Party over the failure to reach an agreement to merge their respective campaigns for the upcoming presidential election, with the respective chiefs revealing their under-the-table negotiations. Amid a widening gap between the two opposition parties, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea has reached out with plans to reform the government system and lay the foundations for a multiparty system,

PoliticsFeb. 24, 2022

‘Afghan students not welcome here’

Come March, students will return to Seoboo Elementary School in the southeastern city of Ulsan for the spring semester. Among them will be some 25 kids from Afghanistan who last year were airlifted from their home country to South Korea along with their families following the Taliban takeover.  One mother of a current student of Seoboo Elementary says the new group of incoming students is why she is considering moving.  “Muslim refugees from Afghanistan are living together in

Social AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

South Korea to participate in sanctions against Russia: Moon

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday said that the country will cooperate with the international community, including measures such as sanctions against Russia, following Russian attack on Ukraine. Tensions between Moscow and Kyiv are at their highest in years after Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine on the day. “The use of force that causes innocent casualties cannot be justified under any circumstances,” Moon said in the afternoon after receiving a repor

Foreign AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

Compensation ordered for 9 college entrance examinees over erroneous early 'time's up' signal

A Seoul court on Thursday ruled partially in favor of a group of college entrance exam takers and their parents in a lawsuit seeking state compensation for an erroneous early "time is up" signal that shortened the exam time by two minutes. The exam time for the fourth session of the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test, held in December 2020, was cut short for exam takers in a high school in western Seoul as the bell signaling the session's end was sounded earlier than normal by mistak

Social AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

Household income improves for 2nd straight quarter in Q4 amid economic recovery

South Korean household income rose for the second quarter in a row in the fourth quarter of last year thanks to an economic recovery amid eased antivirus curbs, data showed Thursday. The average household earned 4.64 million won ($3,876) per month in the October-December period, up 6.4 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It marked the largest increase for any fourth quarter since 2011 when the figure advanced 7.2 percent. But the fourth-quarter on-year in

Social AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

Growth of wage worker jobs slows in Q3 amid pandemic

Employment for wage workers in South Korea grew at a slow clip in the third quarter of 2021 from three months earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, data showed Thursday. The number of paid employee jobs came to 19.6 million as of end-September, up 2.6 percent, or 491,000, from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The tally was much lower lower than an on-year increase of 681,000 in the second quarter of last year. In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the accommodations

Social AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

NSC voices strong regret over Russia's Ukraine attack

The presidential National Security Council (NSC) on Thursday expressed strong regret over Russia's attack on Ukraine, shortly after President Moon Jae-in said South Korea will join international sanctions against Moscow.    National security adviser Suh Hoon presided over the meeting after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in eastern Ukraine.    During the meeting, security officials "expressed strong regret over Russia's invasi

PoliticsFeb. 24, 2022

S. Korea to pay compensation to spy agents during Korean War

South Korea will pay out its first batch of compensation to its nationals who participated in US military intelligence operations in North Korea before and during the Korean War, and their bereaved families, the defense ministry said Thursday. On Wednesday, the ministry convened an internal review panel to make the decision applicable to 160 individuals, including 143 who worked for the Korea Liaison Office (KLO) and other units from 1948 to 1953. The panel approved 1.57 billion won ($1.31 mil

DefenseFeb. 24, 2022

Ruling party chief vows electoral reform, constitutional revision

The ruling Democratic Party will push for electoral reforms, including changing the single five-year presidential term to a renewable four-year term, in an effort to forge national unity and increase the political participation of minor parties, its chief said Thursday. DP Chairman Rep. Song Young-gil announced the measures in a press conference at the party headquarters in a likely bid to forge a coalition with minor opposition presidential candidates ahead of the March 9 presidential election.

PoliticsFeb. 24, 2022

Ahn says time for candidacy merger is over

Presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People's Party said Thursday that the time for a candidacy merger with Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is over, reiterating his commitment to finish the presidential race on his own. "The time had already passed when I declared that the candidacy merger is off the table," Ahn told reporters at the National Assembly. "I have not received any calls (from Yoon)." Earlier this month, Ahn ha

PoliticsFeb. 24, 2022

Vietnam monitoring bank accounts of N. Korean embassy employees: report

The Vietnamese government is closely monitoring bank accounts of North Koreans in the country as part of efforts to implement UN sanctions against Pyongyang, an international organization's report showed Thursday. The Southeast Asian country has taken proactive measures against Pyongyang's activities prohibited under UN Security Council sanctions, according to an evaluation report on Vietnam's steps to combat money laundering released by the Financial Action Task Force. Based in Paris, the organ

North KoreaFeb. 24, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases over 170,000 for 2nd day amid omicron wave

South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases stayed above 170,000 for the second consecutive day Thursday amid the fast spread of the highly contagious omicron variant across the country. The country reported 170,016 new COVID-19 infections, including 169,846 local cases, raising the total caseload to 2,499,188, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The number is slightly down from a record high of 171,452 on Wednesday. The country added 82 more deaths from COVID-19 on Thurs

Social AffairsFeb. 24, 2022

[Graphic News] Study calls for better vigilence against terrorist attack risk

　If a terrorist attack occurs in the Gwanghwamun Square area in central Seoul, Gwanghwamun Station on Subway Line 5 is most likely to become the primary target, a study warned, calling for comprehensive counterterrorism preparedness in accordance with the capital's rising international recognition. 　The study authored by professor Cho Youn-oh of Dongkuk University and her undergraduate students issued such a warning after assessing the risk of terrorism in 16 zones of the central Seoul square.

NationalFeb. 24, 2022

Lee calls for maintaining partnership with China despite its 'assertive behavior'

Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has said South Korea should maintain good relations with its largest trading partner China despite Beijing's "increasingly assertive behavior," saying China's cooperation is key to addressing various issues in the region and beyond, including North Korea. Lee of the liberal Democratic Party made the comment in an article he contributed to Foreign Affairs magazine, titled "A Practical Vision for South Korea," outlining his view

PoliticsFeb. 24, 2022