Prosecutors seek death penalty for murder suspect

State prosecutors on Monday requested that the judiciary sentence a murder suspect to death for killing three women of the same family in March. The suspect, Kim Tae-hyun, 24, was indicted on five counts of criminal charges, including murder, housebreaking and harassment in April. He was arrested at the victims' home in northeastern Seoul on March 25, where he allegedly killed a woman whom he had stalked, her mother and younger sister two days earlier. In the closing arguments at the Seoul No

Social AffairsSept. 13, 2021

Seoul subway workers could go on strike from Tuesday

Unionized workers of Seoul’s subway authority are likely to start a full-scale walkout Tuesday as their scheduled negotiations with Seoul Metro management is not expected to yield any outcome. Representatives of the Seoul Metro workers’ union and their corporate counterparts were scheduled to hold the last round of talks at 3 p.m. Monday ahead of the union’s full-scale walkout starting Tuesday. The union is against Seoul Metro’s restructuring plan made in face of continu

Social AffairsSept. 13, 2021

[Us and Them] ‘We are here,’ say LGBT Koreans -- but so is the hate

From the most mundane of activities to larger goals such as being widely accepted by society, the lives of sexual minorities in South Korea are fraught with difficulties. “I don’t go to a hospital unless it is known as being queer-friendly. Usually I just don’t go to hospitals,” said Jung-hyun, who is currently transitioning to male. Jung-hyun, a pseudonym, says the mismatch between his male appearance and female gender on official documents leads to strange looks and qu

Social AffairsSept. 13, 2021

Seoul to root out unfair support for civic groups done under Park Won-soon, Oh Se-hoon says

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon vowed to overhaul the city government’s financial support system for civic groups undertaken by his predecessor, as he says the city has wrongfully spent its budget for nearly 10 years. The mayor said in a press conference Monday that the Seoul Metropolitan Government has spent close to 1 trillion won ($851 million) over the past decade by directly and indirectly supplying funds to civic groups with questionable history and without noticeable progress. Support fund

Social AffairsSept. 13, 2021

Heavy rain expected across southern areas as Typhoon Chanthu approaches

South Korea's southern areas will likely receive heavy rain Monday due to the indirect influence of Typhoon Chanthu, currently moving toward the waters near Shanghai, the state weather agency said. The southern island of Jeju is forecast to see precipitation levels ranging between 30 mm to 50 mm per hour, with thunder and lightning expected on some parts of the island, due to the heavy winds from the typhoon approaching from the southwest, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (K

Social AffairsSept. 13, 2021

NK paper criticizes workers in flood-hit areas for irresponsibility in water management

North Korea's official newspaper on Monday criticized officials in flood-hit eastern areas for carrying out flood prevention projects along rivers and streams in an irresponsible manner. "Workers in Sinhung County carried out water management efforts on rivers and streams where they were supposed to be focused in a very irresponsible manner just hoping for a luck," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the North's ruling party, said in an article. "In such counties as Hongwon and Hwad

North KoreaSept. 13, 2021

S. Korea vows efforts to protect freedom of expression after UN criticism of media bill

South Korea will continue to protect freedom of expression of its people, the government has said in response after a UN expert called for the revision of a media bill that she said could seriously undermine press freedom. Irene Khan, the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, made the request earlier this week, expressing concern that the ruling party-led bill would "severely restrict" the freedom of the press. The le

PoliticsSept. 13, 2021

S. Korea extends pandemic-driven advisory against overseas travel until Oct. 13

South Korea on Monday extended its special advisory against overseas travel for another month, the foreign ministry said, amid the continued spread of the new coronavirus. The measure, which calls for citizens to cancel or postpone trips abroad, will remain in effect until Oct. 13. The current advisory was set to expire Monday. The extension came as many countries struggle with the outbreaks of various COVID-19 variants around the world and continue to ban or restrict the entry of people arri

Social AffairsSept. 13, 2021

[Graphic News] S. Korea’s combined area of rice paddies up 0.8% in 2021

　South Korea’s combined area of rice paddies moved up 0.8 percent on-year in 2021, data showed, with the country expected to maintain a stable supply of the staple grain despite heavy rains. 　The combined size of rice paddies is estimated at 732,000 hectares - slightly more than half the size of the US state of Connecticut - compared to 726,000 hectares last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. 　The producer price of rice per 20 kilograms came to 55

NationalSept. 13, 2021

N. Korea slams UK for 'miserable' children's rights situation

North Korea's foreign ministry on Monday accused the United Kingdom of severe maltreatment of children and warned against meddling in the human rights of other countries. The ministry said on its website a recent report by the Netherlands-based "Kid's Rights Foundation" has ranked the UK in 169th among 182 countries, calling it a "fair and objective judgment" by the international society about the miserable situation of children's rights in the UK. "One Western media d

North KoreaSept. 13, 2021

New cases fall under 1,500 on fewer tests; potential upticks worrisome during holiday

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases dropped under 1,500 on Monday due to fewer tests as health authorities focus on their virus response during the Chuseok holiday that starts this week. The country added 1,433 COVID-19 cases, including 1,409 local infections, raising the total caseload to 274,415, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest caseload was down 322 from 1,755 cases the previous day. Virus cases usually begin spiking Wednesday when more peop

Social AffairsSept. 13, 2021

Second Vice FM Choi to visit Qatar, Oman this week

S econd Vice Foreign Minister Choi Jong-moon will visit Qatar and Oman this week for talks on bilateral cooperation, and regional and international issues, the foreign ministry said Monday. During his trip to the region from Monday to Thursday, Choi plans to meet senior officials in Qatar to express Seoul's gratitude to the country's cooperation over the withdrawal of its embassy staff from a war-torn Afghanistan and discuss related cooperation, the ministry said. After the Taliban's return to

Foreign AffairsSept. 13, 2021

N. Korea test-fires new long-range cruise missiles: state media

North Korea has successfully test-fired a new type of long-range cruise missile over the weekend, state media reported Monday, a low-level provocation amid stalled talks with the United States. The test-firings, which took place Saturday and Sunday without leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, came right after the North held a scaled-down military parade, and appeared to be intent on demonstrating its military power in a low-level provocation without violating UN sanctions. The North is banned fro

North KoreaSept. 13, 2021

Lee consolidates landslide lead in ruling party's primary race

SEOUL/WONJU -- Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung clinched two consecutive electoral victories Sunday in the ruling Democratic Party (DP)’s primary votes to pick its presidential candidate, solidifying his landslide lead. Lee finished first in one of the party‘s three rounds of electoral college votes, released in a regional primary event in Oak Valley Resort in Wonju, Gangwon Province, earlier in the day. The governor garnered 51 percent of the 496,672 ballots cast by in the

PoliticsSept. 12, 2021

Netflix series shows S. Korean soldiers still face abuse: NK

Enlisted soldiers in South Korea still have to deal with abuse and violent crimes, North Korea’s propaganda outlet, Meari, said Saturday, referring to Netflix’s Korean thriller “D.P.” The Deserter Pursuit team, made up of rank and file soldiers, depicts some of the physical and psychological abuse that take place on the team and within the military in general. All able-bodied South Koreans serve active duty as conscripts for at least 18 months. The military runs a sepa

DefenseSept. 12, 2021

Korea to expand at-home COVID-19 care in ‘phased return to normal’

South Korea is seeking to have more patients with less severe COVID-19 symptoms stay home from now on in a push to shift toward a more relaxed pandemic response, buoyed by progress in vaccinations. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Friday that as vaccination rates rise and Korea prepares to open up again, patients with mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 will be put in home isolation to protect the health care system from being overloaded beyond its capacity. “In our path to a return t

Social AffairsSept. 12, 2021

NK calls US war in Afghanistan ‘human rights crime’

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called the US war in Afghanistan a “human rights crime” and said the US should pay the price for it. On Sunday, the ministry posted a message titled “Human rights crimes committed by the US must be calculated” on its website. “The crimes in which the US slandered innocent people from all over the world while wearing the veils of human rights judges must be calculated,” it said. North Korea has used the expression “c

North KoreaSept. 12, 2021

[Seoul Struggles 11] Do I have to detour again to avoid the protest?

On July 3, streets in central Seoul were flooded with thousands of members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions giving voice to their cause. For the vast majority of people, however, the rally was a source of irritation and inconvenience. "They think they can take the street whenever they like, and I don’t know where that right comes from," said 41-year-old office worker Kim Seung-hye, who was in the area at the time to dine out with a friend. "I had to walk at lea

Social AffairsSept. 12, 2021

Typhoon Chanthu forecast to affect S. Korea this week

Typhoon Chanthu, the season's 14th tropical storm, is forecast to affect South Korea this week, with heavy downpours expected for Jeju Island and southern coastal regions, the state weather agency said Sunday. The typhoon was located 170 kilometers southeast of Taipei as of 9 a.m., heading northeastward at a speed of 21 kilometers per hour, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA). Its maximum wind speed was clocked at 50 meters per second. The KMA said the storm is expected to

Social AffairsSept. 12, 2021

N. Korea calls US -led Afghan war 'human rights crime'

North Korea on Sunday denounced the US-led war in Afghanistan as a "human rights crime," accusing Washington of committing "atrocities of mass destruction" against innocent people of the country. In a statement posted on its website, titled "US Be Brought to Justice at All Costs for its Human Rights Crimes," the North's foreign ministry said the "hasty flight" of the US troops has brought an abrupt end to Washington's two-decade-long "counter-terroris

North KoreaSept. 12, 2021