[Newsmaker] Security adviser under fire for domineering manner

A South Korean diplomat to the United Nations was required to kneel down in front of National Security Office Second Deputy Chief Kim Hyun-chong over a mistake that led to a missed engagement, a lawmaker said Thursday. An error by a first secretary-level diplomat left Kim unable to attend a summit between Korean President Moon Jae-in and Polish President Andrzej Duda in New York on Sept. 23, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.  Rep. Chung Jin-suk of the Liberty Korea Party disclose

PoliticsOct. 4, 2019

[Newsmaker] Another dead in Busan landslide; typhoon death tolls hits 10

The death toll is on the rise as rescue operations continue in the country’s southern regions, which were battered by Typhoon Mitag on Wednesday and Thursday.As of 7 p.m. Thursday, 10 people had been confirmed dead, four missing and eight injured, according to the Central Safety and Countermeasures Against Disasters.  The latest reported fatality was a man in Saha-gu, Busan, who was found dead under the wreck of a house that collapsed after a massive landslide occurred around 9 a.m. T

Social AffairsOct. 3, 2019

[Newsmaker] Democratic Party pushes to review college admissions of children of senior public officials

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is pushing for special legislation to look into possible irregularities into the college admissions of the children of lawmakers and senior public officials.The minor opposition Justice Party and Bareunmirae Party and ruling Democratic Party Chairman Lee Hae-chan had earlier proposed an inquiry into how all legislators’ children obtained their university admissions, to which the main opposition Liberty Korea Party agreed.The rival parties had difference

PoliticsOct. 2, 2019

[Newsmaker] Cabinet passes bills to comply with ILO conventions

The Cabinet on Tuesday passed revised labor bills that allow the unemployed, dismissed workers, retired public officials, teachers, firefighters and college faculty members to join unions, in a bid to comply with international labor conventions.The Cabinet has approved revised bills on labor unions, public officials’ unions and teachers’ unions to ratify three conventions of the International Labor Organization, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said.The three ILO conventions are

Social AffairsOct. 1, 2019

[Newsmaker] Up to 27 coal power plants to be shut down December to March to curb pollution

A national anti-fine dust body suggested Monday that the government enforce stronger measures to curb hazardous particulate pollution, such as by shutting down coal power plants and restricting old diesel vehicles from December to March next year. 　The National Council on Climate and Air Quality suggested a seasonal dust management system, under which a crackdown on illegal emissions is toughened, up to 27 coal power plants are shut down in spring and over 1 million aged diesel vehicles are rest

Social AffairsSept. 30, 2019

[Newsmaker] Typhoon Mitag to strike southern Korea this week

Typhoon Mitag is forecast to hit the southern region of the Korean Peninsula this week, according to the Korea Meteorological Agency on Sunday.The weather agency said Mitag is expected to make landfall on Jeju Island on Wednesday morning before making its way through the country’s southern and central regions. By Thursday morning, Mitag is predicted to reach waters 120 kilometers west of the Dokdo islets. Formed off the east coast of the Philippines, Mitag was reported to be traveling nort

Social AffairsSept. 29, 2019

[Newsmaker] Typhoon Mitag may affect S. Korea next week

Typhoon Mitag, the season's 18th typhoon, could affect the Korean Peninsula next week, the weather agency said Saturday.The typhoon formed in the Philippine Sea earlier in the day and is moving northwest at a speed of 56 kilometers per hour, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.  As of 9 a.m., Mitag was classified as "small" with a central pressure of 1,000 hectopascals (hPa). The maximum sustained wind speed near its center was 61 kph, or 17 meters per second.It m

Social AffairsSept. 28, 2019

[Newsmaker] Prosecutors raid police headquarters in probe related to officer's nightclub scandal

Prosecutors on Friday raided the National Police Agency headquarters in western Seoul, widening their probe into allegations that a ranking NPA officer was involved in attempts to cover up irregularities at southern Seoul nightclubs.Prosecutors and investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office searched the office of a senior superintendent, identified only by his surname, Yoon, at the NPA headquarters, beginning at 9 a.m., before reportedly securing his computer hard drive and

PoliticsSept. 27, 2019

[Newsmaker] Police say Jeju ex-husband murder suspect likely killed stepson too

Police have reached a tentative conclusion that Koh Yu-jeong, who is suspected of murdering her ex-husband, killed her 5-year-old stepson as well.Cheongju Sangdang Police Station said Wednesday that investigators believe Koh, 36, murdered her stepson -- her current husband’s biological son -- after a five-month probe into the case. Cheongju police booked Koh and her husband in June on suspicions of murder and involuntary manslaughter, respectively.Based on the couple’s testimonies, p

Social AffairsSept. 26, 2019

[Newsmaker] Myungsung Church's father-to-son succession practically approved

An order of the Korean Presbyterian Church on Thursday practically approved the father-to-son succession by a megachurch affiliated with the order, a move expected to fuel the heated debate over hereditary leadership in Korean Protestant churches.Myungsung Church, one of the biggest Presbyterian churches in the world with a membership of 100,000, has been at the center of controversy in South Korea since its founder Rev. Kim Sam-hwan named his eldest son, Rev. Kim Ha-na, to succeed him in 2017.

Social AffairsSept. 26, 2019

[Newsmaker] 1980s serial rape-murder suspect may be linked with additional crimes

Police are looking into the possibility that more unsolved crimes might be linked to a 56-year-old man surnamed Lee, who has been identified as a prime suspect in cold case rape-murders from the 1980s and early 1990s.Police said Tuesday that there might be another set of rapes involving Lee, who is already a suspect in at least eight rape-murders that took place between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Police tied Lee to the case after DNA evidence from three of the rape-murders mat

Social AffairsSept. 25, 2019

[Newsmaker] Another suspected African swine fever case reported in S. Korea

South Korea reported a new suspected African swine fever case on Wednesday, adding to concerns over the potential spread of the deadly animal disease despite massive disinfection efforts.The suspected case was reported at a farm on Ganghwa Island in Incheon, around 60 kilometers west of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The ministry confirmed the fifth ASF case from the same location a day earlier.If confirmed, it would mark the sixth ASF case confirmed in

Social AffairsSept. 25, 2019

[Newsmaker] Petition urging for punishment of teenage violence reaches 200,000 signatures

A petition calling for the punishment of five teenagers who allegedly assaulted a 13-year-old in Suwon has garnered over 200,000 signatures.As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, more than 210,000 people had signed the online petition posted Monday on the Cheong Wa Dae website, urging for the punishment of the five girls, who are accused of beating the teenager in a karaoke room in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. As more than 200,000 signatures have been collected, the Blue House is required to issue an official

Social AffairsSept. 24, 2019

[Newsmaker] Police summon K-pop star Seungri over gambling charges

Seungri, a former member of the K-pop boy band BIGBANG, was questioned by police on Tuesday over his alleged overseas gambling.Dressed in formal attire, the disgraced K-pop star arrived at a police investigative unit in eastern Seoul at 10:40 a.m.Seungri quickly walked past some journalists, who asked him about allegations that he regularly gambled in foreign countries and illegally secured gambling funds. It was his second interrogation following one on Aug. 28, when he apologized for "cau

Social AffairsSept. 24, 2019

[Newsmaker] Doctor performs abortion on wrong patient

A pregnant woman here lost her child when a doctor performed an abortion after medical staff mixed up her medical chart with that of another patient.Seoul Gangseo Police Station on Monday said they booked a gynecologist and a nurse for conducting an abortion on a six-week pregnant woman by failing to check the patient’s information before the operation.According to investigators, the alleged victim -- a Vietnamese national -- who was six weeks into her pregnancy was prescribed nutritional

Social AffairsSept. 23, 2019

[Newsmaker] Professor under fire for comparing ‘comfort women’ to prostitutes

A professor at a prestigious university in Seoul has come under fire for reportedly likening Korean victims of Japan’s wartime sexual enslavement to prostitutes, triggering calls for his expulsion from the political circle and his alumni. During a lecture, Ryu Seok-chun, a sociology professor at Yonsei University, said that the victims of Japan’s sexual slavery sold sex because they needed to earn a living, and dismissed a civic organization advocating on behalf of them as

Social AffairsSept. 22, 2019

[Newsmaker] Fire at Dongdaemun fashion market injures 2, fumes continue for hours

A fire that started around midnight Sunday at a fashion wholesale market in central Seoul continued to burn Sunday afternoon, with two people injured.Fire authorities have been fighting the blaze for more than 14 hours as of 3:30 p.m. Sunday at a six-story building located in Jeil Pyunghwa Clothing Market in Sindang-dong.While the fire was mostly contained, the surrounding area was thick with black fumes still rising from the building on Sunday afternoon.Two women who were inside the building wh

Social AffairsSept. 22, 2019

[Newsmaker] Police decide to drop pimping charges against former YG chief

Police have dropped pimping charges against Yang Hyun-suk, an idol-turned-K-pop guru who was head of YG Entertainment, one of the biggest K-pop management firms, police officials said Friday.The officials at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said police investigators failed to verify suspicions that Yang arranged sex services for foreign investors in 2014 and sent his case to the prosecution with a recommendation that he not be indicted on pimping charges.The 49-year-old Yang was booked in Ju

Social AffairsSept. 20, 2019

[Newsmaker] S. Korea, US to launch negotiations on defense cost sharing next week : source

South Korea and the United States will launch negotiations in Seoul next week on sharing the cost of upkeep for American troops here, a source with knowledge of the matter said Friday.  Seoul and Washington will likely hold the first round of negotiations on the stationing of the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea on Tuesday and Wednesday, the source told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity.  James DeHart of the State Department will lead the US delegation, the source said. Se

DefenseSept. 20, 2019

[Newsmaker] Gwanghwamun restructuring put on hold in face of strong opposition

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday its plan to restructure Gwanghwamun Square would be put on hold to gather public opinion in the wake of opposition from the relevant ministry and some civic groups. However, the government still plans to restructure the current square, which has been compared to an isolated, gigantic traffic island, but it will revisit the current blueprint and take more time to draw up a final scheme to reflect public opinion, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said.&ldquo

Social AffairsSept. 19, 2019