[Newsmaker] South Korea officially drops its maximum workweek to 52 hours

South Korea officially dropped its maximum workweek to 52 hours on Sunday, in an effort to improve the quality of life among its citizens by tackling the country’s notoriously long work hours.The new law, which was a campaign promise by President Moon Jae-in, went into effect for businesses with more than 300 employees, state-run agencies and government offices starting Sunday.  Under the law, which slashed the maximum weekly work hours to 52 from 68, workers in Korea will be allowed to work 40

Social AffairsJuly 1, 2018

[Newsmaker] LG taps Koo Kwang-mo as new CEO

Koo Kwang-mo, the son of LG Group's late Chairman Koo Bon-moo, became a board member of the holding firm and its CEO on Friday, effectively becoming the fourth-generation leader of the family-controlled conglomerate.Koo, who was adopted by the late business tycoon so as to fulfill the LG family's tradition of handing over power to the chairman's eldest son, was named as the newest board member during Friday's shareholders' meeting of LG Corp. He was tapped by the board as CEO later in the day. K

IndustryJune 29, 2018

[Newsmaker] Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho feels the heat

Sullen and quiet, Korean Air and Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho on Thursday stood on what has now become a familiar spot for his family: a marker on the ground in front of the prosecution’s office before dozens of flashing cameras.  Korean Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho appears at the prosecution on Thursday. (Yonhap)“I’m sorry. I will tell everything to the prosecution,” the 69-year-old chairman told swarms of reporters in front of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office. He was the four

IndustryJune 28, 2018

[Newsmaker] Goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo, ‘Man of the Match’ against Germany

In South Korea’s surprise 2:0 win against Germany in the World Cup match on Wednesday, the most notable player was Korea’s goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo, who was made the Man of the Match by FIFA. Jo saved all six clean shoots by Germany, demonstrating quick reflexes with some astounding saves. Fans observed Jo must have “magnet hands.” German team made 10 other off target shoots. “Congratulations, Jo Hyeon-woo, you have been admitted to the ‘Do You Know’ club,” “BREAKING- Jo Hyeon-woo joins ‘Do You K

SoccerJune 28, 2018

[Newsmaker] South Korea’s ‘refugee crisis’ reveals its gendered Islamophobia

With some 500 Yemeni nationals seeking asylum on Jeju Island, many in South Korea say the country is facing its first “refugee crisis.” 　Indeed, the influx of the refugees from Yemen has triggered a fierce backlash among Koreans against immigration rules of Jeju Island, where, unlike the rest of South Korea, most foreign passport-holders can stay for a month without a visa. 　Many of those who oppose the visa-waiver program say Yemenis will only “create problems” in Korea, especially against loca

Social AffairsJune 27, 2018

[Newsmaker] Mystery shrouds Gangjin girl case despite DNA confirmation

A 16-year-old girl that had gone missing on June 16 was found on Sunday, dead and decomposing, near the peak of Maebongsan in Gangjin, South Jeolla Province. Police on Monday confirmed the victim’s DNA was found on a sickle that was inside the trunk of the prime suspect’s car. While the sickle had no traces of blood, the victim’s DNA was detected from between the blade and the handle of the device. The suspect’s DNA was not traced.The victim’s last recorded conversation was with her friend over

Social AffairsJune 26, 2018

[Newsmaker] Kim Jong-pil, kingmaker and perennial No. 2 man

Kim Jong-pil, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 92, was a seemingly ever-present figure in Korean politics, whose influence has been felt since the early 1960s. Kim was a two-time former Prime Minister, the founder of the country’s spy agency and widely-known as the “perennial No. 2 man” in modern Korean politics. He was 92. Kim was transferred from his home to Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Seoul and was declared dead upon arrival at 8:15 a.m., according to the hospital. He is bel

PoliticsJune 23, 2018

[Newsmaker] Report on 40 years of Korea's state violence against ‘vagrant’ children released

The Human Rights Commission on Thursday released a report detailing state violence against “vagrant” children in a facility in Gyeonggi Province, which the commission believes to have lasted for some 40 years from 1942-1982.　The report claims that some 4,691 children were kidnapped, brutally abused and coerced into harsh labor. Although the facility, named Seongam Hagwon, was characterized as a shelter or welfare institution for vagrant children or orphans, the report reveals that many of the ch

Social AffairsJune 22, 2018

[Newsmaker] FTC meets archnemesis -- prosecution

The prosecutors’ latest search and seizure of the Fair Trade Commission was purportedly to look into its suspected backscratching ties with top-tier business groups and to check on potential power abuse by the antitrust watchdog. But the abrupt action was also viewed as a chronic power struggle between the prosecution and the FTC -- often dubbed “prosecutors in the economic realm” -- over the latter’s expansive range of rights concerning fair trade rule violations.On the

EconomyJune 21, 2018

[Newsmaker] Marriage immigrant women in Korea vulnerable to financial abuse: study

Foreign-born women who moved to South Korea upon marrying Korean men are often subjected to financial abuse by their spouses and in-laws, a new government study showed Wednesday.　The study, organized and released by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, came to the conclusion after surveying 920 foreign-born women married to South Korean nationals last year. 　The largest proportion of the surveyed women, 42.4 percent, came from Vietnam, followed by China (29.4 percent) and the Philippin

Social AffairsJune 20, 2018

[Newsmaker] Court to arraign Korean Air chief's wife over charges of illegally hiring Filipino housekeepers

A Seoul court arraigned the wife of Korean Air's chairman Wednesday to determine whether to issue an arrest warrant prosecutors requested for her on charges of illegally hiring Filipino housekeepers.Lee Myung-hee, 69, wife of the national flag carrier's chairman, Cho Yang-ho, is accused of hiring about 20 maids from the Philippines over the past 10 years without the correct visas. Prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for her on Monday.It was the second time that an arrest warrant had been sou

Social AffairsJune 20, 2018

[Newsmaker] Korean victims of toxic disinfectant ask public to boycott Strepsils

Victims of a toxic disinfectant for humidifiers that was sold in South Korea from 2001-2011 held a rally in central Seoul on Tuesday asking the public, especially local pharmacists, to boycott products by Oxy, a local subsidiary of British conglomerate Reckitt Benckiser that also produced the fatal cleaning product. 　“Oxy should leave this country, Oxy should leave this country for good,” the victims, many of whom have lost their family members after they came in to contact with the product, cha

Social AffairsJune 19, 2018

[Newsmaker] Rescue team to conduct additional search inside Sewol ferry

A joint rescue team will search the unchecked areas of the Sewol ferry in a last-ditch effort to find the remains of victims who are still missing, a state-run commission said Tuesday.The ill-fated ferry, which sank off the country's southwestern coast near Jindo Island in April 2014 claiming more than 300 lives, was hoisted from the seabed last year and moved to Mokpo, 410 kilometers southwest of Seoul. The left side 6,800-ton vessel was lying on the port, which made it hard to gain access to t

Social AffairsJune 19, 2018

[Newsmaker] Anti-refugee sentiment flares up on Cheong Wa Dae petitions

Cheong Wa Dae’s online petition system is once again making headlines with petitions calling for tougher regulations on refugees rapidly gaining traction. The online public petition system is promoted by the Moon Jae-in administration and top presidential aides respond to petitions that gain more than 200,000 signatures within one month. The latest petition to attract over 200,000 supporters demands the government to revise the law on refugees and the visa waiver program for Jeju, following the

Social AffairsJune 18, 2018

[Newsmaker] Police seek arrest warrant for KT chief over illegal political funding

Police sought an arrest warrant for the head of South Korea's major mobile carrier KT Corp. and three others on Monday for alleged involvement in the firm's illegal donations to lawmakers. Seven former and incumbent KT executives, including Hwang, have been booked on charges of embezzlement and violation of laws related to political funding. Of them, police are seeking arrest warrants for four, the National Police Agency said in a briefing. They are suspected of creating 1.15 billion won ($1.04

Social AffairsJune 18, 2018

[Newsmaker] Why did Korean Air heiress illegally hire Filipina domestic workers?

It was not an unfamiliar sight when Cho Hyun-ah, the Korean Air heiress whose “rage” over nuts delayed a flight some four years ago, once again bowed and apologized for her “troubles” last month over another set of criminal allegations, this time of illegally hiring domestic helpers from the Philippines. She admitted to the wrongdoing.　Given the wealth of the Cho family, one might wonder why Hyun-ah and her mother Lee Myeong-hee sought domestic helpers from overseas, particularly from the Philip

Social AffairsJune 17, 2018

[Newsmaker] Former NIS chiefs guilty on transfers to Park

Former National Intelligence Service chiefs were sentenced to prison terms of three to 3 1/2 years Friday for regularly making secret money transfers to former President Park Geun-hye’s aides when she was in office. The Seoul Central District Court found the three former spy chiefs -- Nam Jae-joon, Lee Byung-kee and Lee Byong-ho -- guilty of sending 3.5 billion won ($3.24 million) from the agency’s “special activities” budget, which had been suspected by investigators to be an illicit channel fo

Social AffairsJune 15, 2018

[Newsmaker] Rise and fall of presidential hopefuls

The June 13 local elections ended with a sweeping victory by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, and now the focus is on how it may benefit the next potential presidential candidates. Newly elected Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon won his third consecutive term in the June 13 local elections. YonhapThe ruling progressive party, whose members includes President Moon Jae-in, grabbed 14 of the 17 metropolitan mayor and governor posts, plus 11 of the 12 National Assembly seats in the by-elections that wa

PoliticsJune 14, 2018

[Newsmaker] Main opposition party leader steps down over election defeat

Hong Joon-pyo, the chief of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, resigned Thursday after his party suffered a crushing defeat in the previous day's local elections.The LKP won only two of the 17 big mayoral and gubernatorial races contested in Wednesday's local elections. It also won only one parliamentary seat in by-elections held concurrently with the local elections.Hong's resignation was widely expected as he wrote a message on his Facebook saying "The buck stops here."  Liberty Korea Pa

PoliticsJune 14, 2018

[Newsmaker] Minor opposition party leader resigns after election fiasco

A co-leader of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party resigned Thursday after the party fared so poorly in Wednesday's local elections in a fiasco that even raised questions about whether it can continue to exist.The party won only 20 minor races in the elections, where more than 4,000 local administrative, legislative and educational posts, including 17 big-city mayoralties and provincial governorships, were up for grabs, in addition to 12 National Assembly seats."I solemnly accept the people's

PoliticsJune 14, 2018