[Newsmaker] Buddha's Birthday, Christmas to be excluded from alternative holidays

The alternative holiday bill passed by the National Assembly last month will be newly applied only to national holidays, the government said Friday. Public holidays, like Buddha's Birthday and Christmas, will be excluded from alternative holidays, the Ministry of Personnel Management said. The Assembly approved legislation on June 29 to increase alternative statutory holidays by designating a substitute holiday for all public holidays that fall on weekends. But the bill delegates the actual de

PoliticsJuly 16, 2021

[Newsmaker] Overseas anti-piracy unit suffers COVID outbreak

President Moon Jae-in on Thursday instructed the military to dispatch medical staff and supplies to forces abroad with members who have tested positive for the coronavirus and to take stronger steps to avoid infections in overseas missions. Moon asked the military to bring home the patients if necessary. Six service members aboard the anti-piracy Cheonghae Unit operating off the coast of Africa have tested positive for the coronavirus, the military said. None of the 301-strong crew aboard th

DefenseJuly 15, 2021

[Newsmaker] Support rating for ex-top prosecutor Yoon dips below 30% for 1st time in 4 months: poll

The support rating for former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, the front-running presidential contender, dived below the 30 percent level for the first time in four months over a series of allegations raised against his wife and mother-in-law, the latest poll on major hopefuls showed Thursday. The fall diminished Yoon's opinion poll lead over runner-up Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung to within the poll's margin of error of 2.2 percentage points. According to the poll by Realmeter, the support ra

PoliticsJuly 15, 2021

[Newsmaker] Yoon jittery over falling poll ratings

A weekly presidential preference poll that showed higher support ratings for former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl compared with other surveys was stopped this week, prompting Yoon to blame political pressure from other candidates and their supporters. PNR Research, the pollster that had conducted the survey every week since April, said its clients told it last week that they would no longer commission it for the poll. Yoon said in a statement on Tuesday that the PNR poll was stopped becaus

PoliticsJuly 14, 2021

[Newsmaker] Air Force legal affairs chief booked for investigation over death of Air Force sexual abuse victim

The Air Force's chief legal affairs officer has been booked for investigation over allegations he failed to properly oversee an initial probe into sexual abuse of a female noncommissioned officer that led to the victim taking her own life, the defense ministry said Wednesday. Brig. Gen. Jeon Ik-soo was booked on charges of dereliction of duty on Tuesday, and his status has been switched to that of a suspect, 42 days after the defense ministry launched an investigation into why the noncommission

DefenseJuly 14, 2021

[Newsmaker] Govt. plan on 'Lee Kun-hee museum' draws debate on location, purpose

The government's plan to build a museum dedicated to late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee's massive art collection has stirred a debate among art circles as well as local governments that were vying to attract the facility. Last week, the culture ministry unveiled a plan to build the museum by 2026 or 2027 at two potential locations in central Seoul -- in Jongno and Yongsan wards. The announcement came roughly two months after Lee's family announced the donation of around 23,000 art pieces, includ

Arts & DesignJuly 14, 2021

[Newsmaker] Yoon unlikely to join opposition party soon

Ex-chief prosecutor and presidential contender Yoon Seok-youl appears more focused on bringing together centrists than joining the main opposition People Power Party, while former chief state auditor Choe Jae-hyeong is likely to join the party as another presidential hopeful, according to figures in close contact with the two men. Political critic Chin Jung-kwon said he met with Yoon last week and it seemed like the former prosecutor general “intends to stay outside the PPP for a while.&r

PoliticsJuly 13, 2021

[Newsmaker] Both employers and hard-line labor groups disgruntled with new minimum wage

The Minimum Wage Commission's decision on Monday to raise next year's minimum hourly wage 5.1 percent to 9,160 won ($7.98) drew heavy criticism from employers' and hard-line labor groups. Officials at the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), the more moderate of South Korea's two major umbrella labor unions, said Tuesday they will accept the state commission's minimum wage decision. But the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), an umbrella union known for its militant labor movemen

Social AffairsJuly 13, 2021

[Newsmaker] Yoon says his heart aches for jailed ex-presidents

Former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, now a presidential contender, said his heart aches when he thinks about ex-Presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, who were jailed for corruption as a result of investigations that he led. “No matter the reasons, (I) offer consolation and express regrets to all who have gone through pain because of me,” Yoon said in an interview with the Dong-A Ilbo published Monday, about the political corruption probes that he led as chief of the Seoul

PoliticsJuly 12, 2021

[Newsmaker] Moon's approval rebounds back to above 40% for 1st time since early March: poll

President Moon Jae-in's job approval rating climbed back to above 40 percent for the first time in 18 weeks, thanks to increased support from 30-something voters and independents, a poll showed Monday. In the survey conducted by Realmeter on 2,519 people over the age of 18 from July 5-9, Moon's job approval rating was recorded at 41.1 percent, up 3.1 percentage points from the previous week. The result marked Moon's highest performance in public polls since the 40.1 percent figure in the first

PoliticsJuly 12, 2021

[Newsmaker] Seoul to start towing illegally parked e-scooters Thursday

Seoul will start towing illegally parked electric scooters, as the city asks service providers to take responsibility by preventing their products from disrupting traffic and causing inconvenience. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Sunday that it will start towing illegally parked e-scooters Thursday in six of its districts, before going on to do so in the remaining 19 districts. The city plans to levy a 40,000 won ($35) towing fee for each scooter and a 700 won storage fee for every 30 mi

Social AffairsJuly 11, 2021

[Newsmaker] Court to begin trials Friday for ex-YG chief in whistleblower blackmail case

A Seoul court will this week begin trials for Yang Hyun-suk, former CEO of K-pop powerhouse YG Entertainment, on charges of attempting to cover up a drug scandal involving a singer-rapper, judicial officials said Sunday. According to the officials, the Seoul Central District Court is to hold its first hearing Friday for Yang, who was indicted last month for having threatened and coerced an informant who testified to police about drug suspicions surrounding B.I, the former songwriting leader of

Social AffairsJuly 11, 2021

[Newsmaker] Sex crime victim awaited help that never came: military

The military failed in its response to a sexual assault complaint from an Air Force master sergeant, who later took her life, the Ministry of National Defense said Friday in its interim report. The ministry’s joint investigation team said that the master sergeant was repeatedly revictimized by the abuser and those sympathetic to him, which ultimately pushed her to take her life. The team has been looking into the circumstances surrounding the suicide since June 1. The victim&rs

DefenseJuly 9, 2021

[Newsmaker] 10 indicted, 12 under probe over death of Air Force sexual abuse victim

Military prosecutors have indicted 10 people over the death of an Air Force sexual harassment victim following a monthlong investigation into a string of irregularities that led to the noncommissioned officer taking her own life, the defense ministry said Friday. The number of officials to stand trial could further rise as a dozen others are still under investigation, the ministry said, announcing the interim results of its probe into the incident that sparked an intense public outcry over the

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2021

[Newsmaker] ‘Yoon shouldn’t run for president’

Former prime minister and presidential hopeful of the ruling party Rep. Lee Nak-yon said on Thursday it doesn’t make sense that former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl is running for president given what he said earlier about his convicted mother-in-law. “When he was in the prosecution, (the prosecution) did not indict his mother-in-law, and he told Parliament that he will obviously have to step down as prosecutor general if she is guilty,” Lee said in a radio interview Thurs

PoliticsJuly 8, 2021

[Newsmaker] Opposition talks about scrapping Ministry of Gender Equality

Presidential hopefuls and the leader of the main opposition party have begun talking about scrapping the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, saying all it does is carry out campaigns and make gender conflicts worse. The ministry, launched in 2001, has often been slammed for underperforming, making divisive statements, and responding passively to sexual harassment by the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. “Fifteen to 20 years of trial and error is enough for campaigns based on se

PoliticsJuly 7, 2021

[Newsmaker] Bong Joon-ho declares Cannes festival open in Korean

Palme d'Or and Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho has opened this year's Cannes Film Festival, celebrating the return of world cinema in theaters in about two years. "I declare (the opening of the 74th festival)," the South Korean auteur said in Korean during the opening ceremony held at the Grand Theatre Lumiere on Tuesday (local time). Along with him, American director-actress Jodie Foster, Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar and Cannes jury president Spike Lee made the same statements in Fre

FilmJuly 7, 2021

[Newsmaker] Self-made man behind Jungheung’s surprise bid for Daewoo

Behind the surprise bid of Jungheung for the control of a much-larger rival, Daewoo Engineering & Construction, is a self-made entrepreneur little known outside the construction field: Jung Chang-sun, the chairman and founder of Jungheung Group. Jungheung, founded in the southern city of Gwangju, grabbed headlines on Tuesday after it was selected as the preferred bidder of Daewoo E&C, the nation’s sixth-largest builder with a proud but checkered history. Local media put Jungheung

IndustryJuly 6, 2021

[Newsmaker] Lee Jae-myung says ‘shall I pull down my pants’ on TV

Gyeonggi Province governor and presidential front-runner Lee Jae-myung asked in a televised debate “shall I pull down my pants again?” when asked to explain his scandal with an actor. During the debate among eight candidates for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s primary for next year’s presidential election Monday evening, former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun asked Lee to explain a previous scandal, saying the morality of a president is very important. Lee explaine

PoliticsJuly 6, 2021

[Newsmaker] Military general arrested over sexual harassment allegations

An Army general was arrested on charges of sexually molesting a female subordinate, officials said Tuesday, in yet another sex crime in barracks following the suicide death of an Air Force sexual abuse victim. The brigadier general was relieved of his duties and arrested after the subordinate reported her suffering to the authorities, according to the officials. "An investigation is under way. We will thoroughly look into the case and take corresponding measures," defense ministry s

DefenseJuly 6, 2021