[Newsmaker] Ghanaian TV personality speaks up against racism in Korea, sparks controversy

Ghanaian television personality Sam Okyere apologized after his social media posting lashing out at racism in Korea sparked controversy online. Earlier on Thursday, the 29-year-old had expressed outrage about a yearbook photo of local high school senior students parodying viral Ghanaian dancing pallbearers video. The photo showed five boys from Uijeongbu High School -- famous for their unconventional yet trend-reflecting graduation pictures -- with their faces painted brown. “Time and

TelevisionAug. 9, 2020

[Newsmaker] North Korea battles severe flood damage

Days of torrential downpours have flooded hundreds of houses and vast rice fields in North Korea, with damage expected to grow further, dealing a blow to a regime already grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and a flailing economy under international sanctions.  Nearly 730 homes and 600 hectares of rice fields have been flooded. Some 179 houses were destroyed in Taechong-ri, Unpha County, northwest of capital Pyongyang, after a water levee broke due to the heavy rains, according to the No

North KoreaAug. 7, 2020

[Newsmaker] Health minister asks doctors to cancel strike

South Korea’s top health official on Thursday urged doctors to cancel their walkouts, the first of which is planned for Friday, and asked for their cooperation with the government’s impending health reforms. In an address, Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo appealed for the action to be called off, in consideration of the coronavirus situation. “Disruption in health service in a time like this could imperil public health even further,” he warned. The walkou

Social AffairsAug. 6, 2020

[Newsmaker] Another psychiatrist murdered by patient

Another psychiatrist has been murdered by his patient following two similar incidents over the past two years, police said Wednesday. Police said a doctor in his 50s died Wednesday morning after being stabbed with a knife by a patient at his psychiatric hospital in the southern port city of Busan at 9:25 a.m. The patient, identified only as a man in his 60s, was arrested on the scene after spraying flammable materials and hanging from the window of the hospital in a confrontation with the pol

Social AffairsAug. 5, 2020

[Newsmaker] Civil law revision eyed to protect children from corporal punishment

The Ministry of Justice is pushing for amendment to the Civil Law to abolish parents’ right to physically discipline their children in a bid to better protect children from abusive parents.  The plan is to delete the Article 915, which has been interpreted by some as giving legal grounds for corporal punishment. The clause itself does not say anything about the use of physical force as a means of discipline.  “Through the revision, we expect to contribute to forming an en

Social AffairsAug. 4, 2020

[Newsmaker] Kakao Games under fire for sexist translation ahead of IPO

Kakao Games is facing a boycott from users for sexist translations in its newly released game Guardian Tales, posing a hiccup to the company that stands on the doorstep of going public. The gaming unit of Korea’s leading messenger app operator Kakao on Sunday conducted an unscheduled update at 10 a.m. without a specific explanation, infuriating users as the entire server for Guardian Tales went down for eight minutes. In the English version of Guardian Tales, from which the Korean ver

IndustryAug. 3, 2020

[Newsmaker] New Zealand ups pressure on Korea to cooperate in diplomat sexual assault case

New Zealand authorities have heightened pressure on South Korea to cooperate in its probe of a Korean diplomat who has been accused of sexual assault. 　 Winston Peters, New Zealand’s deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, urged the Korean government to cooperate by waiving the accused man’s diplomatic immunity and sending him to New Zealand to defend himself. 　 “It’s over to the Korean government, and for them to allow him to waive the diplomatic immunity

Foreign AffairsAug. 2, 2020

[Newsmaker] Shincheonji leader arrested on charges of obstructing anti-virus response

The leader of a minor religious sect at the center of the early coronavirus outbreak in South Korea was arrested early Saturday for allegedly obstructing the government's efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic.    A local court in Suwon, south of Seoul, issued an arrest warrant for Lee Man-hee, the founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.    Lee, 89, is suspected of submitting false documents to health authorities on the number of participants at the sect's gath

Social AffairsAug. 1, 2020

[Newsmaker] Arrest warrant hearing starts for Shincheonji leader

A local court has started reviewing whether to issue an arrest warrant for Lee Man-hee, the leader of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, over allegations that he and his religious sect obstructed the government’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. The Suwon District Court is expected to reach a decision later Friday or early Saturday. The court previously issued arrest warrants for Shincheonji’s three senior officials who are also accused of obstructing contact tracing efforts.

Social AffairsJuly 31, 2020

[Newsmaker] Runaway N. Korean defector unlikely to have contracted coronavirus: KCDC

A North Korean defector suspected of having fled back to his communist homeland is unlikely to have been infected with the new coronavirus here despite Pyongyang's claim that he had virus symptoms, Seoul's health authorities said Thursday. North Korea's state media claimed Sunday that a defector returned home from South Korea with suspected virus symptoms, prompting the country to adopt a "maximum emergency system" against the coronavirus. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and P

North KoreaJuly 30, 2020

[Newsmaker] Seoul to extend visas for foreign workers to address rural labor shortage

The South Korean government will take steps to extend visas for foreign laborers as part of measures to address issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Wednesday. Speaking at a disaster management meeting, Chung said that such measures will be introduced to alleviate labor shortages in rural areas. “Measures to extend the duration of stay for foreign laborers, and temporarily providing opportunities to work in areas such as agricultural communities w

Social AffairsJuly 29, 2020

[Newsmaker] No larvae found at any regular water treatment center: Environment Ministry

All of South Korea’s regular water purification centers are free of larvae or bugs, an Environment Ministry inspection has found, amid public worries that the country may be experiencing a tap water contamination crisis. The Ministry of Environment said in a press briefing Tuesday that all 435 regular water treatment facilities in Korea had been inspected and no bugs or other foreign organisms were found in their water reservoirs or distribution lines. A small number of larvae were disc

Social AffairsJuly 28, 2020

[Newsmaker] Defector who swam back to North fled ‘hopeless life’ in North

A North Korean defector believed to have swum across a river to return to North Korea earlier this month spoke of a “hopeless life” in the North and his perilous journey to the South on YouTube last month. Appearing in a video posted by a channel run by defectors, the man, presumed to be in his 20s and surnamed Kim, shared his story of fleeing the North for a better life in 2017, a year after the inter-Korean Kaesong Industrial Complex was closed over Pyongyang’s long-range m

North KoreaJuly 27, 2020

[Newsmaker] Another heavy downpour expected; authorities on alert

With heavy rainfall expected again this week, authorities are on high alert to prevent further damages during the monsoon season, especially down south. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety called an emergency meeting Sunday as the Korea Meteorological Administration forecast torrential rains in Busan, Gangwon Province, and other regions that have yet to recover from a recent downpour. The weather agency issued a special warning about landslides in Busan due to loose soil after the area got

Social AffairsJuly 26, 2020

[Newsmaker] Police investigating online leak of sex abuse complaint against late Seoul mayor

Police said Friday they have opened an investigation into the possible leak of a complaint memo detailing sexual misconduct accusations against the recently deceased mayor of Seoul, Park Won-soon. The “Park Won-soon memo” has circulated on social media sites shortly after police confirmed on the evening of July 9 that Park was being accused of sexual abuse by one of his secretaries. Several local media outlets reported Friday that police have zeroed in on a potential su

Social AffairsJuly 24, 2020

[Newsmaker] Korea pushes plan to make more doctors

Medical schools in Korea will admit more students, lawmakers and government officials said Thursday, lifting the admission cap for the first time since 2006. According to the blueprint proposed by ruling Democratic Party lawmakers and the chiefs of Health and Education ministries, the fixed limits on the total number of students recruited by medical schools each year will be expanded by 400 or more for 10 years starting in 2022. This translates to a 13.4 percent increase in the current number

Social AffairsJuly 23, 2020

[Newsmaker] Larvae found in 7 water-purifying facilities

Worm-like creatures that were first found in tap water in Incheon were detected at seven water-purifying facilities across the country, the government confirmed Tuesday, suggesting that water contamination wasn’t limited to just Incheon. The Ministry of Environment’s three-day inspection which ended Friday found larvae of nonbiting midge and other organisms at seven out of a total of 49 water treatment centers with an activated carbon filtering system. They are two facilities in I

Social AffairsJuly 21, 2020

[Newsmaker] More suspected larvae discovered in tap water in Korea, authorities on alert

Authorities are on high alert after larva-like creatures were discovered in tap water in Seoul and some nearby areas recently, and are thoroughly examining the local waterworks system. At around 11 p.m. Sunday, a resident of an apartment in Jung-gu, central Seoul, reported finding a centimeter-long, “worm-like creature” the thickness of a hair on the bathroom floor after taking a shower. The creature seemed to be alive and moving. After the report was filed with local authorities,

Social AffairsJuly 20, 2020

[Newsmaker] Publishers suspend sales of autofiction author Kim Bong-gon’s works containing private messages used without consent

Publisher Munhak Dongne announced Friday that it was suspending sales of books featuring author Kim Bong-gon’s works that have come under fire for using without consent an acquaintance’s private messages. Kim gained attention for his vivid autofiction -- or fictionalized autobiography -- regarding LGBTQ culture when he came out of the closet as he embarked on a writing career in 2016. The personal yet fictional stories involving the intense emotional struggles of LGBTQ characters w

BooksJuly 19, 2020

[Newsmaker] Arrest warrant hearing starts for TV reporter involved in collusion case

A Seoul court will decide on issuing an arrest warrant for a reporter accused of colluding with a prosecutor to take down a media personality friendly to the Moon Jae-in administration later Friday. The Seoul Central District Court started a hearing at 10 a.m. upon the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant for Lee Dong-jae from Channel A, a cable TV network owned by Dong-A Media Group, one of the largest media conglomerates here. The allegation was first raised in an investigative

Social AffairsJuly 17, 2020