[Newsmaker] DR Congo's Dr. Mukwege and Yazidi rape victim Murad win Nobel Peace Prize

Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege and Yazidi campaigner Nadia Murad won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work in fighting sexual violence in conflicts around the world.The pair won the award for their "efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war," Nobel committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said in unveiling the winners in Oslo.Both have come to represent the struggle against a global scourge which goes well beyond any single conflict, as the ever-expanding #MeToo

WorldOct. 5, 2018

[Newsmaker] K-pop fans take action against online scalpers

With so many events slated for this month featuring artists with huge fan bases, the race is on to get tickets to see our favorite singers live.Most concerts featuring world-famous singers can’t accommodate all the fans who want to be there, and ticket-reservation websites often crash as soon as tickets to a popular concert become available. The impact of too many people logging in at the same time is just too much for the servers.Knowing that competition will be fierce, fans gear up in advance

PerformanceOct. 5, 2018

[Newsmaker] 'Women must be heard': thousands march against Kavanaugh

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Jessica Cathcart, a 24-year-old from California, says university professor Christine Blasey Ford inspired her to speak up about her own sexual assault, which took place when she was in high school.Angela Trzepkowski, 55, from Delaware, says she would be devastated if Brett Kavanaugh, accused by Blasey Ford of attempted rape, is confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States.Both were among a sea of women who descended on Washington Thursday urging lawmakers not to confir

World NewsOct. 5, 2018

[Newsmaker] Two Yemeni asylum seekers attacked by Koreans in Jeju

Two Yemeni asylum seekers were attacked by Koreans on the southern island of Jeju, police said Thursday. According to Jeju Dongbu Police Station, two Yemeni asylum seekers reported they were beaten by a group of Koreans near Jeju City Hall at 2:41 a.m. on Tuesday. When police arrived at the scene, the suspects had already fled.(Uto Image)Police identified one suspect as a man who appears to be in his 20s from footage obtained from surveillance cameras installed nearby the crime scene. The asylum

Social AffairsOct. 4, 2018

[Newsmaker] Korean service sector workers fight for ‘right to sit’ at work

Unionized workers in South Korea’s service and retail sectors -- mainly those who work at department stores and duty-free shops -- are fighting for their “right to sit down” at work, saying many of them suffer health conditions that result from having to stand in high heels for more than seven hours daily.　Since late September, the union members have been sitting at work when there are no customers around as a way to protest. 　“It’s been 10 years since chairs have been placed at department store

Social AffairsOct. 4, 2018

[Newsmaker] N. Korea said to have stolen a fortune in online bank heists

WASHINGTON (AP) -- North Korea‘s nuclear and missile tests have stopped, but its hacking operations to gather intelligence and raise funds for the sanction-strapped government in Pyongyang may be gathering steam.US security firm FireEye raised the alarm Wednesday over a North Korean group that it says has stolen hundreds of millions of dollars by infiltrating the computer systems of banks around the world since 2014 through highly sophisticated and destructive attacks that have spanned at least

North KoreaOct. 4, 2018

[Newsmaker] Typhoon to affect southern parts of Korea over weekend

Super Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to affect southern parts of South Korea this weekend, the weather agency said Wednesday. As of 9 a.m., this year's 25th typhoon was traveling northwest at a speed of 18 kilometers per hour about 710 kilometers south-southeast of Japan's Okinawa Island, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. Super Typhoon Kong-rey's expected path (YouTube)It had an atmospheric pressure of 930 hectopascals at its center and winds of up to 180 kph. Kong-rey formed a

Social AffairsOct. 3, 2018

[Newsmaker] Two Seoul districts protest government’s latest home supply plan

Residents in two districts in Seoul -- Songpa and Gangdong -- are protesting the government’s latest home supply plan, which includes building a new residential town in a former prison site in Songpa, saying they were not consulted before the Ministry of Land announcement.　Last month, the central government announced that it would supply some 300,000 public housing units starting from 2021, in an effort to stabilize the overheated housing market. 　Under the plan, 11 areas in Seoul, including the

Social AffairsOct. 2, 2018

[Newsmaker] Groping victim speaks out, shining new light on dispute over court decision

The victim of groping at a restaurant told her side of the story last week, offering an alternative view of the heated public dispute over the high-profile court case -- which resulted in the conviction of the man in question -- and the offender’s wife’s online petition insisting on his innocence. In an interview with a local media outlet, the victim stated that she had received an influx of hateful emails and a flurry of social media messages as a result of the case, which began Nov. 26 last ye

Social AffairsOct. 2, 2018

[Newsmaker] Moon stresses strong military, US alliance as key to lasting peace

In line with the 70th Armed Forces Day, President Moon Jae-in highlighted strong national defense and the alliance with the US on Monday, as the allies cooperate toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. “Now we have launched our ambitious journey toward lasting peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. The path we are walking on is a path that no one has walked before, and so it is hard to predict what difficulties lie ahead. And therefore, strong defense is more important than ever,” the

DefenseOct. 1, 2018

[Newsmaker] Central Indonesia earthquake roundup

The death toll from the earthquake in Palu and Donggala, Central Sulawesi has risen to 832, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) announced on Sunday afternoon. Around 821 victims have been found in Palu, while the rest have been found in Donggala.The agency has also recorded that at least 540 people were injured by the earthquake and tsunami, and are currently being treated in hospitals. Meanwhile, 16,372 people are reportedly displaced and are currently occupying 24 camps around the r

World NewsOct. 1, 2018

[Newsmaker] Over 800 dead in Indonesia quake and tsunami; toll may rise

PALU, Indonesia — Rescuers struggled Sunday to reach victims in several large coastal towns in Indonesia that were hit by an earthquake and tsunami, and authorities feared that the toll of more than 800 confirmed dead would rise.With the area largely cut off by damaged roads and downed communications lines, military and commercial aircraft were delivering some aid and supplies to the hard-hit city of Palu on the island of Sulawesi, and others in the region.But there was a desperate need for heav

World NewsOct. 1, 2018

[Newsmaker] Number of jobless highest since 1999

The number of jobless people last month reached its highest level since 1999, while the government’s unemployment allowance payments also hit a record high, government data showed Sunday.According to data compiled by the Korea Employment Information Service, the monthly average number of South Koreans without a job -- referring to those who have been out of job for four weeks or longer -- stood at 1.13 million as of end-August this year, up 45,000 from a year earlier and marking the highes

EconomySept. 30, 2018

[Newsmaker] Embassy official gets jail term for issuing fraudulent visas to Pakistanis

An official at the South Korean Embassy in Malaysia received a jail term for issuing fraudulent visas to Pakistanis for nearly three years.The Seoul Central District Court said on Friday that it had sentenced the embassy official to 18 months in prison for falsifying official documents and violating the immigration law.The embassy official was found to have issued fraudulent visas to Pakistanis who lacked the required documents on 20 occasions from April 2015 to January this year. (Yonhap)To rec

Social AffairsSept. 28, 2018

[Newsmaker] YouTube content creator threatens murder, Busan police say

Busan police officers say they were notified around 2 a.m. Friday of an erratic YouTube content creator who had told viewers he intended to commit murder. According to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, three callers initially called 112 to report a YouTuber “livestreaming a video of himself on a taxi ride over to kill someone.” Shortly after, five more people called to alert officers of the situation, police added.  (AFP)The 49-year-old man was reportedly hosting a poker-themed broadcast whe

Social AffairsSept. 28, 2018

[Newsmaker] US regulators charge Tesla CEO Elon Musk with fraud

The US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged Tesla CEO Elon Musk with securities fraud, alleging he misled investors last month in tweets about taking the company private.Musk tweeted August 7 that he had "secured" funding to privatize the electric automaker at $420 a share, causing a brief spike in Tesla's share price.The SEC said Musk's statements on Twitter were "false and misleading" and that he had never discussed the plans with company officials or potential funders. Tesla

World BusinessSept. 28, 2018

[Newsmaker] 97% of Korea's spy-cam-related suspects are male: data

Some 16,802 Koreans were arrested for spy-cam-related crimes over the last four years, and 97 percent, or 16,375, of the suspects were male, a lawmaker’s office revealed on Wednesday.　According to Rep. Lee Jae-jung of the ruling Democratic Party, among the male suspects, 15.7 percent were known to their alleged victims, often as neighbors or work colleagues. 　The biggest proportion of the suspects who had known the victims before committing the crime turned out to be the women victims‘ ex-romant

Social AffairsSept. 27, 2018

[Newsmaker] Paternal leave a luxury mainly for civil servants, conglomerate employees in S. Korea

The vast majority of Korean men who take parental leave are either civil servants or full-time workers at the nation’s large conglomerates, with male employees at small and midsized businesses either unable to take it or choosing not to, a lawmaker’s office revealed Wednesday.　　According to Rep. Shin Bo-ra of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, 70 percent of Korean men who have taken parental leave were either employed in the public sector or at big conglomerates, such as Samsung or Hyundai

Social AffairsSept. 26, 2018

[Newsmaker] Cosby in cuffs: TV star gets 3 to 10 years for sex assault

NORRISTOWN, Pa. -- At an age when other Hollywood stars are settling into retirement and collecting lifetime-achievement awards, an 81-year-old Bill Cosby was led away to prison in handcuffs Tuesday, sentenced to three to 10 years behind bars in what was seen by many of his accusers as a reckoning richly deserved and long overdue.The comedian, TV star and breaker of racial barriers became the first celebrity of the #MeToo era to be sent to prison. He was found guilty in April of drugging and sex

World NewsSept. 26, 2018

[Newsmaker] South Korea to review banning English education for preschoolers

Nine months after proposing a ban on English classes in kindergartens, the government is set to review related policies next month, as parents have complained that the move will only widen the education gap in a market led by pricey private pre-schools that teach in English.　Last year, the Education Ministry forbid public elementary schools from teaching English to first and second graders during affordable after-school classes.　The action was based on a special law on normalizing public educati

Social AffairsSept. 25, 2018