South Korea will expand the use of an automated immigration system at international airports and seaports nationwide in the first half of this year in a bid to make traveling more convenient for foreign tourists, the Ministry of Justice said Tuesday.Justice Minister Lee Kwi-nam unveiled the plan while meeting with chiefs of the culture ministry, state tourism agencies and Incheon International Air

Social Affairs March 8, 2011

South Korea’s weapons procurement agency plans to resume deploying a new airburst assault rifle in November after fixing technical problems with its fire control system and laser range-finder, officials said Monday.The K-11 dual-caliber rifle has been issued to the Army since June last year, making it the world’s first military to use an airburst rifle as a standard issue. However, problems with t

Defense March 7, 2011

North Korea has deployed tanks and other weapons around its leader Kim Jong-il’s residences in Pyongyang to fortify them against a possible revolt spurred by the ongoing antigovernment protests in the Middle East, a Seoul source said Sunday.During a closed-door meeting with lawmakers Friday, a senior official of the National Intelligence Service confirmed reports of such activity, according to a l

North Korea March 6, 2011

The Defense Ministry decided to scrap a plan to create a top military command structure intended to enhance interoperability of its armed forces because of a constitutional challenge and resistance from the Navy and Air Force, officials said Thursday. South Korea had planned to establish the so-called “Joint Forces Command” amid calls to improve interoperability among the three wings of the milita

Defense March 3, 2011

A significant rise in oil prices has forced the Air Force to slash its authorized flying time and other military wings to take energy-saving steps, the Defense Ministry said Thursday. The measures are in line with a government-wide campaign as the price of Dubai crude, which makes up the bulk of South Korea’s imported oil, is hovering around $110 a barrel, following turmoil in the Middle East and

Social Affairs March 3, 2011

South Korean schools will systematically reinforce their students’ education regarding the nation’s easternmost islets of Dokdo under special teaching guidelines newly distributed by the Education Ministry, officials said Thursday.The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology sent comprehensive teaching guidelines to the municipal and provincial education authorities and schools across the nat

Social Affairs March 3, 2011

The government’s proposed alternatives to corporal punishment at schools could also be a violation of human rights if they cause students physical pain, South Korea’s rights watchdog said Thursday.The Education Ministry in January started taking steps to revise an enforcement ordinance for a related education law, aiming to ban corporal punishment and introduce various other forms of punishment, i

Social Affairs March 3, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday directly proposed a meeting with the leader of the Democratic Party, according to his office Cheong Wa Dae, but the main opposition party gave a terse response.Lee delivered the message during a brief conversation with Sohn Hak-kyu, head of the DP, on the sidelines of a national ceremony in Seoul to mark the March 1 Independence Movement 92 years ago, it added.“L

Politics March 1, 2011

South Korea will send two chartered ships to strife-torn Libya to bring home citizens and foreign workers at South Korean construction firms there, an official said Tuesday.The ships chartered from Greece can each carry up to 1,800 passengers, a Transportation Ministry official said.“We have prepared ships capable of evacuating a far larger number of people than before,” the official said without

Social Affairs March 1, 2011

A group of unionized teachers have asked the Constitutional Court to review the law that bans teachers from joining political activities, court officials said Monday, challenging the long debated law that causes any teacher who wages an anti-government campaign to face disciplinary action. The Seoul Administrative Court has accepted the appeal by three teachers, affiliated with the liberal Korean

Social Affairs Feb. 28, 2011

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― The international community should not expect North Korea to collapse soon through popular uprisings but instead seek an incremental approach to build trust with the nuclear-armed communist state, an expert said Sunday.Andray Abrahamian, a freelance writer on Korea issues who teaches at Social Science College of the University of Ulsan, South Korea, dismissed chances of

North Korea Feb. 28, 2011

LOS ANGELES (Yonhap News) ― The number of illegal aliens from South Korea in the U.S. dropped for the second straight year in 2010, but the number still remained over 170,000, a report by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released Friday showed.The number of Korean illegal aliens in the U.S. dropped to some 200,000 in 2009 from 240,000 the previous year. The number then dropped 15 percent l

Social Affairs Feb. 27, 2011

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― South Korea cannot agree to resume six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs unless the illicit nature of Pyongyang’s uranium enrichment is clearly defined first, a senior official said Friday.“We have to get the (U.N.) Security Council to define the nature of this matter and take corresponding steps,” the official told South Korean reporters in Washington. “The

North Korea Feb. 27, 2011

The 31 North Koreans who arrived in South Korea by boat earlier this month will be sent home sometime this week, a Seoul official said Sunday.“As far as I know, the joint interrogation (by relevant authorities) is in the final phase,” the official said. “And since no one expressed a wish to defect, we will repatriate all 31 of them as early as this week through Panmunjeom (the border village).” On

North Korea Feb. 27, 2011