[THE INVESTOR] President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday visited a local air passenger service company to encourage and promote the flextime system, a crucial part of the government’s labor reform program aimed at improving work-family balance.She visited Incheon International Airport to meet with officials of Air Korea, an affiliate of conglomerate Hanjin Group in charge of boarding procedures and luggage management of 24 carriers, including Hanjin’s Korean Air. The company has been selected as a mo

June 29, 2016

President Park Geun-hye voiced hope Thursday that North Korea would take care of its people and children, a sign of her interest in the true lives of North Koreans as South Korea marked Children's Day.The comments came after she watched Russian documentary maker Vitaly Mansky's latest work "Under the Sun," a movie that offered a rare glimpse into life inside North Korea."It would be good if the movie could serve as an occasion to make North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons programs and take car

Politics May 5, 2016

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is considering visiting South Korea next month to attend a non-governmental organization conference nearly one year after his last visit here, a government source said Thursday.South Korea hosts U.N. Department of Public Information and Non-Governmental Organizations Conference in Gyeongju, 371 kilometers south of Seoul, from May 30 to June 1. The 66th conference will bring in U.N. officials, diplomats, policy experts and politicians to discuss education and su

Foreign Affairs April 21, 2016

The United States is working hard to tackle human rights abuses in North Korea on the back of broad bipartisan support, Washington's top envoy to Seoul said Thursday.Ambassador Mark Lippert made the remarks in a forum organized by the Far East Broadcasting Company, saying the issue of North Korea's human rights situation is one of the core concerns of the international community."We are also deeply concerned about the human rights situation in North Korea and are working to actively change it,"

North Korea April 21, 2016

Two South Korean sluggers picked up their first major league home runs Friday (local time), writing a new page in the history of Koreans' advances into Major League Baseball (MLB).Park Byung-ho of the Minnesota Twins delivered a 132-meter solo homer in the top of the 8th against the Kansas City Royals to break a 2-2 tie.It was his third game in the MLB, appearing sixth as the designated hitter.Lee Dae-ho of the Seattle Mariners also hit a solo home run in their home opener against the Oakland At

Baseball April 9, 2016

A steady stream of people nationwide headed to polling stations Saturday on the second and last day of an early voting period for next week's parliamentary elections.Early voting carries extra weight as a recent survey showed that more than a quarter of the electorate has yet to choose a candidate for the April 13 polls to elect 300 lawmakers for a four-year term.At 3,511 polling stations across the nation, about 3.2 million out of a total of 42.1 million eligible voters, or 7.83 percent, have c

Politics April 9, 2016

North Korea claimed Saturday that it has successfully conducted a ground test of a new engine for an inter-continental ballistic missile, the latest in a series of Pyongyang's claims of progress in its nuclear and missile programs.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un issued an order to conduct the "jet test of a new type high-power engine of inter-continental ballistic rocket and personally came to the Sohae Space Center to guide the test," the Korean Central News Agency said."The great success made

North Korea April 9, 2016

President Park Geun-hye pledged Monday to put pressure on North Korea until Pyongyang drops its nuclear weapons program and ends its tyranny.The communist country has long been accused of pursuing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles while starving its people and violating their human rights."I will sternly and strongly deal with North Korea... until North Korea embarks on the path toward denuclearization and ends the tyranny of oppressing the human rights of North Korean people and pushing th

Politics March 14, 2016