All nuclear power facilities to undergo safety inspectionThe Korean government will conduct a safety inspection on nuclear power plants in the country amid growing worries about the radiation leaks in Japan. Officials said they may shut down reactors if they fail to meet safety standards.In a nuclear power committee meeting Monday, presided over by Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik, participants decide

Social Affairs April 11, 2011

South Korea's financial watchdog plans to launch an investigation next week into the leak of personal data from 420,000 customers of a major financial firm, Hyundai Capital, officials said Saturday.The company, whose president returned to South Korea from an overseas trip earlier in the day, also began its own probe into the leak, which prompted the firm Friday to ask its 2 million customers to ch

National April 9, 2011

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's industry minister will Saturday meet workers battling to cool overheating reactor cores and plug radioactive leaks in the first government visit to the country's tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.With Tokyo warning the crisis is far from over, Banri Kaieda will don full protective gear for his brief trip to the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant, his ministry said.Kaieda, who has o

World April 9, 2011

Opposition parties have finally reached an agreement to run a single candidate for the upcoming by-election in the hometown of the late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, forewarning a showdown with the ruling party there.“We have resolved to select a single candidate to represent the opposition parties by Tuesday, when the official candidate registration begins,” an official of a civic group advocat

Politics April 8, 2011

The by-election race in the Bundang constituency has come down to a battle between the former and incumbent leaders of the ruling and main opposition parties, as two other candidates have stepped out of the way.Park Gye-dong, former lawmaker of the ruling Grand National Party, held a press conference Thursday to announce his withdrawal from the by-election contest.“I shall accept the party’s decis

Politics April 7, 2011

Seoul City will be holding a bimonthly lunchtime garden concert in English to help promote its English study cafe, according to officials.The concert, to be held every second and fourth Wednesday of the month, kicks off with music by an Ecuadorian band and will be followed by live folk music from various countries including Russia, Mongolia, Mexico and others, officials said.The performances will

Social Affairs April 6, 2011

Civic groups have for the first time joined to form a permanent consultative body to urge Japan to solve ongoing conflicts and apologize for its annexation of Korea a century ago.Next Friday, some 20 Japan-related civic groups here will launch the Korea-Japan Citizens’ Consultative Body, a consolidated body to request that Japan settle historical conflicts, according to the Institution for Researc

Social Affairs April 6, 2011

Four lawmakers have retracted support for a proposed revision bill which would make it harder for law-breaking elected officials to lose their seats ― with others thought likely to follow. Last Friday, Grand National Party Rep. Kim Choong-whan, along with lawmakers from other parties, submitted a revision bill to raise the minimum requirements before elected officials could be stripped of their po

Politics April 5, 2011

Parties confirmed several candidates for the April 27 parliamentary by-elections Monday.The ruling Grand National Party announced the selection of Kang Jae-sup, the party’s former leader, as its candidate to run in the Bundang-B constituency in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Kang will compete against Sohn Hak-kyu, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party.“The party has decided, based on

Politics April 4, 2011

The penalty system has cut the number of false fire alarm calls made on April Fool’s Day, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.A total of 98 prank calls were made on last year’s April Fool’s Day, down from 475 in 2004, showed the agency’s data submitted to Rep. Yoon Seok-yong of the parliamentary health and welfare committee.The Fire Services Act was revised in 2004 to impose a ma

Social Affairs April 1, 2011

South Korea on Tuesday denied 14 citizens remaining in Libya further stay in the turmoil-laden nation, citing the lack of safety measures should the situation there worsen, the foreign ministry said.The decision came at an inter-agency meeting that the government convened to determine whether to allow those in Libya to continue to stay there after the government placed a travel ban on the country

National March 29, 2011