Workers are expected to decide Tuesday whether to return to the trilateral negotiations on labor market reforms, with the government offering to mediate the long-stalled talks.　The three-way talks among labor, management and government had stalled, with the nation’s biggest trade union strongly protesting the plans to curb regulations to lay off underperforming regular workers and give employers more discretion to change recruitment guidelines without labor unions’ approval. 　 (Yonhap)The govern

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2015

A South Korean man set himself on fire outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul Wednesday during a demonstration to demand an apology from Japan for forcing women into sex slavery during World War II.　The incident took place at around 12:40 p.m. when the 81-year-old man, only identified by his surname Choi, set himself on fire during a weekly demonstration in front of the embassy attended by about 1,000 people.  A South Korean man, surnamed Choi, is taken to a nearby hospital after setting himself

Social Affairs Aug. 12, 2015

A South Korean appeals court Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling and cleared a Sri Lankan of charges that he robbed and raped an 18-year-old Korean girl in 1998. 　The Daegu High Court found the 49-year-old not guilty of robbery and rape charges, citing lack of evidence, in the case investigated 13 years after the crime was committed. 　“The testimonies made by eyewitnesses have many contradictory points, making them not valuable as evidence,” the court said. 　 The Sri Lankan man charged with robb

Social Affairs Aug. 11, 2015

Kim Dae-hwan, who had offered to resign as head of a tripartite committee of government, labor and management, said Friday that he would return to his post to resume stalled talks on labor market reform. 　“I will resume my role as head of the tripartite committee today,” he said in a press briefing held at a government complex in Seoul. “I will meet representatives from labor, management and government as soon as possible to resume the stalled dialogue.”　　Kim Dae-hwan, a triartite committee of g

Social Affairs Aug. 7, 2015

About 1 in 7 workers in South Korea is paid the legal minimum wage or less, the highest rate among OECD member countries, a recent study showed. 　According to the annual employment outlook by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, nearly 15 percent of the Korean salaried workers were paid the minimum wage or less as of 2013, more than double the average rate of 5.5 percent among the surveyed 21 countries.　 (Yonhap)The proportion for below-minimum wage workers in Korea was the

Social Affairs Aug. 3, 2015

Two in three men suffering from erectile dysfunction in South Korea have taken counterfeit impotence pills, with those in their 20s being the biggest customers, a study showed Sunday. 　All the pills illegally being sold online and off-line without a prescription as of May were counterfeit and not confirmed to be safe, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.　(Yonhap)According to a poll of 1,500 men who have taken medication to treat their erectile dysfunction, 1,015 people, or 67.7 per

Social Affairs Aug. 2, 2015

South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled constitutional an election law that requires its citizens to use their real names when posting political comments on Internet forums during campaign periods. 　The court ruled in favor of the law, saying the rule was necessary to prevent “distortion of information” and ensure “fairness” in elections. 　Of the panel of nine judges, five voted in favor of the law, while four deemed it as unconstitutional. 　 (Yonhap)Under the current Public Officia

Social Affairs July 30, 2015

Seoul city announced Wednesday the launch of a premium taxi-hailing service in October as a pilot measure toward legalizing such a service and as an alternative to popular yet illegal reserved cab services such as Uber.　The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would put 30 taxis into a trial operation in partnership with HIGH&, a taxi operator jointly invested in by the municipality and Seoul Taxi Association. Some 50 drivers will be recruited through HIGH& to drive the selected cabs. 　The vehi

Social Affairs July 29, 2015

Prosecutors on Wednesday detained a man for allegedly signing up on a shady deal to help Cho Hyun-ah, former vice president of Korean Air, receive special treatment during her stay in prison.　The Seoul Southern Prosecutors’ Office detained the 51-year-old man, surnamed Yeom, charging him with illegally securing a deal to do business for Hanjin rental car service in exchange for helping Cho, also known as Heather Cho, to receive preferential treatment as she served out her sentence, officials sai

Social Affairs July 29, 2015

When South Korea’s highest court last week banned the long-held practice of paying contingency fees to advocates in criminal cases, a large section of the lawyers’ community fiercely protested the decision, while civic groups hailed it as a catalyst in eradicating corruption in the legal field. 　The Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling last Thursday that results-based financial incentives for lawyers in criminal cases are illegal, invalidating contingency fee arrangements in the nation an

Social Affairs July 28, 2015

Robyn Lippert, wife of U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert, is well-known here as “Sejun’s mom,” one of the great examples of her having earned the hearts of South Koreans enthralled by the dedication the couple has shown to fit in.　Since arriving in Seoul pregnant last year, she has been playing a crucial part in her husband’s people-to-people diplomacy, setting her image as humble and open-minded -- a far cry from what many have seen through local magazines depicting the elegant lives of foreign envo

Foreign Affairs July 24, 2015

With no additional reports of a possible infection of Middle East respiratory syndrome, South Korea has only one suspected patient still under quarantine Friday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said. 　The number of patients diagnosed with MERS remains unchanged at 186 as the country reported no fresh cases of the disease for the 19th consecutive day.  (Yonhap)The last person in isolation will be released at midnight next Monday if he shows no symptoms of MERS until the day, the ministry said.

Social Affairs July 24, 2015