Kang Il-chul was only 16 when she was abducted by three Japanese military officers in her hometown of Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province. It was in 1943 in colonial Korea, and Kang had just returned home from school. Her parents weren’t home.　“They said, ‘Put on your shoes and come out,’ and I obeyed,” Kang said in an interview with local media outlets Monday. “I could not resist. Resisting against Japanese officers meant risking your life at the time. They could kill you at any moment.”　Kang’s

National Sept. 15, 2015

The Supreme Court on Sunday upheld a lower court’s six-year prison sentence for a day care owner who tried to sell a baby, born to an unwed, single mother, for illegal adoption online. 　　The woman, surnamed Kim, brought the baby girl to her center in July of last year, after the biological mother reportedly gave up custody of the child shortly after giving birth at a Busan-based hospital.　Soon after the infant arrived at her center in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, Kim tried to sell the child

Social Affairs Sept. 13, 2015

The South Korean government’s plan to charge households with full-time housewives for the currently free day care service should they utilize it for more than seven hours daily is stirring controversy nationwide, with some critics calling it misogynistic and discriminatory. 　“The government is discriminating against full-time housewives by doing this,” said Rep. Nam In-soon of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy. “Every mother, regardless of their employment status, should be

Social Affairs Sept. 13, 2015

South Korea’s economic rents are highly concentrated in a few large family-run conglomerates while its national income distribution appears to be significantly unequal, according to the latest report of the World Economic Forum.　The report used the Gini index, which measures income inequality within a range of zero to 100, where a value of 100 represents perfect inequality. Korea’s post-transfer Gini index -- the income inequality rate after social security transfers have been made -- marked 30.

Social Affairs Sept. 10, 2015

Health Ministers from four countries, including Korea, Wednesday announced 11 global health security action packages to better prevent and respond to infectious diseases threats worldwide at the Global Health Security Agenda High-Level Meeting held in Seoul. The other ministers were from the U.S., Finland and Indonesia. 　The event, attended by public health authorities from 47 countries as well as the World Health Organization, was held about a month after Korea announced the de facto end to its

National Sept. 9, 2015

Thomas Frieden, the director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S., stressed the importance of timely and transparent information release when dealing with health emergencies during the Global Health Security Agenda Forum in Seoul on Monday.　“The CDC is one of the most trusted organizations in the country,” he told reporters. “And that’s because people know we are going to tell the truth even if it’s going to make them feel uncomfortable. They know that we will provide all th

Social Affairs Sept. 8, 2015

More than half of ethnic Korean women in China have had an abortion at least once, while the population of ethnic Koreans in general continues to decline, a Chinese study showed.　The study, written by Choi Seon-hyang from Qingdao Huanghai School, surveyed a total of 161 ethnic Korean women living across China. Almost 80 percent of them attended post-secondary education, and the largest number of them were either schoolteachers or university professors. 　Her study found that 55.6 percent of the s

Social Affairs Sept. 7, 2015

In May, the discovery of a young woman’s body packed into a suitcase buried under cement in the hills in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, left South Korea in shock and horror. 　The 26-year-old, surnamed Kim, was murdered by her 24-year-old boyfriend, who allegedly killed her while drunk after she tried to break up with him. The boyfriend, only identified by his surname Lee, impersonated Kim on social media for two weeks after killing her and disposing of her body.　According to Rep. Jeong Yon

Social Affairs Sept. 6, 2015

The Education Ministry’s controversial guidelines on sex education, which have been heavily criticized for its sexism and bias since being issued last month, were coauthored by nursing and public health professionals without any input from humanities experts, a ruling party lawmaker’s office revealed Sunday. 　According to Rep. Jasmine Lee of the ruling Saenuri Party, the national standard on sex education, which cost the government 600 million won ($499,000), was cowritten by a total of 19 indiv

Social Affairs Sept. 6, 2015

South Korean researchers’ latest findings on Alzheimer’s disease patients may provide a new, efficient method for early diagnosis of the mental illness, the nation’s Health Ministry announced Thursday.　The research, organized by the Korea National Institute of Health, discovered that elderly Alzheimer’s disease patients had larger amount of a specific family of small proteins, named SUMO1, in their blood, compared to healthy elderly Koreans. It researched a total of 80 elderly Alzheimer’s diseas

Social Affairs Sept. 3, 2015

South Korea’s Health Ministry is revising its guidelines for in vitro fertilization, discouraging medical professionals from transferring more than three embryos in a single procedure to prevent possible adverse birth outcomes and unwanted multiple births. 　Until now, the guidelines had stated that transferring as many as five embryos per IVF cycle was encouraged to maximize a patient’s chances of becoming pregnant. 　However, both overseas and local studies have shown that transferring multiple

Social Affairs Sept. 2, 2015

Samsung Medical Center, a top hospital known as the largest infection source of the recent Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak, vowed Wednesday to invest 100 billion won ($84.7 million) to revamp its emergency facilities and come up with vaccines for the virus as part of its post-MERS plan.　Ninety-one people were reported to have contracted the virus at the hospital in Seoul, accounting for 49 percent of all confirmed cases in the country. Most of the patients were infected at the hospital

Social Affairs Sept. 2, 2015

All general hospitals with 300 or more patient beds in South Korea will be required to establish negative air pressure rooms to prevent cross-contamination, Seoul announced on Tuesday as part of its post-Middle East respiratory syndrome plan to better deal with contagious diseases.　The Ministry of Health and Welfare also announced that the head of Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention will be appointed as the ministry’s joint vice minister to strengthen public health sector, and establ

Social Affairs Sept. 1, 2015