Nearly 10 percent of foreign students studying in Korea were found to be in the country illegally, a lawmaker’s report showed Thursday.According to Rep. Kim Tae-nyeon who obtained the Justice Ministry’s data, 8.1 percent of over 86,000 foreign students here stayed here illegally last year. Of them, 651 were studying in Korea’s top 28 universities. He also accused universities of recklessly recruiting foreign students for financial gain, and argued that they provided insufficient supervision afte

Social Affairs Oct. 8, 2015

A Chinese diver was injured following an underwater explosion while working for the Sewol ferry recovery operation off the southwest coast of the country, officials said Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the 43-year-old Chinese diver fainted when a sudden blast took place in the nose of the 6,825-ton ship on Monday evening while he was participating in a propeller-cutting operation. The diver was immediately pulled to the surface by a colleague and moved to the hospital

Social Affairs Oct. 6, 2015

The computer server of one of Seoul City’s subway operators was found to have been hacked last year, allegedly by North Korea, though little damage has been confirmed, officials said Monday. According to Saenuri Party Rep. Ha Tae-keung quoting the National Intelligence Service’s report, two servers in charge of managing the PCs of Seoul Metro were hacked in July last year, allowing unauthorized access to 213 company computers. Of them, 58 were found have to been infected with a malicious code, r

Social Affairs Oct. 5, 2015

Seoul City will be stepping up its monitoring of cab driver’s attire as part of its efforts to improve taxi service quality, officials said Monday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it plans to crack down on cab drivers who wear sleeveless shirts, short pants, sportswear, slippers or hats that cover the face. Under the current transportation rules, drivers must wear “decent” outfits or the attire designated by taxi companies. Seoul City had initially designated cab driver’s recommended atti

Social Affairs Oct. 5, 2015

A delegation of China's Communist Party will attend a ceremony marking the foundation of North Korea's Workers' Party, North Korean media reported Sunday, amid concerns Pyongyang may try to mark the key anniversary with actions that may very well be taken by the international community as provocations.In a short dispatch from Pyongyang, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said a Chinese delegation headed by Liu Yunshan, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the

North Korea Oct. 4, 2015

Korean wives spend nearly five times more of their day on housework than their spouses, a survey showed Thursday. According to a survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, women spent about 3 1/2 hours on daily housework on average, while men spent only 43 minutes last year, showing a 4.6-fold difference.For women, the housework time accounted for 41 percent of their daily duties -- hours they spend on obligatory activities such as career work or domestic affairs. The women’s duty ti

Social Affairs Sept. 24, 2015

When temperatures between day and night range by as much as 10 degrees Celsius, it doubles the risk of death, especially among those suffering from respiratory and circulatory diseases, an international study showed Tuesday.According to a joint study on 30 cities in four countries -- Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan, the death risk rose by 0.58 percent on average for every degree Celsius increase in the daily temperature range. The study, led by public health professor Kim Ho at Seoul National Uni

Social Affairs Sept. 22, 2015

Four members of a family were found dead at a child care center that the deceased wife had run on Jejudo Island in an apparent murder-suicide by the husband, police said Monday.A teacher working at the facility found the 52-year-old husband surnamed Ko dead on a staircase, apparently from a fall. Police who responded to calls later discovered the bodies of the 40-year-old wife surnamed Yang and two of Yang’s teenage children in their beds, Jeju police said. The wife and the children had been sta

Social Affairs Sept. 21, 2015

Seoul City’s annual street art festival will kick off next week featuring a host of international performances and civic-participant programs, officials said Monday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said the Hi Seoul Festival will offer over 50 global and local street performances, mobilizing stages and circuses from Oct. 1-4 in central Seoul. Under the theme “Let’s play on the street,” the event will include 10 international performances from six countries, including the U.K., France and Spain

Social Affairs Sept. 21, 2015

A local prison held a family reunion event for foreign prisoners ahead of the Chuseok holidays, officials said Sunday. Cheonan Correctional Institution in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, said that it offered a reunion opportunity for 27 foreign prisoners on Friday, Korea Correctional Service said. They included 16 Chinese, four Americans and others from six other countries.The reunions were aimed at supporting the psychological well-being of the prisoners who have been long separated from t

Social Affairs Sept. 20, 2015

A man suspected of killing a 35-year-old woman kidnapped her as part of a plan to murder a man for revenge, police said Sunday.An arrest warrant was issued Saturday against suspect Kim Il-gon on charges of kidnapping and strangling the victim to death in Asan, South Chungchoeng Province. He was detained Thursday in Seoul, eight days after he allegedly put her body in the trunk of a car and set it on fire.The police said the 48-year-old suspect kidnapped the victim to allure karaoke worker “A,” a

Social Affairs Sept. 20, 2015

The number of crimes that threaten flight safety has been on the rise in recent years, a lawmaker’s report showed Wednesday. According to Rep. Lee No-keun of the ruling Saenuri Party, over 40 cases in violation of the aviation safety regulations were caught last year, which was triple the figure of 2013. In-flight smoking was the most common violation, accounting for 80 percent. Most of them were caught while smoking in the restroom, the report said. By law, anyone smoking in the airplane can be

Social Affairs Sept. 9, 2015