Seoul City confirmed Wednesday its plan to construct a floating aerodrome on the Hangang River despite concerns about the safety of neighboring regions and planes.Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would push for constructing a floating aerodrome next year as part of its efforts to boost tourism and diversify the use of the river. The most likely location will be the southeastern section of the river, either between Seongsu Bridge and Yeongdong Bridge or between Cheongdam Bridge and Jamsil Br

Social Affairs Aug. 5, 2015

Patent lawsuits will be allowed in English in Korea as part of the top court’s efforts to better support the legal accessibility of foreigners, sources said Monday. According to the Supreme Court, the authorities agreed to establish an “international justice department” under the Patent Court as early as February next year. Under the new system, testimonies and pleas can be made in English, while documents and written evidence in English will be considered valid. The verdicts will also be availa

Social Affairs Aug. 3, 2015

A small yet powerful typhoon is expected to hit the Korean Peninsula over the weekend amid heavy seasonal rains, the weather agency said Friday. Typhoon Halola is anticipated to reach Jejudo Island on Sunday with a speed of 12 kilometers per hour and move to the east coast, including the southeastern port city of Busan, according to the Korea Meteorological Agency. As of Friday afternoon, the typhoon was moving northwest from 440 kilometers southeast of Okinawa, Japan. “The typhoon is moving mor

Social Affairs July 24, 2015

In the first hearing held Wednesday for a high-profile graft scandal involving a late business tycoon, former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo was not present, but his legal representatives there strongly denied his charges of allegedly receiving bribes.Questioned as to whether Lee also denies the fact that he had met the late businessman, however, Lee’s attorneys refused to answer, saying that they would reply in the next hearing. The hearing took place at Seoul Central District Court, over three mon

Social Affairs July 22, 2015

The number of foreign visitors plummeted by over 40 percent last month due largely to the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak, data showed Tuesday. According to the state-run Korea Tourism Organization, about 760,000 foreign tourists visited the country in June, down by 41 percent on-year. By nationality, the number Chinese dropped by 45 percent to some 310,000 and Japanese by 41.5 percent to about 100,000. China and Japan make up the largest share of visitors.  About 30,000 Philippine and

Social Affairs July 21, 2015

A local bank in southern Seoul was robbed by a man who threatened customers and workers there with “a gun-like object,” police said Monday. A man, who is assumed to be in his 30s, robbed about 24 million won ($21,000) from a branch of the Korean Federation of Community Credit Cooperatives in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, at around noon, the authorities said.　The suspect, covering his face with a helmet, took a male customer hostage and threatened a teller to hand him money. He then put the money in

Social Affairs July 20, 2015

Over 60 people were indicted in the government’s all-out probe into corruption of arms procurement projects since last year, investigators said Wednesday. The government’s special joint investigation team said 63 officials, including 38 former and incumbent military officers, would face trials over allegations of fabricating documents or taking kickbacks while they were handling defense projects. The scale of the corruption was nearly 1 trillion won ($870 million), they said. The announcement ca

Social Affairs July 15, 2015

The number of foreign residents on Jejudo Island has been surging by over 20 percent annually in recent years, data showed Tuesday.According to the Jeju Provincial Government, more than 19,000 foreigners lived on the island as of January, jumping by 28 percent on-year. The figure accounts for 3.3 percent of the total regional population. The foreign population has been on the rise since 2009 with an average growth rate of 21.9 percent. By nationality, Chinese made up the largest share with 47.6

Social Affairs July 14, 2015

A Seoul lower court Tuesday fined a woman for harassing her female subordinate in a rare ruling here acknowledging same-sex sexual harassment. The Seoul Central District Court ruled that a woman, whose information was withheld, should pay 5 million won ($4,400) to her former junior female staffer as she breached the human dignity of the victim by making sexual jokes. The defendant was accused of sexually harassing the employee by asking “What did you do last night with a guy?” after seeing an at

Social Affairs July 14, 2015

Medical doctors Friday expressed their frustrations to family members of the Middle East respiratory syndrome victims who have been filing a string of lawsuits, saying that they did their best to contain the virus.At a parliamentary committee meeting on MERS, directors of the virus-hit hospitals testified that they also felt disappointed over the growing public criticism questioning their MERS containment efforts.“To be honest, I feel devastated,” said Park Chang-il, the director of Konyang Univ

Social Affairs July 10, 2015

Seoul City vowed Thursday to put its utmost efforts into revitalizing the tourism industry that was hit by the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would inject over 23 billion won ($20 million) to boost the tourism industry until this fall, with a particular goal of attracting Chinese visitors, who account for the majority of Korea’s tourists.Under the slogan of “Now is the time, Visit Seoul,” the city will arrange various tourist events here unti

Social Affairs July 9, 2015