The Korea Herald

[From the scene] Voices from the street

People from all walks of life came to central Seoul to participate in Saturday's protest against Park Geun-hye's presidency, from unionized workers to religious leaders, high-school students and parents with children. Here is what they told The Korea Herald about why they came to protest, and how they felt about the Choi Soon-sil scandal. -- Ed.High school students hold hand signs reading, "Step down, President" and "Searching for the lost seven hours" in Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul on Sat

Social Affairs Nov. 13, 2016

[From the scene] Up to 1 million rally to demand Park’s ouster

In the largest anti-government rally in decades, up to 1 million South Koreans took to the streets in central Seoul on Saturday, demanding President Park Geun-hye’s resignation over a scandal involving her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil. From City Hall through Gwanghwamun Square to Anguk station, protestors packed the boulevards just hundreds of meters from Park’s presidential residence of Cheong Wa Dae, turning the area into a vast sea of candlelight in the evening. Organizers said over 1 mi

Social Affairs Nov. 12, 2016

[From the scene] Up to 1 million rally to demand Park’s ouster

Saturday’s protest to be watershed moment for Park

Cheong Wa Dae, rival political forces and the police on Friday braced themselves for the massive anti-government rally to be held Saturday in Seoul, which observers say could be a watershed moment for the beleaguered President Park Geun-hye in the Choi Soon-sil fiasco. Thousands of chartered buses are expected to take residents from other parts of the Korean Peninsula to the rally, which is expected to be the largest candlelight vigil ever to be held in local history.As many as 1 million people

Social Affairs Nov. 11, 2016

Saturday’s protest to be watershed moment for Park

Prosecution focuses on probing companies in Choi scandal

The prosecution appears to be focusing on whether local firms were coerced into funding nonprofit foundations in return for favors, accelerating a probe into the scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil. Out of the 53 local companies that gave a combined 77.4 billion won ($66.5 million) in donations to the Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation, Kwon Oh-joon, CEO of the nation’s No. 1 steelmaker Posco, was the first to undergo questioning. Kwon was set to be gri

Social Affairs Nov. 11, 2016

Prosecution focuses on probing companies in Choi scandal

UNSC negotiations being protracted amid Sino-US rivalry, political uncertainties in US

Negotiations at the UN Security Council over a new sanctions resolution on North Korea are being drawn out with no signs of an imminent breakthrough nearly two months after Pyongyang‘s fifth nuclear test.Analysts said that the delay appears to be in part because of political uncertainties in the United States, which will hold a presidential election this week, and a strategic rivalry between the US and China.Following Pyongyang’s Sept. 9 nuclear test, the most powerful one to date, the US, with

Diplomatic Circuit Nov. 6, 2016

‘Park should own up’

A crisis of leadership is engulfing South Korea as a scandal unravels indicating President Park Geun-hye may have let her civilian friend meddle in state affairs. The following are excerpts from The Korea Herald’s telephone interviews with five political experts on the Choi Soon-sil scandal and what the country should do to move ahead.The Korea Herald: What should President Park do to best address the current situation? Yang Seung-ham, professor of politics at Yonsei University: The president sh

Politics Nov. 1, 2016

Choi will return, cooperate with probe: attorney

With a prosecutorial investigation closing in, Choi Soon-sil’s lawyer told reporters Friday that his client is willing to return to Korea from Germany for questioning upon the request of the authorities. Choi -- President Park Geun-hye’s old friend and daughter of her late mentor Choi Tae-min -- has no intention of evading justice and is sorry for the confusion that the incident has caused, said attorney Lee Gyeong-jae. 　Prosecutors continued to question individuals about the allegations that Ch

Social Affairs Oct. 28, 2016

[Weekender] Halloween, a headache for some

Lee Suk-hee does not know much about Halloween, but last Sunday she found herself buying her first Halloween costume for her daughter.“I don’t really know what Halloween is,” she told The Korea Herald while browsing through rows of Batman, Snow White and witch costumes at a discount store in Yongsan, central Seoul. “It is my first time buying these clothes because my daughter’s kindergarten announced that they will have a Halloween party,” said Lee, who asked for her name to be changed to preser

Social Affairs Oct. 28, 2016

[Weekender] Halloween, a headache for some

Big anti-Park rally expected Saturday

Civic organizations, student groups and labor unions will hold a joint rally in Seoul on Saturday, calling for President Park Geun-hye‘s resignation. Over 200,000 are expected to gather near Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul at 6 p.m., according to local media. This is the first large-scale anti-government rally since news broke that Choi Soon-sil, a confidante of President Park, meddled in state affairs. Political parties as well as the presidential office are expected to pay keen attention t

Social Affairs Oct. 28, 2016

Choi hiding overseas

Choi Soon-sil, the mysterious woman who has supposedly been the “real power behind the throne” in South Korea’s presidential office, is believed to be hiding overseas, with multiple media reports suggesting that she had stayed in a small German city until recently. According to media outlets that dispatched investigative teams to the European country, Choi had since last year lived in a rural town near Frankfurt called Schmitten with her horseback rider daughter training at an equestrian center

Politics Oct. 26, 2016

Nexen beats LG to even baseball postseason series

The Nexen Heroes beat the LG Twins 5-1 to even their Korea Baseball Organization postseason series on Friday.Starter Andy Van Hekken gave up just one run over 7 2/3 innings, and light-hitting outfielder Lim Byeong-uk blasted his first career postseason home run at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul. The clubs are now tied at 1-1, as the best-of-five first round series moves to LG's home, Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, for Game 3 at 2 p.m. Sunday.After getting blanked 7-0 Thursday, the Heroes scored their first

Baseball Oct. 14, 2016

NK urges Britain to cancel military drill with S. Korea, US

North Korea pressed Britain Friday to cancel its plan to conduct its first joint air operations drill next month with South Korea and the United States, condemning it as a hostile act."This is a never-to-be pardoned serious challenge to peace and security," an unidentified spokesman for the North's Foreign Ministry said in comments carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.Britain should "immediately withdraw its decision to take part in the military drills for aggression."He al

North Korea Oct. 14, 2016

Tottenham's Son Heung-min named top Premier Leaguer for Sept.

Tottenham Hotspur's South Korean star Son Heung-min was named the Premier League's Player of the Month for September on Friday, becoming the first Asian winner of the honors.The league announced on its website that Son beat out Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne, Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana, Everton striker Romelu Lukaku and Arsenal's Theo Walcott. (Yonhap)Son scored four goals and set up another as the Spurs won all three matches in September. He netted four goals all of last season, his f

Soccer Oct. 14, 2016

Tottenham's Son Heung-min named top Premier Leaguer for Sept.

Beijing to merge chemicals giants: Bloomberg

BEIJING (AFP) -- Beijing is planning a mega-merger of chemicals giants Sinochem and China National Chemical Corp. in a massive deal that would reshape the chemicals industry, Bloomberg News reported Friday. The companies together would control assets worth more than $100 billion, it said. The deal comes as authorities attempt a vast restructuring of China's economy intended to weed out inefficient, debt-saddled firms by forcing them to combine with healthier rivals or face bankruptcy.But the tra

World News Oct. 14, 2016

East Sea labeled ‘Sea of Japan’ in int’l school textbooks

Over 70 percent of the textbooks used at international schools here labeled the East Sea -- the body of water between South Korea and Japan -- as the “Sea of Japan,” research showed Friday, leading the government to start a correction campaign. The Ministry of Education conducted a survey of the textbooks used at 47 international and foreign schools in the country from Aug. 16 to Sept. 2 and found that 24 of 33 textbooks had used only the term Sea of Japan. The nine others had both terms written

Social Affairs Oct. 14, 2016

East Sea labeled ‘Sea of Japan’ in int’l school textbooks

Articles by 조혜림