The Korea Herald

Depression on the rise in Korea

The number of people struggling with depression increases every year, with women and the elderly suffering the most, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service said Tuesday. According to its report to Rep. Joo Seung-yong of the Democratic Party, 1,485 per 100,000 females and 637 per 100,000

Technology Sept. 22, 2011

Lee calls for N. Korea to denuclearize

NEW YORK (Yonhap News) ― South Korean President Lee Myung-bak urged North Korea on Tuesday to give up its nuclear programs, saying denuclearization is a key first step toward eventual unification of the two divided states.Lee made the appeal during a speech after receiving a global leadership award

Foreign Affairs Sept. 21, 2011

Korean to lead Ethiopian university

A retired professor of Seoul National University has been appointed president of Adama Science and Technology University in Ethiopia, making him the first South Korean university president in Africa. Lee Jang-gyu, 65, former professor of electrical engineering, is expected to begin his five-year ter

Technology Sept. 20, 2011

NIS detains N. Korean defector for assassination plot

South Korea’s spy agency has detained a North Korean defector for an alleged assassination attempt against a fellow defector acting as an anti-North Korean activist, an intelligence official said Friday.The suspect, identified by his last name Ahn in his 40s, was taken into custody for plotting to k

North Korea Sept. 16, 2011

S. Korea, Colombia commit to concluding trade fact this year

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos pledged Thursday to significantly boost relations between the two countries and seek an early conclusion of a free trade agreement.The leaders agreed during summit talks in Seoul to upgrade their half-century-old relatio

Foreign Affairs Sept. 15, 2011

U.S. spy plane to begin flights near DMZ

The U.S. is poised to start flying a spy plane near the Demilitarized Zone to acquire further intelligence on North Korea, a report said.In an article dated Monday, the Stars and Stripes, a U.S. military newspaper, quoted U.S. Air Force officials as saying the U.S. was negotiating with South Korea t

Defense Sept. 15, 2011

Military to assign more women to combat duties

The military will place female officers in more combat duties that have so far been closed to them, a senior official said Thursday.Boo Jae-won, head of the personnel planning bureau at the defense ministry, said 12 combat branches will be open to female soldiers from 2012 to 2014.“We will open up a

Defense Sept. 15, 2011

Blue House to crack down on civil service sleaze

The presidential office has drawn up a list of unethical practices considered common in bureaucracy, such as personal use of official credit cards, and sent it to ministries and agencies as part of efforts to tighten discipline in officialdom, an official said Wednesday.“There are practices that min

Politics Sept. 14, 2011

U.S. group renews push for Korean War museum in N.Y.

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― A group of American scholars and dignitaries said Tuesday that they will launch a fresh campaign this week to boost the slow-moving efforts to construct the first formal Korean War museum in the United States.Dozens of former U.S. ambassadors to Seoul, scholars and others

Foreign Affairs Sept. 14, 2011

Sherman says ‘carrots and sticks’ needed in U.S. foreign policy

WASHINGTON (Yonhap News) ― Wendy Sherman, nominated to become the State Department’s third highest-ranking official, on Wednesday emphasized that the U.S. should use the full range of foreign policy tools including a variety of “sticks and carrots” in dealing with North Korea’s nuclear program and o

Foreign Affairs Sept. 8, 2011

N. Korean dropout rate falls in S. Korean schools

The dropout rate of North Korean defectors in South Korean schools has gradually declined over the last few years, an education institute said Thursday, a sign that efforts to help support North Korean students paid off.The dropout rate for North Korean students in primary, middle and high schools s

North Korea Sept. 8, 2011

Opposition leader calls for change in labor policy

An opposition leader Thursday called on the government to focus its economic policies on improving working conditions and creating more jobs as part of efforts to move toward a welfare state. “To become a fair welfare state, (the government) should change the policy focus to make a people-centered e

Politics Sept. 8, 2011

Do you want to sleep well?

“Boys and girls, it’s time to go to bed.” When I was a boy, everyday this message came from the television or radio just before 9 p.m. I thought of it as a signal for the end of the day and would go to bed. I knew nothing about the world after that time. The 9 to 6 sleep schedule was considered the

Technology Sept. 8, 2011

Colombian president to make state visit next week

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos will visit South Korea next week for summit talks with President Lee Myung-bak on economic cooperation and other issues, the presidential office announced Wednesday.Santos will arrive on Sept. 14 for a three-day state visit that will also include a visit to the

Politics Sept. 7, 2011

Seismic study points to explosion as cause of Cheonan ship sinking

An artificial seismic event that occurred at the time of the sinking of the Cheonan last year indicates that an explosion was the cause of the disaster, a study showed Wednesday.Hong Tae-kyung, a South Korean professor at Yonsei University, wrote in a recent paper that a tremor of 1.5 magnitude occu

Defense Sept. 7, 2011

Articles by Chun Sung-woo