Despite the government being on the highest alert, more suspected cases of bird flu were found in South Korea on Wednesday, raising the specter of another massive outbreak of the virus in just two months. “It looks like a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus is becoming an indigenous animal epidemic here. The government must devise fundamental measures,” Rep. Lee Kai-ho, a member of President Moon Jae-in‘s de facto transition team, said during a briefing by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food a

Social Affairs June 7, 2017

Kang Kyung-wha, nominated to become South Korea’s first female foreign minister, is considered the embodiment of an “alpha female,” with a resume that includes time as a special policy adviser to the United Nations secretary-general.Still, the country’s most prominent female diplomat faces an uphill confirmation battle. Opposition lawmakers are determined to grill the 62-year-old nominee over allegations of wrongdoing at a hearing Wednesday.  (Yonhap)Even before the parliamentary process opened

Politics June 6, 2017

A Seoul court said Monday that a group of foreign teachers employed by a private language institute here were entitled to receive severance benefits that their employer refused to pay because it considered them to be independent contract workers. The Seoul Central District Court partially ruled in favor of five English teachers who filed a suit in September 2015 against their former employer, a private language education chain in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province which refused to acknowledge them as regu

Social Affairs June 5, 2017

As the new administration’s government reorganization plans take shape, South Korea’s Ministry of Public Safety and Security is facing a shutdown, three years after its establishment in 2014.The plans would see the Ministry of Interior absorbing the Public Safety Ministry’s role as the country’s disaster response control tower.Ministry of Public Safety and Security (Yonhap)The Moon Jae-in administration is scheduled to hold its first high-level meeting with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea o

Politics June 2, 2017

Seventeen years ago in mid-June, Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il, then-leaders of the divided Koreas, shook hands at the first inter-Korean summit aimed towards peaceful reunification. On Wednesday, South Korea approved a local civic group to contact North Korea hoping to reinitiate a joint event honoring the historic meeting, for the first time in nine years. The Ministry of Unification’s approval of the June 15 South Korean Committee contacting its North Korean counterpart follows a permit last w

North Korea June 1, 2017

Moon Jae-in’s pick for prime minister is likely to pass the parliamentary confirmation vote on Wednesday, but the prospects for other position nominees are becoming increasingly unclear. Among them is Foreign Minister candidate Kang Kyung-wha. The National Assembly is poised to clear Lee Nak-yon’s appointment for the nation’s No. 2 job when it holds a plenary vote at 2 p.m. Wednesday. Over a majority of the current 299-member parliament is expected to cast a vote in favor of Lee, while some 120

Politics May 30, 2017

South Korean firms that operated factories at the inter-Korean industrial complex will receive full compensation for their losses from the previous government’s decision to halt its operation, said the Ministry of Unification on Sunday. “The government has decided to provide additional compensation to the local companies that were financially damaged by the shutdown of the Kaesong Industrial Complex,” a ministry official was quoted as saying by the local media. “The full compensation plan will b

North Korea May 28, 2017

 A defining cold case that left a bloody stain in South Korean history is the Hwaseong murders -- a series of rapes and murders that happened in the late 1980s, when the country did not even have a lab capable of DNA analysis. “The Hwaseong killings is the most devastating cold case South Korea has failed to solve,” said Kwon Il-yong, considered South Korea’s first criminal profiler. “I wish I was a part of its investigative process, so I could have solved it.” Police authorities investigating t

Social Affairs May 26, 2017

A defining cold case that left a bloody stain in South Korean history is a series of rapes and murders that happened in the late 1980s, when the country did not even have a lab capable of DNA analysis. “The Hwaseong killings is the most devastating cold case South Korea has failed to solve,” said Kwon Il-yong, who is considered South Korea’s first criminal profiler. “I wish I was a part of its investigative process, so I could have solved it.”Between 1986 and 1991 in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province,

Social Affairs May 26, 2017

While many are keen to find out how President Moon Jae-in’s new “diplomatic approach” to North Korea will take shape, his foreign minister nominee is drawing attention for her hair color. Kang Kyung-wha, a 62-year-old career diplomat set to become the first female foreign minister, arrived Thursday at Incheon Airport with her silver hair perfectly in shape. She was returning here from New York, where she served as a special policy adviser to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. For

Foreign Affairs May 25, 2017

President Moon Jae-in on Friday picked Kim Yi-su for the post of president of the Constitutional Court. Kim is currently serving as the acting chief justice of the Constitutional Court. “I have decided to name Kim Yi-su to the position which has been void for four months now because of ongoing concerns over the prolonged absence,” said Moon.“Kim has been lending his ears to different people in society and he is apt for the position with his experience as a constitutional court member.”Kim Yi-su,

Politics May 19, 2017

The ruling and opposition parties are clashing over a move to subject the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system to parliamentary ratification. The floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea revealed the party would back Cheong Wa Dae’s possible push to delay the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense deployment in interviews with local media. The party currently holds 120 seats in the 299-seat parliament.A THAAD launcher installed at a golf course in Seongju, southeast of Seoul.

Politics May 19, 2017

Faculty members of a Korean medicine college in Seoul were arrested on allegations of selling confidential lab test data to students preparing dissertations for master’s and Ph.D. degrees, according to police on Tuesday.(Courtesy of Yongin Dongbu Police Station)The unnamed suspects, a 59-year-old professor and 40-year-old assistant professor, are accused of making illicit proceeds of about 750 million won ($670,000) since 2012 by providing personally analyzed lab results to paying students and a

Social Affairs May 17, 2017

United Nations Human Settlements Program, also known as UN-Habitat, is jointly hosting a charity futsal, or 5-a-side soccer, match with a women’s university in Seoul to promote the agency’s goals on sustainable development, said Sungshin University on Tuesday. The event, dubbed the 2017 Youth Cup, was held Monday at a field in Eunpyeong, northwestern Seoul, organized and attended by students and faculty of the university’s Health & Wellness College. Sixteen teams formed of the 140 participants h

Social Affairs May 17, 2017

Police are investigating an online rape threat against minors posted on one of South Korea’s biggest online forums.According to police reports, an anonymous member posted the threat on DC Inside, indicating a sexual assault on a random child on Saturday. “I will kidnap and rape an elementary schooler heading to school early in the morning on May 18,” read the note, which is now deleted. “I don’t care if I die or rot in jail for years.”(123rf)Police plans to track the suspect down through the IP

Social Affairs May 15, 2017