Almost half of Koreans think that lifting business hour limits is a timely decision, as the country takes its first steps in the direction of “living with COVID-19” this week, a poll showed Monday. According to Realmeter’s poll of 500 people aged 18 and older nationwide, 47.5 percent of respondents said health authorities’ decision to ease restrictions on operating hours comes at the right time, whereas 26.1 percent said it is still too early and 21.8 percent said it is

Social Affairs Nov. 1, 2021

A well-known Korean saying goes, “There is no superiority or inferiority in a job.” That means all jobs are equally valuable and honorable, so no one should be treated differently based on how they make their living. In today’s South Korea, however, the saying appears to hold little weight. According to a 2016 survey conducted by job-searching website Saramin, more than half of all respondents said they thought there were superior and inferior jobs. When asked why, the majori

Social Affairs Nov. 1, 2021

Despite a recent resurgence in the number of daily COVID-19 infections, Korea is taking its first step in return to normalcy from Monday with its "living with COVID" strategy. The government on Friday revealed the roadmap to ease social distancing measures in three phases with each of them slated to take four to six weeks. According to the health authorities’ plan, the first phase of changes is mainly focused on lifting restrictions for businesses that suffered from operating

Social Affairs Oct. 31, 2021

Hanshin University has established Korea’s first graduate school of interdisciplinary convergence for esports. The school on Monday said in a press release that students will be granted a Master of Science degree upon finishing the program of esports convergence, which will open from the spring semester next year. The courses for esports convergence will be led by professors from the departments of software convergence, computer engineering and public service as well as the colleges of

Social Affairs Oct. 28, 2021

More than 3 in 10 Koreans drink tap water or boil it before drinking, a survey showed Wednesday. According to the Environment Ministry’s survey on people’s tap water consumption, 36 percent of the respondents said they drink water straight from the tap or boil it before drinking. The Environment Ministry conducted the first tap water drinking habit survey from April to June under the revised Water Supply and Waterworks Installation Act, which was amended in October last year. The

Social Affairs Oct. 27, 2021

More than 80,000 crimes by romantic partners were reported in the past five years, with the numbers showing an upward trend, data showed Monday. Of the 81,056 reports, 61,133 involved violent crimes such as murder, sexual assault, other assault, battery or criminal intimidation, according to the data submitted by the National Police Agency to Rep. Yang Ki-dae of the ruling Democratic Party. There were 227 murder reports involving romantic partners during the five-year period. According to the

Social Affairs Oct. 25, 2021

South Korean authorities’ overzealous approach to the COVID-19 response regarding foreigners has raised concerns about discrimination and xenophobia. “When a Korean person catches COVID-19, people in the area are notified that someone has been infected. The alert goes right to their phone. When someone who isn’t Korean catches COVID-19, that same message suddenly is amended to state the nationality of the infected person. Why is it important to know the person’s nationa

Social Affairs Oct. 25, 2021

Easing quarantine measures should be centered around fully vaccinated people in the initial stages of returning to normalcy, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday. “While expanding the scope of recovery for daily life, we will try to find a balancing point that can stably manage quarantine,” Kim said in the meeting of the government-private sector committee to draft a road map to normalcy. “Vaccination greatly impacts infection prevention and reduces severity and mortalit

Social Affairs Oct. 22, 2021

More than 150 cases of sexual harassment and violence against teachers were reported in the first half, as the number of cases rebounded and continued an upward trend that had existed before the pandemic, data showed Tuesday. Of the 1,215 cases concerning infringement of teachers’ rights reported from the first six months of 2021, 118 fell under the category of actions that cause sexual humiliation or disgust while 33 were sexual crimes against teachers, according to the data submitted by

Social Affairs Oct. 19, 2021

Norbert Kurilla, advisor to the President of the Slovak Republic, discussed ways for future collaboration and exchange efforts with Seoul’s Sejong University during a recent visit to Korea. Kurilla met with Sejong University’s dean of the Graduate School of Public Policy on October 8, the school said Monday. As there are numerous Korean companies in Slovakia, the school said Kurilla expressed interest in expanding cooperation and networking between the two countries. The Slovak

Social Affairs Oct. 18, 2021

The Supreme Court on Sunday overturned a lower court’s ruling that a foreign woman who married a Korean man and later divorced could not have child custody due to a lack of Korean language communication skills. The nation’s highest court said that it partially reversed and remanded the case to the Jeonju District Court after the lower court previously ruled in favor of the Korean husband and gave him parental rights over the Vietnamese wife in a divorce and child custody case. Acc

Social Affairs Oct. 17, 2021

Temperatures dropped sharply across the country over the weekend as cold wave alerts were issued for most regions. The Korea Meteorological Administration said Sunday’s morning lows dropped below 5 degrees Celsius nationwide with many regions marking the coldest weather of the year. Seoul saw its first ice of the year Sunday, a week earlier than the last year and 17 days earlier than the average, according to the KMA. The capital city’s Sunday morning low recorded 1.3 degrees C

Social Affairs Oct. 17, 2021

Over 60 percent of sex crime support centers are headed by those with no expertise in the field, the main opposition People Power Party’s Rep. Kim Byong-wook said, citing Ministry of Education data. Of the 304 universities operating a support center for sexual violence, the lawmaker’s office on Tuesday said 185 were found to be led by people who did not major in subjects related to sexual damage consultation. According to the data, the largest number of universities’ suppor

Social Affairs Oct. 12, 2021

The government raised its goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030, the presidential carbon neutrality committee said Friday. The previous goal was to decrease the level of greenhouse gas emissions by 26.3 percent from 2018 output. The country produced 727.6 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2018. The goal now is to reduce the figure to 436.6 million tons. The move is a follow-up to the carbon neutrality act that was legislated last month, the committee said, a

Social Affairs Oct. 8, 2021

In June, former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl stormed the political landscape as he announced his bid to run for the presidential campaign. Since then, polls have repeatedly picked him as one of the front-runners among all presidential contenders both from his People Power Party and the opposite Democratic Party. Yoon has continuously put himself at the center of attention with his controversial comments. His latest lapse came during People Power Party’s televised debate hosted by lo

Politics Oct. 6, 2021