Articles by Kim Arin
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Kim Arin
arin@heraldcorp.com-
More expert involvement urged at major emergencies after Itaewon disaster
Experts called for giving emergency doctors more authority and the government more responsibility at the scene of major disasters. Speaking at the parliamentary probe hearing into the Halloween disaster in Itaewon last year, emergency medicine professor Dr. Lee Kyung-won of Yonsei University said first responders should be supported by an expert at the scene. “Large public hospitals get aid from municipalities so they have their own disaster medical assistance team. But most hospitals can&
Politics Jan. 10, 2023
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Seoul prosecutors raid police in Halloween crowd disaster investigation
Seoul prosecutors on Tuesday raided police and municipal offices in an investigation into the Halloween tragedy in Itaewon, a neighborhood in the capital city’s central district of Yongsan. The searches took place at the headquarters of the Seoul Metropolitan Police, the district police and the office of Yongsan, prosecutors said. The prosecutors also searched the detention center where some of the key suspects are detained. Police on Nov. 1 set up an independent team to investigate the di
Social Affairs Jan. 10, 2023
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[Herald Interview] More in North Korea becoming disillusioned with regime: Tae
North Korea’s elite and younger generations are growing increasingly disillusioned with the Kim Jong-un regime, according to emigre-turned-assemblyman Rep. Tae Yong-ho. In recent interviews with The Korea Herald, Tae said the purging of former North Korean foreign affairs minister Ri Yong-ho would “instigate a further divide between Pyongyang’s elite and the leadership.” “The fall of Ri would estrange members of the North Korean elite further from Kim Jong-un,&rdquo
Politics Jan. 9, 2023
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‘Yoon factor’ hangs over race for ruling party leadership
With the party convention approaching, the race for a new leadership of the ruling People Power Party is heating up. President Yoon Suk Yeol is unlikely to issue a public endorsement, but contenders’ closeness with the president is considered a major factor that can sway the outcome. Over the weekend, the presidential office and Na Kyung-won, four-time lawmaker and not a pro-Yoon contender for party’s chair, clashed over her remarks regarding government loans for young married couple
Politics Jan. 8, 2023
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NIS says Ri Yong-ho purged, unclear whether executed: lawmakers
Lawmakers on Thursday shared the South Korean spy agency’s assessment that former North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho appears to have been purged. The lawmakers of the National Assembly’s intelligence committee said in a closed-door briefing that the National Intelligence Service was able to confirm that Ri was purged by the regime The closed-door briefing was held after the spy agency briefed the parliamentary intelligence committee during Thursday’s plenary session. Demo
Politics Jan. 5, 2023
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Lawmakers slam lack of police presence at Halloween disaster
Police chiefs said they did not know about the Halloween crowd disaster at Itaewon in Seoul’s Yongsan as it was unfolding on the night of Oct. 29 last year, appearing as witnesses at a National Assembly hearing on Wednesday. At the hearing, the police chiefs and senior officers of Seoul, Yongsan and the national police were grilled about their lack of presence on the night of the incident, leaving the fire department to respond by itself. “I wasn’t briefed or contacted by anyon
Politics Jan. 4, 2023
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Cornered Democratic Party head’s first 2023 stop: Moon’s home
BUSAN/YANGSAN, South Gyeongsang Province -- In one of his first steps in the new year, Democratic Party of Korea chair Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Monday visited the residence of former President Moon Jae-in, skipping President Yoon Suk-yeol’s New Year event held on the same day. Monday’s meeting took place behind closed doors, with at least hundreds of meters from the vicinity of the ex-president’s residence barricaded, barring access to dozens of reporters who were there. Lee left
Politics Jan. 2, 2023
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[Weekender] From lockdown to holiday visits, one nursing hospital’s COVID-19 journey
Some sense of normal life is returning to South Korea’s hospitals for the oldest and the most vulnerable patients. Last weekend, Misodle Hospital for the elderly in Guro-gu, southern Seoul, spent the first Christmas since COVID-19 with in-person visits. With social distancing and other rules already lifted, the government permitted face-to-face encounters at elderly care facilities from October. Up until this point, residents and visiting loved ones could only meet separated by a glass wal
Social Affairs Dec. 31, 2022
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South Korea toughens COVID-19 testing for China arrivals
South Korea is tightening COVID-19 travel rules for arrivals from China, where a record surge of infections is underway, for about two months starting next year. The government’s COVID-19 response headquarters on Friday announced that all travelers from China will face extra rules including a mandatory COVID-19 test both before and after arrival. Only those who are negative in a PCR or a rapid test taken within 48 hours can board the plane to South Korea. Exceptions will be made for Korean
Social Affairs Dec. 30, 2022
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[Out of the Shadows] Korea should treat drug abuse epidemic as it did COVID-19: minister
OSONG, North Chungcheong Province – South Korea’s drug abuse epidemic deserves just as much attention as COVID-19, according to Minister of Food and Drug Safety Oh Yu-Kyoung. Speaking with The Korea Herald in a recent interview, Oh said tackling drug abuse has become a “top priority” at the ministry under her leadership. “For so long, drug abuse prevention and rehabilitation has been a barren field in South Korea,” she said. Oh said so far the country’
Social Affairs Dec. 28, 2022
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‘It was already late’: Safety minister gives excuse for delayed response to Itaewon disaster
Minister of Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min said “the golden hour had already past” in explanation of his tardy arrival at the scene of the fatal crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon on Oct. 29. His remarks came during Tuesday’s parliamentary questioning of Cabinet ministers, police chiefs and other heads of institutions as part of the National Assembly probe into the Halloween disaster that killed 158 people. “It was already late,” the safety minister replied to R
Politics Dec. 27, 2022
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[Newsmaker] Kim Keon-hee expands role as first lady
Kim Keon-hee is expanding her role as first lady, straying from her earlier promise that she would not play a role “beyond that of a spouse.” While Yoon Suk-yeol was still a presidential candidate, the couple had said that Kim would not serve as first lady in the traditional sense if he is elected. Kim told a press conference held last year that she would not have a formal presence as first lady during her husband’s tenure in office, and that she would “not have a role be
Politics Dec. 25, 2022
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South Korea may waive indoor masking, but not for good
South Korea may do away with the indoor masking rule if metrics like the COVID-19 hospitalization and death rates fall. Even then, masking will not be gone for good, and could be reinstated should those metrics worsen. Ruling People Power Party leaders met with top public health officials Thursday, a day before the government COVID-19 response headquarters is set to announce how the rule on masking indoors may change. At Thursday’s meeting, public health officials laid down the possible co
Social Affairs Dec. 22, 2022
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Doctor-lawmaker blasted for hitching ambulance ride to Itaewon disaster
Doctor-turned-lawmaker Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea has been reported to the police for the second time on Wednesday for hitching a ride on an ambulance heading to the scene of the crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul, on Oct. 30. Seoul councilor Lee Jong-bae filed a police report against Shin, accusing her of “interfering with emergency services,” just a day after a group of public welfare activists reported her to the police for abuse of power. Shin faces the alle
Politics Dec. 21, 2022
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[Herald Interview] ‘Success stories of escapees threaten North Korean regime’
The success stories of North Korea escapees are what will bring down the repressive regime, according to one refugee-turned-assemblyman, Rep. Ji Seong-ho. Helping North Koreans who have fled home to seek a new life and experience the South Korean dream as a reality, he says, is his mission in politics. “Helping defectors from North Korea find success makes a difference, and it’s in everyone’s best interest. The more successful North Korean defectors there are, the more threaten
North Korea Dec. 20, 2022
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