KAZAN, Russia -- Lyon, France, has been selected to host the 47th WorldSkills Competition in 2023, beating Japan’s Aichi with more than double the support from member countries, organizers said Friday.In a vote held during the 2019 General Assembly in Kazan, Russia on Wednesday, Lyon gained 44 votes and Aichi, a village in Japan’s Nagano prefecture, 20 votes.  Lyon, the third-largest city in France, hosted the 33rd WorldSkills Competition in 1996.“Thank you for trusting us

Social Affairs Aug. 23, 2019

With less than a year to go until the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, concerns are growing over the safety of the baseball and softball venues in disaster-hit Fukushima.Seeking to break away from Japan’s association with high levels of radioactivity, the Abe government has branded the 2020 Olympics the “Recovery Games.”But health and environmental risks from high levels of radiation persist in parts of Fukushima after the 2011 nuclear meltdown.According to Shaun Burnie, a senior nu

Social Affairs Aug. 21, 2019

Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn on Monday reaffirmed his plans to “stand against the left-leaning tyranny” of the Moon Jae-min government by staging a nationwide rally this weekend, widely seen as a move to shore up the main opposition party’s dwindling approval ratings. “In launching an all-out protest we will stand against the left-leaning tyranny of the Moon administration,” he said at a top-level party meeting.“Starting with the rally on the Aug

Politics Aug. 19, 2019

Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk, ex-senior presidential secretary on civil affairs, faced new controversy on Friday over a 2017 investment agreement signed by his family that exceeds their total wealth. Cho’s wife and his two children had agreed to invest a total of 7.4 billion won ($6.1 million) won in a private equity fund in 2017, two months after Cho was named presidential secretary on civil affairs.The figure exceeds Cho’s family wealth, reported to amount to 5.6 billion won, r

Politics Aug. 16, 2019

Cho Kuk, former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, sought to fend off criticism over his involvement in the South Korean Socialist Workers’ Alliance in 1991, saying it had been a way to “stand against a dictatorial government and pursue economic democracy.”“Cho Kuk in his 20-somethings was inexperienced and fell short, but sought to walk along with public agony with a passionate heart,” Cho said Wednesday morning at a temporary office in Jongno, centra

Politics Aug. 15, 2019

An elevator carrying three workers crashed from a height equivalent to a 15-story building, killing all three.Two foreign laborers on the ground level, who were injured when a hoist crashed at the construction site in Sokcho, Gangwon Province, were transferred to a hospital, but they soon disappeared, police said Wednesday. Police suspect the two foreign nationals in their 40s were in Korea illegally and left the hospital out of concern their undocumented status would be revealed. “We are

Social Affairs Aug. 14, 2019

The somber atmosphere is palpable in Korea around this time of the year, when South Korea commemorates its independence from Japan.This year marks the 74th year of Korea’s independence from the brutal 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule.South Korea has achieved notable growth since independence. It stands as Asia’s fourth-largest economy, home to leading tech giants including the likes of Samsung Electronics and the birth place of global K-pop sensation BTS. All the while, however, a re

Social Affairs Aug. 14, 2019

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday sentenced Kim Ki-chun, former President Park Geun-hye’s chief of staff, to a year in prison suspended for two years for falsifying records on reports received by President Park on the day of the Sewol ferry disaster. The court also acquitted former National Security Office chiefs Kim Jang-soo and Kim Kwan-jin. Kim Ki-chun and Kim Jang-soo allegedly manipulated records submitted to the National Assembly about the time that former President Park

Social Affairs Aug. 14, 2019

Donggubat CEO Noh Soon-ho, is a millennial business leader who is confident and ambitious about his aspirations to kill two birds with one stone: raise profits and employ people with disabilities to bring about a social change.His social enterprise, founded in 2014, manufactures and sells premium soaps.“I wanted to be referred to as a change-maker before graduating. I thought it was important for me to experience giving my all to a social issue as an undergrad in order for me to not have a

Social Affairs Aug. 13, 2019

Ten lawmakers announced Monday their departure from the minor opposition Party of Democracy and Peace to form a new party of “change and hope” after failing to reach a consensus with the party’s leadership. The move could jeopardize the existence of the 1 1/2-year-old progressive party. Calling on Chairman Chung Dong-young and the party’s leadership to resign for success in next year’s general election, the lawmakers who left had demanded the party be led by an emer

Politics Aug. 12, 2019

Cho Kuk has been tapped as justice minister nominee two weeks after leaving his post as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, garnering mixed reactions across the aisle Sunday.Cho, one of President Moon Jae-in’s most trusted aides, has been nominated justice minister in a Cabinet reshuffle announced last week, along with six other nominees to take key posts.Of the seven nominees expected to undergo parliamentary hearings at the end of this month, Cho’s hearing is shaping u

Politics Aug. 11, 2019

Kim Sang-jo, the president’s chief of staff for policy, said Tuesday the “possibility is very low” that Japan will target Korea’s financial market for economic retaliation amid thorny relations between the two countries after Japan toughened trade restrictions against Korea. Asked by Rep. You Sung-yop of the minor progressive Party for Democracy and Peace wither Japan would target the country’s financial market, Kim said, “Compared with the IMF (Asian) financi

Politics Aug. 6, 2019

Political parties continued their quarrel over the weekend as to whether it was appropriate for Lee Hae-chan, the chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, to visit a Japanese restaurant for lunch on Friday, the day Japan excluded South Korea from its whitelist of trusted trade partners.The main opposition Liberty Korea Party -- grappling to appease public backlash sparked by its lawmaker Rep. Kim Jae-won appearing at the National Assembly under the influence of alcohol last week -- houn

Politics Aug. 5, 2019

South Korea’s hourly minimum wage for next year has been confirmed at 8,590 won ($7.10) after a monthslong debate, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Employment and Labor legally set the figure as the minimum wage for 2020, sticking with the recommendation of the Minimum Wage Commission last week.It added that when factoring in the minimum wage to the 209 working hours every month, the monthly salary would come to 1.7 million won.  The 2.9 percent raise from this year’s

Politics Aug. 5, 2019

Amid mass protests in Hong Kong objecting to a controversial extradition law, a South Korean man in his 20s was arrested for allegedly participating in an illegal protest, South Korean authorities said Sunday.This is the first time a South Korean national has been arrested since pro-democracy demonstrations began in the semiautonomous region in June.According to South Korea’s Consulate General in Hong Kong, Hong Kong police are interrogating the man, who was arrested at around 2 a.m. Sunda

Social Affairs Aug. 4, 2019