South Korean health authorities said Tuesday that the heat wave nationwide is leading to an increased number of virus infections caused by mites that can be lethal.A total of 41 patients have contracted thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), which has a 30 percent fatality rate, from mites this year. This is a 30 percent rise from last year.The surge is caused by the sweltering heat, during which the mites, named Haemaphysalis longicornis, become more active.The SFTS virus infection was first reporte

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2016

Cho Kyeung-kyu, the deputy chief of the Office for Government Policy Coordination under the Prime Minister’s Office, was nominated as the new environment minister Tuesday.Cho is to steer the Environment Ministry, which is responsible for dealing with pending issues such as the toxic humidifier disinfectant tragedy, Volkswagen’s emissions-rigging scandal and fine dust countermeasures.Cho is considered an economic and state policy expert as he served in various government posts dealing with econom

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2016

South Koreans worked the second most hours, but earned less than average compared to other countries last year, an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report showed Monday. Out of the 35 OECD member countries, a South Korean laborer worked 2,113 hours on average last year, 347 hours more than the OECD average of 1,766 hours. This amounted to 43 extra working days, considering eight working hours per day based on the law here. According to prices and purchasing power parities, d

Social Affairs Aug. 15, 2016

Seoul has seen the most heat wave days this summer since 1994, while southern port city Busan has recorded its highest temperature in more than a century, according to the state weather agency.Over the weekend, Seoul continued to see daily high temperatures of around 33 degrees Celsius that began last week and daily lows of over 25 degrees Celsius, according to the Korea Meteorological Agency.The temperature soared to 37.3 degrees Celsius in Busan on Sunday, a record high since 1904. Its morning

Social Affairs Aug. 15, 2016

Damages related to agriculture, livestock and people’s health have been on the rise as South Korea has been experiencing abnormally hot weather since July. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at least 1,000 patients were diagnosed with heatstroke since May, surpassing the total figure recorded in 2014.Local insurance company NongHyup Property & Casualty Insurance said that it saw the highest number of reports on livestock casualties this year, since it started compensation

Social Affairs Aug. 10, 2016

Ninety-eight percent of groundwater found at Seoul’s 253 subway stations is wasted daily, despite being a good natural resource, a report showed Monday.According to the report released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s audit committee, just 2 percent of 68,446 cubic meters of groundwater was used to clean roads or recycled at public toilets and parks as of December 2014. More than 78 percent of groundwater generated daily was directly dumped into rivers, while the rest was sent to sewage di

Social Affairs Aug. 8, 2016

South Korea is one of the most wired countries in the world, with the world’s fastest average Internet connection speed. About 47 million people, or 92 percent of the population, are Internet users, indicating the nation’s inseparable relationship with their digital space.In an ever so connected society, words spread faster than ever before. So do the malicious comments.In an effort to fight online negativity, professor Min Byoung-chul has been pioneering a campaign for peace on the Internet, fi

Social Affairs Aug. 5, 2016

Sweltering heat continues to grip the nation while the state weather agency said the record-breaking hot summer weather had been influenced by weather systems in northern China.The Korea Meteorological Agency said Thursday that heated air that was created in northern China had risen to a high altitude and moved across southern Russia and the Korean Peninsula, before descending on South Korea. The migration happened at the same time as a high pressure system formed over South Korea, preventing th

Social Affairs Aug. 5, 2016

An accident caused by a driver with a neurological disorder killed four and injured a dozen pedestrians in Busan on Sunday, raising concerns over whether the process of getting a driver’s license is too easy.Police said Monday that the 53-year-old driver had renewed his driver’s license in July, without notifying authorities that he was suffering from epilepsy. Authorities said there were no legal methods to discover the driver’s condition in advance.There has been constant debate over oversimpl

Social Affairs Aug. 4, 2016

The Ministry of Environment said Thursday it joined hands with the mayors of Seoul and Incheon and the governor of Gyeonggi Province to control the number of worn-out diesel cars to create a cleaner atmosphere in the metropolitan area. Following the accord signed by the municipalities with the ministry, some 1.4 million diesel cars registered before 2005 in metropolitan areas that are under air pollution control will be restricted on the road.But old diesel cars that have passed an inspection co

Social Affairs Aug. 3, 2016

The South Korean Environment Ministry said Tuesday that it has cancelled authentication for 32 types of Volkswagen vehicles as their test results were forged. This affected 83,000 vehicles. Another 126,000 vehicles were decertified last November for emissions rigging, which means that a total of 209,000 vehicles will now be banned from sales. This accounts for 68 percent of the total number of VW vehicles sold here since 2007.A penalty totaling 17.8 billion won ($16.1 million) is being charged t

Social Affairs Aug. 2, 2016

　서울에는 얼마나 많은 공공미술 작품이 설치돼 있을까? 무심코 지나치기 쉬운 서울 시내 곳곳 길 위의 설치된 예술작품을 시민 발군단이 찾아나선다. 오는 8월부터 2개월간, 도시의 일상에서 예술을 향유할 수 있는 기회를 제공해 주는 공공미술 작품에 대해 좀 더 깊게 관심을 갖고 배울 수 있는 기회가 열린다.　서울시는 수준 높은 공공미술작품을 시민이 직접 생활 속에서 발견하는 ‘시민이 찾은 길 위의 예술’ 프로젝트를 추진한다고 1일 밝혔다.　‘공공미술 시민 발굴단’ 100명이 주제별로 10개의 워킹그룹을 운영하면서 지역에 숨어있는 우수 공공미술 작품을 찾아내고 스토리를 발굴해 온오프라인을 통해 전파하게 된다.(사진=서울시)서울시는 공공미술 작품 발굴 및 전파 활동에 대한 공개평가를 실시하여 우수작품 및 예술적 향유방법에 대한 방향을 제시하며, 공공미술 작품 추천에서 평가 및 선정까지의 전 과정을 시민이 참여하는 문화 이벤트로 추진할 예정이다.‘공공미술 시민 발굴단’ 으로 선발되면 8월

한국어판 Aug. 1, 2016

Civic groups and some victims of toxic humidifier disinfectants remained bitterly opposed to the final compensation plan released by household products company Oxy Reckitt Benckiser on Sunday.The victims and their families said they opposed the plan because the additional compensation still deviates from direct mention of responsibility and neglects victims with relatively less damage. They denounced it as “fake compensation.”The company said the final plan was based on three rounds of talks wit

Social Affairs Aug. 1, 2016

Yongsan-gu showed the highest number of deaths caused by traffic accidents last year, Road Traffic Authority data showed Sunday.A total of 7.26 deaths per 100,000 people was caused by vehicle-related accidents in the central district, the highest among 25 districts in Seoul.Yeongdeungpo-gu and Jung-gu followed, with 6.7 deaths and 5.96 deaths per 100,000 respectively.An average of 3.18 people per 100,000 in Seoul lost their lives from traffic accidents last year.The least amount of traffic fatal

Social Affairs July 31, 2016