The death toll from torrential rains that devastated the central regions of South Korea over the weekend rose to five, with two still missing, the nation’s disaster control agency said Monday. (Yonhap)The Ministry of Public Safety and Security said the government is considering designating the hardest-hit Cheongju in North Gyeongsang Province as a disaster area to provide it with state funding for recovery works. Jeungpyeong, Jincheon and Goesan counties in North Chungcheong Province are also be

Social Affairs July 17, 2017

Park Neung-hoo, the nominee to head the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said Monday that he would give some 8,000 contract workers at ministry-run organizations full-time and permanent employment status, if he is appointed. Park Neung-hoo (Yonhap)In response to questions by lawmakers of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, Park said “irregular positions are linked to many social problems such as unstable labor conditions, discrimination and a low birth rate.”“I will strive for a

Social Affairs July 17, 2017

The death toll from the torrential rains that devastated the central regions of South Korea over the weekend rose to four, with two still missing, the nation’s disaster control agency said Monday. Restoration works were underway in the rain-hit Gyeongsang and Chungcheong provinces, as downpours subsided. North Gyeongsang Province, which received up to 90 millimeters of rain per hour between Friday and Sunday afternoon, was the hardest hit. Two died in landslides in Cheongju, while two others wer

Social Affairs July 17, 2017

The South Korean government on Sunday decided to spend some 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) to help smaller businesses offset an increase in labor costs, after a panel hiked next year’s minimum hourly wage by the biggest margin since 2000.In a late-night decision on Saturday, the Minimum Wage Commission, representing labor, management and the general public, set the lower limit of wages at 7,530 won for 2018, up 16.4 percent from this year. It was the biggest gain since 2000, when the bar was move

Social Affairs July 16, 2017

Heavy rain battered South Korea on Sunday, leaving at least two dead and one missing. Several towns in Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces were waterlogged and road and train traffic was disrupted. Vehicles are seen waterlogged in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Sunday, after at least 289 millimeters of rain fell in the area over 12 hours. (Yonhap)Hardest hit were Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province, which received 290 millimeters of rain since midnight Saturday till Sunday afternoon. Ch

Social Affairs July 16, 2017

Police on Saturday apprehended a drunken man who injured more than 10 people with a broken bottle after engaging in a pre-dawn argument at a Seoul night club. (Yonhap)Officials at the Mapo Police Station said that the 23-year-old man, identified only by his surname Park, is under investigation for hurting 11 people with a broken bottle and assaulting three others with his fists at the club near the popular university district of Hongdae.One victim underwent surgery for a neck injury, but is not

Social Affairs July 15, 2017

South Korea posted a huge trade deficit with the United States on agricultural products and livestock last year as their price competitiveness has attracted consumers, government data showed Saturday.South Korea's agricultural goods and meat exports to the US reached $716 million last year while imports amounted to $6.9 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. (Yonhap)Seoul's trade deficit with the US in the sector came in at $6.14 billion in 2016, the data show

Industry July 15, 2017

Prosecutors on Saturday questioned a former key election campaigner of the People's Party as part of its probe into a fake tipoff scandal involving some members of the minor opposition party.The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office quizzed Kim In-won, the vice head of the party's former fair election panel, in connection with the allegations that a party member doctored a tipoff against President Moon Jae-in's son in the run-up to the May 9 poll.Kim In-won, a former election campaigner of

Social Affairs July 15, 2017

North Korea on Saturday criticized South Korean President Moon Jae-in's initiative for cross-border rapprochement as "sophistry" in its first response to the proposal made last week.The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, said the so-called Berlin initiative, which Moon announced in the German capital last Thursday, would not be helpful in improving inter-Korean ties long strained amid the reclusive state's relentless provocations."The overall content, enumerated under the name of peace,

North Korea July 15, 2017

South Korea should aim to generate 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources, phasing out nuclear and coal power plants simultaneously, Greenpeace executive director Jennifer Morgan said. Praising the local government’s decision to retire old nuclear reactors and stop building new ones, the top environmental activist also stressed the importance of a national effort to save energy and the need to craft polices in a clear and transparent manner to benefit all, not a select few with vested

Social Affairs July 13, 2017

Household products company Reckitt Benckiser Korea, which has been blamed for the largest number of victims from the use of toxic humidifier disinfectants since 2011, came under fire for its compensation plan that only covers victims classified as categories 1-2 by the government.Victims, their families and civic groups remain opposed to the plan, as it neglects victims classified under categories 3-4, whose suffering was deemed less directly connected to the problematic products. They denounced

Social Affairs July 10, 2017