Part-time jobs in Seoul on average paid 6,718 won ($5.89) per hour in the second quarter of this year, with convenience stores paying the least, according to statistics from the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Thursday. Seoul’s hourly wage for part-timers is 688 won higher than the current minimum wage of 6,030 won and 192 won higher than the median hourly wage across the country. It also showed a 0.46 percentage increase compared to last year. The median hourly wage in Seoul was 6,687 won in t

Social Affairs July 21, 2016

The Korea National Park said Wednesday it will install emergency call bells at 143 women restrooms in 20 national parks across the country, as part of its effort to make National Parks safer for visitors. When a user pushes a bell inside a women’s restroom in an emergency, it will trigger a siren and emergency lights outside the restroom, giving a notice to passersby or park rangers in the vicinity. The Korea National ParkThe KNP will attach a sign underneath the lights installed outside the res

Social Affairs July 20, 2016

Statistics showed Wednesday that an average of 435 items go missing daily on Seoul’s subway trains, buses and taxis, with mobile phones topping the list.Seoul City councilor Choi Pan-sul released the data showing that a total of 158,812 items were lost on Seoul’s public transportation last year, an 18 percentage point increase compared to 2014.About 78 percent or 124,627 items were lost on the subway, followed by 32,592 items lost on buses and 1,593 items on taxis.A storage room of a lost-and-fo

Social Affairs July 20, 2016

The South Korean Supreme Court will discuss ways to increase the upper ceiling of compensation to victims in cases of lethal damages from goods, sources said Monday.Judges at the Supreme Court in charge of civil suits exchanged views last week about measures to order a company to pay up to 1 billion won ($880,000) to compensate victims in cases in which severe damage or injury was inflicted on a customer on purpose or by malicious will.When the victim is a child or has severe aftereffect symptom

Social Affairs July 18, 2016

German carmaker Audi Volkswagen’s local unit Volkswagen Korea may receive up to 320 billion won ($282 million) in fines for allegedly forging vehicle authentication test results, sources said Friday.The ministry explained that a carmaker which falsified test result for its vehicles’ noise-level, fuel efficiency and emissions to receive authentication can be fined up to 10 billion won per vehicle type, according to the revised Clean Air Conservation Act which will take effect on 28th.  (Yonhap)Th

Social Affairs July 15, 2016

The Ministry of Environment said Friday that it is set to ban sales of spray-type household products that contain five substances including MIT and DDAC.MIT is one of the substances contained in the toxic humidifier disinfectant which has led to a loss of some 200 lives since 2008. Authorities are still investigating a possible correlation between the use of MIT and lung-related diseases.MIT was designated a harmful chemical substance in September 2012 and the use of it in products is now regula

Social Affairs July 15, 2016

The return of the scorching summer sun and humid air is not always welcome, especially if you live in the big city surrounded by a concrete jungle and elbow-to-elbow crowds. The heat wave is expected to continue until August with occasional rain in July, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.Thankfully, the sprawling Hangang River that runs through the middle of the capital offers spacious relief for tired urban souls. Various festivals by the river are in store for the summer, ho

Social Affairs July 13, 2016

The South Korean prosecution said Monday that it will expand the probe into the toxic humidifier disinfectant case targeting government ministries.It also temporarily delayed the announcement of the final result of its five-month-long investigation into the disinfectant case involving four companies.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Monday that it has started to summon and question ministry officials related to the case on how they managed and responded to the onset of the toxi

Social Affairs July 11, 2016

The Ministry of Environment said Monday that it will ban sales and cancel the certification of approximately 79,000 disputed Volkswagen models sold here, if the suspected cheating on its authentication tests is proven.The ministry said Monday that it has received from the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office a list of 32 types of diesel and gasoline models of Volkswagen vehicles -- including the VW Golf and Audi A8 -- that are suspected to have fabricated reports submitted to the National Institute

Social Affairs July 11, 2016

The government said Friday it is pushing to require more public places such as movie theaters and shopping malls to broadcast alarms during civil defense drills.The Ministry of Public Safety and Security said it will propose a revision bill to the current Framework Act on Civil Defense that requires terminals, subways, movie theaters and malls of sizes over 3,000 square meters to join such drills.So far, the siren warnings have only been aired through radio, television and speakers installed on

Social Affairs July 8, 2016

South Korea’s Ministry of Environment and the Korea Baseball Organization joined hands Friday to restrict sales of beverages sold in disposable cups and increase awareness of recycling at baseball stadiums.Under the new policy, beverages below 1 liter will only be sold in recyclable PET containers at all nine KBO stadiums by 2017. Currently, there are six baseball stadiums in Korea -- Jamsil, Gocheok Dome, Suwon, Daegu, Masan and Daejeon -- that sell food and beverages in recyclable containers s

Social Affairs July 8, 2016

With public concern mounting over fine dust and other forms of air pollution, imports of related items have skyrocketed.According to data released Thursday by the Korea Customs Service, the total value of imported masks hit $23 million last year, more than a threefold increase from $7.1 million in 2014.The agency explained that public concern has persisted since the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome last summer that had increased demand for masks.Last year, 79.3 percent of imported ma

Social Affairs July 7, 2016

Heavy rainfall pounded Seoul and the central regions of the peninsula Tuesday, forcing some 200 people from their homes. The heavy downpour also caused floods, traffic jams and the collapse of some facilities.The Korea Meteorological Administration said 119 millimeters of rain poured down in Seoul as of 2:20 p.m. Tuesday. A heavy rain warning has been issued for Seoul and the central regions with the daily precipitation of the capital expected to be 180mm or more within 12 hours.A citizen watche

Social Affairs July 5, 2016

Earlier this year, Beijing’s state-run media China Central Television aired a four-minute news report that showed the underbelly of cosmetic surgery in Seoul.The report exposed a case of a Chinese tourist allegedly being overcharged by a clinic in the cosmetic surgery mecca of Gangnam, Seoul. CCTV argued that Chinese patients are typically charged from two to 10 times higher than locals, leading them to eventually stop visiting Seoul for cosmetic surgery.Lured by the beauty of Korean celebrities

Social Affairs June 29, 2016