Foreign direct investment in Seoul showed a moderate but meaningful improvement in 2012. The city attracted $5.8 billion last year, which accounts for 36 percent of Korea’s foreign direct investment. The figure is a 41 percent increase from the year before, when $4.1 billion was invested in the city. FDI has been rising since bottoming out in 2010.Around $2.3 billion, the largest amount, or 40 percent of the total FDI was made by Japanese investors, who still struggle with the strong yen and pow

Social Affairs Jan. 14, 2013

All signs on roads, streets, subway stations and online maps will be marked in four languages and in a more readable format by 2016, Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Wednesday. The plan is aimed at making the city more convenient to an increasing number of foreign residents and tourists. Complex signs received the second most complaints from foreign tourists in its 2011 survey on their experiences traveling in Seoul. The city will install more than 144,000 new signs in four languages: Kor

Social Affairs Jan. 9, 2013

Lee Ho-taeg and Cho Myung-sook, an activist couple, went on their honeymoon to China in 1997, with a secret mission to bring 13 North Korean defectors to the South. They fled thousands of kilometers to cross the Chinese border to seek refuge at the South Korean Embassy in Vietnam. They had to stay locked in hotel rooms waiting for the entry permits from the Seoul government. After Seoul backpedaled for days, they were forced by Vietnamese authorities to return to China, and were stranded on the

Jan. 8, 2013

Kim Ji-ha, 72, a renowned poet, has been acquitted after 39 years of charges of violating the National Security Act and the presidential emergency rule, and inciting rebellion.Kim was convicted for publishing a poem “Ojeok” or “Five Enemies,” which criticized political and financial elites during the iron-fisted rule of late President Park Chung-hee, President-elect Park Geun-hye’s father, and participating in a students’ democracy movement in 1974. He received the death penalty, but was freed a

Social Affairs Jan. 4, 2013

Kim Nam-seok, former vice minister of public administration and security, is expected to be appointed as a high-ranking public officer in the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said last Friday that it and the Uzbekistan government are considering naming Kim as the vice chairman of the Central Asian nation’s Committee on Information and Communication Technologies. When the nomination is finally approved by the Uzbek government, Kim will be the first Korean

Social Affairs Dec. 30, 2012

Hwang Soo-kwan, 67, a medical professor who was widely known as “Shinbaram (excitement) Professor,” died of blood poisoning Sunday. After having breathing difficulties, Hwang had had heart surgery on Dec. 12 at Gangnam Severance Hospital in southern Seoul.The medical school professor at Yonsei University in Seoul gained popularity for his positive character as he promoted “smile therapy” on several TV programs in the late 1990s.He also worked as a senior advisor for the ruling Saenuri Party in 2

Social Affairs Dec. 30, 2012

Born to a impoverished family, Hong Ui-hyun gave up on studies after graduating from middle school. He happened to work at a musical instrument factory and soon fell in love with the elegant lines and beautiful sounds of violin, which helped the desperate boy to tide over many harsh years. Two decades later, Hong is now the owner of one of Korea’s leading string instrument makers and a devoted practitioner of the power of music for children who are poor, abandoned or suffering mental disorders.

Dec. 26, 2012

Braving the freezing cold and safety concerns, thousands of young singles gathered at a recreational park in central Seoul to find their Mr. and Ms. Rights on Christmas Eve.Korea’s largest outdoor blind date called “Solo Battle” was held in Yeouido Park, though there were fewer-than-expected participants amid the chilly weather.  In the morning, the mercury hit minus 14 degrees Celsius, the lowest this winter. “I am looking forward to finding a date. I have a little hope that I can find the one

Social Affairs Dec. 24, 2012