The government plans to require tobacco firms to put graphic images illustrating the health hazards of smoking on their packages beginning early next year.The packages will also have to contain detailed information of tobacco ingredients and will not be allowed to feature words deemed to mislead consumers about smoking’s health effects. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday it plans to issue a public notification of the revised National Health Promotion Law this month as part of its cam

Social Affairs Aug. 6, 2012

Seoul National University will offer scholarships and benefits to foreign students in an effort to foster Korea-friendly human resources, the school said Sunday. Some 332 undergraduate and graduate students have been selected and will study at the university from the second semester starting in September, it said. Of them, 73 are undergraduates, 188 graduates, and 71 doctoral students. They are mostly from developing nations including Vietnam, China and Mongolia, with Chinese taking up the most

Social Affairs Aug. 5, 2012

The Education Ministry said on Sunday that it would devise a set of guidelines on the political neutrality of textbooks.The ministry’s move comes after controversy arose over literary works by an opposition politician that appear in middle-school textbooks.A team of private experts and education officials will start researching by the end of this month on ways to improve the current textbook-screening system. It aims to formulate guidelines based on which the state-run textbook review board will

Social Affairs Aug. 5, 2012

The prosecution on Friday cleared Nexon, an online game company, of responsibility for the leak of private information of its 13.2 million members last November.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it has decided not to indict company chief executive Seo Min and security officials for allegedly mishandling user data due to the lack of evidence.“It is hard to find any loose management of personal information, and Nexon had taken security measures when the incident occurred,” the pr

Social Affairs Aug. 3, 2012

The Korea Immigration Service said Thursday that the number of inbound and outbound air passengers through Incheon International Airport hit a record high of 3.2 million in July.The figure shows an eight percent increase from the year earlier when 2.9 million people passed through the airport.The immigration office cited the vacation season as the reason behind. Around 60,000 passengers departed between July 23 and 29 to their destinations from the airport, up from 47,000 during the same days la

Social Affairs Aug. 2, 2012

Seoul began implementing new measures Monday requiring major buildings to disclose their electricity use and expanding the scope of facilities subject to monitoring of energy consumption. Seoul Metropolitan Government issued a municipal ordinance under which the top 2 percent of energy-guzzling buildings or locations are asked to make public their energy usage through an electric display board.Some of the highest energy consumers, the officials said at a press briefing, are Seoul National Univer

Social Affairs July 30, 2012

A report on South Korean defense policies showed that North Korean defectors wish to serve their military service in the South, which is banned under the military law. The quarterly report of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, a state-funded defense think tank, said that seven out of eight North Koreans who fled the reclusive state between 2003 and 2010 want to enlist in the army. “I feel left out when thinking that the South Korean government does not trust the defectors although they sa

Defense July 29, 2012

Some 500 men customers of the biggest room salon in Korea were questioned by prosecutors over charges of illegal sex trade earlier this month, officials said. They were summoned by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office as part of an investigation into the bar named “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” or “YTT,” which hired more than 500 hostesses.The owner of the salon, known only by his surname Kim, is suspected of bribing police officers, evading taxes and soliciting prostitution in his 19-st

Social Affairs July 23, 2012

Unionized short-term contract workers at schools nationwide threatened to go on a general strike next month, demanding improved employment status and a salary system that would ensure job security and more benefits.A group of labor unions of non-regular workers recently called for collective bargaining with the Education Ministry and 17 municipal and gubernatorial educational offices, according to the ministry.The ministry and a majority of local authorities rejected the negotiations because the

Social Affairs July 22, 2012

Foreign direct investment in Seoul City has reached a record high in the first half of the year, the first since the 2008 financial crisis, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said on Thursday.Investment pledged in the six months through June totaled 3 billion won ($2.6 million), up 56.6 percent from the same period a year ago. The amount executed during the period stood at 2.4 billion won, more than double the corresponding figure in 2011. Investment from Japan more than tripled, which Seoul offi

Social Affairs July 19, 2012