The Korea Herald

Another prosecutor implicated in corruption case

Internal inspectors at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office are investigating another corruption case involving a prosecutor who allegedly introduced a suspect he was investigating to a law firm where his brother-in-law worked.The inspectors raided the prosecutor’s office Monday and are looking into whether he took any illegal benefits in exchange for favorable treatment of the suspect, they said.“The SPO is currently investigating a prosecutor suspected to have been involved in influence peddling,”

Social Affairs Dec. 3, 2012

Only daughter raises fathers’ sense of gender equality

Daughters raise the social awareness of their fathers, especially if they are the only child, according to the Korean Women’s Development Institute, a leading research institute for gender policy, on Sunday.A KWDI report that surveyed 1,800 parents of elementary, middle, and high school students in July showed that fathers who have an only daughter scored the highest average points of 76.76 in a gender equality index.The average score is two points higher than that of mothers of at least two dau

Social Affairs Dec. 2, 2012

Naro rocket set for third attempt

The Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, or Naro rocket, is set for its third launch on Thursday. If successful in putting a scientific satellite mounted on the rocket into orbit, Korea will become the 10th country with its own capability to develop and launch a rocket.The first attempt ended in failure 540.8 seconds after the launch due to malfunction of a fairing, a cover for the payload satellite, in August 2009.The rocket failed a second time, exploding 137.3 seconds after launch in June 2010. The

Technology Nov. 28, 2012

Good Neighbors biggest aid NGO in Korea

Good Neighbors activists travel around the world helping people suffering because of natural disasters, poverty and war.The nongovernmental organization devoted to international relief and development was founded in 1991 by seven people including current chairman Lee Il-ha.It was granted General Consultative Status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1996. The highest NGO status of three, including special consultative and roster status, is reserved for large international NGOs

Nov. 28, 2012

International aid makes world safer: NGO chief

International aid not only helps people in need, but also keeps the world safer from threats stemming from poverty and inequality, according to Lee Il-hwa, chairman of Good Neighbors, Korea’s leading nongovernmental organization. “We should share some of our economic prosperity with other countries not only for a humanitarian reason but also to prevent the chaos that would be started by poverty, diseases and war,” he said.Born to a devout Christian family, Lee, 65, always thought he would live f

Nov. 28, 2012

International aid makes world safer: NGO chief

Productive population in Seoul to fall 1 million by 2032

The economically active population in Seoul will decrease by more than 1 million in 20 years, according to statistics released by the city government on Tuesday.The data showed that the number of Seoul citizens aged 15 to 64, regarded as the economically active population, came to 7.6 million as of July, accounting for 77 percent of the city’s entire population.That figure, however, is forecast to drop to 6.6 million, or 65 percent of the total, as those aged 14 or younger decrease by 145,000, w

Social Affairs Nov. 27, 2012

Productive population in Seoul to fall 1 million by 2032

Ethical standards lowest at agencies that should be cleanest

Prosecutors, police and judges scored the lowest points among state organizations in the transparency index compiled by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.The survey, which evaluated 627 government organizations, showed that the Ministry of Justice received the lowest grade on the five-level grading scale among the central administrative agencies. About 244,000 participants including citizens, public officers, reporters and civil activists were surveyed for the report. Administrativ

Social Affairs Nov. 26, 2012

Ex-soldier donates blood 600 times

Only 3 percent of Koreans donate blood, which is a scary experience for most. But for Hwang Eui-seong, a retired sergeant major, it is a habit that he has done every two weeks for over 35 years.“I saw on a TV news report that a huge amount of blood was imported from other countries including China,” Hwang said as he recalled a day in 1975 when he began donating blood. “As an army officer who serves for this country, I could not just sit still and do nothing.”He recorded his 600th blood donation

Nov. 21, 2012

Threatened bus strike could cause public transport chaos

All city and inter-city buses nationwide could stop operating from Thursday morning if the National Assembly passes a revised act Wednesday that acknowledges taxis as a means of public transportation.“Five hundred bus operators and 100,000 bus drivers cannot but express anger toward ignorance of the political circles, who are only interested in garnering votes in the upcoming presidential election,” said the bus union through a statement released Monday. Around 48,000 city and inter-city busses

Social Affairs Nov. 20, 2012

Bus unions warn of strike against new taxi rules

Bus operators across the country threatened to halt operations in protest of a National Assembly bill that acknowledges taxis as a means of public transport, which would increase state subsidies and allow them to use bus lanes. A federation of bus operators plans convene an emergency general meeting in Seoul Tuesday, gathering regional representatives from 17 major cities and provinces The move came after the Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Committee at the National Assembly last Thursday u

Social Affairs Nov. 19, 2012

Korea has most road deaths in OECD

Korea recorded the highest rate of death by road accidents in 2010 among 29 OECD member nations, according to the Korea Transport Institute.At a seminar to promote better transportation and road safety on Friday, Seol Jae-hoon, a KTI official, said that 11.3 per 100,000 people died due to road accidents.Greece and the U.S. came second and third as they marked 11.1 and 10.6, respectively. Iceland recorded the lowest death rate with 2.5, followed by Sweden, 2.8, and the U.K., 3.1. Car accidents ov

Social Affairs Nov. 18, 2012

[Newsmaker] Protesters defy eviction order

Tension is mounting in front of the iconic Deoksu Palace in central Seoul as rag-tag protesters vow to defy a government order to end their months-long decampment or face eviction by police. The Jung-gu district office delivered a notice Wednesday that it would ask police to break up their protest tents and impose fines unless they take them down voluntarily within 15 days.The roadside street beside the Joseon Dynasty palace’s main gate has been a symbolic epicenter for anti-government and labor

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2012

[Newsmaker] Protesters defy eviction order

Korean women outlive men by 7 years: U.N.

The average Korean woman lives seven years longer than her male counterpart, according to report by the United Nations Population Fund.The State of World Population 2012 survey also showed that Korean women and men live the eighth and 26th longest in the world respectively. The average life span of Korean women is 84 years and that of Korean men is 77.3 years. According to the UNPF report, the world population surpassed 7 billion as of October last year and stands at around 7.1 billion.China ran

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2012

Korea’s launch of space rocket to be further delayed

Korea’s launch of space rocket to be further delayedSouth Korea’s planned launch of a space rocket will likely be further delayed, government officials said Wednesday, as the Russian replacement for a defective part in the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) is not expected to arrive here until the end of the week.The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and its Launch Preparation Committee earlier said the launch of the KSLV-1 would take place before Nov. 24.The replacement of the de

Social Affairs Nov. 14, 2012

Nun cares for terminally ill

Though unavoidable, one thing hard to accept in one’s life is death.For those who have less than a year to live due to terminal illness it is even harder to live the rest of their lives in peace, instead living with misery and fear.Ro You-ja, 69, a nun and the director of St. Paul’s Home Hospice Center, helps people who have incurable diseases, mostly cancer, live the last days of their lives with hope and happiness.Ro has devoted her life to the people on the brink of death for 32 years, and st

Nov. 14, 2012

Articles by Kim Young-won