From Mumbai to Beijing to Madrid, the global coronavirus pandemic has brought back clear skies and visibly cleaner air, as a sharp slowdown in human activity has allowed Mother Nature the much-needed time to heal some of her wounds. Seoul has been no exception. Spring skies were noticeably clearer, compared to those of past years when citizens were advised to wear high filtration masks due to toxic haze blanketing the country for days. “Weather was so nice this spring that I totally fo

Social Affairs June 3, 2020

A woman was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of child abuse after her stepson was found unconscious inside a suitcase. Police said Tuesday that they took into custody a stepmother in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, on suspicion of child abuse and are reviewing whether to seek an arrest warrant for her. The 43-year-old woman at her apartment in Cheonan called for emergency help around 7:25 p.m. Monday, saying her 9-year-old son was unconscious. The boy was under cardiac arrest inside a sui

Social Affairs June 2, 2020

Deposits for disposable cups will return in South Korea in 2022, as the government strives to cut back on single-use items and boost recycling. According to the Ministry of Environment on Tuesday, the plan was approved at a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day to require local businesses to charge extra for consumers buying beverage items in single-use plastic or paper cups in deposits to be claimed back with the return of those cups.    The deposit amount is yet to be determin

Social Affairs June 2, 2020

Raising the retirement age from the current 60 to 65 will require an additional 15.9 trillion won per year from employers, a private think tank said Monday, suggesting that extra measures are needed to lower the financial burden for companies. The Korea Economic Research Institute, under the country’s top business lobby Federation of Korean Industries, said in a report that wages will account for 14.4 trillion won while social insurance contributions would account for the remaining 1.5 tr

Social Affairs June 1, 2020

A local court confirmed a 5 1/2-year prison sentence for Yoon Jung-cheon, a construction contractor alluded in the sexual bribery scandal surrounding former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui. The Seoul High Court on Friday confirmed the lower court’s prison sentence for Yoon, 59, on charges of fraud and bribery. Yoon has been at the center of a corruption and bribery scandal involving Kim. The case gained attention after a video of a sex party surfaced. Kim, who retired from public servic

Social Affairs May 29, 2020

The South Korean government announced Friday it will work with packaging and delivery sectors to cut 20 percent of their plastic use. The Ministry of Environment said that it has signed an agreement with the Korea Plastic Packaging Container Association, Baedal Minjok (Baemin), Korea Franchise Association and the Korea Zero Waste Movement Network to work together to reduce the amount of plastic used in food and beverage item deliveries. By standardizing plastic containers used for deliveries

Social Affairs May 29, 2020

South Korea suffered the biggest on-year job losses in the business sector last month amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Thursday. According to the ministry’s monthly labor force report, domestic business entities with more than one worker had 1.82 million employees in April, down 2 percent, or 365,000 employees, from the same month last year. It is the second time that the figure has fallen since data started being compiled in June 2009. The first d

Social Affairs May 28, 2020

South Korea on Wednesday started requiring all air travelers to wear face masks to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. Following a mandate from the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, as of Wednesday the government is requiring all travelers on domestic and international routes to wear masks. Those without masks will be denied boarding. The measure came as an increasing number of people were ignoring the government’s recommendations on masks amid warmer spr

Social Affairs May 27, 2020

The government plans to ensure that 90 percent of cars used in the public sector are eco-friendly models by 2030, a drastic increase from the current 12.7 percent, the Ministry of Environment announced Tuesday. Starting from next year, a total of 1,508 state-run or state-affiliated entities will be required to have electric, hydrogen or hybrid electric vehicles make up at least 80 percent of their new car purchases. Eventually, the ministry plans to require that all new car purchases be eco-fri

Social Affairs May 26, 2020

From the masks, gloves and gowns used on the front lines of the war against COVID-19 to food delivered in disposable plastic containers and coffee served in takeaway cups, single-use products are finding their way back into daily life in South Korea. In the face of an unprecedented health crisis, it may be understandable that the impact of disposables on the Earth becomes an afterthought. But eco-minded citizens and activists are worried that people may settle into new life patterns and undo h

Social Affairs May 25, 2020

The global coronavirus pandemic is threatening the future of plastic recycling in South Korea, as major recycling centers are incurring mounting losses amid a collapse in global demand. Many are being forced to cut costs, work hours and head counts just to stay afloat, but a quick turnaround appears unlikely, industry insiders and government officials said. “(Local) recycling centers are largely dependent on exports of collected recyclables, but trade is not happening these days,&rdquo

Social Affairs May 25, 2020

More than 92 percent of South Korean households have received their emergency disaster relief funds from the government, three weeks after the payouts began, the government said Monday.  According to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, by Sunday the government had paid out 89.3 percent of the 14.24 trillion won ($11.46 billion) allocated for disaster relief to 92.8 percent of the 21.71 million households in Korea. The National Assembly approved the supplementary budget bill April 30, m

Social Affairs May 25, 2020

The number of Vietnamese entering South Korea surged last month, despite a sharp fall in the total number of foreign arrivals. According to data from the Ministry of Justice on Monday, the number of foreigners entering South Korea dropped 62 percent from a month earlier to 34,544 people in April. From a year earlier, the figure was 97.2 percent lower. Of the total, Vietnamese nationals accounted for 10,327, US nationals 6,830 and Chinese nationals 4,685. It was the first time that Vietnamese

Social Affairs May 25, 2020

LG Electronics’ Polish unit came under fire Sunday for running a video advertisement on social media that many claimed as inappropriate. In one of the videos posted on LG Poland’s official TikTok account, an old man uses LG Electronics’ V60 ThinQ dual screen smartphone to take photos of a young woman in front without her consent. Noticing the shutter sound, the woman turns around and grabs the phone only to find the old man’s selfies. She apologizes to the old man and

Social Affairs May 24, 2020

A top local court confirmed a five-year prison sentence for a cyber-university chairman who sold fake college diplomas to around 200 people. The Supreme Court on Sunday confirmed the lower courts’ five-year prison sentence for Kim Moon-kap on charges of fraud and violation of the Higher Education Act. Kim, 48, was sentenced to prison for issuing fake university degrees after establishing Templeton University as a cyber university and taking 1.38 billion won in tuition from around 200 stud

Social Affairs May 24, 2020