The Korea Herald

Seoul City to provide tailored tourist programs

Seoul City announced Wednesday that it would customize tourist programs, such as renewing tour routes, to better cater to the needs of different nationals visiting the city.This year, existing tour routes will be regrouped into six categories ― history, arts, shopping, natural ecology, local neighborhood and “theme tour.” The city selected the six themes based on a survey with visitors to Seoul. A total of 41 sightseeing activities have been offered so far. The shopping-focused routes will be di

Social Affairs April 1, 2015

Expats help each other adapt to Korea

On a busy morning at Seongdong-gu’s community service center in eastern Seoul, a Chinese woman entered, looking confused. Cautiously peering around, the woman appeared lost until she heard a familiar language from the other side of the room.“May I help you?” said 44-year-old Chinese worker Chen Jhi-hong in her mother tongue. The woman rushed to Chen as though she had found a savior. Chen asked for help in changing her home address for her registration. After a smooth process carrying out the tas

Social Affairs April 1, 2015

Dankook University spurs collaboration with businesses

Dankook University has been closely collaborating with the corporate sector by exchanging technology, equipment and facilities, thereby successfully expanding career opportunities for students, officials said.Through its project “Creative DASAN LINC,” the university has sought to partner with private companies to bring economic and academic synergy. It is part of the state-led scheme “Leaders in Industry-University Cooperation.” The Creative Collaborative Instrument Center. (Dankook University)D

Social Affairs April 1, 2015

Dankook University spurs collaboration with businesses

[Graphic News] Number of foreign students hits record high

The number of foreign students in Korea has hit a record high this year, data from the Justice Ministry showed Tuesday. As of February, the number of foreign students reached 92,076, up 8 percent on-year, the ministry said.The figure has gradually increased since 2008 but started to decline from 2012. The number dropped to 85,230 last year, the lowest figure since 2011, officials said. It picked up drastically last year, following various measures taken by the government and schools, including l

Social Affairs March 31, 2015

[Graphic News] Number of foreign students hits record high

Shelters for foreigners accused of violating privacy, human rights

Centers for holding foreign nationals in Korea were found to have breached individuals’ privacy and human rights, a report by the national human rights watchdog said Monday. According to the National Human Rights Commission, all foreign nationals at the centers -- which include refugee applicants and people waiting to be deported -- were prevented from having personal time at fixed schedules, except for three times a week for a one-hour workout and religious service time. Under the law, centers

Social Affairs March 30, 2015

Acquittal verdicts continue in adultery retrials

Acquittal rulings have been handed down in a series of adultery retrials across the country since the anticheating law was abolished late last month. A man in Gangwon province, whose information was withheld, was acquitted Saturday of adultery charges, court officials said. The man was sentenced to a six-month jail term with a stay of one year for cheating on his wife in 2013. “As the Constitutional Court ruled the adultery ban unconstitutional, the defendant’s charges are no longer a crime,” ju

Social Affairs March 29, 2015

Free buses offered to reduce subway crowding on Line 9

Seoul City announced a temporary bus transportation plan as part of efforts to alleviate crowding on a newly extended subway line, officials said Sunday. Five new stops opened on Subway Line No. 9 from Sinnonhyeon Station to Sports Complex Station in southeastern Seoul on Saturday. The extended service is expected to attract about 3,000 additional daily passengers, the city said. In a bid to reduce rush-hour crowding, the city government said it would offer a number of free alternative buses on

Social Affairs March 29, 2015

Songpa tops children’s food safety, nutrition

An affluent southeastern district of Seoul was found to have the best food safety and nutritional level for children in the country, a report that surveyed food qualities at schools and other childcare facilities showed Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Songpa district reached 78.95 out of 100 points in food safety, about 12 points higher than the national average of 67.54 points.The finding is part of the government’s first-ever inquiry conducted on food safety at el

Social Affairs March 26, 2015

Shopping foreign tourists’ worst Korean experience

Foreign tourists cited unfriendliness and price negotiation while shopping as the least pleasant experience in Korea last year, a state-run organization’s report showed Wednesday. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, inhospitality and price bargaining accounted for 333 of visitors’ complaints, or about 36 percent. The total number of complaints reached 888 cases last year, nearly the same as in 2013. The report said many of the visitors faced difficulties when demanding refunds for defec

Social Affairs March 25, 2015

Korea wrestles with growing health threat from fine dust

Crossing the Hangang River in Seoul on the way to work every morning, 29-year-old office worker Kim Soo-hyun used to enjoy gazing at the vast waterway bordered by panoramic stripes of apartment buildings and skyscrapers. Although the view is often photo-worthy, the experience has become less and less pleasant in recent years, as a thick smog of ultrafine dust blurs out what otherwise had been an arresting contrast of blues.“I always carry a protective mask in my bag to wear whenever the ultrafin

Social Affairs March 23, 2015

Korea wrestles with growing health threat from fine dust

Campsite fire probe finds safety hazards

Investigators accelerated their probe on Monday into the cause of a campsite fire that claimed five lives on Sunday, amid escalating concerns over the lack of safety regulations on outdoor camping facilities. Five people, including three children, were killed, while two were injured after a fire engulfed a 16-square-meter tent on Ganghwa Island in Incheon. Two families were sleeping in the tent, police said. Investigators said the electric panel used for heating in the tent appears to have spark

Social Affairs March 23, 2015

Campsite fire probe finds safety hazards

2 missing recovered from helicopter crash

The bodies of two maritime police officers missing from a helicopter crash last week were recovered in southwestern waters of Korea, the Coast Guard said Friday. One was found dead and three went missing after the Coast Guard helicopter crashed in the waters off Gageodo Island on March 13. The 52-year-old captain and 36-year-old copilot were found dead with their seatbelts fastened in the body of the chopper by a rescue team that was recovering the wreckage with a floating crane.Four officers we

Social Affairs March 20, 2015

Teacher forces students to eat detergent

A foreign teacher was found to have forced students to eat detergent as punishment for using Korean language in his class, which is stirring public anger over the lack of monitoring in the classroom. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, a 32-year-old teacher from South Africa forced five elementary school students to taste either dishwashing detergent or bad-tasting medicine for talking in their mother tongue. Facing mounting complaints and criticism from parents, the school

Social Affairs March 20, 2015

3 in 10 teenagers exposed to school violence: report

Three out of 10 teenagers have been exposed to school violence, while 1 in 10 has experienced smoking, drinking or gambling, a report showed Thursday.According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 32 percent of children aged 9 to 17 suffered from school violence. The younger the students were, the more they experienced bullying. About 39 percent of those between 9 and 11 were exposed to bullying, which is 9 percent higher than those between 12 and 17, the report said. The survey

Social Affairs March 19, 2015

3 in 10 teenagers exposed to school violence: report

2 Uber Korea officials indicted over taxi service

Two Uber Korea officials have been booked for violating the local transport law, Seoul police said Tuesday, amid growing controversy over the legality of the business. Uber Korea’s branch manager and his subordinate official were accused of taking commissions on connecting rental car drivers through a smartphone application since August 2013. The company took a 20 percent commission fee from the ride fares, the police said. Under the Korean transport law, providing unpermitted or unlicensed tran

Social Affairs March 17, 2015

Articles by Lee Hyun-jeong