The Korea Herald

Tourists rate Korean food as average: survey

Foreign visitors to Korea rated Korean cuisine as average, a public survey showed Monday, putting a damper on the government’s campaign to expand “hallyu” with Korean food culture.According to the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, foreign visitors gave 74.44 out of 100 points to the taste of local food. The poll was conducted on 810 foreigners who visited last year, with over half being from Asian countries, the state-run organization said. Samgyupsal BibimbapAmerican visitors rated Korean f

Social Affairs March 16, 2015

Tourists rate Korean food as average: survey

[Newsmaker] Elderly left poor by low pension payments

South Korea was found to have one of the least generous pension systems in the developed world, while suffering its highest rate of senior poverty, a report showed Sunday. According to the Korea Labor Institute, the net replacement rate of the Korean elderly reached 45.2 percent as of 2011, about 10 percent lower than the average rate of countries in the Organization for Economic Corporation and Development. The net replacement rate is to the level of the post-retirement pension income compared

Social Affairs March 15, 2015

[Newsmaker] Elderly left poor by low pension payments

Lippert gives testimony on attack

U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert on Thursday gave a statement to the police about last week’s attack by a radical activist, as investigators continue to zero in on the motive of the attacker.In his statement, the envoy gave details of the attack, which occurred during a seminar at Sejong Arts Center in Seoul last Thursday. Lippert testified at his home for about 1 1/2 hours after being visited by an investigator and a translator.The authorities are piecing together the assailant’s whe

Social Affairs March 12, 2015

Lippert to testify over knife attack

U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert, who was wounded by a radical activist last week, is expected to give testimony on the attack soon, the authorities said Wednesday. Investigators asked the ambassador to testify on the assault case as part of the ongoing investigation into the motive of his assailant, Kim Ki-jong, the police said. The U.S. Embassy and the authorities are negotiating on how to deliver the testimony, the police added.If Lippert is not available, investigators may receive the victim’s s

Social Affairs March 11, 2015

Lippert thanks Koreans as envoy leaves hospital

U.S. envoy Mark Lippert thanked Koreans for support and pledged a stronger alliance between the two countries, as he left the hospital on Tuesday, five days after he was attacked by a knife-wielding leftist activist.“It has been incredibly gratifying for me and my family to see such a beautiful expression of empathy and generosity from the Korean People. The signs, offers of food, flowers, cards and well-wishes on Twitter, Facebook and our blogs, these and other acts of kindness have touched us

Social Affairs March 10, 2015

Lippert thanks Koreans as envoy leaves hospital

Envoy attacker praised N.K. founder

Kim Ki-jong, who slashed the face and wrist of U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert last week, has praised the North Korea founder during the police probe, authorities said Monday, as the investigation zeros in on whether he also violated the National Security Law.In a press briefing, investigators said the leftist activist stated that North’s former ruler Kim Il-sung was a great national leader of the 20th century, for what he described as “efforts in the anti-Japan movement during the colonial period

Social Affairs March 9, 2015

Jaywalking factor in half of fatal car accidents in Seoul

Rampant jaywalking is the most common factor in fatal car accidents in Seoul, a report showed Monday.Between December last year and January this year, a total of 70 people were killed in 61 car accidents, the report by the Seoul Metropolitan Government said.Of them, 49 were pedestrians, and 36 died while jaywalking and 23 were senior citizens.City officials said they would fortify measures against jaywalking such as by installing more fences and improving safety facilities along the road.The cit

Social Affairs March 9, 2015

Prosecutors probe pro-N.K. links to envoy attacker

The prosecution on Friday expanded its investigation into a knife attack on U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert with top officials billing it an act of terrorism by pro-North Korean forces.Police sought an arrest warrant for the attacker, Kim Ki-jong, on charges of attempted murder, violence against a foreign envoy and obstruction of official duty. The 55-year-old leftist activist was detained Thursday after slashing the envoy in the face and wrist with a 25-centimeter-long paring knife. Police said th

Social Affairs March 6, 2015

Prosecutors probe pro-N.K. links to envoy attacker

Ex-president Chun’s hidden assets recovered from U.S.

Family members of former Korean President Chun Doo-hwan agreed to forfeit assets of more than $1 million laundered in the U.S., as a result of a joint probe by the two countries to seize the funds, U.S. authorities said Thursday. The U.S. Department of Justice said that it had reached a settlement in the forfeiture case involving assets worth $1.2 million belonging to Chun’s family, including a house at Newport Beach, California, and an investment made in a Philadelphia limited partnership. The

Social Affairs March 5, 2015

First request for adultery retrial filed

A man who was punished for adultery has sought a review of the court’s ruling, marking the first retrial request since the anticheating law was ruled unconstitutional last week, judicial authorities said Wednesday. The 39-year-old man in Daegu, whose information was withheld, submitted a petition to Daegu District Court for a new trial, officials said. He was sentenced to a two-year jail term with eight months of probation for cheating on his wife in July 2013. If he is acquitted in the retrial,

Social Affairs March 4, 2015

Asian direct investment in Seoul surges 65%

Direct investment from Asian countries in Seoul surged by over 65 percent last year, the city’s report showed Tuesday.According to Seoul Metropolitan Government, direct investment from Asian countries rose to about $2.6 billion last year, showing a 65.4 percent increase on-year. This accounts for 47.3 percent of the total direct investment in the capital. While direct investment from China remained about the same at $63 million as in 2013, detour investment via Singapore and Hong Kong played a m

Social Affairs March 3, 2015

Migrant workers earn W1.9m a month: survey

Foreign workers in Seoul earn less than 2 million won ($1,800) a month on average, a city survey showed Monday, According to Seoul Metropolitan Government, foreign workers earn 1.89 million won a month while working an average of 11 hours a day. The city conducted a one-month survey in December of 700 expat workers for the first time as part of its efforts to improve their work and welfare conditions. Of some 415,000 expats living in the capital, about 90,000 are day laborers or work in the serv

Social Affairs March 2, 2015

Foreigners to teach in schools for multicultural children

The Seoul education authorities said Monday that foreign teachers would be sent to local schools as part of the city’s efforts to better support students with multicultural backgrounds.The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will dispatch 86 expat teachers who are fluent in both their mother tongue and Korean, officials said. The teachers will hail from China, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Mongolia, Thailand and Central Asia. The teachers are professionally qualified, having completed a ye

Social Affairs March 2, 2015

Police set up anti-obscenity task force

Police said Saturday that they would set up an anti-obscenity task force to crack down on lewd behavior by men near schools.The decision is designed to ease concerns among students over those who expose themselves near schools, they said.In South Korea, an act of public indecency can be punished by a prison sentence of up to a year or a fine of up to 5 million won ($4,500).Lewd behaviors by men have often been reported recently near girls’ schools.Last year, the top prosecutor on Jejudo Island w

Social Affairs March 1, 2015

Korea nears end of traitors’ asset seizures

The public project to confiscate land assets from descendants of pro-Japanese traitors is nearing an end after years of legal battles, law officials said Sunday. According to the Justice Ministry, 94 out of 96 lawsuits have concluded in seizing property from descendants of Koreans who received land assets in return for working in favor of the Japanese government during the colonial period. Two cases are pending in the top court, it said. Since 2008, the government has launched a large-scale prob

Social Affairs March 1, 2015

Articles by Lee Hyun-jeong