Women in Seoul take an average of 4.5 years away from their career mostly due to childbirth and rearing, research showed Tuesday.The Seoul Women’s Resources Development Institute released its survey of 1,969 women who registered at job-training and career-building agencies for women in the city.Half of them said they had once worked, but found they had to quit after an average of 8.4 years. They were out of work for 4.5 years on average. About 46 percent of them cited childcare as the reason for

Social Affairs July 2, 2013

Heavy rain is expected to pour out across the nation this week, starting Tuesday in Gyeonggi {rovince and western regions first and other areas later. The precipitation will hit Seoul and the Gyeonggi Province area hardest, with 150 millimeters, while 30-120 millimeters of rainfall is forecast in other regions. Some thunder and lightning is anticipated in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region until Wednesday and in southern parts until Thursday for two days. The intense heat will be alleviated with belo

Social Affairs July 1, 2013

From ecological farms to flea markets to after-school institutes, local cooperatives are sprouting up in many districts in Seoul. About 500 neighborhood groups are currently supported by the city government’s “village community” program initiated by Mayor Park Won-soon, a former progressive civic activist.But his pet project has recently been embroiled in political controversy, with conservatives suspecting some of the organizations as hotbeds of leftists and potential support bases for the mayo

Social Affairs July 1, 2013

The government plans to give certified foreign entrepreneurs looking to set up a company in Korea wider leeway to receive a visa, as part of efforts to stimulate foreign investment, the Justice Ministry said on Sunday.According to the proposed revision to the enforcement decree of the Immigration Control Act, an “entrepreneurship visa” will be granted as part of the corporate investment visa (D-8) to foreigners who hold at least a bachelor’s degree, have earned an intellectual property right and

Social Affairs June 30, 2013

Major universities in Seoul on Tuesday promised to reduce energy consumption by 10 percent of 2012 levels by 2017 in an agreement with the Seoul City government.They also agreed to implement measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and enhance education and campaigns to protect the environment. A total of 34 out of 42 four-year universities signed a memorandum of understanding with the metropolitan government for the green campus project. At the ceremony the schools adopted a joint declarat

Social Affairs June 25, 2013

A bill has been proposed to introduce stronger protection of victims and harsher punishment for stalking by a minor party lawmaker on Saturday.Rep. Kim Je-nam from the Progressive Justice Party said she is pushing to introduce a separate law to ensure better protection of victims from stalking such as by applying criminal penalties for the offense that is currently considered a misdemeanor.Stalking ― currently defined as making approaches, watching or following a person against his or her explic

Social Affairs June 23, 2013

Korea’s corruption watchdog Monday started a two-week training program for Asian and African public officials to help emerging countries tackle graft and boost transparency. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said 13 officials from different countries including China, Singapore, Thailand and Zimbabwe were participating in the session. In his welcoming address, chairperson Lee Sung-bo stressed the importance of international cooperation to combat corruption. “Corruption is a transnat

Social Affairs June 17, 2013

President Park Geun-hye expressed her dismay at “distorted” history education on Monday, signaling for tough measures against the leftist teachers’ union. She criticized the result of a controversial survey on students’ perception of the start of the Korean War (1950-53). In the poll conducted by a newspaper, 506 high school students were asked whether the war was triggered by “buk-chim” (invasion by the South) or “nam-chim” (invasion by the North). Of them, 349 students or 69 percent picked “bu

Politics June 17, 2013

Seoul City will publicize standard taxi fares on 56 routes popular among foreign tourists as part of efforts to protect them from overcharging. The price estimates will be available online (www.visitseoul.net) from the end of this month, and later via smartphone applications and tour guidebooks, it said.The information will cover courses linking 12 spots ― two airports, five lodging facilities and five tourist attractions, it said. To stamp out the illegal practice of taxis overcharging, one of

Social Affairs June 16, 2013

The government and the ruling Saenuri Party decided on Wednesday to establish a new regulation to tighten supervision of local public enterprises. The envisioned law is expected to include clauses that close down companies in financial trouble due to lax management and executives’ misdeeds.Public firms more than half-owned by local governments are currently regulated under the Local Public Enterprises Act. However, there are no specific regulations for companies with government stakes of less th

Politics June 12, 2013