The Korea Herald

Districts, age groups show turnout disparity

Voters in Seoul’s three affluent districts ― Seocho, Gangnam and Songpa ― turned out at polling stations in large numbers, but not enough to salvage beleaguered mayor Oh Se-hoon.At Wednesday’s referendum on free school meals, the three districts reported the largest voter turnouts, with Seocho marki

Politics Aug. 24, 2011

Wages rise 5.2% this year

By Lee Sun-youngKorean workers saw their salaries rise by an average of 5.2 percent this year, slightly higher than a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday. According to the Labor Ministry, this year’s average is 0.6 percentage point higher than in 2010, when the figure stood at 4.6 percent

Social Affairs Aug. 24, 2011

Seoul goes to polls over free meals

Voting begins across Seoul on Wednesday for the city’s first-ever plebiscite, which will determine how schoolchildren will be getting their lunches and the fate of Mayor Oh Se-hoon. A total of 2,206 polling stations across the capital will be open between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m. Some 8.3 million Seoulites

Politics Aug. 23, 2011

Seoul residents to vote on free school meals

Turnout likely to decide winner in city’s first-ever plebiscite, mayor’s fateSeoul’s first-ever plebiscite will take place Wednesday, asking its citizens to decide whether all schoolchildren should be provided with free lunches regardless of their parents’ income. The vote, however, has turned

Politics Aug. 22, 2011

Seoul residents to vote on free school meals

Kim Jong-il’s Russia visit ‘imminent’

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is likely to embark on a Russian visit as early as Saturday, South Korea’s intelligence officials said Friday. “Kim Jong-il’s visit to Russia appears imminent,” an official at the National Intelligence Agency told a parliamentary intelligence committee, according to m

North Korea Aug. 19, 2011

Campaign heats up for vote on school meals

Election commission bans mayor from picketing, probes education board for ‘encouraging’ vote boycottThe nation’s conservative and liberal forces, siding with Seoul government and education authority respectively, exchanged barbs Friday, arguing about whether citizens should participate in the upcomi

Politics Aug. 19, 2011

Campaign heats up for vote on school meals

Hanjin boss apologizes for dispute

Cho Nam-ho, chairman of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., apologized multiple times during a parliamentary hearing Thursday over a prolonged labor dispute at the company’s shipyard in Busan. Cho Nam-ho (left), chairman of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., reads prepared docu

Politics Aug. 18, 2011

Hanjin chief wasn’t abroad during labor strife: data

Cho Nam-ho, chairman of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., was in Korea for two weeks in July when calls were mounting for him to settle months-long labor strife at his firm, contrary to previous claims by his company. According to Cho’s immigration data submitted to the National Assembly a

Social Affairs Aug. 17, 2011

Samsung told to improve worker safety

Labor Ministry calls on firm to give better protection to workers from hazardsSamsung Electronics Co. has been asked by local authorities to take costly measures to better protect its workers, after a series of leukemia-related deaths in its semiconductor manufacturing lines. The Labor Ministry said

Social Affairs Aug. 17, 2011

Lawmaker calls for budget hike for East Sea campaign

South Korea should increase its budget and assign more diplomats to bolster its campaign to change the international community’s name for the waters separating the Korean Peninsula and Japan to the “East Sea,” a ruling party lawmaker said Tuesday.Amid renewed passions over the East Sea name, Rep. Ch

Politics Aug. 16, 2011

Chey under probe for illegal loans

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won is under probe for allegedly taking out loans from a local savings bank, using borrowed names, a local daily reported Tuesday. According to the JoongAng Ilbo, investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office have detected some suspected transactions in b

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2011

Allies begin annual military drill

S. Korea, U.S. mobilize 86,000 troops for Ulchi Freedom GuardianSouth Korea and U.S. forces on Tuesday launched their annual joint exercise in their latest attempt to improve their defense posture against North Korea, military officials said.The Ulchi Freedom Guardian, launched in 1975 to enhance in

Defense Aug. 16, 2011

School violence surges almost 40%

School violence resumed its upward trend in 2010 after a brief drop the previous year, indicating growing aggression among the nation’s young students, a government report showed Tuesday.According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, a total of 7,823 cases of vi

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2011

Law allows phone fraud victims to recover loss without litigation

Victims of phone fraud, commonly known as voice phishing, will be able to get their stolen money back within three months from the day they were victimized without undergoing litigation, the government decided Tuesday.The government, during a Cabinet meeting, approved an enforcement ordinance of a s

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2011

Lee calls for measures to curb expected rise in home rental

President Lee Myung-bak expressed concern Tuesday that home rental prices are feared to spike in the fall again and instructed the Cabinet to study ways to curb them, his spokesman said.Earlier this year, home rental prices rose sharply, pulling up overall consumer prices. In April alone, rental pri

Politics Aug. 16, 2011

Articles by Lee Sun-young