The Korea Herald

Hurricane creates new crisis in Haiti, aid begins arriving

Jislene Jean-Baptiste and her neighbors had little before Hurricane Matthew and now they have a lot less. A grandmother who lives with her three daughters and their children in a one-room house in the devastated town of Jeremie, Jean-Baptiste on Friday was surveying what remained of her home after Matthew tore across southwestern Haiti three days earlier. There wasn't much. Storm surge flowed across the road and drenched everything she owns in waist-deep salt water, washing away the stores of ri

World News Oct. 8, 2016

Hyundai's flooded production line to resume operation next week

Hyundai Motor Co.'s production line in the southern industrial city of Ulsan, which was earlier suspended due to flooding from Typhoon Chaba, is set to resume operation next week, South Korea's No. 1 carmaker said Saturday.The production line, which manufactures the Santa Fe and Avante, was to start normal operations on Friday, however that plan was delayed as it is taking more time than expected to clear out the muddy water, a corporate official said.Dozens of cars that were ready to be sent to

Industry Oct. 8, 2016

N. Korea claims US strategic bomber B-1B flew near Korean Peninsula

The U.S. strategic bomber B-1B has flown near the Korean Peninsula recently, a North Korean report said Saturday, accusing the U.S. of launching military threats. "The imperialist U.S. flew the B-1B nuclear strategic bomber from the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam to skies near the Korean Peninsula on Friday morning, carrying out military threats and menace," the Korean-language propaganda radio station Pyongyang Broadcasting said. "The imperialist U.S.' reckless lunacy of seeking a pre-emptive

North Korea Oct. 8, 2016

N. Korea claims US strategic bomber B-1B flew near Korean Peninsula

Trump caught on video making lewd, crude remarks about women

Donald Trump blurted out lewd and sexually charged comments about women as he waited to make a cameo appearance on a soap opera in 2005, a revelation that led the Republican presidential nominee to issue a rare apology Friday, “if anyone was offended.''Trump bragged about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women who were not his wife on recordings obtained by The Washington Post and NBC News. The celebrity businessman boasted “when you're a star, they let you do it,'' in a conversation

World News Oct. 8, 2016

iPhone 7 to hit S. Korean shelves on Oct. 21

U.S. tech giant Apple Inc. said Saturday the iPhone 7 series is slated to reach the South Korean market on Oct. 21, and is set to compete with other local rivals in the high-end handset market.Apple said the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus, each with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays, respectively, will officially set sail here, along with the wireless earphones, called Airpod.The local price for the devices, however, has not yet been announced by mobile carriers here. Industry watchers here have been e

Technology Oct. 8, 2016

Samsung head's shares valued over 14 tln won

Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee saw his stakes value surpass 14 trillion won (US$12.5 billion) for the first time, data showed Saturday, as shares under Samsung Group soared after U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management urged the tech giant to split into two.According to the data compiled by industry tracker Chaebul.com, the combined value of shares held by Lee advanced 25 percent on Friday compared to the first trading session of 2016.Market watchers said the increase came after Elliott als

Oct. 8, 2016

Japan could go nuclear in 10 years: US study

Japan could arm itself with nuclear weapons in 10 years to cope with threats from China and North Korea, a study commissioned by the US Defense Department showed, according to a news report.The report produced for the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment (ONA) assesses that Japan can quickly build a strategic arsenal of land-based and submarine-launched missiles capable of killing up to 30 million Chinese in a nuclear war, according to the Washington Free Beacon."The report reveals Japan's govern

Foreign Affairs Oct. 8, 2016

NK provocations must be stopped, but door should be left open to Pyongyang: UN official

North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations must be stopped, but the international community should also leave the door open to the communist nation in case it reverses course, a top U.N. official said Friday.Kim Won-soo, U.N. undersecretary general and high representative for disarmament affairs, made the remark during a conference in Washington aimed at promoting South Korean President Park Geun-hye's regional peace vision known as the Northeast Asia Peace and Security Initiative. (Yonhap)"

Foreign Affairs Oct. 8, 2016

NK provocations must be stopped, but door should be left open to Pyongyang: UN official

US court reinstates $120 million victory for Apple in patent battle with Samsung

Overturning an earlier decision, a U.S. appeals court on Friday reinstated a lower-court verdict that Samsung Electronics pay Apple US$120 million for violating three iPhone patents.In February, a three-member panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington ruled that Samsung did not infringe upon the patents on "quick links," "slide-to-unlock" and "auto-correct" technologies, and therefore does not need to pay $120 million ordered by a lower court.Apple appealed that de

Industry Oct. 8, 2016

Number of native-speaking English teachers drops

The number of native English teachers in South Korea has dropped by nearly 42 percent over the past five years, mainly due to shortages in education budget, the latest data showed Thursday. According to Education Ministry data released by Rep. Lee Jong-bae of the ruling Saenuri Party, the number of English teachers from native English-speaking countries at public schools fell from 8,520 in 2012 to 4,962 this year. Native English teachers and Korean teachers at primary and secondary schools in no

Social Affairs Oct. 6, 2016

Number of native-speaking English teachers drops

Opposition parties propose special investigation into farmer’s death

South Korea’s opposition parties on Wednesday submitted a motion calling for a special investigation into the death of Baek Nam-gi, an activist farmer who died last month after having been struck by a police water cannon blast during an anti-government rally. “The opposition parties, along with Baek’s family, submitted a request for a special investigation to hold the reckless public authority accountable and find the truth behind his death,” said Rep. Park Ji-won of the People’s Party at a parl

Social Affairs Oct. 5, 2016

Opposition parties propose special investigation into farmer’s death

Controversy continues over farmer's death

Controversy continued Tuesday surrounding the cause of the death of Baek Nam-gi, an activist farmer who died after being hit by a police water cannon, with civic groups slamming the hospital for shifting responsibility for his death to his family. Baek’s family and an emergency committee of civic groups renewed its opposition to an autopsy and asked the police to disclose the full content of the autopsy warrant at a news briefing on Monday afternoon. “Respect for the Baek family’s opinions is at

Social Affairs Oct. 4, 2016

Controversy continues over farmer's death

Repeat sex attackers on the rise

Eight out of every 100 convicted sex attackers in Korea last year had a previous conviction of a sex crime, data showed Tuesday. According to the Justice Ministry data released by Rep. Kim Jin-tae of the ruling Saenuri Party, reoffending by sex offenders has been on a steady and alarming rise over the past five years. The proportion of repeat offenders among all sex crime convicts rose from 3.3 percent to 8 percent in 2015, registering a 2.4-fold rise. Last year, 2,775 out of a total of 34,688 s

Social Affairs Oct. 4, 2016

[EYE] World powers responsible for Syrian war, refugee crisis

Life in Syria before the war began in 2011 was peaceful, with its people able to go to school and work and hang out with friends along the Euphrates, the river crucial to the birth of Mespotamian civilization.Then the war turned their country into a “trash can” where society’s worst gather and fight in pursuit of their own political agendas, according to Wahab Almohammad Agha, the director of humanitarian organization Help Syria. Abdul Wahab Almohammad Agha (The Korea Herald)“I am no longer able

Social Affairs Sept. 30, 2016

[EYE] World powers responsible for Syrian war, refugee crisis

Reported child abuse cases soar 50 percent

The number of child abuse cases soared by more than 50 percent in the first half of this year from the same period a year earlier on the back of increased reports, the government said Friday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said at the relevant ministerial meeting that the number of reports of child abuses cases was 12,666, up 53.4 percent from the previous year. The government released a set of plans to prevent child abuse cases in March, which includes enhanced protection of those who repor

Social Affairs Sept. 30, 2016

Articles by Ock Hyun-ju