On Wednesday evening thousands of students and graduates from Ewha Womans University held a rally on campus to protest what they saw as the school’s unilateral push for a series of policies, demanding the school chief step down.An estimated 3,500 students and graduates gathered on campus at the university in western Seoul, despite the scorching heat, in its second large-scale rally on campus, holding placards reading “Who is Ewha Womans University for?” and “Owners of this school are the student

Social Affairs Aug. 12, 2016

It took a weeklong match in March this year between 18-time world Go champion Lee Se-dol and Alphago for it to hit South Koreans hard: Human beings could actually be replaced by artificial intelligence.Alphago, the AI Go program developed by Google DeepMind, won four out of five games. The initial anticipation of Lee’s sweeping victory soon turned into self-assuring consolation that he at least managed one win. “After the match, I was actually fearful of my own arrogant assumption that a man-mad

Social Affairs Aug. 11, 2016

The stepmother of 7-year-old Shin Won-young was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Wednesday for abusing her stepson to death and burying his body to cover up the crime. Shin’s father, who neglected the crime and helped abandon the boy, received a 15 year jail term. The Pyeongtaek Branch of Suwon District Court said in the ruling that it had to impose stern punishment for the accused as they caused an “irreversible outcome,” referring to the boy’s death. The court also cited how the two had admi

Social Affairs Aug. 10, 2016

Seoul City is to take legal action late this week against the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s decision to ban its program to support unemployed and underemployed young people with monthly cash support, the city government said Sunday.Also, the metropolitan government is set to establish countermeasures, such as nonmonetary support plans, in case the court dismisses the petition.“Seoul City will file for a provisional injunction, asking that the government‘s cancellation (of the program) be susp

Social Affairs Aug. 7, 2016

The prosecution on Friday indicted a senior prosecutor and the co-founder of South Korea’s biggest online gaming company Nexon over alleged bribery and shady stock transactions, ending a monthlong probe into the high-profile corruption scandal. It also requested that the Justice Ministry dismiss the disgraced prosecutor, a sanction which will cut down his pension by 25 percent and ban him from opening a law office for three years. Lee Geum-ro, the chief of the prosecution’s special team for the

Social Affairs July 29, 2016

Linking with overseas institutions to allow students to cultivate a global outlook and network with business leaders is a growing trend at universities here.KAIST College of Business runs the China-Korea-Japan Field Study Program involving three institutes: China’s Tsinghua University, Korea’s KAIST and Japan’s Keio University.This year, it invited some 40 Master of Business Administration students from the three universities to Korea from July 8-16 for them to conduct joint research on Korea’s

Social Affairs July 28, 2016

Eight out of 10 South Korean workers have been given work-related instructions by their bosses via mobile messaging apps after office hours, a survey showed Wednesday. According to the survey on 1,668 workers by recruitment site Job Korea, 82 percent of them said that they had been contacted by their superiors about work-related issues via messaging apps such as KakaoTalk or Line, after working hours.Fifty-eight percent of thpse polled were negative about such work-related communication outside

Social Affairs July 27, 2016

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn released a set of safety measures on Wednesday to enhance screening for public transport drivers, chemical management at factories and workers’ safety in construction sites in light of a series of man-made accidents. “The government will reinforce safety management for vehicles used for businesses exposed to bigger danger of large-scale accidents,” Hwang said in a meeting with relevant ministries at Seoul Government Complex. Hwang said that the government would enfor

Social Affairs July 27, 2016

South Korean customs authorities have seized tens of thousands of pills filled with powdered human flesh over the past several years as they were being smuggled from China into the country, it was revealed Tuesday. According to data released by the Korea Customs Service at the request of Rep. Lee Jong-ba of the ruling Saenuri Party, 107 smuggling attempts have been made from 2012 to June this year, involving some 57,000 capsules. (Yonhap)The traders attempted to bring the pills from China into K

Social Affairs July 26, 2016

Some 40 students and faculty members from Incheon National University joined an eight-day volunteer program in Vietnam to promote Korean culture and help local communities earlier this month. Incheon National University, which aims to place itself within the country’s top five national universities by 2020, has run the annual volunteer program since last year to enhance its students’ spirit of giving and to enhance their sense of community, the university said.Participants pose for a photograph

Social Affairs July 24, 2016

The Korea Herald and The Investor publish a series of in-depth articles analyzing rising business tycoons and their company’s governance structure. This is the sixth installment on Lee Jae-yong and Samsung Group. – Ed.Samsung Group, South Korea’s most powerful family-run conglomerate and a driving force behind the nation’s rapid economic growth, has been a global symbol of pride for many Koreans with its brand name recognized almost everywhere in the world. According to a survey by job portal Sa

Social Affairs July 24, 2016

About two months ago, a 33-year-old prosecutor hung himself at his home in southwestern Seoul. A suicide note next to his body indicated that he had suffered extreme stress at work. During the investigation into the death of Kim Hong-yeong, his father and colleagues highlighted the severe verbal abuse and mistreatment by his boss as the reasons why he took his own life. Text messages exchanged between Kim and his colleagues before his death were later made public, revealing that he had often com

Social Affairs July 20, 2016

A South Korean worker hired by the world’s biggest shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries died on Tuesday while working on a shipbuilding project for Norwegian oil company Statoil. The 39-year-old man, surnamed Shin, died after falling off scaffold at 2:20 p.m. He was taken to a nearby hospital, but was pronounced dead two hours later. He sustained injuries to his face and neck as well as fractures in his arms and both legs. A 39-year-old worker, surnamed Shin, died after falling off scaffold at H

Social Affairs July 19, 2016

A senior presidential secretary denied on Monday local news reports that said arrested senior prosecutor Jin Kyung-joon had pulled strings for him, allegedly leading to local gaming company Nexon buying his family’s real estate.Woo Byung-woo, a presidential secretary for civil affairs, flatly denied in a statement Jin’s involvement in his personal real estate dealings, saying that his wife sold the property legally through a real estate agency.Local news reports raised speculation on Monday that

Social Affairs July 18, 2016