The Environment Ministry’s current plan on air quality control lacks in accuracy and efficacy by overlooking a number of important factors and exaggerating numbers, the nation’s audit agency said Tuesday. (Yonhap)According to the Board of Audit and Inspection, the ministry failed to identify main pollutants causing air pollution and erroneously measured the amount of fine dust in the air. It also overestimated the amount of fine dust reduced through the plan. The assessment came as the audit age

Social Affairs May 10, 2016

South Korean children spend an average of 34 minutes outside each day, significantly less than children in other countries, a study showed Tuesday.The National Institute of Environmental Research said that Korean children spend less time exposed to nature and are more likely to stay indoors due to time spent on private education and digital technology in their spare time. The state-run institute questioned 8,000 youths aged 18 and younger between 2013 and 2015 to find out the extent to which chi

Social Affairs May 10, 2016

The most popular baby names for girls and boys in South Korea in the 2010s were Seo-yeon and Min-joon, respectively, a report said Monday. According to records of birth registrations compiled by the Supreme Court since the 1940s, Min-joon was crowned the most popular name throughout the 2000s and 2010s, while Seo-yeon ranked second in the 2000s and took the top spot in the 2010s. (Yonhap)In the 1940s, the most popular girl’s name was Young-ja and for boys, it was Young-soo. This was followed by

Social Affairs May 9, 2016

With North Korea moving to adopt new ruling party rules to declare itself a “nuclear-armed state,” the South Korean government has stepped up defense against the North, saying that it will “never be recognized as one.”North Korean ruling party’s central committee has officially adopted its two-track pursuit of nuclear and economic goals and reaffirmed its leader Kim Jong-un’s control, the state media reported Monday.According to observers, the North is expected to conclude its four-day Working P

Defense May 9, 2016

Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to create an underground passage to connect major tourist attractions in central Seoul, the mayor said Tuesday.  Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said that the underground path would link Seoul City Hall, Deoksugung Palace and Gwanghwamun Square, to recreate the city’s historic Yukjo Street leading to Gyeongbokgung Palace. The underground pathway will house exhibition centers, cultural venues, museums, restaurants and shopping malls. Gwanghwamun Square in central Seo

Social Affairs May 4, 2016

 성소수자 시민단체 연합은 동성애 및 무슬림 혐오 공약으로 논란이 되고 있는 기독자유당을 이달 말 국가인권위원회에 진정할 예정이라고 3일 밝혔다. 행동하는성소수자인권연대, 무지개행동과 이주공동행동은 현재 온라인 및 오프라인으로 지지 서명을 받고 있으며, 잠정적으로 24일 기자회견을 열어 기독자유당을 인권위에 진정하는 취지를 밝힐 예정이다. 현재 3000명을 목표로 온라인, 오프라인 지지 서명을 받고 있다. 행동하는성소수자인권연대 오소리 활동가는 “인권위에 기독자유당의 차별선동 및 증오조장 행위에 대한 입장을 요구하는 게 진정의 취지”라며 “기독자유당을 위축시키고, 연대를 넓히는 것이 목표”라고 밝혔다. 지난 3월 창당된 기독자유당의 대표적 공약은 동성애 법제화 반대, 할랄단지 조성 등 이슬람 특혜 반대, 차별금지법 반대 등이다. 지난 1일 종로 보신각 앞에서 이주노동자 노동절 집회에서 행동하는성소수자인권연대가 기독자유당 국가인권위원회 진정을 위한 서명을 받고 있다 (성소수자인권연대)

한국어판 May 3, 2016

Civic groups in support of sexual minorities are set to file a petition against a Protestant-affiliated party in late May amid growing controversy over the party’s campaign pledges.The groups advocating the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in South Korea began to collect signatures online on Tuesday, hoping to lodge the petition with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea on May 24. There are a flyer reading “Christian Libertarian Party is Human Rights Violation Party! Sto

Social Affairs May 3, 2016

Prosecutors called in an opposition lawmaker-elect for questioning on Monday on suspicion that he received illegal political funds ahead of last month’s parliamentary election. Park Joon-young of the People’s Party, who served as governor of South Jeolla Province, denied the charges before entering the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office in southwestern Seoul. “I did not receive the money. There must be a misunderstanding,” the 69-year-old told reporters at the scene. “It is a shame that

Social Affairs May 2, 2016

Tens of thousands of South Korean workers took to the streets during May Day rallies across the nation on Sunday opposing state-led labor market reform plans. 　An estimated 80,000 laborers belonging to the nation’s two biggest umbrella trade unions – Federation of Korean Trade Unions and Korean Confederation of Trade Unions -- participated in demonstrations in 15 cities. 　The unionized workers called for a withdrawal of labor reform plans which they see as making it easier for employers to dismi

Social Affairs May 1, 2016

UIJEONGBU – One Sunday afternoon last month, a support center for foreign workers in Uijeongbu, some 20 kilometers north of Seoul, was filled with some 50 migrant workers who had travelled there from factory-concentrated cities in Northern Gyeonggi Province. The foreign workers from nearly 10 Southeast Asian countries had gathered to attend a 30-minute lecture aimed at raising awareness on preventing work accidents by the state-run Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency.The program began wi

Social Affairs April 27, 2016

Amid snowballing suspicions over the government’s alleged involvement in pro-government rallies by a right-wing organization, President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday loosely denied her office’s ties with the group. “I was briefed that it was not true that (a Cheong Wa Dae official was behind the right-wing group’s rallies),” she said in a meeting with editors in chief held at the presidential office.Questions have been thrown around in recent days upon news reports that Cheong Wa Dae and a business l

Social Affairs April 26, 2016

A South Korean passenger train derailed early Friday in the southern port city of Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, leaving one engineer dead and eight passengers injured, according to the state-run railway operator.The overnight train was traveling from Seoul to Yeosu when its locomotive and four of the train’s seven passenger cars came off the tracks near Yulchon Station at around 3:40 a.m., the Korea Railroad Corporation said. Officials of state-run railway operator KORAIL perform rescues and res

Social Affairs April 22, 2016

Two South Korean victims of Japan’s sexual slavery during World War II on Thursday offered humanitarian assistance totaling 1.3 million won ($1,150) to quake-hit regions in Japan. Kim Bok-dong, 90, and Kil Won-ok, 87, offered the money to aid Japan’s rescue and restoration efforts for the disaster-stricken Kumamoto prefecture.The first quake on April 14 and the larger magnitude-7.3 quake 27 hours later left 48 people dead and more than 1,100 injured, with aftershocks continuing to strike the are

Social Affairs April 21, 2016