The number of foreign students in South Korea has hit a record high, topping 100,000, the Justice Ministry said Monday. According to the ministry’s statistics, the number of foreign students studying in Korea was 105,193 in March, up 10.6 percent from January. The number saw a gradual decrease from 88,468 in 2011 to 81,847 in 2013, but started to bounce back in 2015 at 96,357.  Graduates of Konkuk University in Seoul attend a graduation ceremony on Feb. 22. (Yonhap)By nationality, there were 62,

Social Affairs March 28, 2016

Foreign workers in South Korea are concentrated in labor-intensive industries despite growing calls for a “comprehensive” immigration policy to encourage more skilled workers from abroad, according to a recent report. The study by Hyundai Research Institute, commissioned by the Justice Ministry, suggested that the government fix its immigration system that is heavily focused on low-skilled workers and more effectively make use of foreign workers on a long-term basis in the wake of aging populati

Social Affairs March 28, 2016

KB Financial Group and Korea Investment Holdings Co. have submitted a final bid for a controlling stake in Hyundai Securities as they seek expansion to compete with bigger foreign rivals, the deal's lead manager said Friday. Besides the two, Hong Kong's private equity fund Actis also participated in the competition to acquire a 22.56 percent stake in Hyundai Securities up for sale since last year by financially-troubled Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., according to EY Han Young accounting firm.    T

March 25, 2016

Early in the morning on Dec. 23, four Burmese families finally arrived at South Korea’s major airport, looking nervous yet excited. Amid warm welcome from government officials and U.N. agencies, they set foot for the first time in the country that they would now can call home.The 22 Burmese people, who had spent a decade at a refugee camp in Thailand, were the first batch of refugees relocated in Korea as part of the U.N.-led refugee resettlement program. Under its independent Refugee Act, Korea

Social Affairs March 25, 2016

Government data showed Friday that close to 70 percent of high-ranking government officials and lawmakers saw their wealth grow from a year earlier, mainly due to hikes in their real estate assets. According to the report by the Government Public Ethics Committee, 74.6 percent of senior government officials reported an increase in their wealth in 2015. The average assets of those surveyed was 1.31 billion won ($1.12 million) last year, up 55 million won from 2014.Under the country’s public servi

Social Affairs March 25, 2016

A Kenyan asylum seeker, who murdered a Korean employee at an Internet cafe in Gwangju earlier this month, has been found to be mentally sound, as police continue efforts to identify the motive behind his crime. According to the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office, a medical checkup has suggested that the 28-year-old man is not mentally ill. The checkup was done as prosecutors had faced difficulties in investigating the murder case due to his unusual behavior in a prison cell. The man is seen in

Social Affairs March 24, 2016

The government will present a revision to family litigation law in September to expand the rights of underage children and more effectively deprive unqualified parents of their authority, legal sources said Tuesday. According to the revision, teenage children who are abused by their parents will be able to file a suit against parents to demand the state invalidate their parental authority. Up until now, children have had limited rights in family-related trials, which experts cited as one of the

Social Affairs March 23, 2016

A Russian and Liberian who blackmailed a Korean man for cash have been sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for a year, the court said Tuesday.They had already been jailed for six months for fraud. But the prosecutors added a charge of perjury, which led the court to additionally hand down the suspended six-month prison term. The 28-year-old man from Liberia and 32-year-old woman from Russia, who were in a relationship, conspired with a Ukrainian woman to swindle a Korean man via social

Social Affairs March 23, 2016

A Korean woman threw cash worth 22 million won ($19,030) on the street in downtown Seoul on Monday, but caused no major disruption as passersby did not rush to pick them up, police said Tuesday. The 56-year-old threw hundreds of 1,000-won, 5,000-won and 10,000 won-banknotes in the Seoul Square at around 5 p.m.But there was no single citizen who picked up the bills, with many of passersby glancing at the grass covered by banknotes and taking photos of the scene, police said. Police collect the ba

Social Affairs March 22, 2016

The family of a farmer knocked down by a water cannon blast from the police during an anti-government rally last year filed a compensation suit against authorities on Tuesday. Two daughters of Baek Nam-gi, 70, who still remains unconscious, demand a total of 240 million won ($207,800) from the state and police officials including the National Police Agency chief Kang Shin-myung and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Goo Eun-soo, the Lawyers for a Democratic Society said. Jung Hyun-chan,

Social Affairs March 22, 2016

South Korean police will be conducting a poll on whether to tighten the legal alcohol limit for drivers, officials said Tuesday. The National Police Agency said that it will carry out a month-long survey on 1,000 Koreans on whether to lower the legal blood alcohol level for drivers from the current 0.05 to 0.03 percent. A glass of soju can lead to 0.03 percent of blood alcohol concentration.The survey will ask respondents whether they think it is necessary for police to step up its crackdown on

Social Affairs March 22, 2016

(Yonhap)A Chinese was detained for allegedly running away after crashing into a taxi and injuring a Korean man in Seoul, police said Tuesday. The 30-year-old Chinese man, identified only by his surname Ryu, drove a car under the influence of alcohol and hit a taxi parked in front of the police box in Itaewon at around 5 a.m. on March 13. The crash left a 40-year-old Korean man, surnamed Shim, injured. He is not in critical condition, police said. The Chinese, who came to Korea for a short visit,

Social Affairs March 22, 2016