South Korea’s opposition leader accidentally sent beef jerky to the Jogye Order of Buddhism as a Lunar New Year’s gift, bewildering the country’s largest Buddhist group, which practices vegetarianism.Gift sets containing beef were delivered to several of the group’s senior officials earlier last week under the name of Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn. The main opposition party learned about the mistake Friday and retrieved the gift sets the same day. It sai

Social Affairs Jan. 20, 2020

The prosecution on Friday filed charges against former Justice Minister Cho Kuk in connection with allegations that he abused his power to suspend an inquiry into a former Busan vice mayor. The Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office charged Cho with abuse of power without physically detaining him, three weeks after the prosecution’s request for a warrant to arrest him was rejected by a local court.Prosecutors accused Cho of abusing his power in 2017, as then-presidential secretar

Social Affairs Jan. 17, 2020

A Seoul court on Friday cleared main opposition lawmaker Kim Sung-tae of bribery charges, clearing a hurdle for him to run in the upcoming April 15 general elections. The Seoul Southern District Court found Rep. Kim Sung-tae of the Liberty Korea Party not guilty of receiving bribes from Lee Suk-chae, former chief of telecom firm KT. Lee was also cleared of offering bribes to Kim. Based on testimony from former KT President Seo Yu-yeol, prosecutors indicted Lee for inappropriately asking Lee

Social Affairs Jan. 17, 2020

A South Korean transgender sergeant faces a possible discharge from the South Korean Army after undergoing sex reassignment surgery while enlisted, despite his wish to continue the service as a female officer. The trans person, a 20-something tank driver in a unit in Gyeonggi Province, underwent sex reassignment surgery in December in Thailand after gaining approval from his unit. The staff sergeant, while recovering at a national Army hospital, had applied for a legal gender change and expresse

Social Affairs Jan. 16, 2020

One in 3 victims of school violence in South Korea has been bullied “as a joke,” a report from the Education Ministry showed Wednesday. 　　Some 0.6 percent of students enrolled at Korea’s elementary, middle and high schools admitted that they had bullied fellow students, according to a survey conducted in September involving some 130,000 students.　The most common reason behind the bullying was “just as a joke” (29.4 percent). Some 19.2 percent of the bullying took pl

Social Affairs Jan. 15, 2020

Victims of wartime forced labor and their descendants based in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province filed a class-action lawsuit against Japanese firms on Tuesday, seeking financial restitution amid soured Seoul-Tokyo relations over the colonial-era issue. Two surviving victims forced to work at Japanese steel mills during Japan’s 1910-45 colonization of Korea and 31 bereaved family members of late victims participated in the suit against six Japanese firms -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mit

Social Affairs Jan. 14, 2020

One out of 10 parents aged 24 or younger has had to bring up a child without a permanent home at least at one point since becoming a parent, due to financial difficulties, according to a report released Tuesday on housing insecurity faced by young parents.  According to a survey conducted by the Korean Unwed Mothers Support Network involving 315 young parents, both single mothers and single fathers, 12 percent of the respondents had raised their children in places such as motels and public

Social Affairs Jan. 14, 2020

Koreans mourned the people and animals killed in Australia’s bushfires in central Seoul on Monday, calling on the Korean and Australian governments to take tougher action to combat climate change. Despite the subzero temperatures, some 100 people gathered and held up candles in front of the Australian Embassy to stand in solidarity with living creatures victimized by the unprecedented wildfire crisis. 　A series of massive bushfires across Australia have burned more than 25.5 million hectar

Social Affairs Jan. 13, 2020

Protesters chanting anti-government slogans and marching with loudspeakers in traffic lanes closed off for them have become a common sight on Saturdays in central Seoul in recent years. 　In a country where street demonstrations paved the way for democracy, this may be seen as a sign of great strides in freedom of expression. 　But complaints are growing in rally-prone areas in central Seoul, namely Gwanghwamun Square and the vicinity of the presidential office. 　“We came here to have lunch,

Social Affairs Jan. 13, 2020

The prosecution sought an arrest warrant for K-pop star Serungri on Friday over suspected illegal overseas gambling and procuring prostitutes for his investors. The Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office said it had filed an arrest warrant for the 30-year-old former Big Bang member, on seven charges including illegal overseas gambling, illegal currency transactions and procuring prostitutes. A hearing on whether to issue an arrest warrant for Seungri, whose real name is Lee Seung-hyun, wil

Social Affairs Jan. 10, 2020

Three in 10 women working in Seoul belonged to the bracket of “low income” earners as women on average were paid 63 percent of what men were paid, government data showed Thursday.  According to statistics on gender equality unveiled by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, some 54 percent of female residents in Seoul aged over 15 were participating in the labor market as of 2018, compared to 71.9 percent of male residents in the capital. 　Female workers were paid 2.1 million w

Social Affairs Jan. 9, 2020

Progressive civic groups in South Korea condemned the US on Thursday for killing Iran’s top military commander in a drone strike near Baghdad last week, urging the government not to deploy Korean troops to the Strait of Hormuz. 　An association of 65 civic groups -- mostly labor unions, peace groups and left-wing groups -- called on the government not to be drawn into a US “war of aggression,” describing the targeted killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s eli

Social Affairs Jan. 9, 2020

Unusually warm weather continued in South Korea on Tuesday, with the country not yet having witnessed the first freezing of the Han River and the record-low snowfall disrupting municipalities’ plans for winter events. Seoul had received 23 milliliters of rain as 3 p.m. on Tuesday alone, with more rain expected through Wednesday. 　The daily low on the southern resort island of Jeju rose to an all-time high of 18.5 degrees Celsius, higher than the island’s 30-year January average of 14

Social Affairs Jan. 7, 2020

Nearly 1 million people made their way to “Seoul Light,” a nighttime light show held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza from Dec. 20 to Friday, the city government said Tuesday. The event, which featured a mix of colorful light projected onto public buildings, as well as cultural events, exhibitions and food trucks, attracted 866,603 people, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Design Foundation.  The estimate, based on surveillance camera footage, was up 59 perc

Social Affairs Jan. 7, 2020

Seoul attracted more than $10 billion in foreign direct investment for the first time last year on the back of growing popularity of K-beauty products, the city government said Monday.The amount of FDI in Seoul totaled $10.1 billion, a 12 percent increase from $9 billion in the previous year, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. The previous record was set in 2016 when the city received $9.6 billion worth of investment commitments. Seoul accounted for 44 percent of the total FDI in So

Social Affairs Jan. 6, 2020