South Korea will host the world’s largest global forum on anti-corruption this week, bringing together world leaders via virtual link to discuss international cooperation to fight corruption. Under the theme of “Designing 2030: Truth, Trust and Transparency,” the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, the country’s anti-corruption policy control tower, will host the 19th International Anti-Corruption Conference from Tuesday to Friday at a studio located in Coex,

Social Affairs Nov. 30, 2020

Opposition parties on Friday submitted a written request for an investigation led by the National Assembly into the justice minister’s unprecedented action to suspend the top prosecutor from duty. The request was signed by 110 lawmakers -- 103 from the main opposition People Power Party, three from the minor People’s Party and four independent lawmakers. The procedural legitimacy of the disciplinary actions taken by Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok

Social Affairs Nov. 27, 2020

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, on his second day of being suspended from work, filed a lawsuit against Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae on Thursday, claiming the minister’s disciplinary action is unjust and groundless. The lawsuit was filed with the Seoul Administrative Court. Yoon on Wednesday night also filed for a pretrial injunction to quash the suspension order. The move came as the Justice Ministry asked its disciplinary committee to convene Dec. 2 to deliberate on allegations level

Social Affairs Nov. 26, 2020

A day after Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl was suspended from duty, turmoil continued at the nation’s prosecution, including a raid of Yoon’s office Wednesday by Justice Ministry-backed prosecutors over alleged illegal surveillance of judges. Armed with a search warrant, prosecutors from the Justice Ministry’s internal investigation team raided a unit of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in charge of data collection. The surveillance of judges, using the unit, is one

Social Affairs Nov. 25, 2020

Jeong Eun-kyeong, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, has been named among the top 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2020 by the BBC, the British broadcaster said Monday. “This year 100 Women is highlighting those who are leading change and making a difference during these turbulent times,” it said. Introducing the commissioner as the “virus-hunter,” it said Jeong, a preventive-medicine specialist, has led Sout

Social Affairs Nov. 24, 2020

SMEs and Startups Minister Park Young-sun took the lead in a survey about potential Seoul mayoral candidates, with a handful of politicians announcing their bids for next year’s by-elections. In the poll conducted by the Korea Society Opinion Institute and CBS on Friday and Saturday, Park was the favorite with 18.3 percent of the votes from 1,019 Seoul citizens, closely followed by former conservative lawmaker Na Kyung-won, who garnered 17.9 percent. Park and Na haven’t declared

Politics Nov. 23, 2020

Asian legal and public health professionals will share their experience at an international forum this week, and will discuss how to shape laws to counter infectious diseases and ways to work together in the post-COVID-19 era. The Ministry of Government Legislation will host the eighth Asian Legislative Experts Symposium under the theme “Legislations on Infectious Diseases and Cooperative Measures of Asia Countries in the post-COVID-19 Era” at the Millennium Hilton Seoul on Wedn

Social Affairs Nov. 22, 2020

Safety concerns are mounting ahead of the implementation of relaxed rules that will enable teenagers to ride electric scooters without a license, among other changes, amid a growing number of accidents caused by the popular new mobility option. Under the current Road Traffic Act, electric scooter riders must be at least 16 years old and have a motorcycle license. When the revised law takes effect Dec. 10, those aged 13 and older will be allowed to ride e-scooters on cycling paths, with no pena

Social Affairs Nov. 22, 2020

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea said Thursday it would push ahead with its plan to launch an envisioned anti-corruption agency within this year by revising a law to override vetoes from the opposition party. The revision procedures for the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials, or CIO, will begin in earnest, Democratic Party Floor leader Kim Tae-nyeon said during the party’s policy meeting held at the National Assembly. “We can’t get dragged into

Politics Nov. 19, 2020

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae on Wednesday ordered an inspection into Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, escalating monthslong tensions between the two. Two junior prosecutors from the Justice Ministry’s internal inspection team reportedly visited the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday and requested a face-to-face meeting with the top prosecutor, only to be rejected. They were trying to schedule a questioning session over allegations against Yoon involving his family and a meeti

Social Affairs Nov. 18, 2020

A Japanese television personality in South Korea, who became a single mother by choice with the help of donor sperm, shed light on the country’s severe access restrictions to assisted reproductive technologies. Sayuri Fujita gave birth to a son Nov. 4 after using donor sperm for in vitro fertilization treatment in Japan, after her doctor said spontaneous pregnancy was becoming less and less likely because of her age. Although she was near the end of her fertility, she wasn’t will

Social Affairs Nov. 18, 2020

Former four-term conservative lawmaker Yoo Seong-min reaffirmed Wednesday his intention to run for president again in 2022, dismissing speculation that he might run for Seoul mayor. Yoo ran in the 2017 presidential election on the ticket of a now-disbanded center-right party. 　 Yoo said he had never considered entering the mayoral race, which will take place in April next year. The main opposition People Power Party, to which he belongs, didn’t ask him to run for mayor, he said during

Politics Nov. 18, 2020

Chonnam National University Hospital in Gwangju has decided to impose cohort isolation on one of its buildings with more than 150 patients after a dozen new coronavirus cases were detected there. “It is difficult for us to provide normal treatment service as the hospital has been exposed to the risk of virus transmission coupled with a surge in the number of medical staff who are under self-isolation regime,” Kim Sung-jin, acting director of the hospital, said during a press confer

Social Affairs Nov. 17, 2020

Chairman Lee Nak-yon of the ruling Democratic Party will volunteer for a clinical trial for a COVID-19 cure or vaccine as South Korean firms struggle to secure enough participants, the party said Tuesday. Lee will provide his data as part of a campaign initiated by the Korea National Enterprise for Clinical Trials, a body under the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Lee has undergone four coronavirus tests, which all came out negative, after coming into contact with someone with COVID-19. Alo

Social Affairs Nov. 17, 2020

Seoul has embarked on a 79.1 billion-won ($71.4 million) project to make Gwanghwamun Square at the heart of the capital city greener and more pedestrian-friendly, city officials said Monday. The 555-meter-long, 34-meter-wide square, which is currently located at the center of a 12-lane road, is expected to turn into a more vibrant public space where people can rest and socialize, with a new park and wider pedestrian-only street. “Gwanghwamun Square, which is the heart of the city, wil

Social Affairs Nov. 16, 2020