South Korea's national customs agency said Thursday it would combat drug trafficking activities, as international drug dealers can reach out to users via encrypted internet. The total volume of drugs confiscated upon arrival came to 624 kilograms in 2022, which the authorities estimate to be equivalent to 8.9 million doses of methamphetamine, cannabis, Chinese pain relievers containing phenobarbital and illegal synthetic drugs combined. Although the figure was halved from that of 2021, this is a

Social Affairs Feb. 2, 2023

A South Korean court ruled on Thursday that Apple did not deliberately slow down the performance of its iPhone handsets, dismissing some 9,800 Korean smartphone buyers' lawsuit for 2 billion won ($1.64 million) against the United States electronics giant. "The lawsuit is dismissed," a court judge briefly said, without elaborating as to the reason for the ruling. The ruling also indicated the plaintiffs are responsible for the entirety of attorneys' fees. The ruling comes five years aft

Social Affairs Feb. 2, 2023

Lee Byung-kee, the former presidential chief of staff under the Park Geun-hye administration, was acquitted Wednesday on charges of obstructing lawmakers' probe into the cause of the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014. The Seoul Central District Court ruling indicated that the allegations against Lee's involvement in the obstruction lacked evidence. Lee and eight other officials were indicted in May 2020 on charges of hindering the probe as lawmakers tried to look into the whereabouts of the

Social Affairs Feb. 1, 2023

In the face of an increasingly globalized labor workforce and a looming demographic cliff, South Korean legal professionals are calling for stronger protection of immigrants' and refugees' human rights in the country. "Refugees' and immigrants' human rights issues have gained ground in this society," Lee Jong-yop, president of the Korean Bar Association told The Korea Herald in a recent interview at the KBA headquarters in Seoul. During his tenure, Lee created a legal aid team for refu

Social Affairs Feb. 1, 2023

Seoul taxi fares rose for the first time in four years beginning from 4 a.m. Wednesday through a basic rate hike, amid rising fuel costs and inflation, according to the taxi drivers' association. The ordinary taxi's initial charge for the first 1.6 kilometers is now set at 4,800 won ($3.90), up 26.3 percent from 3,800 won applied for the first 2 kilometers four years ago. The initial charge would cover a ride from Seoul Station to the Myeong-dong shopping district, for instance. When moving from

Social Affairs Feb. 1, 2023

  Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Tuesday South Korea might lift short-term visa restrictions on entrants from China earlier than a new deadline set by the end of February if convincing evidence of declining COVID-19 spread is given. The decision could be made depending on the virus situation here as Korea has just eased indoor mask mandate and both China and Korea had family gatherings to celebrate Lunar New Year holiday. "(The government and health experts) can start reviewing plans

Social Affairs Jan. 31, 2023

  A greater stream of foreigners to South Korea could be a breakthrough from the aggravating population structure caused by a sharp increase in senior citizens coupled with a record-low fertility rate, Prime Minster Han Duck-soo said Tuesday, urging an action plan to attract foreign workers. "Now is the time to start discussing (creating) an independent government body to seek collaboration with foreign countries and attract more foreigner workforces." Han said, adding that these

Social Affairs Jan. 31, 2023

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Monday reiterated a zero-tolerance stance against subway protesters in wheelchairs affiliated with Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, who are demanding residences that allow for independent living. The mayor stressed the negative impact of the protests on ordinary commuters, and noted that funding for disability housing was a matter under the central, not municipal government's purview. "I don't think the protesters in wheelchairs are underpr

Social Affairs Jan. 30, 2023

South Korea's main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung called the Yoon Suk Yeol administration a “dictatorial regime” controlled by prosecutors as he appeared at a district prosecutors' office in Seoul on Saturday as a suspect to a high-profile land corruption scandal. Lee, defeated by former prosecutor Yoon in the 2022 presidential election in a narrow margin, has since been facing a number of corruption allegations that were raised even before he became a candidate. A

Politics Jan. 28, 2023

The number of arrests in South Korea in connection with online drug trades reached 3,092 in 2022, a more than 20 percent increase from the previous year, data showed Friday. The number of packages seized, however, declined from 957 to 657 over the same period, according to data revealed during a vice ministerial pangovernmental meeting held in Government Complex Seoul. Since the total weight of drugs confiscated was nearly double that of 2021, and nearly seven times over the past two years, th

Social Affairs Jan. 27, 2023

Cho Hee-yeon, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, was given a 1 1/2-year prison sentence suspended for two years for abusing his power in the teacher hiring process. The conviction will remove Seoul's top education policy decisionmaker from his seat, unless a higher court overturns the decision. In the ruling, Cho's aide was given a 10-month prison term, suspended for two years. Cho's actions "undermined the transparency in the teacher employment process," whi

Social Affairs Jan. 27, 2023

South Korea's public pension reserve is set to run out from 2055, two years earlier than the previous projection, in the face of rapidly changing demographics coupled with slowing economic growth, according to officials on Friday. A Health Ministry committee on the financial projection of the National Pension Service announced that the reserves will be depleted by 2055 as the fund is expected to fall from 2041 onward. A depletion will force the working population to provide more than 26 per

Social Affairs Jan. 27, 2023

South Korean prosecutors said Thursday they have indicted 17 people on charges of distributing cannabis in the nation, where owning and using the substance are strictly prohibited. Among them were six scions of Korean chaebol families, a son of a high-ranking official, entrepreneurs, a musician and an entertainment agency chief, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, ending a monthslong probe since September 2022. According to local reports, the chaebol scions includ

Social Affairs Jan. 26, 2023

The Korea Herald is running a series of feature stories and interviews on the evolution and rise of drug crimes, insufficient support systems and young addicts’ stories in South Korea. This is the fourth installment. -- Ed. Former South Korean prosecutor Kim Hee-jun led a joint operation with the nation's spy agency for years in the late 2000s to capture a South Korean-Surinamese drug kingpin, serving as the basis for the popular Netflix series "Narco-Saints." Similar to t

Social Affairs Jan. 25, 2023

Na Kyung-won, a former four-term conservative lawmaker, said Wednesday that she would not run for the party leadership for the sake of unity in the ruling party, ending weeks of friction with President Yoon Suk Yeol's office that put pressure on her to withdraw. "I won't take part in the race for the People Power Party leadership at the upcoming national convention (in March)," Na told reporters at the headquarters of People Power Party in western Seoul. The judge-turned-seas

Politics Jan. 25, 2023