Part-time college lecturers, often referred to as peddlars of academia for their poor job security and salaries, will finally be acknowledged as proper educational staffers.The Cabinet on Tuesday passed a revision bill guaranteeing higher paychecks and welfare to 70,000 part-time lecturers nationwide covering about 40 percent of university classes. According to the bill, the Ministry of Education,

More than a dozen pharmacists were indicted Monday for distributing fake Viagra pills.This is the first time pharmacists have been charged with selling the fake drugs, purchased through the back door by men seeking for solution to erectile dysfunction or to enhance their libido. Investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office said they have sought a summary indictment for a pharmaci

Korea will seek to share meteorological information with Japan or China in case their weather agencies are hit by a natural disaster such as the recent massive quake in Japan, Cho Seok-joon, chief of the Korea Meteorological Administration, said Monday. Talks are underway for a joint study-observation-forecast-alarm system among the three countries, which will enable them to send warnings or advic

A female patient visited the clinic after two months of persistent coughing. Initially she assumed that she had caught a common cold, but it was getting worse and made her lose bladder control now and again. She became worried that she might have lung cancer and decided to consult a doctor. Coughing is a common symptom of most respiratory disorders and is a common reason for patients of all ages t

The National Assembly on Friday gave the green light to the reappointment of Choi See-joong as chairman of Korea Communications Commission despite  fierce denunciation from the opposition parties. The parliamentary committee on culture, broadcasting and telecommunications adopted the ruling Grand National Party's confirmation hearing report on Choi during a meeting which the main opposition Democr

The ruling Grand National Party and opposition parties on Friday grappled over adopting a confirmation hearing report for Choi See-joong, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission.The GNP supports reappointment of Choi, but opposition parties are determined to remove him from his position accusing him for “politicizing the independent organization” during his three-year tenure, which ends Fr

A government minister visited Japanese spouses living in Korea on Thursday to offer his consolation over the damage caused by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear crisis. Kim Kyo-sik, vice minister of gender equality and family affairs, had tea at the multicultural center in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, with 10 Japanese women who have settled in Korea through marriage. Four o

An office worker in his 20s was apprehended Thursday for spreading groundless rumors that radioactive material from the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, would reach Korea. The rumors elevated anxiety among people here who were already taken aback by the disaster in the neighboring country.The police, however, said they had failed to detect any intention to shake up the stock market

Fears about health risks rose dramatically in Japan on Tuesday with news of a greater radiation release and renewed warnings to remaining residents within 20 miles to stay indoors.Japanese officials said that more radiation was released at a nuclear plant disastrously damaged by last week’s tsunami. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation had spread from four reactors.“The level seems very high, a

By Bae Ji-sookKorean survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have had old fears of nuclear disaster dredged up by the explosions at a Japanese nuclear power plant. But they stood up and paid their condolences to the victims of the worst disaster to hit Japan since World War II, starting fund-raising campaigns as another nuclear disaster looms. The Korea Atomic Bomb Victim A

Businesses caught hiring illegal migrant workers will be banned from recruiting any more foreigners for three years, in a government bid to deal with illegal immigration.Korean employers found to have foreign nationals working for them illegally will get a warning the first time they are caught, but will receive the three-year ban the second time, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Tuesday.

The Korean government’s spending on infant education is among the lowest of OECD member nations, a state-run institute revealed Tuesday. And the rate of women’s participation in earning activities also tables at the below most other OECD countries. The figures suggest that women could take on more money-making roles if the administration helped families with pre-school education, according to the

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan has thrown neighboring Koreans a question: How safe are we?Experts here say Korea is unlikely to suffer such a massive earthquake but caution that the country should be fully alert for all possibilities.The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said the chances of a massive earthquake and tsunami affecting Korea are quite slim since the Japanese archip

Koreans have offered their condolences for the deaths and damage caused by the recent earthquakes in Japan. Internet users have distributed the latest news online, shared information about the safety of their families and friends in Japan and expressed their grief over the tragedy. “I would like to offer my condolences to disaster-stricken Japan. I feel sorry for the Japanese people. Let’s hope no

The government will establish a committee dedicated to verifying faults in medical accidents to help settle disputes under a law passed by the National Assembly on Friday. The body will help citizens less knowledgeable of the sophisticated field confront their doctors with the help of a professional third party, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, welcoming the passage of the medical arbitrat

A stroke is a sudden interruption in the blood supply of the brain. Because strokes occur rapidly and require immediate treatment, a stroke is also called a brain attack. Most strokes are caused by an abrupt blockage of arteries leading to the brain (ischemic stroke). Other strokes are caused by bleeding into the brain tissue when a blood vessel bursts (hemorrhagic stroke).When the symptoms of a s

Choi Sun-hee, 54, stresses that she and her husband would rather stay in a nursing home than expect their children to live with and support them. “In my generation, you could buy an apartment with a modest salary worker’s income. But now, inflation has made that nearly impossible. I don’t plan to ask my children for help ― they are too burdened to look after their own family,” she said. Choi said

CHICAGO (AP) ― Was your kid born to be an elite athlete? Marketers of genetic tests claim the answer is in mail-order kits costing less than $200.Some customers say the test results help them steer their children to appropriate sports. But skeptical doctors and ethicists say the tests are putting profit before science and have a much greater price tag ― potentially robbing perfectly capable youngs

For today’s students, life is all about staring at a screen.They spend hours doing homework, playing games, chatting with friends, reading books and just hanging out ― all on computers, smart phones and e-readers or tablets.And doctors say they’re starting to pay the price: in eye strain, neck pain and wrist aches.“Kids have a limited degree of awareness, so they’ll just play and play until they’r

The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Wednesday denied allegations that the government may scrap a plan to allow multiple charity organizations to receive donations.The denial came after a U.S. charity leader was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying that Health and Welfare Minister Chin Soo-hee agreed with his view that the country needs no second charity organizer.“Increasing the number of