Two out of 5 employees of large businesses are irregular workers, according to a government survey which highlighted the level of job insecurity in Korea. According to the data on types of employment in 3,233 companies, nearly 39 percent of 4.6 million Korean workers at large companies were hired temporarily by the companies or outsourced recruitment firms.Of the total number of workers, 918,000 laborers, or 20 percent, were hired by outsourced firms and dispatched to conglomerates, mostly in th

More than half of part-time workers in Korea enter the workforce without signing a contract, a poll found Monday. 　A part-time job portal Alba Cheonguk conducted a survey on 1,437 part-timers from May 12-19 to find out whether employers offered working environments in accordance with the Labor Standards Act. 　 A trade union for part-timers hold a placard reading "Part-timers are also laborers." (Yonhap)Korean labor law requires all employers, regardless of their size, to distribute a contract to

While the historic ruling in favor of same-sex marriage swept the U.S. and the world over the weekend, Seoul hosted its own version of a pride parade Sunday, despite vocal opposition from antigay groups.Seoul Plaza, a traditional rallying point for Korean activists, turned into a rainbow-studded space awash with scores of local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender revelers and their supporters, who gathered to march through central Seoul in the evening under the slogan of “Queer Revolution.” 　

(Yonhap)The prosecution decided on Friday not to file charges against Korean biotech firm Natural Endotech whose health products were found to include a banned substance. Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office concluded that the firm did not intentionally use the illegal herb to make its products. However, prosecutors confirmed that Natural Endotech did not have a sufficient inspection system to prevent the toxic ingredient ― Cynanchum auriculatum Royal ― from being blended in its products.The decis

Kim Ok-joo, 46, who works at a tollgate on a highway just outside Seoul for more than eight hours nearly every day of the week, cannot help but think her drudgery does not really pay off. “It takes only two weeks to use up all my monthly wage,” said Kim, a single mother raising two teenage sons. “I often work for 16 hours a day, and even on weekends, but my wage is never enough to feed my children.” This year, Kim received 1.6 million won ($1,400) per month as her wage was 6,000 won per hour, 12

South Korea’s highest court on Thursday upheld a ruling that illegal immigrants in Korea can establish a labor union. 　The Supreme Court legalized the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants’ Trade Union, invalidating the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s ban on its establishment. Members of civic groups hold a press conference to criticize the government for oppressing foreign workers’ human rights and reforming immigration law in front of the government complex in central Seoul on Jan. 4, 2008. (Yonh

A 65-year-old German man died this month after contracting MERS during a trip to Abu Dhabi, in the first death linked to the virus in Europe this year, authorities said Tuesday.The man died in the western town of Ostercappeln on June 6 of an acute lung ailment that came as a complication from the MERS virus, the health ministry of Lower Saxony state said.German authorities said they had no indication that the virus had spread and European health officials said the risk of an outbreak in Europe r

인간이라면 누구나 한 번쯤 비밀스럽게 성적 환상을 가져본 적 있을 것이다. 인간은 상대와의 성관계에서 만족감을 얻고 싶을 때, 성적 욕구를 충족시키고 싶을 때 성적 환상을 가지기 마련이다. 이런 성적 환상을 파트너와 공유하는 건 쉽지 않다. 하지만, 작년 섹스 약물에 관한 저널에 실린 한 연구에 따르면 남성과 여성 모두 비슷한 성적 환상을 하고 있는 것으로 밝혀졌다. 남녀 모두 회사와 같은 은밀한 장소나 로맨틱한 장소에서 섹스하거나 내 상대를 자위시키는 등 비슷한 성적 환상이 있다. 미국의 의학 관련 웹사이트 메디컬 데일리가 성적 환상에 대해 알아야 할 5가지를 정리했다. 　1. 남자는 여자보다 2배 이상 섹스에 대해 생각한다. 2012년 성관계 관련 저널에 실린 한 연구에 따르면 남자는 하루에 평균 19번 정도 섹스에 대해 생각한다. 여자는 10번 정도 생각하는 것으로 나타났다. 남자는 여자보다 음식이나 잠을 갈구하는 욕망도 더 큰 것으로 나타났다. 　2. 인간은 비슷한 것들에 대

South Korea's outbreak of the deadly MERS virus is "large and complex" and more cases should be expected, a team of World Health Organization (WHO) experts said Saturday. WHO and South Korean health authorities have conducted a joint mission to review the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the largest outside Saudi Arabia.Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's assistant director-general of health security, and Lee Jong-koo, head of the Center for Global Medicine, at Seoul National University,

The navy chiefs of South Korea and China held talks this week during which they voiced their willingness to forge "pragmatic" cooperation to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia, according to China's military on Saturday. Adm. Chung Ho-seop, the South Korean Navy's Chief of Staff, met with Adm. Wu Shengli, commander of the Chinese People's Liberation Army's (PLA) navy, in Beijing on Thursday, the PLA Daily, the Chinese military's official newspaper, reported late Friday. During the talks

South Korea reported a dozen more patients infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus on Saturday, a rebound in the daily number of confirmed cases.It raised the total number of MERS patients here to 138.More alarming was the first report in the country of a fourth-phase infection despite the government's all-out efforts to curb the spread of the virus.The Ministry of Health and Welfare said the 12 new patients included an ambulance driver who last week transported two peopl

The South Korean stock market is expected to trade in a tight range next week as investors take a wait-and-see approach ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting, analysts said Saturday. The local bourse traded lower this week, with the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closing at 2,052.17 on Friday, down 0.77 percent from a week earlier. Seoul shares managed to trade higher only on Thursday as the Bank of Korea slashed its policy rate to a record low of 1.5 perc

The U.S. Army has completed an environmental assessment of its proposal to permanently station a THAAD missile defense unit on Guam, and plans to hold public hearings later this month to collect views from residents, officials said Friday.The environmental analysis has found that a permanent THAAD battery "will not have a significant environmental impact on the human and natural environment, either by themselves or cumulatively with other actions," according to the report."After thoroughly consi

North Korea condemned South Korea on Thursday for its test-firing of a ballistic missile capable of reaching nearly all parts of the communist nation.On Wednesday, the South carried out its first-ever launch of a ballistic missile with a range of more than 500 kilometers as part of efforts to better counter ever-growing nuclear and missile threats by the North. President Park Geun-hye watched the test.  The development of the new striking asset came after Seoul and Washington announced their mi

Reversing his earlier claims, Park Tae-hwan has said he may have heard about a banned substance in the contested injection that led to his positive doping test, a legal statement showed Thursday.Park, suspended after testing positive for testosterone, had earlier claimed he didn't know he received a hormone shot at a Seoul clinic until after learning the doping test results. The head doctor at the clinic has been indicted on the charge of professional negligence. However, in an affidavit submitt

South Korea’s Pohang University of Science and Technology has lost its crown as the world’s top young university, according to the Times Higher Education’s annual ranking published Wednesday. 　The university, which had topped the list since its inception in 2012, slid to second place, with Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne snatching the No. 1 spot. 　The fourth annual ranking by Times Higher Education ranked the top 100 universities that were founded less than 50 years ago, u

한국의 이른바 '여권(passport) 파워'가 세계에서 `공동 2위'라는 조사 결과가 나왔다.15일(현지시간) 워싱턴포스트에 따르면 금융자문사인 아톤 캐피털은 전 세계 199개국을 대상으로 '여권 파워 순위'라는 여권 지수를 개발해 발표했다.미리 입국 비자를 받지 않고도 방문할 수 있는 나라나 외국에 도착하자마자 비자를 즉석에서 받을 수 있는 나라를 가장 많이 가진 여권이 가장 힘센 여권이라는 게 이 지수의 의미다.이 지수에 따르면 세계 1위 여권은 미국과 영국 것이다. 이들 2개국의 여권 소지자는 각각 147개국에 선비자 없이 방문할 수 있다. 이어 2위 그룹은 한국과 프랑스 독일이다. 145개국에 비자 없이 갈 수 있다. 이탈리아와 스웨덴이 3위를, 일본과 덴마크, 싱가포르, 핀란드, 네덜란드가 4위를 각각 차지했다.5위는 스위스이며 홍콩은 11위, 아르헨티나와 이스라엘은 16위, 브라질은 17위, 멕시코는 22위다.

러시아의 한 여성이 남편과 부부싸움을 하던 중 생후 18개월 된 딸의 머리를 발로 짓밟으려 한 모습을 담긴 영상이 공개돼 논란이 되고 있다.　뱌체슬라프 사모일로브(32)라는 이름의 남성은 최근 아내 빅토리아(30)와 러시아 모스크바에 위치한 한 공원에서 산책을 하던 중 아내가 다른 남성과 주고받은 문자들을 발견하고 분노해 아내에게 언성을 높였다. 두 사람은 서로에게 소리를 지르며 매우 격분했고, 그 과정에서 여성은 부츠 신은 발로 딸의 머리를 짓밟는 시늉을 했다. 　 (Metro)해당 영상은 뱌체슬라프가 자신의 휴대폰으로 촬영한 것이며, 이후 온라인을 통해 공개돼 일파만파 퍼졌다. 　당시 현장을 목격한 류드밀라 이그나티예바(43)는 영국 메트로와의 인터뷰에서 “그 부부가 싸우는 것을 내가 직접 봤다. 여성은 아기를 바닥에 내팽개치고 발로 아기를 짓밟으려 했다”며 “그 부부는 이후 각자 다른 방향으로 가버렸고, 아기는 한동안 그곳에 홀로 남겨져 있었다”고 전했다.　경찰은 두 사람에 대

최근 한 온라인 커뮤니티에 국어 맞춤법 파괴 사례들이 소개돼 온라인에서 화제가 되고 있다.　(Twitter)“마마 잃은 중천공? 놀라운 맞춤법 모음”이라고 이름 붙여진 이 게시물은 온라인상에 떠도는 맞춤법 실수 사례들을 소개하고 있다. 　“나보고 이래라 저래라 하지마”를 “나보고 일해라 절해라 하지마,” “갈수록 미모가 일취월장”을 “갈수록 미모가 일치얼짱,” 흔히 쓰이는 말인 “네가 내 인생의 반려자”를 “니가 내인생의 발여자,” 꽃샘추위를 “곱셈추위”라고 하는 등 국어를 들리는 대로 표기한 사례들이 씁쓸한 웃음을 자아내고 있다.　(Twitter)트위터 사용자 @alwufl2는 “맞춤법 틀린 것 중에 최고 (웃긴 것)을 보았다. ‘장례희망...’”이라고 트윗을 해 2000번 이상 리트윗됐다. 　이에 대해 한 네티즌은 “맞춤법이 갈수록 엉망이다”라며 “이러다 소리 나는 대로 쓰는 게 표준이 될지도 모른다”고 우려를 표했다.(Twitter)(Twitter)(Facebook)

미국 리얼리티 TV 스타 킴 카다시안(35, Kim Kardashian)의 책 발간을 앞두고 그녀가 비키니를 입은 사진이 공개돼 화제가 되고 있다. 　인스타그램에 공개된 사진 속에서 카다시안은 핑크색의 작은 비키니를 입고 가슴을 한껏 모아 올리고 있다.  (킴 카다시안 인스타그램)‘셀카의 여왕’답게 황금빛 메이크업을 하고 매혹적인 눈빛으로 카메라 렌즈를 쳐다보고 있다. 　카다시안은 곧 그녀의 책 “킴 카다시안 셀피쉬”를 출간할 예정이다. 책 속엔 그 동안 공개되지 않았었던 웨딩드레스 사진부터 다양한 셀카들이 담길 예정이다.(khnews@heraldcorp.com)