The prosecution will summon former POSCO chairman Chung Joon-yang for questioning this week as part of the ongoing probe into alleged corruption involving the nation’s No. 1 steelmaker and its affiliates. 　Prosecutors said Monday they are looking at the schedule to call in the 67-year-old chairman for questioning.　 (Yonhap)The summon comes six months after the prosecution launched its probe into POSCO’s alleged corruption cases including suspicious mergers and acquisitions, tax evasion and setti

The gap in life expectancy between South Korean men and women is higher than other member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a recent report by the Paris-based club of advanced countries showed. 　According to OECD Health Data 2015, the average life expectancy for men was 78.5 years, 6.6 years lower than that of women at 85.1 years. 　Korean women’s life expectancy came in fifth among the OECD nations, while that of men ranked at 20th in the group. 　South Korea

As South Korea is set to enter the third stage of its opening of the local legal industry, the legal circle here remains split over the impact, with some viewing it as a chance to hone local players’ competence, while others cite rigid regulations that would hem in any drastic change.　In early August, the Ministry of Justice submitted a revised draft of the Foreign Legal Consultant Act to implement what would be the final stage of the legal market liberalization under the free trade agreements.U

In the chaotic decades that followed the 1945 liberation from Japan’s colonial rule, South Koreans had limited rights to pick their own leaders, express political beliefs, and participate in any form of policymaking. 　They lived under the constant threat of oppressive, militant rulers who were desperate to remain in power in the name of economic development and fighting communism. 　It was perhaps the state’s strong power that transformed South Korea into a powerful economy for the years to come,

When millions of South Koreans flocked to central Seoul to hold a candlelight vigil against a beef import agreement with the United States in 2008, social activist Ha Seung-chang was “inspired” to see how Korean civil society had developed over the years. 　Ha, the head of nonprofit group Think Cafe, began to engage in civic movement in the early 1980s. He said that he witnessed a new breed of social activism that was open, participatory and peer-driven during the 2008 candlelight vigils. 　“In 20

Workers are expected to decide Tuesday whether to return to the trilateral negotiations on labor market reforms, with the government offering to mediate the long-stalled talks.　The three-way talks among labor, management and government had stalled, with the nation’s biggest trade union strongly protesting the plans to curb regulations to lay off underperforming regular workers and give employers more discretion to change recruitment guidelines without labor unions’ approval. 　 (Yonhap)The govern

A South Korean man set himself on fire outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul Wednesday during a demonstration to demand an apology from Japan for forcing women into sex slavery during World War II.　The incident took place at around 12:40 p.m. when the 81-year-old man, only identified by his surname Choi, set himself on fire during a weekly demonstration in front of the embassy attended by about 1,000 people.  A South Korean man, surnamed Choi, is taken to a nearby hospital after setting himself

A South Korean appeals court Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling and cleared a Sri Lankan of charges that he robbed and raped an 18-year-old Korean girl in 1998. 　The Daegu High Court found the 49-year-old not guilty of robbery and rape charges, citing lack of evidence, in the case investigated 13 years after the crime was committed. 　“The testimonies made by eyewitnesses have many contradictory points, making them not valuable as evidence,” the court said. 　 The Sri Lankan man charged with robb

Kim Dae-hwan, who had offered to resign as head of a tripartite committee of government, labor and management, said Friday that he would return to his post to resume stalled talks on labor market reform. 　“I will resume my role as head of the tripartite committee today,” he said in a press briefing held at a government complex in Seoul. “I will meet representatives from labor, management and government as soon as possible to resume the stalled dialogue.”　　Kim Dae-hwan, a triartite committee of g

About 1 in 7 workers in South Korea is paid the legal minimum wage or less, the highest rate among OECD member countries, a recent study showed. 　According to the annual employment outlook by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, nearly 15 percent of the Korean salaried workers were paid the minimum wage or less as of 2013, more than double the average rate of 5.5 percent among the surveyed 21 countries.　 (Yonhap)The proportion for below-minimum wage workers in Korea was the

Two in three men suffering from erectile dysfunction in South Korea have taken counterfeit impotence pills, with those in their 20s being the biggest customers, a study showed Sunday. 　All the pills illegally being sold online and off-line without a prescription as of May were counterfeit and not confirmed to be safe, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.　(Yonhap)According to a poll of 1,500 men who have taken medication to treat their erectile dysfunction, 1,015 people, or 67.7 per

South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled constitutional an election law that requires its citizens to use their real names when posting political comments on Internet forums during campaign periods. 　The court ruled in favor of the law, saying the rule was necessary to prevent “distortion of information” and ensure “fairness” in elections. 　Of the panel of nine judges, five voted in favor of the law, while four deemed it as unconstitutional. 　 (Yonhap)Under the current Public Officia

Seoul city announced Wednesday the launch of a premium taxi-hailing service in October as a pilot measure toward legalizing such a service and as an alternative to popular yet illegal reserved cab services such as Uber.　The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would put 30 taxis into a trial operation in partnership with HIGH&, a taxi operator jointly invested in by the municipality and Seoul Taxi Association. Some 50 drivers will be recruited through HIGH& to drive the selected cabs. 　The vehi

Prosecutors on Wednesday detained a man for allegedly signing up on a shady deal to help Cho Hyun-ah, former vice president of Korean Air, receive special treatment during her stay in prison.　The Seoul Southern Prosecutors’ Office detained the 51-year-old man, surnamed Yeom, charging him with illegally securing a deal to do business for Hanjin rental car service in exchange for helping Cho, also known as Heather Cho, to receive preferential treatment as she served out her sentence, officials sai

When South Korea’s highest court last week banned the long-held practice of paying contingency fees to advocates in criminal cases, a large section of the lawyers’ community fiercely protested the decision, while civic groups hailed it as a catalyst in eradicating corruption in the legal field. 　The Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling last Thursday that results-based financial incentives for lawyers in criminal cases are illegal, invalidating contingency fee arrangements in the nation an

A gunman opened fire in a crowded US cinema killing two people and injuring several before turning the gun on himself Thursday, shortly after President Barack Obama deplored the nation's weak gun controls.More than 100 people were in the theater when the man armed with a handgun began shooting indiscriminately into the audience about 30 minutes into a screening of "Trainwreck" at a cinema in Lafayette, Louisiana, police said.Nine people were injured, some critically.Police said they have identif

The National Assembly on Friday passed a revised bill abolishing the law that limits the time for prosecuting murderers. The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy gave the nod to lifting the 25-year statute of limitations on first-degree murders in a 199-0 vote, with 4 blank ballots. The revision does not apply to lifting the statute of limitations on cases of second-degree murders, manslaughter and other kinds or murders resulting from accidents. The c

The National Assembly on Friday passed a supplementary budget bill aimed at boosting the sluggish economy.    After a three-week tug-of-war between the ruling and opposition parties, the parliament gave the nod to the 11.5 trillion won (US$10 billion) extra budget in a 149-23 vote, with 35 blank ballots. The bill was reduced from an 11.8 trillion won budget plan initially submitted by the government to the National Assembly for approval on July 6.Of the total, more than 400 billion won has been

Robyn Lippert, wife of U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert, is well-known here as “Sejun’s mom,” one of the great examples of her having earned the hearts of South Koreans enthralled by the dedication the couple has shown to fit in.　Since arriving in Seoul pregnant last year, she has been playing a crucial part in her husband’s people-to-people diplomacy, setting her image as humble and open-minded -- a far cry from what many have seen through local magazines depicting the elegant lives of foreign envo

With no additional reports of a possible infection of Middle East respiratory syndrome, South Korea has only one suspected patient still under quarantine Friday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said. 　The number of patients diagnosed with MERS remains unchanged at 186 as the country reported no fresh cases of the disease for the 19th consecutive day.  (Yonhap)The last person in isolation will be released at midnight next Monday if he shows no symptoms of MERS until the day, the ministry said.