The nation’s first migrant workers’ union Thursday received a permit to legally form a labor union from the government after a monthlong sit-in in central Seoul demanding the long-overdue authorization.“We are very happy to receive the permit to eventually form the union,” Nazmul Hossain, secretary-general of the Seoul-Gyeonggi-Incheon Migrants’ Trade Union, told The Korea Herald. “Our weeks-long efforts seem to have paid off,” he said right after the union was officially registered at around 11

Labor Minister Lee Ki-kwon reiterated calls on the nation’s largest trade union to return to the negotiating table to discuss labor market reforms, vowing to push for the reforms without the union if it does not return to the three-way dialogue by next Wednesday.“Considering the schedule to set a budget and present a bill to the National Assembly, the talks cannot be delayed any longer,” Lee told reporters Wednesday in central Seoul, urging the Federation of Korean Trade Unions to make a “grand”

When Chinese-born Oh Hee-ock moved to Korea in 1946, a year after her country was liberated from the Japanese colonial rule, she was determined to continue her education and get a job. Born in 1926 to China-based Korean independence activists in today’s Manchuria, she had studied English and Chinese as well as Korean, while participating in her parents’ fierce military activism starting at age 14.Now 89, Oh is a retired teacher and a recognized independence activist. “My father emphasized the im

In Oh Hee-ock’s little apartment in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, there hangs a black-and-white photograph of her late mother and sister. The 89-year-old looks at it every day. It’s a reminder of who she is and where she comes from ― a member of a historic family that was behind Korea’s military activism against the Japanese rule.Oh’s family has an unparalleled iconic tale to tell when it comes to Korea’s fight for independence during the colonial rule that lasted from 1910-1945. Three generations o

South Korea’s education system played a pivotal role in its improbable transformation from one of the poorest countries in the world to the fourth-largest economy in Asia. The country’s series of transformations throughout its history are mirrored in changes witnessed in the education system. In the midst of the country’s rapid development, Koreans sought education as the way to dig their way out of poverty.South Korea is now famous for having one of the fiercest education fevers in the world. A

Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Sunday it would permanently ban a male teacher who harassed his student from teaching at a school again -- the first case of its recently announced “one-strike” policy on sex offenders.The teacher at a Seoul-based public school, identified by his surname Kim, inappropriately touched the female student during a remedial physical education class in May, according to the SMOE. He turned himself in a week later, admitting all charges. The case went cold, h

On Monday, local rights groups the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center and Korean Women’s Hotline jointly made a statement condemning the Education Ministry’s guidelines on sexual education, pointing out that the guidelines spread faulty information and reinforce discrimination against sexual minorities.The groups particularly took issue with a statement that men have sudden spikes of sexual urge anywhere, anytime. The guidelines also completely ignored sexual minorities, saying sexual abuse can

Attendants to the Salvation Army signing ceremony included (From left): Cochlear Korea general manager Hwang Yong-jae, Seinmedex Korea president Ko Chang-hoon, Surgitech Korea president Park Sang-woo, Asianstar managing director Nam Yong-wan and Salvation Army’s Christmas Kettle headquarters secretary-general Lee Su-geun. (Salvation Army)The Salvation Army Korea signed an agreement Wednesday with local companies to provide medical expenses for the physically challenged in low-income households.I

Complaints related to direct purchases from overseas online websites have marked an eight-fold increase in the first half of this year, compared to the same period last year, Seoul city government said Thursday.According to the Seoul Metropolitan government, 3,898 of such cases were registered to the Seoul Electronic Commerce Center, up from just 476 in the first half of 2014. Over the past few years, direct purchasing from overseas has spread among Koreans, mainly because the exclusion of a mid

A woman was taken into custody Wednesday for assaulting a bereaved father of one of the students killed in last year’s ferry sinking, police said.The accused, a 66-year-old surnamed Park, was reportedly passing by a joint memorial altar for the Sewol ferry victims in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, when she saw a banner criticizing the government for its handling of the ship’s sinking, according to Ansan Danwon Police Station in Gyeonggi Province. She went into the memorial and protested the banner,

Rival parties, after nearly three weeks of parliamentary impasse, agreed Thursday to pass an extra budget plan at the National Assembly's regular session later this week.Floor leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party and the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy agreed to pass the 11.2 trillion-won ($10.3 billion) supplementary budget plan through the regular session on Friday.The government submitted the budget plan to the parliament for approval on July 6 to boost the troubled economy, wit

Last Thursday, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said it would once again hold a public hearing for Seoul Foreign Language High School, after its decision to cancel the school’s designation as a special-purpose institution was derailed by the Education Ministry.It was deemed as Seoul education chief Cho Hi-yeon’s last-ditch effort to avoid another fiasco like last year, when his attempt to strip eight so-called “elite schools” of their autonomous status sparked fierce protests from pare

대학진학을 우선으로 하는 진학계 고교는 다수의 일반고 위에 소수의 특목고나 자율고를 올려두고 있다. 더구나 1800여 개교 대부분이 문이과식으로만 공부시키고, 대수능도 이를 부채질하고 있다. 이런 획일적인 교육과정은 결과적으로 국영수 편중 학습을 낳고, 중학교 공부를 반복․심화하는 수준에 머물게 하며, 획일적인 잣대로 학생들을 줄세운다. 교육선진국들이 고교에서는 진로별로 다양한 선택을 할 수 있는 학습기회를 제공하는 것과 대조된다. 우리나라에서 문이과를 벗어나 다양한 학습기회를 선택할 수 있도록 교육과정을 다양화한 학교는 30여개에 불과하다. 이들 학교는 다른 학교들보다 높은 교육성과와 학교만족도를 낳고 있지만, 주변 학교와 협력적이지 못하고 고립되어 시기를 낳을 뿐이다. 상호 시너지효과를 내는 쪽으로 변화가 필요하다.평준화는 이질집단을 한 데 모아둘 뿐 교육의 질을 향상시킬 대책이 없고, 비평준화는 다양성을 왜곡해 학교간 우열을 만든다는 점에서 고교 발전 방향이 못된다. 현재 교육

Banning stepparents from joining school operating committees at their stepchildren’s school is an act of discrimination, the state-run rights commission said Thursday.The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said it recommended the Education Ministry revise its manual on school committees, which bans anyone without a legal filiation of a child from joining his or her school committee. Even if the marriage effectively made them parent and child, one still has to undergo a formal adoption pro

On April 16, 2014, 26-year-old Kim Cho-won and 31-year-old Lee Ji-hye, teachers from Danwon High School, rushed downstairs from their fifth-floor cabin as the ferry they were on began to list. They ran across the doomed vessel in a desperate attempt to get as many students to safety as they could. It was the last time they were seen alive, as the two teachers were among 304 killed when the Sewol ferry capsized on that fateful day.Earlier this week, the Ministry of Personnel Management said the t

Korea University of Technology and Education is looking to further contribute to the practical application of science and technology by expanding its Professional Science Master programs, officials said Wednesday.The KOREATECH PSM aims to train professionals that would “commercialize science and lead the development of science-intensive industries.”The PSM movement was initiated in the United States in 1997, in response to calls to integrate practical and science and technological knowledge. The

The Constitutional Court held a public court hearing Thursday on the conscription law, after three conscientious objectors challenged the much-disputed law that does not recognize people’s right to refuse mandatory military service based on their religious or personal beliefs.It marked the third challenge on the law’s legitimacy, with the previous cases also being tied to conscientious objection. In both 2004 and 2011, the court ruled the law constitutional. A member of a civic group supporting

South Korea’s Education Ministry is set to create a permanent response team to deal with outbreaks of infectious diseases within schools, officials said Wednesday, a decision sparked by the recent Middle East respiratory syndrome crisis.“As the ministry’s gesture to show that it will protect schools from not just MERS but all contagious diseases, we will create a permanent task force that will be operated from July,” said Education Minister Hwang Woo-yea. A team of five ministry officials will b

최근 법원은 퀴어문화축제 조직위원회가 서울지방경찰청을 상대로 낸 행진 금지 통고 효력정지신청을 받아들였다. 이로서 기독교 단체들과 경찰의 반대에 부딪혔던 성 소수자 거리행진은 올해도 이뤄질 전망이다. 게이, 레즈비언, 양성애자, 트렌스젠더를 포괄하는 이른바 LGBT 이슈는 최근 한국 사회를 뜨겁게 달구고 있는 이슈 중 하나이다. 그러나 LGBT에 대한 편견의 시선이 남아있는 한국에서 성소수자로 살아가는 것은 쉬운 일이 아니다.일본 도쿄 토시마구의 이시카와 다이가 의원 (사회민주당.40)은 이와 같은 현실에 ”충격을 받았으며 깊은 슬픔을 느꼈다“고 전했다. 일본 최초의 커밍아웃 정치인이기도 한 이시카와 의원은 한국의 성소수자들에 대한 지지와 연대의 뜻을 밝히고자 최근 방한했다.”일본에서도 전체적으로는 LGBT에 대한 정책이 부족하다. 마치 이런 사람들이 없다는 듯한 태도인데, 저는 당사자로서 이런 (대변해주는) 역할을 하고자 한다“라고 이시카와 의원은 12일, 본지와의 인터뷰를 통해

South Korea and Japan have agreed to expand economic and financial cooperation at a finance ministers meeting in Tokyo, the government said Saturday.The talks between Choi Kyung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso, mark the resumption of bilateral dialogue that had been suspended since November 2012 and allowed the two neighbors to exchange views on a host of outstanding issues, the finance ministry said.The trading partners had been holding annual meetings since 2006, but fraying relati