While translation of different languages is one of the most commonly known forms of interpretation, there are other unique types of interpretation that serve to protect the people or connect societies that otherwise remain poles apart.　They range from sign language translators who act as the gateway to the outside world for the deaf, to soldiers missioned with a crucial role to deliver military information in the world’s last-remaining divided country.　In Korea, there are about 1,200 sign langua

The number of crime cases committed by the elderly has increased significantly from 2010 to 2014 in South Korea, while the general crime rate in the country dropped in the same period, according to figures released by the police here.　The figures showed that crimes committed by Koreans aged 61 or older increased by 35 percent from 2010 to last year, from 111,453 to 150,902. But the total number of crime cases in the country dropped by 5.6 percent, from 1,814,386 to 1,712.435. As of last year, th

Sexism is still prevalent in both TV and print journalism in South Korea, according to a number of studies released by a local think tank. 　According to the studies, which monitored a total of nine TV channels and their daily news shows from Aug. 1-8, male hosts were four times more likely to open the shows by delivering the first news segment of the programs compared to their female counterparts. 　Also, male anchors in general were significantly older -- on average by 10 to 20 years -- than fem

Jang Se-hee was just 23-years-old when she started working as a sex worker. Her father had just passed away after being hospitalized for seven years. “The medical bills were just enormous,” the 40-year-old said. “My siblings were too young, and my father had divorced my mother. I was the de-facto breadwinner of the family.”　Jang was one of some 1,000 South Korean sex workers who gathered in central Seoul on Wednesday asking for the abolishment of the controversial anti-prostitution law, which ha

Women in or post-menopause are the most vulnerable to colorectal cancer among the Korean population, while the number of female patients who develop the disease is on rise nationwide, a hospital report showed.　According to the report released by the Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, colorectal cancer was the most common cancer among Korean women aged 65 or older this year. For women in all age groups, it was the third most common cancer, following breast and thyroid cancer. 　According to

The number of elderly South Korean women who have been infected with sexually transmitted diseases increased significantly from 2010-2014, a report showed Tuesday.　The report, published by private think tank Pharmscore, analyzed government data on STD patients who sought help at medical institutions over the last five years. According to the findings, the number of women aged 80 or older who were treated for an STD increased by an average of 21.6 percent yearly from 2010 to 2014, from 662 to 1,4

The Health Ministry’s nicotine treatment programs launched in February have failed to attract smokers despite the government’s antismoking measures including a price hike in cigarettes, a report showed on Monday.　In its effort to curb smoking, the Korean parliament last year approved an 80 percent increase in the price of cigarettes, from 2,500 won ($2.13) per pack to 4,500 won. Along with the new bill which took effect on Jan.1, the Health Ministry announced that it would support up to 70 perce

A postpartum care center in Seoul has been sued by some 70 parents whose newborns were allegedly exposed to tuberculosis by one of the nurses at the facility.　The center, located in Eunpyeong-gu district of Seoul, is where some 120 infants were exposed to the TB virus while staying there from June 4 to Aug. 18. Each baby stayed at the facility for about a week. The nurse, who reportedly infected the infants, was told by her doctor in July that she may be TB-positive after taking a chest X-ray bu

Aging Korean victims of Japan’s wartime sex slavery have decided to file a lawsuit against Tokyo to seek financial compensation after the Japanese government refused to attend all mediation sessions at a Seoul court over the last two years, the women’s lawyer said Thursday.　A total of 12 Korean victims in 2013 filed a mediation request to the Seoul Central District Court, asking Tokyo to pay 100 million won ($86,000) to each woman to compensate for the war atrocities. The court sent Tokyo its re

Education is slipping down the list of spending priorities for low-income households in South Korea, while high-earning households are spending the largest share of their income to educate thier children, a study showed on Wednesday.　According to the study by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, Korean households that belonged to the wealthiest 20 percent of the population spent an average of 616,965 won ($523) a month to educate their children last year. 　Households that belonged

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan has announced it will give Vietnam used boats and other equipment worth 200 million yen ($1.7 million) to improve its maritime security capabilities as China asserts its territorial claims in regional seas.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced the grant Tuesday after holding talks with Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong in Tokyo. The two leaders said they share serious concerns over attempts by China to change the status quo in the South China Sea by ass

A former senior member of the national police force was arrested Tuesday on suspicions of receiving hundreds of millions of won in bribes from one of the country's most famous swindlers.The former police superintendent, identified only by his surname Kwon, was taken into custody after the Daegu District Court issued a warrant for his arrest, noting there were enough reasons to believe that Kwon may have committed the crime and that destruction of evidence was a possibility.The 51-year-old is sus

　Kang Il-chul was only 16 when she was abducted by three Japanese military officers in her hometown of Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province. It was in 1943 in colonial Korea, and Kang had just returned home from school. Her parents weren’t home.　“They said, ‘Put on your shoes and come out,’ and I obeyed,” Kang said in an interview with local media outlets Monday. “I could not resist. Resisting against Japanese officers meant risking your life at the time. They could kill you at any moment.”　Kang’s

The Supreme Court on Sunday upheld a lower court’s six-year prison sentence for a day care owner who tried to sell a baby, born to an unwed, single mother, for illegal adoption online. 　　The woman, surnamed Kim, brought the baby girl to her center in July of last year, after the biological mother reportedly gave up custody of the child shortly after giving birth at a Busan-based hospital.　Soon after the infant arrived at her center in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, Kim tried to sell the child

The South Korean government’s plan to charge households with full-time housewives for the currently free day care service should they utilize it for more than seven hours daily is stirring controversy nationwide, with some critics calling it misogynistic and discriminatory. 　“The government is discriminating against full-time housewives by doing this,” said Rep. Nam In-soon of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy. “Every mother, regardless of their employment status, should be

South Korea’s economic rents are highly concentrated in a few large family-run conglomerates while its national income distribution appears to be significantly unequal, according to the latest report of the World Economic Forum.　The report used the Gini index, which measures income inequality within a range of zero to 100, where a value of 100 represents perfect inequality. Korea’s post-transfer Gini index -- the income inequality rate after social security transfers have been made -- marked 30.

Health Ministers from four countries, including Korea, Wednesday announced 11 global health security action packages to better prevent and respond to infectious diseases threats worldwide at the Global Health Security Agenda High-Level Meeting held in Seoul. The other ministers were from the U.S., Finland and Indonesia. 　The event, attended by public health authorities from 47 countries as well as the World Health Organization, was held about a month after Korea announced the de facto end to its

Thomas Frieden, the director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S., stressed the importance of timely and transparent information release when dealing with health emergencies during the Global Health Security Agenda Forum in Seoul on Monday.　“The CDC is one of the most trusted organizations in the country,” he told reporters. “And that’s because people know we are going to tell the truth even if it’s going to make them feel uncomfortable. They know that we will provide all th

More than half of ethnic Korean women in China have had an abortion at least once, while the population of ethnic Koreans in general continues to decline, a Chinese study showed.　The study, written by Choi Seon-hyang from Qingdao Huanghai School, surveyed a total of 161 ethnic Korean women living across China. Almost 80 percent of them attended post-secondary education, and the largest number of them were either schoolteachers or university professors. 　Her study found that 55.6 percent of the s

In May, the discovery of a young woman’s body packed into a suitcase buried under cement in the hills in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, left South Korea in shock and horror. 　The 26-year-old, surnamed Kim, was murdered by her 24-year-old boyfriend, who allegedly killed her while drunk after she tried to break up with him. The boyfriend, only identified by his surname Lee, impersonated Kim on social media for two weeks after killing her and disposing of her body.　According to Rep. Jeong Yon