The Gender Equality Ministry is releasing a set of video guidelines for those interested in contacting international marriage agencies to marry a foreign spouse, as a growing number of South Koreans are being swindled. To date, some 20 percent of all marriages between a South Korean and a foreign national here are arranged through such agencies. According to Kim Dae-jung from the Gender Equality Ministry, such firms charge a commission fee that usually ranges from 10 million won to 20 million wo

South Korea’s Health Ministry is receiving a surprisingly high number of applications from health care workers here who wish to be sent to West Africa to treat Ebola, in spite of the safety concerns expressed by the country’s biggest representative body of physicians.Some 40 health care workers, including doctors and nurses, have applied for the 10 spots since Oct. 24, according to the Health Ministry. The application period ends Nov. 7. The competition rate is already 4-to-1. Once selected, the

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family was criticized during a parliamentary inspection Wednesday for its poor maintenance of websites on the experiences of Korean wartime sex slaves during World War II.Lawmaker Nam Yoon In-soon pointed out that although 140 million won ($130,000) was spent every year to maintain the websites, most of the statistics, such as the number of surviving victims in South Korea, haven’t been updated since August last year. While there are currently 50 surviving vic

South Koreans who have foreign migrants and naturalized citizens as their family members will be encouraged to help them receive necessary education, including job training and language courses, according to a proposed legal revision.A revised bill which advises Koreans not to interfere with their migrant family members’ pursuit of education was approved at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, the Ministry of Gender Equality announced Wednesday.The new bill, which is scheduled to take effect early next ye

Korean Red Cross chief Kim Sung-joo apologized Monday for failing to appear at a National Assembly audit last week, taking off to China instead to attend a meeting of Red Cross officials.Meanwhile, unionized workers of the Red Cross called for Kim’s resignation, claiming their leader is ill-qualified for her post on the same day ― which also marks the humanitarian body’s 109th anniversary.“I offer my apologies to the National Assembly as well as the citizens,” Kim said at the National Assembly i

The proposed group of South Korean heath-care workers to be sent to West Africa to care for Ebola patients next month will be taken to medical facilities in the U.S. or in Europe should they get infected by the deadly virus, the South Korean government announced Friday.The decision was announced shortly after the biggest representative body of South Korean doctors expressed worries about the lack of safety training to guard against Ebola among health-care workers here, as well as their inexperie

One in 10 of female migrant workers were sexually harassed while working in South Korea last year, according to Rep. Lee Jasmine’s office.According to Lee, who is the first non-ethnic Korean and naturalized citizen to become a lawmaker in South Korea, 10.7 percent of the female workers from foreign countries experienced sexual harassment in South Korea last year. Among them, 35.5 percent were raped, 35.5 percent had to endure unwanted physical contact, and 29 percent were inappropriately touched

South Korean parents with children aged 8 and younger will soon be able to work shorter hours at their normal pay for up to two years, if they choose not to use their parental leave, the government announced Thursday.Currently, parents who opt not to take their one-year parental leave are only allowed to work shorter hours ― 30 hours or less a week ― for a maximum of 12 months. Even if they take leave for less than a year, those months will still be included as their short-time working period. F

Mr. A, who lives in my neighborhood, is known to be extremely punctual. He’s even more punctual than the German philosopher, Kant was. The security guards in the apartment complex tell the time of the day by seeing Mr. A come to and from work. He is always extremely neat in his appearance. His hair is oiled, shiny and perfectly parted. He often checks the mirror to make sure that his tie is perfectly straight. He carries a small pocket mirror and comb. His office is extremely clean and neat, to

Even for Dr. Moon Byung-in, one of the most respected breast cancer specialists in South Korea, talking to his patients about their condition was not easy at first. “Sometimes I wouldn’t know what to say and cry along with the patient (in my earlier years),” Moon said during an interview with The Korea Herald in his office at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital.“Even a patient in her 70s would break down in tears and sob when she was told that she may have to undergo a mastectomy. Being diag

VILLEPINTE, France (AFP) ― Once firmly entrenched in their traditional gastronomy, consumers in gourmet havens like France and Italy are slowly starting to demand gluten-, dairy- and meat-free diets as environmental and health concerns kick in.No-allergen pasta, vegan croissants, meatless hamburgers ― “free-from” food is one of the leading trends at this week’s SIAL international food fair outside Paris, where companies say Europeans are starting to care as much about what is left out of their f

South Korea’s low birthrate is generating deep concern among policymakers. The government is scrambling to shore up the falling birthrate, a threat that could jeopardize Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which is saddled with a rapidly aging population. What many policymakers have failed to tackle is the underlying problem that forces Koreans to delay or forgo having children. Just ask Kim Jin-ah, a 28-year-old Seoulite who still hasn’t been “properly” employed, despite her two university degrees.

Safety concerns are mounting over preparations to send South Korean medical teams on their first trip to West Africa to help treat Ebola patients.Following the South Korean government’s announcement on Monday that it would send a group of medical officials to Ebola-hit countries next month, local experts expressed worries about the lack of safety training to guard against the deadly virus among health-care workers here. Shin Hyun-young, a physician and the spokeswoman for the biggest representat

More than 75 percent of Koreans who died last year were cremated, a fourfold increase from 20 years ago, a government survey found.According to the Health Ministry, 76.9 percent of those who died last year were cremated, compared to only 19.1 percent in 1993.The country’s lack of burial sites and their expensive cost, as well as the convenience and efficiency of cremation are some of the major reasons behind the increase, according to the ministry.Major cities and the Seoul metropolitan area had

Public servants who have not already worked for a long time would be most disadvantaged by the government’s latest proposal to cut the monthly pension for public workers by more than 30 percent. The Ministry of Security and Public Administration on Saturday officially submitted to the ruling Saenuri Party its latest proposal to reform public servants’ pensions. According to the proposal, which has been fiercely opposed by unionized public workers since earlier this year, all public employees wil

Amid growing concerns about the spread of Ebola worldwide, health experts and lawmakers in South Korea say the country is ill-prepared for a possible outbreak of the deadly virus.Fears escalated here last week as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first case of transmission of the virus in the U.S. Oct. 12.While the government says it is doing everything necessary to prevent the disease from spreading in South Korea, experts say that the country’s health-care workers ar

Worried at the serious health implications and economic concerns of obesity in South Korea, the nation’s national health insurance agency is forming a special task force to combat the medical condition. According to the National Health Insurance Service, South Koreans spent 2.7 trillion won ($2.65 billion) on obesity and obesity-related diseases in 2011. Back in 2007, however, only 1.9 trillion won was spent in total on the health condition.As of last year, 32.4 percent of adult South Koreans we

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was accused of wrongfully interfering in personnel decisions at the University of Seoul, a public university funded and supported by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, in a parliamentary audit session Tuesday.Rep. Lee Noh-guen of the ruling Saenuri Party said he discovered that about half of the visiting professors at the university hired over the past five years are former high-ranking public officials of the municipal government of Seoul.The lawmaker also found that s

South Korea’s Health Ministry came under fire for using the money it raised from this year’s tobacco taxes for projects not related to smoking prevention, during a two-day parliamentary audit session which started Monday in Sejong.The criticism toward the ministry came about a month after it announced it would raise tobacco prices by a whopping 80 percent in the name of improving public health. According to Rep. Kim Yong-ik of the main opposition party, the ministry set aside 990 million won ($9

Seoul mayor Park Won-soon told a U.S. newspaper that he personally supports same-sex marriage and would like to see South Korea being the first country in Asia to legalize it, during his recent visit to San Francisco.With his comments, Park has become one of the first mainstream South Korean politicians to openly support LGBT rights, following the current Gender-Equality Minister Kim Hee-jung. Gay marriage is opposed by political conservatives and Christians, as well as a majority of the public