Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor opposition People’s Party has proposed abolishing the Education Ministry and overhauling the school system, in what appeared to be a blueprint of his presidential election pledges.In a speech at the National Assembly on Monday, Ahn proposed drastic reforms, especially in the nation’s education sector. He has not yet declared his candidacy in this year’s presidential race, which could take place as early as late April.Addressing the National Assembly as a represent

South Korean authorities on Monday ordered a ban on the movement of all livestock and farm vehicles across the nation after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease at a dairy farm.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said some 220,000 farming households and vehicles are banned from moving from 6 p.m. Monday until Tuesday midnight, in order to contain the virus‘ spread. For the 30-hour standstill period, all vehicles will be cleaned and disinfected.On Monday, a cow at a farm in Boeun

Chang Young-min, CEO of G&E Biotech, has been selling sanitary pads for more than 10 years and hopes that what he makes will change people's perspective.In an interview with Yonhap on Friday, Chang said the rampant use of disposable pads ended up undervaluing the important role of women in giving birth. "I wish that people will do some rethinking." (Yonhap)Chang makes "hannahpads," which are cotton sanitary pads that can be used for two to three years. He came across the idea when he was a senio

Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye’s longtime confidante at the center of the corruption scandal, fiercely clashed with Ko Young-tae, her now-estranged associate and alleged “boy toy,” during her trial Monday. Ko, a former fencing champion who served as a director at Choi’s company The Blue-K, dismissed many of Choi’s claims at court, saying she was deeply involved in the much-disputed fundraising of the K-Sports Foundation and operation of The Blue-K.“Choi was virtually running the foundati

Children growing up in households in the lowest income bracket are 1.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than average, a recent study suggests. The study, led by professor Park Eun-cheol and his team at the Severance Hospital of Yonsei University and released Monday, examined 18,029 children to check the correlation, if any, between their family‘s income and the incidence rate of ADHD. 　The findings revealed that children from the lowest income bracket were 1.5 times more likely to hav

South Korea will intensify overseas promotion marketing efforts and build more maritime facilities in an effort to lure 2 million cruise tourists from all over the world, the government said Monday.The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said it will hold the so-called "Port Sales" event in cities of the United States, China and Japan starting from March, with major cruise liners and travel agencies attending. (Yonhap)It will also build five additional cruise docks in four seaports including Busan

A former presidential chief of staff on Monday refused to attend President Park Geun-hye's impeachment trial citing health issues, an official said.Kim Ki-choon, Park's chief of staff from 2013-2015, submitted a statement to the Constitutional Court detailing the reason for his planned absence from a hearing scheduled for Tuesday."It will be difficult for me to attend the hearing due to health reasons," Kim said in the statement, according to a court official who spoke on the condition of anonym

Business for office cafeterias boomed to its highest point in nearly two years in the last quarter as people looked for cheaper places to eat, statistics showed Monday.As expected, the restaurant business logged its worst output in more than four years in the same quarter, the most recent numbers from Statistics Korea showed. This photo, taken on Feb. 6, 2017, shows a cafeteria at a downtown office building. Statistics Korea said cafeterias logged their best business in nearly two years in the f

President Park Geun-hye is expected to undergo face-to-face questioning over a string of corruption allegations later this week possibly at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, her aide said Monday.The aide said that though Park's legal representatives and the independent counsel team are still fine-tuning details about the planned questioning, it could likely take place on Thursday or Friday. If conducted, it would mark the first time for a sitting president to be questioned in a probe."(We e

Korea Electric Power Corp., a major public utility firm in South Korea, announced Monday that its operating profit increased 5.8 percent on-year in 2016.The company, widely known as KEPCO, posted 12 trillion won ($10.5 billion) in operating profit, with its full-year revenue growing 2.1 percent to 60.1 trillion won. (Yonhap)But its net profit plunged 45.5 percent to 7.3 trillion won in 2016 from a year earlier mainly on a base effect.The electricity supplier's net profits sharply widened to 13.4

Ssangyong Motor Co., the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., is set to introduce the world's first touch window system where drivers and passengers can open or close vehicle windows simply by touching the window, the company said Monday.The new technology, tentatively named the touch screen window system, is one of many new technologies pursued after being suggested by Ssangyong's own researchers and employees. Ssangyong Motor President Choi Jong-sik (2nd from R) exami

Woori Bank, a major South Korean lender, said Monday that it has opened a representative office in Poland in the latest effort to establish a bridgehead in Europe.The opening on Sunday came two weeks after the South Korean bank won approval from the Polish financial regulatory authority to set up the representative office. (Yonhap)The representative office is located in the southwestern city of Katowice near an industrial complex, which is home to assembly lines of Samsung Electronics Co., Hyund

South Korea's unification ministry on Monday expressed its opposition to a local civic group's push to contact North Koreans in China this week, citing inter-Korean tensions.The government has rejected a plan by the group to meet with its North Korean counterparts in Shenyang on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss ways to promote exchanges between the two Koreas.Seoul's unification ministry said unauthorized contact with North Koreans will entail a fine under the law on inter-Korean exchanges and c

Samsung Electronics Co. on Monday announced its withdrawal of membership from the nation's top business lobby as the Federation of Korean Industries was blamed for its role in a snowballing corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. Samsung Electronics formally submitted a document of withdrawal to the FKI earlier in the day, the company said. Other affiliates of Samsung Group are expected to follow suit. (Yonhap)The move has been widely expected as Samsung Group'

In this dystopian city reminiscent of George Orwell's "1984," everyone is under complete surveillance by a Big Brother-type villain. He effortlessly manipulates criminal cases and distorts facts, utilizing his connections to those in power, CCTV footage, IT technology and vast amounts of private information of citizens that he gathers in a panic room. (Yonhap)Set in a futuristic Seoul, "Fabricated City" offers a glimpse into the gloomy future in a society controlled by an omnipresent, totalitari

Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Monday rejected special prosecutors' request for cooperation with its plan to raid the presidential office to gather evidence on a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend.Regarding the request made Friday after investigators' botched attempt to ransack the presidential compound Cheong Wa Dae, an aide to Hwang said that it is not a decision for the acting president to make."Our position that the decision related to t

CJ CGV, South Korea's largest cinema chain, said Monday a record 20 million moviegoers visited its theaters at home and abroad last month.The chain sold 20.5 million tickets -- 10.84 million domestically and 9.21 million internationally -- in January, about 7 million more than 12.87 million a year ago, according to the company.It attributed the result to the chain's remarkable growth in foreign countries and strong performance in its home market.The fifth largest multiplex theater company in the

A wax figure of the popular Korean actor Park Hae-jin will go on display in a global museum of wax dolls in Hong Kong from next month, his agency said Monday. (Maadame Tussauds Hong Kong)The actor will unveil his wax figure in a ceremony at a "hallyu" themed exhibition room of Maadame Tussauds Hong Kong, Mountain Movement said. Hallyu refers to the Asia-wide popularity of Korean pop music, TV shows and films.There are wax dolls for other hallyu stars such as Bae Yong-joon, Kim Soo-hyun, Lee Jong

Ahn Cheol-soo, a potential presidential contender of the liberal People's Party, unveiled a series of reform programs to promote technological innovation and restore trust in politics on Monday.In his address to the National Assembly as a party representative, he expounded on policy proposals to address "five cliffs" facing the nation: weak exports, flagging consumption, high youth unemployment, shrinking population and diplomatic challenges.The founder and former chief of the minor opposition p

Faltering private consumption is dragging down the recovering momentum of the South Korean economy, with the country's production side remaining in the doldrums, a state-run think tank said Monday."The Korean economy exhibited a modest recovery in investment, but faltering private consumption is limiting the recovery of economic activities," the Korea Development Institute said in its monthly evaluation of the country's economic conditions. (Yonhap)"Private consumption growth slowed on deteriora