Rep. Song Young-gil of the Ruling Democratic Party of Korea criticized the US government for allocating part of the defense budget for US troops here to build the controversial US-Mexico border wall.“South Korea’s burden-sharing to maintain US troops here is not ‘free money’ the US can use as it wishes,” Song said in a statement released Wednesday.“North Korean soldiers did not invade (the South) through the Mexico border,” he added, pointing out the purpose of cost sharing is intended to cover

Seoul police said Wednesday they have booked four people for livestreaming and selling secretly filmed videos of some 1,600 motel guests in the past year.Two have been arrested for distribution of illicitly filmed videos of motel guests via wireless internet protocol cameras set up at 42 motel rooms at 30 motels in 10 cities in the North and South Gyeongsang and Chungcheong Provinces between Nov. 24 last year and March 2 this year. (Yonhap)Two people that helped set up the spycams have been book

Spokesperson Lee Hae-sik of the ruling party Democratic Party of Korea defended Tuesday his criticism of a Bloomberg reporter, saying his comments were directed at conservative media and political leaders, and rejecting accusations of racism. “The commentary I wrote was aimed at (Liberty Korea Party) Floor Leader Na Kyung-won’s parliamentary speech, it was not a commentary about an individual reporter. I am not sure who wrote it (the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club official statement), but I’

Rep. Baek Hye-ryun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Monday said a Seoul court and the prosecution had helped cover up allegations surrounding former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-eui’s sexual bribery received from a local businessman.“Not only the prosecution, the Seoul High Court also exonerated the former vice justice minister from alleged sexual bribery,” said Baek, who is a member of the National Assembly’s Judiciary Committee.  Rep. Baek Hye-ryun of the ruling Democratic Party of

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has delivered its opinion to the Constitutional Court that criminal penalties for women who undergo abortion, as well as doctors who perform them, are unconstitutional.The current law on abortion violates the right to self-determination, among others, the rights panel said Monday.  Those in support of abortion participate in a press conference calling on the Constitutional Court to rule criminal penalties for women and doctors involved in abortion un

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Monday that it would seek an arrest warrant for K-pop singer Jung Joon-young, 30, on suspicion of secretly recording and distributing sex videos. It would be the first arrest in a case that broke last week with a series of shocking revelations involving Seungri of Big Bang and a close group of his friends.Jung, who has been booked on charges of filming and sharing sex videos without his partner’s consent, was sent home early Monday morning after a five-h

Reflecting the common Korean expression “My monthly paycheck includes the cost of excessive criticism and emotional labor,” widespread verbal and emotional bullying in the workplace has risen as a social issue in the wake of revelations of chilling office harassment by chief of WeDisk Yang Jin-ho in 2018.In late 2018, the Labor Standards Act, which legally defines and bans office bullying, was amended in response to growing calls for regulations to stop widespread misbehavior at work and punish

In the midst of widespread speculation about possible police misconduct in connection with the Burning Sun nightclub, National Police Agency Commissioner General Min Gap-ryong on Thursday reaffirmed that he had every intention of leading thorough and complete investigation into the case.“A new KakaoTalk transcript has surfaced, and the investigation will leave no stone unturned,” Min said in briefing the Public Administration and Security Committee at the National Assembly. National Police Agenc

National Police Agency Commissioner General Min Gap-ryong on Wednesday vowed to thoroughly investigate the Burning Sun scandal amid the latest finding: that a chat room of which troubled K-pop stars Seungri and Jung Joon-young were among the members had seen exchanges suggesting the involvement of a police commissioner general.“The police will make all-out efforts to thoroughly investigate speculation that high-ranking police officers were involved,” Min said in a press conference.“The messages

Facing full-throttle response from political parties over her highly controversial parliamentary speech Tuesday, main opposition Liberty Korea Party floor leader Na Kyung-won on Wednesday refused to apologize, heightening tensions at the National Assembly.In her speech, Na implied President Moon Jae-in was acting as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s spokesperson, referring to foreign media reports.Na’s strident criticism of the Moon administration has been seen as a strategic move to cement the

South Korea’s LG Group will provide 10,000 air purifiers at elementary, middle and high school across the country free of charge amid the continued high levels of fine dust blanketing the country, the company said Tuesday.The conglomerate’s decision was shared via Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon’s social media post, “Vice Chairman Kwon Young-soo shared the news with me that was finalized at an executive-level meeting led by Chairman Koo Kwang-mo.”“Vice Chairman Kwon said (LG) ‘hopes to help t

Minor conservative Bareunmirae Party Floor Leader Kim Kwan-young proposed a revision to the Special Act on the May 18 Democratization Movement that would allow a fact-finding committee to be launched with only two-thirds of the mandated nine members, in an effort to break a deadlock in the process of forming the committee, the lawmaker said Monday.The revision was proposed on the day of former President Chun Doo-hwan’s trial in Gwangju on libel charges in connection with the military crackdown o

The Ministry of Employment and Labor on Friday released a list of 50 companies lagging behind in gender equality in a country with the biggest gender wage gap among member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Fifty companies here were categorized as those that need to take action to resolve gender imbalance in employment, up from 42 companies last year and 27 companies in 2017.For the first time since 2006, when the ministry began keeping track of gender imbalance

As the European Union ramps up pressure on South Korea to ratify four of the eight essential conventions of the International Labor Organization, the UN agency’s Employment Policy Department Director Lee Sang-heon on Thursday emphasized that doing so would ensure improved protection for temporary workers. 　Korea joined the ILO in December 1991, but has not adopted four of its eight key conventions applied unconditionally to laborers. There are 189 conventions in total.“A common aspect among the

Last month, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea submitted a constitutional appeal against Article 41 of the Criminal Law, disputing a ruling for a 31-year-old surnamed Yoon who was given a life sentence for parricide last year.　The prosecutors sought the death penalty for Yoon, who has been suffering from mental illness since childhood. 　Yoon testified to police that he killed his parents because a voice told him to do so in order to save his soul.　“We believe it is the most apt to counter

Amid the ongoing Burning Sun scandal, text messages exchanged between K-pop star Seungri and related officials implicating him in sex bribery and collusion with police have been reported to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, police said Tuesday.The messages were reportedly exchanged in a KakaoTalk chatroom with Seungri, the head of Yuri Holdings and a number of celebrities.The latest evidence, if confirmed to be true, would place Seungri in a highly contentious position. (Yonhap)Se

The Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office has arrested a sitting high-level police officer of Hwaseong Dongtan Police Station in Gyeonggi Province for allegedly running a brothel while on duty as part of a squad cracking down on sex trade, prosecutors said Sunday.The prosecution issued the arrest warrant as he was a flight risk, after questioning the suspect over the weekend. The officer in question, surnamed Seo, 47, faces suspicions of operating a brothel led by a puppet boss for about two year

Amid snowballing allegations surrounding a nightclub linked to Seungri, a member of the K-pop boy band Big Bang, the scandal has spilled over to plastic surgery brokers and brokerage firms in Gangnam, southern Seoul.Circumstantial evidence against a worker at the Gangnam-based nightclub Burning Sun, who has been arrested on suspicion of using and selling drugs, led to additional accusations that he was also a plastic surgery broker, introducing patients to plastic surgeons in the area as the all

South Korea’s human rights panel concluded assigning a student to cleaning duty for violating a school’s dress code infringes on the right to education.The father of a high school student in Daejeon filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission in April, arguing it was unfair that the student was given 1 penalty point and placed on cleaning duty during class hours for wearing the student’s own jacket instead of the jacket designated as a school uniform.The school claimed it put the

For those who are unfamiliar with the functions of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, the packed schedule of its chairperson, Pak Un-jong, may come as a surprise.Her engagements include on-site visits, briefings to the National Assembly to provide in-depth understanding of the agency's wide range of efforts to fight corruption, and preparation for next year’s International Anti-Corruption Conference, among others.Perceived as a philosopher of law with rich experience in academia, a