The death toll from torrential rains that devastated the central regions of South Korea over the weekend rose to five, with two still missing, the nation’s disaster control agency said Monday. (Yonhap)The Ministry of Public Safety and Security said the government is considering designating the hardest-hit Cheongju in North Gyeongsang Province as a disaster area to provide it with state funding for recovery works. Jeungpyeong, Jincheon and Goesan counties in North Chungcheong Province are also be

Park Neung-hoo, the nominee to head the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said Monday that he would give some 8,000 contract workers at ministry-run organizations full-time and permanent employment status, if he is appointed. Park Neung-hoo (Yonhap)In response to questions by lawmakers of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, Park said “irregular positions are linked to many social problems such as unstable labor conditions, discrimination and a low birth rate.”“I will strive for a

The death toll from the torrential rains that devastated the central regions of South Korea over the weekend rose to four, with two still missing, the nation’s disaster control agency said Monday. Restoration works were underway in the rain-hit Gyeongsang and Chungcheong provinces, as downpours subsided. North Gyeongsang Province, which received up to 90 millimeters of rain per hour between Friday and Sunday afternoon, was the hardest hit. Two died in landslides in Cheongju, while two others wer

The South Korean government on Sunday decided to spend some 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion) to help smaller businesses offset an increase in labor costs, after a panel hiked next year’s minimum hourly wage by the biggest margin since 2000.In a late-night decision on Saturday, the Minimum Wage Commission, representing labor, management and the general public, set the lower limit of wages at 7,530 won for 2018, up 16.4 percent from this year. It was the biggest gain since 2000, when the bar was move

Heavy rain battered South Korea on Sunday, leaving at least two dead and one missing. Several towns in Gyeonggi and Chungcheong provinces were waterlogged and road and train traffic was disrupted. Vehicles are seen waterlogged in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Sunday, after at least 289 millimeters of rain fell in the area over 12 hours. (Yonhap)Hardest hit were Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province, which received 290 millimeters of rain since midnight Saturday till Sunday afternoon. Ch

Police on Saturday apprehended a drunken man who injured more than 10 people with a broken bottle after engaging in a pre-dawn argument at a Seoul night club. (Yonhap)Officials at the Mapo Police Station said that the 23-year-old man, identified only by his surname Park, is under investigation for hurting 11 people with a broken bottle and assaulting three others with his fists at the club near the popular university district of Hongdae.One victim underwent surgery for a neck injury, but is not

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Twice rejected for U.S. visas, an all-girls robotics team from Afghanistan arrived in Washington early Saturday after an extraordinary, last-minute intervention by President Donald Trump.The six-girl team and their chaperone completed their journey just after midnight from their hometown of Herat, Afghanistan, to enter their ball-sorting robot in the three-day high school competition starting Sunday in the U.S. capital. Awaiting them at the gate at Washington Dulles Internatio

South Korea posted a huge trade deficit with the United States on agricultural products and livestock last year as their price competitiveness has attracted consumers, government data showed Saturday.South Korea's agricultural goods and meat exports to the US reached $716 million last year while imports amounted to $6.9 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. (Yonhap)Seoul's trade deficit with the US in the sector came in at $6.14 billion in 2016, the data show

Prosecutors on Saturday questioned a former key election campaigner of the People's Party as part of its probe into a fake tipoff scandal involving some members of the minor opposition party.The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office quizzed Kim In-won, the vice head of the party's former fair election panel, in connection with the allegations that a party member doctored a tipoff against President Moon Jae-in's son in the run-up to the May 9 poll.Kim In-won, a former election campaigner of

SHENYANG, China (AFP) -- The body of China's late Nobel laureate and dissident Liu Xiaobo was cremated on Saturday after a "simple ceremony" attended by his wife and friends, the Xinhua state news agency said.Liu's body was cremated "in accordance with the will of his family members and local customs" in the northeastern city of Shenyang, Xinhua said, citing the local justice bureau.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) -- A visiting United Nations rapporteur said that torture remains "endemic and routine'' in Sri Lanka's counterterrorism methods and a number of persons being detained without trial under a harsh anti-terror law is a stain on the country's international reputation.Ben Emmerson, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, said at the end of a five-day visit to Sri Lanka Friday that he is concerned that even those arrested as recently as late last year had

North Korea on Saturday criticized South Korean President Moon Jae-in's initiative for cross-border rapprochement as "sophistry" in its first response to the proposal made last week.The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, said the so-called Berlin initiative, which Moon announced in the German capital last Thursday, would not be helpful in improving inter-Korean ties long strained amid the reclusive state's relentless provocations."The overall content, enumerated under the name of peace,

South Korea should aim to generate 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources, phasing out nuclear and coal power plants simultaneously, Greenpeace executive director Jennifer Morgan said. Praising the local government’s decision to retire old nuclear reactors and stop building new ones, the top environmental activist also stressed the importance of a national effort to save energy and the need to craft polices in a clear and transparent manner to benefit all, not a select few with vested

The government approved a budget of 11.5 billion won ($9 million) for a state panel tasked to investigate a 2014 Sewol ferry disaster, during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The panel kicked off its official operations on July 7 amid lingering questions over the exact cause of the sinking, which killed more than 300 passengers. Consisting of some 35 government officials and 15 private experts, the committee has a six month mandate, extended by another four months. The focus of its upcoming probe w

Household products company Reckitt Benckiser Korea, which has been blamed for the largest number of victims from the use of toxic humidifier disinfectants since 2011, came under fire for its compensation plan that only covers victims classified as categories 1-2 by the government.Victims, their families and civic groups remain opposed to the plan, as it neglects victims classified under categories 3-4, whose suffering was deemed less directly connected to the problematic products. They denounced

서울시는 지난 토요일 서울시청 신청사 다목적홀에서 ‘시민이 찾은 길 위의 예술 성과발표회’를 개최, 3개월간 진행된 대장정의 막을 내렸다.작년에 이어 올해 두 번째로 진행된 공공미술 시민발굴단 사업을 통해 101명의 시민발굴단과 11명의 전문 큐레이터가 서울의 아름다운 공공미술작품과 도시환경을 저해하고 개선했으면 하는 공공미술작품을 찾아다녔다.　 지난 토요일 서울시청 신청사 다목적홀에서 열린 ‘시민이 찾은 길 위의 예술 성과발표회’에 참여한 참가자들 (서울시 제공)지난 6월 공무원 정년퇴직하고 시민발굴단 사업에 참가한 강 모 씨는 오랫동안 다녔던 직장과는 전혀 다른 일, 내가 평소에 꼭 해보고 싶었던 일을 할 기회가 생겨 본 사업에 참여하였으며 활동 기간에 뜨거운 태양 아래를 다니면서 많은 사람을 만나고 인생의 아름다운 추억의 한 페이지를 만드는 기회였다고 활동 소감을 밝혔다.　‘우리가 기억하고 싶은 서울‘을 주제로 공공미술을 통해 서울의 기억과 흔적을 탐방한 정요한 씨는 “우리가

Some 100 Seoul residents, art connoisseurs and city officials gathered at Seoul City Hall on Saturday to mark the completion of a two-month program to find and promote lesser-known street art and landmarks in the capital city. 　Seoul citizens, art connoisseurs and city officials are gathered at Seoul City Hall to mark the completion of the “Art on Seoul’s Streets Found by Citizens” project on Saturday. (The Seoul Metropolitan Government)Under the “Art on Seoul’s Streets Found by Citizens” projec

Over 360 residents of Jindo, an island off South Korea’s southwestern coast, suffer post-traumatic stress disorder after a passenger ship sank near the island in April 2014, killing nearly 300 on board, a survey showed Friday. A study conducted by a team led by Lee Ju-yeon, a professor of mental health at Chonnam National University, found that 362 residents, or 16 percent of the island’s entire population, complained of PTSD-related symptoms, including recurring memories of the day of the disas

The Government Employees Pension Service has recognized the deaths of two Danwon High School contract teachers in the Sewol ferry disaster as being in the line of duty, in a reversal of its previous stance.  (Yonhap)They were accompanying students on a field trip when the ship sank in April 2014, leaving nearly 300 people dead or missing. The bereaved families of Kim Cho-won and Lee Ji-hye are now entitled to due treatment from the government, including monthly pensions of up to 26 percent of th

An association of Korean dog meat vendors staged a protest in central Seoul on Thursday, calling on the government to separate dogs as pets and for human consumption and legalize dog meat trade. 　 Nearly 1,500 people gathered near City Hall in one of the largest pro-dog meat rallies ever held in South Korea.  An association of Korean dog meat vendors is staging a protest in central Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)Criticizing animal rights group for putting animals’ rights before theirs, they said it