Choi Soon-sil, the woman at the center of a scandal dominating South Korean politics, is now in custody and faces allegations of exerting undue influence over President Park Geun-hye in state policies and projects. The scandal is South Korea’s biggest political crisis in years, with citizens demanding Park’s removal from office. Here’s what we know so far. 　Q. Who is Choi Soon-sil?A. She is a 60-year-old woman who has never held a government post. She has been a close friend of President Park fo

The simple and instinctive design trend will continue in both consumer and enterprise information technology markets, said a Silicon Valley-based user interface design expert.“All of us are interacting with an ever-growing number of IT products in our daily lives. Dealing with dozens and dozens of them is overwhelming users. That is why it has become critical for IT companies to create devices and services to allow users to do everything possible in simple orders or instinctual demand,” said Bob

South Korea is spending a smaller proportion of its gross domestic product on social welfare compared than other developed economies, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed Monday.According to the OECD’s report on the Social Expenditure Database, South Korea ranked No. 34 out of 35 member countries, spending 10.4 percent of its GDP on social welfare. The figure was based on data collected from January to October this year.This marks less than half of the OECD

A local government is considering changing a reward system for hunting harmful wild animals due to growing criticism the current system is unethical and against animal welfare. As part of efforts to control the number of wild animals that cause harm to crop fields and villagers, authorities have been providing since 2014 cash rewards to hunters based on the number of animals captured. The problem is the hunters were asked to submit evidence -- for instance, a tail of a wild pig or an ear of an e

In the early 90s, Yoon Ho-seob was at the peak of his career as an advertisement designer. At the very front of the money-spinning marketing world, he designed logos for global companies like Pepsi Co. and international events such as 1988 Summer Olympics. Then one day, a thought struck him that he may be on a train running at full speed toward the edge of the cliff. Civilization, consuming resources at an ever-accelerating pace, had reached a point of no turning back, he thought. “I couldn’t li

This year marks the 110th anniversary of the establishment of Dongguk University. In 1906, Buddhist pioneers founded Myungjin School, the root of Dongguk University, in an aim to contribute to the country through education and fostering talented students. In order to remember the origin of the school, in 1956, architect Song Min-gu designed and constructed Myungjin Building. It was the first building to be built among campus buildings at Dongguk University, after it was relocated to Pil-dong in

Fifteen Seoul City Council members are moving to ban city workers from sending work requests via mobile messenger apps after office hours, it was announced Thursday.Kim Gwang-su, a Seoul City Council member, said they proposed a revision to the Ordinance of Seoul City Public Servants bill last week. “Although public servants need to serve citizens 24/7, their fundamental rights to rest are often ignored due to excessive workload,” Kim said.“The Seoul mayor should protect public servants and try

[Herald Interview]One way to solve social challenges such as poverty and housing problems is to spread the concept of social innovation, said an international expert on public administration.  “Social innovation is a new idea which often leads to changes in human behaviors or shifts how resources flow. Ideally, social innovation helps us to tackle the root cause of the problems, instead of just to mitigate symptoms,” said Tim Draimin, the executive director of Social Innovation Generation based

　서울시 에너지 복지사로 활동하고 있는 김미향 씨의 하루는 걷는 것으로 시작한다. 　서울시에서 기초생활수급자로 선정된 약 14만여 가구를 직접 발로 뛰며 일일이 방문하여 기초생활수급자 가정의 상황과 환경을 확인해야 하기 때문이다. 　서울 내 안 가본 동네와 골목이 없다고 자부하는 김 씨의 반복적인 하루에도 새로운 변화가 찾아왔다.　서울시민을 대상으로 하는 서울시 공공미술 시민발굴단으로 선발되어 2달 간의 ‘숨은 미술 찾기’ 프로젝트에 참여하게 된 것이다. 　 서울시 공공미술 시민발굴단에 참여하는 시민들이 모여 회의를 하고 있다. (서울시 제공)서울시는 지난 8월 10명의 현직 큐레이터들과 100여명의 서울시민을 대상으로 서울시 공공미술 시민 발굴단을 선발, 공공미술의 가장 큰 주체이자 향유자인 시민들의 참여를 유도하는 2달간의 프로젝트를 시작했다. 　10개 그룹으로 나눠 주제에 맞는 서울시 내 공공미술작품을 찾아낸 뒤, 페이스북, 인스타그램, 트위터 등 SNS를 통해 시민에게 알리는

Police have failed to carry out an autopsy on the body of a farmer who died after being hit by a police water cannon during a protest late last year, sources said Tuesday, and instead will seek to re-apply for a new warrant amid strong protests from his family.Baek Nam-gi, 69, died on Sept. 25 after spending months in a coma. While critics argue Baek died due to excessive force, police have maintained the stance that there is no clear link between the water cannon and his death.Authorities have

LONDON (AP) -- Britain's government gave the go-ahead Tuesday to build a new runway at London’s Heathrow airport despite concerns about air pollution, noise and the destruction of homes in the capital's densely populated western neighborhoods.The Department for Transport said the decision underlined its commitment to keeping the U.K. "open for business." Theresa May’s government rejected other options to expand airport capacity, including the extension of an existing runway at Heathrow or buildi

NEW DELHI(AFP) -- A self-styled doctor and three of his patients died in a south Indian village after drinking a poisonous herbal medicine which he claimed cured diabetes and hypertension, officials said Tuesday.Another patient is in a critical condition at a government-run hospital after they drank the concoction prepared by the doctor at his makeshift clinic in Alagappuram village in Tamil Nadu on Sunday."They were unconscious and vomiting and were shifted to hospital where four of them died,"

Kim Mi-hyang, a contracted social worker at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, found a way to make her work day much more interesting. While her work takes her in to the far corners and back alleys of Seoul to inspect the living conditions of those that receive a monthly stipend, she is now part of a select few Seoul citizens dedicated to uncovering public street art. In August Kim become one of the 100 participants in the “Art on Seoul’s streets found by citizens” project, a two-month municipal

Henrik Fisker, a Danish-born automotive designer, is known as the man who turns dreams into reality.For over a decade, he has been engaged throughout the entire process of creating automobiles -- from the early stages of design to giving the finishing touches to iconic luxury cars, such as the Fisker Karma, BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB9.According to the luxury concept car designer, who will be speaking about automobile design innovation at the Herald Design Forum 2016 on Nov. 8, there is always ro

A rare gunfight in Seoul on Wednesday night has caused concern among the public, revealing a loophole in the country’s strict gun control policy: homemade guns. Public criticism and worries are mounting over the authority’s lax control over privately manufactured weapons, after a police officer was shot dead in what appears to be a premeditated attack using a self-made gun. The policeman was shot in the back by a criminal suspect, who was armed with homemade guns and was wearing a bulletproof ve

Samcheonggak, a 43-year-old Korean traditional restaurant at the foot of Seoul’s Inwangsan, will turn into a Korean food and cultural complex by 2018.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, it plans to select a private operator for the 2017-2019 period, in an aim to refurbish the area as Seoul’s new landmark. It is currently run by the Seoul City’s Sejong Center for Performing Arts.The city government also plans to spend 10 billion won ($8 million) to renovate by the end of next year the

When Samsung Electronics launched a washing machine named “Addwash” in September last year, it immediately became a hit with consumers for its unprecedented design: The front-loading washing machine featured a smaller door, in addition to the main door, that could be used to put in additional laundry after the wash cycle had begun.While Samsung’s Addwash was designed to address a common laundry problem, Alberto Alessi, CEO of Italian houseware brand Alessi designed a spider-like citrus squeezer

Unlike worries here over a possible Chinese economic retaliation on Korean businesses over a defense issue, Chinese venture capitalists wish to see more active business cooperation between the two countries, market insiders said at the inaugural Seoul China Investment Week in Seoul on Tuesday. David Chen, a 10-year veteran venture capitalist and co-founder of Shanghai-based AngelVest venture capital firm, said Korea has “interesting assets” to attract more overseas investors.“There are various t

South Korea’s demands on natural resources have been outstripping supply for the past four decades or so. And the deficit has been widening at such an alarming pace that environmentalists both here and overseas call for immediate attention to the issue. Calculated by the Global Footprint Network, a country’s ecological balance shows how much natural resources a country has and how much it uses. The supply is measured by biocapacity, which is the capacity of a given biologically productive area t

Korean businesses seeking to tap the Chinese market and Chinese investors searching for investment opportunities here gathered in Seoul on Monday for the city’s inaugural Seoul China Investment Week. The two-day event kicked off with an investment forum, attended by 300 participants from 148 local companies and 56 Chinese investment firms. “Seoul China Investment Week will work as an opportunity for Korean and Chinese companies to boost cooperation and investment, while this is just a beginning