Whether the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family should remain in existence again surfaced as a hot button issue Friday, as opposition lawmakers criticized its work over the past year in caring for women in need. During the annual audit of the ministry by the National Assembly’s Gender Equality and Family Committee, lawmakers of the main opposition People Power Party grilled Minister of Gender Equality and Family Chung Young-ai on whether her office was helpful in caring for women&rsq

A new law came into effect Thursday in South Korea imposing stiffer penalties for stalkers, amid growing calls for tougher penalties for offenders. Under the new legislation, stalkers can face up to three years in prison or 30 million won ($25,500) in fines. Up to five years in prison or a fine of 50 million won is possible if a weapon or other physically threatening means are used. Before the law came, stalking was categorized as a misdemeanor, meaning a fine not exceeding 100,000 won or 29 d

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a major umbrella labor group in South Korea, staged a nationwide rally Wednesday to demand improved working conditions for laborers in defiance of authorities’ request to walk back from the plan in fear of a virus resurgence. The labor group announced earlier in the day that it would move forward with its plan to hold rallies in 14 areas throughout the country to demand better treatment of irregular workers, unionization rights for all laborers an

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung on Monday continued to praise himself for his role in a controversial land development project while distancing himself from any alleged corruption, and attacked the opposition bloc for undercutting his milestone achievement. The leading presidential candidate representing the ruling Democratic Party said Monday that he was the chief officer responsible for the land development project in Daejang-dong, a neighborhood within Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, when

Two South Korean volleyball players left for Greece to continue their athletic careers after being ousted from the national team as well as their club due to claims of bullying. Twins Lee Jae-yeong and Da-yeong were spotted Saturday night at Incheon Airport ready to fly to Greece with their mother. They were leaving to join PAOK Volleyball Club in Thessaloniki. The twin Lees stayed silent and did not respond to reporters’ questions when passing through immigration. Their mother was spott

Cho Ju-bin, the South Korean mastermind of an online sex blackmail ring, had his sentence of 42 years in prison affirmed Thursday. The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed the Seoul High Court’s ruling in June on Cho, 25, who was indicted early last year on 14 charges, including operating a criminal organization, violating laws made to protect minors from sexual abuse, blackmail and committing fraud. Cho will be banned from employment at institutions or firms that serve children, adolesce

The case of a high school senior who drowned while participating in a student apprenticeship program has sparked an outrage, as safety rules were found to be loosely followed and eventually led to the student’s death. A student surnamed Hong died in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, on Oct. 6 while taking part in his school’s apprenticeship program that started on Sept. 27. The school signed a contract with a yacht business in the area that allowed Hong to gain work experience at the co

South Korea is positively considering a “vaccine pass” system to incentivize people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as officials look to start the normalization process next month. The system would entail providing benefits and exemptions to virus rules for those who have completed their COVID-19 vaccinations. The discussion has gained steam as officials believe such a system could boost the nationwide vaccination program and increase the likelihood of successful normalization.

A South Korean man who murdered three women in the same family was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday, with the court concluding that the crime had been premeditated and planned in advance. The Seoul Northern District Court passed the sentence against Kim Tae-hyun, 25. He was indicted in April and later convicted of murder, theft, harassment, breaking and entering, and misusing communications networks. Kim was arrested at the victims’ home in Nowon-gu, northeastern Seoul, in March, days

Discrimination against foreigners and migrant workers is apparent in how they are treated here, which hasn’t changed much from the past despite more people being aware of the problem. In many cases, migrant workers are deprived of their rightful wages, subjected to poor living conditions. In December, a Cambodian female worker at a farm in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, was found dead in a greenhouse made of plastic after temperatures fell to minus 18 degrees Celsius. According to a Labor

The main opposition People Power Party on Friday shortlisted four contenders heading toward the primary’s second elimination round to pick a candidate for next year’s presidential election. The party announced Friday morning that former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min and former Jeju Island Gov. Won Hee-ryong are the remaining contenders in the People Power Party’s primary. The four candidates were chosen based on results f

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug stressed international cooperation while meeting with global leaders and promising cooperation and support with his counterparts from other nations in his trip Thursday to Europe for G-20 diplomatic talks. Upon attending the opening ceremony of the 7th G-20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit in Rome, Park held bilateral talks with Germany’s President Reiner Haseloff and South Africa’s National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqukula. Pa

Ruling party lawmakers on Wednesday raised pressure on the opposition bloc and the son of Rep. Kwak Sang-do for receiving unreasonably large severance pay in relation to a growing land development scandal. During the annual parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Employment and Labor held Wednesday, lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea pressed Labor Minister An Kyung-duk to provide answers on whether the amount Kwak’s son received from his former employer had been reasonable.

Autumn is here, and so are the minefields of rotting ginkgo berries. Ginkgo trees are the most commonly found trees lining Seoul’s streets, accounting for nearly 35 percent out of 305,086 street trees planted throughout the city. The female trees, about a quarter of ginkgo trees in Seoul, produce berries from mid-September, and through early November, they produce berries that fall and rot on the ground. Ko Yoon-ho, a 29-year-old resident of Nowon-gu, northern Seoul, says that autumn i

Encouraged by his continued victory in the ruling bloc’s presidential primary race, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung is looking to solidify his position by targeting voters in Seoul with a promise to make it a global city on par with cities like New York and London. The leading presidential candidate for the ruling bloc said in a press conference Monday that he will turn Seoul into a global economic capital and a global center of business and finance. He envisions putting Yeouido, in

The Korea International Cooperation Agency’s project on improving water supply and sanitation in Ethiopia is gaining global attention, after it was featured in renowned international journals. The government agency dedicated to providing grant aid programs said Monday that its official development assistance project has been introduced in the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in June and the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in July. For si

Calls are growing for Rep. Chang Je-won of the main opposition People Power Party to step down from his lawmaker post after critics accuse him responsible for his son driving without a license and assaulting a police officer. An open petition to the Blue House asked Rep. Chang to be stripped of his lawmaker post as his son Chang Yong-jun, better known by his stage name NO:EL is under police investigation on charges of unlicensed driving and assaulting a police officer on Sept. 18 in Seoul. Acc

After the National Assembly passed a bill last week to open a regional branch of the legislature in Sejong, eyes are watching to see how the plan will unfold and whether the long-debated capital relocation plan will finally get a boost. Lawmakers on Tuesday passed a revision to the National Assembly Act approving the establishment of a regional branch of the parliament in Sejong, the special self-governing city that serves as a second administrative capital for South Korea. Its passage comes n

South Korea’s plan to step into a phased recovery back to normal life in November is gaining support with positive clinical test results of an experimental COVID-19 oral medication overseas. Leading global drugmaker Merck & Co announced Friday that its experimental antiviral pill dubbed molnupiravir was shown to halve the chances of hospitalization or death for those infected with COVID-19. Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics reported that 7.3 percent of patients who rece

The ruling party walked back from its plan to put a controversial media bill for a final vote in face of strong opposition and stalled negotiations with the opposition bloc on Wednesday. The Democratic Party of Korea said in a press briefing on Wednesday evening that its senior party officials decided to give up trying to put the media bill up for a final vote at Wednesday’s plenary session of the National Assembly, the last one to be held in September. “We ruled that it would be d