There is light at the end of the tunnel for domestic workers, as the ruling Democratic Party of Korea hopes to pass a bill this month that would ensure better working conditions for them after a decadelong wait. Ruling party lawmakers in the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee are pushing to pass the bill during this month’s provisional session, in keeping with the party’s vow to expand protection for the working class and categorize domestic workers as wage laborers u

The idea of ensuring that everyone has at least some income has gained momentum in South Korea as the country experiences a major economic letdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea, championed first by Gyeonggi Province governor and president hopeful Lee Jae-myung, has quickly become a fiercely debated topic among presidential contenders from all sides. Proponents say it is a means to narrow the growing wealth gap and make up for future job losses. Naysayers worry that what they call the

Seoul’s public transportation operators are in serious financial trouble as the number of bus and subway users sharply dropped last year due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that 1.45 billion passengers used regular city and local “maeul” buses last year, down 23.6 percent from 1.95 billion a year earlier. The number of airport bus users dropped 85.4 percent on-year to 2.12 million passengers. The sharp decline in passengers caused

Local authorities remain cautious over a potential uptick in virus cases as South Korea approaches its second Lunar New Year holiday under COVID-19 pandemic. While the daily addition of new cases has been staying comparatively low for the past week, officials are keen on preventing people from traveling across regions this week as possibilities still remain high for the virus to stay strong during and after the holiday weekend. The government has also remained vigilant on maintaining its antiv

A local court on Tuesday rejected an arrest warrant for former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu for his role in the controversial closure of South Korea’s second-oldest nuclear reactor. The Daejeon District Court on Tuesday denied the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant made Thursday against Paik on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of business. The court said the prosecution’s arguments are insufficient to prove Paik’s criminal involve

Former Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Un-gyu on Monday faced potential arrest for his role in the controversial closure of South Korea’s second-oldest nuclear reactor. The Daejeon District Court on Monday afternoon started an arrest warrant hearing for Paik on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of business following a request from the prosecution on Thursday. Paik is under investigation for allegedly abusing his authority to negatively influence the viability assessme

The number of fatalities from traffic accidents in Seoul fell to its lowest recorded level last year, police said Sunday. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the number of people who died from traffic accidents reached 218 throughout 2020, down from 247 people from a year earlier. The number of traffic accident fatalities has been steadily falling from 399 deaths recorded in 2014. Pedestrians accounted for more than half, or 115, of all traffic accident deaths in Seoul recorded

The number of food poisoning cases last year was the lowest ever recorded as the COVID-19 pandemic forced cafeterias to close and increased an emphasis on personal hygiene, data showed Sunday. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the number of reported food poisoning cases reached 178, down 52 percent from five-year average of 343 cases since 2015. The number of food poisoning patients reached 53 per million, down 40 percent from an average of 133 patients per million from 2015 t

South Korea on Thursday impeached a sitting judge for the first time in its history, as lawmakers voted to remove Lim Seong-geun, a senior judge at the Busan High Court for meddling in a number of politically controversial trials during the Park Geun-hye administration. During the extraordinary session of the National Assembly, 179 lawmakers voted to impeach Lim while 102 voted against it, marking the first time a judge has been removed from the post while in service. There were two motions in

Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su acknowledged that he had considered politicians’ plans to impeach Lim Seong-geun, a senior judge at the Busan High Court, when he refused to accept Lim’s resignation in May. Kim said in a statement to reporters Thursday that he regretted making the erroneous claim that he had never mentioned anything about impeachment during the conversation he had with Lim at the time. “I apologize for responding falsely based on uncertain memories o

The discovery of the first cases of community transmission of more contagious coronavirus variants is putting authorities on high alert, prompting worries that this will set back South Korea’s efforts to curb the ongoing third COVID-19 wave and may signal the start of another more serious wave. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun urged officials Thursday to increase their efforts to prevent additional community transmission of variants traced to the UK, South Africa and Brazil. The Korea Disea

Local farmers are protesting strengthened regulations on living shelters for foreign laborers introduced in the wake of a Cambodian worker’s death, claiming the measures are ill-devised and demanding more support from the government. In a press conference Tuesday near the Ministry of the Employment and Labor building in Sejong, the Korean Advanced Farmers Federation demanded the government retract the measure that stipulates improved shelter conditions for foreign workers. “Chaos i

Korea’s progress towards a cleaner environment is being pushed back by the surge in plastic waste fanned by the COVID-19 pandemic. With the pandemic pushing people to buy food and drinks via takeaway or deliveries that come in plastic packaging, the amount of waste has surged, causing concerns the changes in consumption trend could permanently damage Korea’s green initiatives and disrupt people’s everyday lives. According to the Ministry of Environment, the number of food de

South Korea is mulling an adjustment to its social distancing rules ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday as the country looks to curb the ongoing virus wave and save the livelihoods of small merchants and businesspeople at the same time. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in a meeting Monday that the government will monitor the virus situation throughout this week and review whether to ease any rules for the holiday weekend spanning from Feb. 11 to Feb. 14. “If we obtain a belief that we

The government plans to increase the number of in-person classes and roll out measures to address the learning gap between students from different socioeconomic backgrounds, but risks remain. Armed with virus control plans for expanded in-person classes, budget-backed child care programs and improved digital assets, the education authorities are optimistic as they map out the learning ecosystem for students in the new school year starting in March. 　 But their upgrades and adjustments continu

In a few weeks from now, South Korean will kick off its long-awaited plan for nationwide vaccination, following the steps of other countries to overcome the pandemic by obtaining herd immunity within this year. Under the government’s plan unveiled Thursday, the country will vaccinate 1.3 million people by March, 9 million by June and the rest of the 33.25 million in following months. Korea is also installing 250 vaccination centers to handle some vaccines that are harder to store and tran

South Korea will expand the proportion of in-person classes and improve the quality of online learning and child care programs so that the new academic year can proceed without delays, the Ministry of Education announced Thursday. The Education Ministry said the country’s new school year will kick off as scheduled in March and provide more than 190 class days for elementary, middle and high school students and over 180 days for those in kindergarten. The move will also allow Korea to car

The South Korean government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea are pushing for a legislation to compensate the self-employed and small-business owners for losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the move faces budgetary constraints and criticism from opposition parties, which say the ruling camp is using the plan to boost its ratings ahead of the April 7 mayoral by-elections. The Democratic Party is internally discussing a bill that it hopes will pass during the provisional ses

With the discovery of coronavirus outbreaks at alternative schools that are not accredited or supported by the Ministry of Education, authorities are concerned that these institutions could serve as a catalyst for the ongoing COVID-19 wave to continue or even gain steam. Officials say these institutions may not have abided by the social distancing rules as no government agency or ministry has official jurisdiction over them, enabling them to stay in a disease control blind spot. The

South Korea is on alert as a new infection cluster traced to a missionary school in Daejeon could serve as a major threat to the country’s response to its ongoing third COVID-19 wave. Since the outbreak first came to light Saturday, Korea discovered a total of 127 fresh cases traced to the IEM School, a Christian missionary training center in Daejeon, by Sunday’s end, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The boarding school, made to recruit and train teenag