A 29-year-old high school teacher surnamed Ko in Seoul started a variety of savings when she begun her career in 2011. From personal annuity savings to a housing deposit account, Ko regularly saves about 1 million won ($850) in total every month. Her personal annuity savings will allow her to receive 300,000 won per month from the age of 55 if she successfully accumulates 300,000 won every month for the first 10 years. As she works as a private school teacher, she was also eligible to join the T

The possibility of merging Korea’s two top money-losing shipping firms is growing after the financial regulator revealed the government’s plan for their restructuring program early this week. The Financial Services Commission on Monday said it would consider the merger of Hanjin Shipping Co. and Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. once they complete their separate restructuring programs. (Yonhap)“If Hanjin succeeds in normalizing its business, (the agency) will evaluate whether the merger is better than

[THE INVESTOR] Key suspects in Korea’s biggest stock price manipulation case are living a not-so-secret life in Hong Kong and Australia, while Korean prosecutors have made hardly any efforts to bring them to justice, an investigation by The Korea Herald has found.The suspects are Derek Ong and Phillip Lonergan, two of the three former Deutsche Bank employees facing criminal charges in Korea in relation to a 2010 stock rout. Local authorities have failed to extradite the three -- nationals of the

Korea’s largest chemical and battery-maker LG Chem is picked as the exclusive supplier of filters to a desalination plant in Oman, the company said Monday. LG Chem said it won a contract to exclusively provide about 20,000 reverse osmosis desalination filters to a plant being built by SWRO in Sohar by next year. SWRO is based in Sohar, with the largest stake in the company owned by Spanish desalination plant provider Valoriza Agua. Reverse osmosis is a water purification technology that uses a s

Korea’s top tofu-maker Pulmuone Health & Living is in crisis mode as its brand image is being marred by a franchise worker’s death and its aggravating business performance.On Wednesday, two Pulmuone headquarters officials were arrested on charges of beating a 29-year-old franchise worker to death earlier this month. Three employees alleged had a quarrel over the way the headquarters treated the franchise while drinking together, the police said. The victim was pronounced dead Wednesday after fou

Apartment prices in Gaepo-dong in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, are the highest in the nation, surpassing 40 million won ($34,600) per pyeong (3.3 square meters), industry data showed Thursday.According to real estate information provider Real Estate 114, the value of apartments in Gaepo-dong has reached 43.3 million won per 3.3 square meters, up 17 percent on-year. Gangnam (Yonhap)The average value of overall apartments in the country has also surpassed 10 million won per pyeong for the first tim

A high number of single women in South Korea turn to alcohol to relieve stress or depression, a survey showed Wednesday.According to the survey by Seoul National University’s College of Nursing, about 38 percent of respondents said that they are under heavy stress in their daily life, with 13.5 percent feeling sad or despairing for at least two consecutive weeks in the past year.Some 1,700 single women aged 19 or above participated in the national health and nutrition survey between 2010 and 201

It took Ryu Jae-wook several years to bring himself to apply to the government for a health probe over the death of his father who had regularly used a toxic humidifier disinfectant. Although the government accepted such applications from product users over four separate occasions since 2011, with the latest one currently underway, Ryu deliberately ignored such information, telling himself that his father died of old age not from using the disinfectant. His father passed away in June 2006, and h

The government on Tuesday vowed to step up safety measures for female teachers working in remote areas amid public uproar over the recent rape case of a teacher by students’ parents. The Education Ministry said it would conduct an overall safety check of the residences of female teachers working in isolated regions by Friday and draw up measures to boost their safety. This includes checking surveillance cameras, emergency bells, protective windows and other security systems Education Minister Le

Four in 10 Korean parents were found to continuously support their grown-up children regardless of whether they were employed or married, a report showed Sunday. (Yonhap)According to the report by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 39 percent of adult children continued to receive financial support from their parents last year. The result was based on a two-month phone survey on 262 parents aged between 40 and 64 who have children aged 25 or older. Of the grown-up children, about

The government will provide financial support to universities that teach foreign languages other than English in a bid to diversify their curriculum, officials said Thursday. Designating a total of 53 languages as “special foreign languages,” the Education Ministry said it would shoulder the cost for training programs and internships of students learning them at universities designated “special foreign language education institutions,” starting from August. The ministry selected 12 languages fro

Three college students who destroyed a controversial sculpture at Hongik University in Seoul were booked Wednesday. Seoul Mapo Police Station said it booked two Hongik University students and one public service worker for destroying an outdoor sculpture early Wednesday. Titled “It is Anywhere but Nowhere,” the artwork showed a hand gesture that symbolizes the ultra-right online community Ilbe. It was displayed from Tuesday as a graduation project of a 22-year-old arts major student surnamed Hong

The prosecution is looking to summon officials of U.K.-based company Reckitt Benckiser as part of the humidifier disinfectant probe, officials said Monday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it is determining the date to call in two or three executives from Reckitt Benckiser who are suspected to have been involved in or aware of the manipulation of the chemical toxicity test result. The officials are reportedly the ones who visited Seoul when the Seoul National University profes

The prosecution said Thursday it has sought an arrest warrant for Oxy Reckitt Benckiser’s lab head surnamed Cho on charges of false advertising of toxic humidifier disinfectants. Cho, who has worked as the lab’s chief researcher since 2005, is suspected of deceptive advertising of Oxy Ssak Ssak by using phrases such as “harmless to health” or “safe for babies,” without conducting required safety tests. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office also sought accidental manslaughter charges aga

More than 2,000 elementary school teachers on Wednesday rejected the use of state-authored history textbooks, claiming they do not correctly illustrate Korean history. About 2,600 teachers, members of the liberal Korean Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union, vowed they would not use the textbooks made for sixth graders. Since March, sixth graders have been taught with new state-issued history textbooks. The new textbooks, first published in September 2014 on a trial basis, were revised after h

The Environment Ministry on Wednesday said it would survey household biocide products made and sold by some 8,000 companies here until the end of next year to review their safety.In a group briefing attended by representatives of distributors, manufacturers, and importers, the ministry said that about 30 companies with major market shares have shown a willingness to sign memorandums of understanding with the ministry for this purpose. These companies produce the 15 types of household products un

The prosecution on Monday questioned former Oxy Reckitt Benckiser CEO John Lee on charges of accidental manslaughter and injury as part of the widening probe into the humidifier disinfectant scandal. Lee, a 48-year-old Korean-American who currently heads Google Korea, is suspected of not taking appropriate measures despite rising health complaints from users when he was leading the company from June 2005 to May 2010. Sales of Oxy Ssak Ssak reached a high during his term. Former CEO of Oxy Reckit

The victims of toxic humidifier disinfectants and their families have established a corporation to systematically speed up their action against the manufacturers and government, a civic group said Sunday. More than 100 victims and families held a general meeting and set up a board comprising 22 members, including 17 directors, three advisers and two auditors. So far, the group has worked as an unofficial unit without any legal basis. Victims and the families of victims of toxic humidifier disinf

About 30 percent of the Korean population has likely been exposed to the toxic humidifier disinfectant, an expert claimed Wednesday. According to a survey conducted last year by Asan Medical Center’s medical professor Hong Soo-jong, 31.3 percent of children aged 7 were found to have used the humidifier disinfectant at home. About 1,500 children were surveyed. Participants attend a forum on ecotoxic substances at the National Assembly on Wednesday. (Yonhap)“If their families are included, about 3

The prosecution on Tuesday summoned two officials of Homeplus over the sales of toxic humidifier disinfectant, expanding the high-profile probe to other companies.Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it called in two officials of the retailer who were in charge of managing internal rules and customer service respectively while the company was selling the disinfectants. Of the total 221 victims officially confirmed by the government, 28 used Homeplus’ product, with 12 deaths, the prose