Seoul City vowed to toughen punishment against welfare facilities violating human rights of disabled people as part of efforts to better secure their rights, officials said Wednesday. Once a case of human rights abuse are found at facilities for disabled people, the city will cancel the license of those concerned. Previously, the toughest administrative penalty was the dismissal of the head of a facility. The plan is part of comprehensive measures released by Seoul City to protect disabled peopl

For less than 20,000 won ($18), Park Min-joo, 25, can relieve her stress in an hour. Visiting a noraebang at least once a week, Park forgets it all in a confined room equipped with a karaoke system.“It’s just a way for me to release built-up stress,” she said.“My friends and I sing everything from American oldies to the latest K-pop hits to let go of all the bad things that happened during the week.”For Koreans, noraebang have served as a common means of dealing with stress.With comfortable sofa

Two more cases of bird flu were confirmed on Saturday despite quarantine efforts, raising further concerns over the virus spreading, officials said.According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, more than 10,000 fowl at two farms, in Yeongam-gun, South Jeolla Province, and Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, were found to have been infected with the highly pathogenic strain of H5N8. The virus suspicions were reported last Thursday from the two farms after a large number of poultry wa

About 1 in 3 Seoul citizens considers noise to be one of the worst environmental problems in the city, a report showed Sunday. According to Seoul Institute’s survey conducted on 1,032 citizens, 33.6 percent picked noise as the second-most serious environmental issue after air pollution. By type, traffic noise led with 42.4 percent, followed by noise from apartment neighbors and from construction, with 23.1 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively.A total of 1,271 cases of loud sounds heard from up

The peritoneum is a membrane that covers various organs in the abdomen. Peritonitis is an inflammation of this structure.Peritonitis can be divided into acute and chronic types depending on the progress, or as infective and non-infective depending on the cause.Acute peritonitis is associated with abdominal pain, whereas in chronic peritonitis the pain may actually decrease in severity. Other symptoms such as abdominal distention and nausea can also develop.Causes of acute peritonitis include per

The taxi fare hike in Seoul City appears to be veering off from its original purpose of improving working conditions for drivers as more complaints are filed about employers snatching the benefits. Seoul City received a number of reports from cab drivers about their firms violations of wage regulations despite the capital’s efforts to crack down on such practices, officials said Thursday.A total of 63 cases of cab firms violating wage rules have been reported via the city’s new reporting system

About 80 students, mostly senior citizens, graduated Wednesday from Jeollabukdo Women’s Secondary School in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. The graduates of the secondary institute established for women who were not able to complete their education range from those in their 30s to some in their 80s.The oldest is Oh Jeom-nyuh, 82. She is 52 years older than her youngest classmate. For Oh, graduation seemed much more meaningful than for the others. “I’ve long regretted that I was not able to study.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon calls himself a “social designer” rather than a politician or a former lawyer. According to him, a social designer is one who works to make society more reasonable and humane.Before entering politics, Park focused on bringing social changes with civic activities. The Beautiful Foundation, the NGO he established in 2002, is where these activities blossomed.While studying for a law diploma at the U.K.’s London School of Economics and Political Science and working as a gue

Over half of private elementary schools in the capital were found to be violating English curriculum rules despite a warning last year, officials said Wednesday. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, 30 out of 40 private elementary schools were found to have organized English curricula for lower grade students. Teaching English to first- and second-grade students is currently banned. Some extended the English class hours for the upper grades or introduced foreign textbooks ins

A new case of bird flu was confirmed Tuesday, leading to 41 verified cases of the virus in the country, officials said. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, over 10,000 ducks at a farm in Eumseong-gun, North Chungcheong Province, were found to be infected with the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza. The ducks began to show symptoms on Sunday. Quarantine officials slaughtered the poultry as a preventive measure on Monday.As of Tuesday afternoon, a total of 10

Maritime authorities confirmed Monday that over 200 times more oil than initially expected leaked into waters off the south coast of Korea in an oil tanker collision, drawing concerns over the potential damage. According to the Yeosu Coast Guard, about 164 tons of oil spewed into the sea after Singapore-registered oil tanker Wu Yi San collided with a bridge while approaching a pier in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, on Friday. This amounts to 164,000 liters of oil. Three pipelines connecting to pe

Additional suspected cases of bird flu were reported over the Lunar New Year holiday despite the government’s continuous all-out quarantine efforts. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, two suspected cases were reported on Sunday in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province and in Eumseong-gun, North Chungcheong Province. The duck farm in Eumseong-gun is 4 kilometers from Jincheon, where the infection was confirmed last Wednesday.Chickens at a farm in Busan were also reported

Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that it will cooperate with Chinese municipalities to improve the air quality here amid public concerns over ultrafine dust coming from the neighboring country. Seoul will sign memorandums of understanding with cities in China to boost cooperation in sharing air quality-related technology and policies. The regions involved include the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Tianjin, as well as Shandong province. It will later join hands with Ulaanbaat

The number of foreign tourists to Seoul surpassed 10 million last year to set a new high, a municipal report showed Thursday.Officials from Seoul Institute said the Chinese made up the largest group of visitors to the metropolis, pointing out that Seoul appears to have become an attractive destination due in part to Beijing’s eased travel regulations and the local cultural attractions.According to the report, around 10.04 million foreign visitors made a trip to the capital, up 9.3 percent from 2

Seoul City’s public tourism organization set up a compensation scheme for overcharged foreign tourists as part of efforts to improve the city’s sightseeing conditions, officials said Wednesday. Seoul Tourism Association has started to reimburse up to 300,000 won ($280) to foreign travelers who are ripped off in seven special tourism districts starting this month. These include Myeongdong, Namdaemun, Jongno, Dongdaemun and Itaewon. Once overcharged, tourists must report to the Seoul tourist infor

Education level seems to affect men and women in markedly different fashions when it comes to marriage. Higher education is a big plus for men looking to wed; however, it’s a minus for women seeking Mr. Right, a study said on Wednesday.The Korea Institute for Health and Social Science analyzed several variables that affected marriage between 2001 and 2008, which included educational background, career, work hours and ages. According to the study, men with better educational backgrounds had highe

The South Korean government stepped up its efforts to prevent the bird flu from spreading further following the report of another suspected infection case on Tuesday.In a sign demonstrating the gravity of the situation, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs extended the geographical limit within which poultry must be immediately slaughtered. All poultry within a 3-kilometer radius from a virus-infected farm will be slaughtered as a preventive measure. Previously, the mandate for cu

The government confirmed on Monday that avian influenza was the cause of wild bird deaths in North Jeolla Province, fueling concerns of a nationwide outbreak. On Friday, a large number of Baikal teals were found dead in a reservoir between Gochang-gun and Buan-gun in North Jeolla Province, where bird flu broke out on duck farms last week. “It was verified as H5N8 but whether it is highly pathogenic will be confirmed later in the day,” said the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The

Quarantine officials confirmed an outbreak of avian influenza at a local poultry farm located some 300 kilometers south of Seoul on Friday. It is the first case of a bird flu in two years and eight months confirmed by authorities here.Quarantine authorities ordered a culling of more than 20,000 ducks in Gochang-gun, North Jeolla Province, as the waterfowl were detect to be infected with a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza. Officials said they have begun investigating the causes of the

South Korea’s health authorities are speeding up their move to take legal action against tobacco firms to recoup rising health costs from smoking-related diseases. The state-run National Health Insurance Service said Thursday that it would decide whether to file a suit against cigarette companies in its executive board meeting scheduled next Friday. It was reported that most of the board members are likely to approve the tobacco lawsuit. The 14-member board is comprised of the NHIS officials, go