Seoul City promised massive infrastructure investment as an incentive for Incheon to allow the capital to continue to use landfills inside the port city.The two municipal governments signed an agreement Monday under which Seoul would inject 120.5 billion won ($95.5 million) by 2016 in improving a road and the environment surrounding the waste management facilities.Two outdoor garbage dumps in Incheon have served Seoul, one already full and the other to be closed in 2016.Seoul is asking Incheon t

Seoul City is pushing for measures to help North Korean defectors, including the establishment of a new support center and increased recruitment. The city said Thursday it would open Hana Plaza in January to provide consulting and support in employment, residence, education, legal affairs, mental health and other welfare issues. It will be established in unused space at the Gangnam branch of Seoul Medical Center. The site was provided by the city and funded by the central government.A cultural c

The Ministry of Justice said Thursday it would tighten the marriage immigrant visa regulations as part of efforts to prevent international marriage fraud. The ministry will screen visa applicants’ elementary level of Korean language but will exempt them from the test if they are able to communicate with their spouses. It will also check the Korean spouse’s level of income and residence status to ensure stability. The ministry will limit an individual’s allowed number of marriage invitations to o

Seoul City and Hyundai Motor’s Chung Mong-koo Foundation, a charity group, will host a festival for multicultural families at Seoul Square on Sunday.The annual Seoul Multicultural Festival will offer photo exhibitions, performances, concerts and other events. Korean idol singers IU, T-ara and BTOB will perform. Participants will also have opportunities to try out traditional food, costumes and instruments of other countries.(rene@heraldcorp.com)

Seoul City is expected to expand its public security guard service for women returning home at night that has attracted more than 11,000 users since it started in June. Once a woman requests the service via the 120 public call center or local district office 30 minutes before she arrives at the subway or bus station near her home, two “public security agents” arrive to accompany her. The service operates between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. on weekdays. Having started in 15 Seoul districts on a trial basi

Women have better linguistic abilities than men, according to data released Sunday by the Korean Language and Culture Foundation. According to a test result analysis of the Test of Korea Language or ToKL between 2007 and 2013, women showed average scores about 4 points higher then men.The report also showed that the older examinees were, the better their vocabulary was. While the vocabulary achievement of teenagers reached 61.7 percent, those in their 20s and 40s came at 66.9 percent and 70.9 pe

Seoul National University jumped from 59th to 44th in the Times Higher Education’s 2013 world university ranking, joining the top 50 for the first time.Four South Korean universities were among the 200 best institutes according to the annual report released on Tuesday. They were KAIST, which climbed 13 places to 56th, POSTECH at 60th, and Yonsei University at 190th.The California Institute of Technology retained its top position for the third consecutive year. Harvard University remained in seco

A Seoul district has partially lifted its ban on a local gay group’s advertisement banner following the state human rights body’s recommendation. The Mapo District office recently notified Mapo Rainbow Residents’ Solidarity that it would allow its ad campaign, but only if it removed a statement deemed to be an exaggeration. The local office and the activist group have been in discord since last year when the office did not permit the group’s gay rights street banners. The office said that the ph

Seoul City said Wednesday it will raise basic taxi fare by one-fourth to 3,000 won ($2.79) starting Oct. 12 and will take measures to improve drivers’ services and working conditions. After holding public hearings and reviews by the price policy committee, the city made a final decision out of three options, which differed in basic fares and surcharges for nighttime and inter-city operations. In addition to the hike, the city government decided to reintroduce the 25 percent surcharge for passeng

The prosecution detained Seoul Metropolitan Council Chairman Kim Myung-soo and raided his office and house on Monday for allegedly taking bribes from a renovation company, sources said. Kim is suspected of receiving more than 100 million won ($93,109) from Dawon Group president surnamed Lee in return for giving favors in the apartment renovation business in the Seocho district of Seoul. Kim from the Democratic Party has been chairing the council since June last year. (rene@heraldcorp.com)

Hi Seoul Festival will kick off Wednesday for a five-day run, offering a variety of street performances and cultural events. The largest cultural festival in the city will present 162 street performances and parades including 24 citizen-participation events. Midair performances from six countries including France, Spain and Argentina will also be featured. The event will mainly take place in three main squares: Seoul Plaza, Gwanghwamun Square and Cheonggye Plaza. On the last day, a large-scale p

Seoul City will have all taxis install digital meters by the end of this year as part of efforts to prevent fare fraud and improve services, officials said Wednesday.Of the 72,418 cabs operating in the city, 43 percent currently use the high-tech calculator, each receiving a 100,000 won ($93) subsidy from the city government. The city plans to make it mandatory for all taxis starting next year. Drivers who do not install them will be fined up to 1.2 million won. The digital meters can preclude d

Seoul City on Wednesday protested the central government’s planned increase of the subsidy for free child care, saying it falls far short of the city’s demand. The central government reiterated that it would raise its contribution to the local governments’ child welfare budgets from 20 percent to 30 percent for Seoul and from 50 percent to 60 percent for other major cities and provinces. The finance, administration and welfare ministries also announced that they would increase the share of value

Hwang Hwa-ick starts her day at 4 a.m. sharp by collecting recyclable materials in her neighborhood. For the 78-year-old, empty bottles, used cans and old newspapers are not waste, but sources for helping those in need. For the past 30 years, she has worked with a local women’s community, gathering the recyclables, selling them and returning the proceeds to society.Her first day’s pay was a meager 7,700 won ($7.16). But she has made more than 10 million won from the job so far and saved the sum

More than three out of 10 Seoul citizens said they do not take part in cultural activities throughout the year, with a majority of them citing high costs as the reason, city data showed.According to the survey by Seoul Metropolitan City, 65 percent of the respondents said they visited sports games or arts performances at least once. The other 35 percent said they had not engaged in any cultural activities.The survey was conducted on about 50,000 citizens aged 15 and above from October 2011 to Se

An opposition lawmaker is pushing to introduce a bill to tighten control of the establishment and management of zoos and aquariums as part of efforts to improve animal welfare.“Animal management, feeding environment and visitors’ safety have been a blind spot since there has been no law that offers any standard,” Democratic Party Rep. Jang Ha-na said Sunday.Civic groups have been voicing the need to introduce a legal framework that ensures a minimum standard for feeding conditions and restricts

The ongoing conflict between the chiefs of the prosecution and the Justice Ministry is reminiscent of clashes between their predecessors that rocked the nation’s law enforcement system and had huge political ramifications. Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook offered to resign Friday amid controversy over a newspaper report that he secretly had a son through an extramarital affair. His announcement came hours after Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn ordered an inspection of him over the claim, despite

Seoul City’s transport control office on Thursday unveiled a major upgrade of information technology-based services to provide traffic information more accurately and quickly. The city government plans to merge its traffic control center and disaster response team into a new entity called the Seoul Safety Control Center. It will begin operations later this year. They will share real-time digital videos and monitor traffic situations and disasters at the same time. A total of 1,141 pieces of traf

Political fighting is escalating over Seoul City’s troubled free child care program in what is seen as a prelude to next year’s local elections.The ruling Saenuri Party and the opposition Democratic Party have been trading barbs since Mayor Park Won-soon offered a debt financing plan last Thursday.Park and the DP denounced the central government for neglecting its share of responsibility in funding. The ruling Saenuri Party accused him of trying to politicize the issue ahead of the mayoral elect

The 6th annual Social Innovation eXchange Summer School 2013 will be held in Seoul starting Monday to discuss ways to promote sustainable city development, a city official said. Under the theme “Reshaping our Cities and Making them Thrive,” 300 participants from 20 countries will share ideas about five main issues including urban regeneration, “smart cities” and tasks to bring sustainable city innovation. Paul Carttar, former U.S. Social Innovation Fund director, and Geoff Mulgan, chief of the U