Seoul City councilors are pushing for the dismissal of Sejong Center CEO Bagh Inbae, a close associate of Mayor Park Won-soon, for mismanagement and feuds with staff. It is the first attempt by city representatives to remove a chief of the public performing arts center in its 35-year history. Bagh was appointed by the mayor in January last year. He has been under pressure to resign for causing discordance with the art team, increasing the budget deficit and disregarding the budget enforcement pr

Seoul City and Twitter Korea are working together to establish an online disaster information system using the city’s various accounts on the micro-blog service. Twitter Lifeline will provide real-time alerts, guidance and up-to-date news and information to citizens during an emergency, and people can also post notifications of their whereabouts and status through their smartphones, the city said. The two sides signed an agreement for the project on Wednesday.It will help authorities’ response a

The prosecution questioned former spy agency chief Won Sei-hoon on Thursday over allegations that he received bribes from a local construction company in exchange of business favors. In a separate case, Won was indicted last month on charges of masterminding an online smear campaign against the opposition candidate to sway public opinion ahead of presidential election late last year.He served as head of the National Intelligence Service under former President Lee Myung-bak. He is suspected of ta

Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the Saenuri Party said that he will personally invest 100 million won ($87,400) in a film production about a tragic inter-Korean naval skirmish that killed six seamen 11 years ago.“I always felt indebted to the naval soldiers killed a day before the final match of (Korea-Japan) World Cup while safeguarding (Korean) territorial waters during the second Yeonpyeong Battle,” Chung said in a statement Wednesday. “I expect the film to portray their spirits of sacrifice,” he add

The Justice Ministry has tightened visa regulations for foreign language teachers to ensure they are paid at least 1.5 million won ($1,324) per month. The ministry said the new guideline was designed to improve their working conditions and the quality of language education. Under the rule, effective as of Monday, the E-2 teaching visa will be issued only if employers guarantee foreign teachers the minimum monthly rate. Its survey in March found that some lecturers are paid less than 1 million wo

Women in Seoul take an average of 4.5 years away from their career mostly due to childbirth and rearing, research showed Tuesday.The Seoul Women’s Resources Development Institute released its survey of 1,969 women who registered at job-training and career-building agencies for women in the city.Half of them said they had once worked, but found they had to quit after an average of 8.4 years. They were out of work for 4.5 years on average. About 46 percent of them cited childcare as the reason for

Heavy rain is expected to pour out across the nation this week, starting Tuesday in Gyeonggi {rovince and western regions first and other areas later. The precipitation will hit Seoul and the Gyeonggi Province area hardest, with 150 millimeters, while 30-120 millimeters of rainfall is forecast in other regions. Some thunder and lightning is anticipated in the Seoul and Gyeonggi region until Wednesday and in southern parts until Thursday for two days. The intense heat will be alleviated with belo

From ecological farms to flea markets to after-school institutes, local cooperatives are sprouting up in many districts in Seoul. About 500 neighborhood groups are currently supported by the city government’s “village community” program initiated by Mayor Park Won-soon, a former progressive civic activist.But his pet project has recently been embroiled in political controversy, with conservatives suspecting some of the organizations as hotbeds of leftists and potential support bases for the mayo

The government plans to give certified foreign entrepreneurs looking to set up a company in Korea wider leeway to receive a visa, as part of efforts to stimulate foreign investment, the Justice Ministry said on Sunday.According to the proposed revision to the enforcement decree of the Immigration Control Act, an “entrepreneurship visa” will be granted as part of the corporate investment visa (D-8) to foreigners who hold at least a bachelor’s degree, have earned an intellectual property right and

Trying to remain true to their roots, two Korean brothers from Argentina made headlines here for joining the military three months ago, despite holding permanent residencies in the South American country, a story which was shared by the National Unification Advisory Council.“Even though I’m a foreign permanent resident, I’m proud of being Korean. I definitely thought I needed to serve the military duty to be honorable,” 30-year-old Bang Hyung-sik, the older of the two, was quoted as saying.His b

Major universities in Seoul on Tuesday promised to reduce energy consumption by 10 percent of 2012 levels by 2017 in an agreement with the Seoul City government.They also agreed to implement measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and enhance education and campaigns to protect the environment. A total of 34 out of 42 four-year universities signed a memorandum of understanding with the metropolitan government for the green campus project. At the ceremony the schools adopted a joint declarat

A bill has been proposed to introduce stronger protection of victims and harsher punishment for stalking by a minor party lawmaker on Saturday.Rep. Kim Je-nam from the Progressive Justice Party said she is pushing to introduce a separate law to ensure better protection of victims from stalking such as by applying criminal penalties for the offense that is currently considered a misdemeanor.Stalking ― currently defined as making approaches, watching or following a person against his or her explic

Seoul City is scheduled to open a new office building for the Seoul Global Center on Friday that will be the nation’s largest support facility for foreign investors and residents.The new 15-story building is located in Jongno, downtown Seoul. The city government invested 33 billion won ($28 million) in its construction over three years.The city government has been running the comprehensive support center for foreign residents since 2008 to deal with daily living, business, education, financing a

Korea’s corruption watchdog Monday started a two-week training program for Asian and African public officials to help emerging countries tackle graft and boost transparency. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said 13 officials from different countries including China, Singapore, Thailand and Zimbabwe were participating in the session. In his welcoming address, chairperson Lee Sung-bo stressed the importance of international cooperation to combat corruption. “Corruption is a transnat

President Park Geun-hye expressed her dismay at “distorted” history education on Monday, signaling for tough measures against the leftist teachers’ union. She criticized the result of a controversial survey on students’ perception of the start of the Korean War (1950-53). In the poll conducted by a newspaper, 506 high school students were asked whether the war was triggered by “buk-chim” (invasion by the South) or “nam-chim” (invasion by the North). Of them, 349 students or 69 percent picked “bu

Seoul City will publicize standard taxi fares on 56 routes popular among foreign tourists as part of efforts to protect them from overcharging. The price estimates will be available online (www.visitseoul.net) from the end of this month, and later via smartphone applications and tour guidebooks, it said.The information will cover courses linking 12 spots ― two airports, five lodging facilities and five tourist attractions, it said. To stamp out the illegal practice of taxis overcharging, one of

The main opposition party ratcheted up pressure on top government officials accused of meddling in an investigation of a former intelligence chief over illegal political activities.Democratic Party lawmakers adopted a resolution on Thursday demanding the resignation of Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Kwak Sang-do. The party claimed that the two officials obstructed the prosecution’s plans to arrest Won Sei-hoon and charge him for election law vi

The government and the ruling Saenuri Party decided on Wednesday to establish a new regulation to tighten supervision of local public enterprises. The envisioned law is expected to include clauses that close down companies in financial trouble due to lax management and executives’ misdeeds.Public firms more than half-owned by local governments are currently regulated under the Local Public Enterprises Act. However, there are no specific regulations for companies with government stakes of less th

Yeongjongdo, Incheon ― BMW Group Korea on Tuesday broke ground for the country’s first major driving center, the company said on Tuesday. The facility will be the first of its kind in Asia and comes after similar centers in Germany and the U.S., said Kim Hyo-joon, chief executive of BMW Korea. The driving center ― measuring 240 square kilometers to equal the size of 33 soccer fields put together ― will house six arenas, each allotted for different roles such as for driving safety education, inte

A short film co-directed by Park Chan-wook and his brother Park Chan-kyong, “Day Trip (Cheongchul-eoram),” has been invited to the 67th Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), one of the oldest running film festivals in the world. The movie, showcased in December 2012, will be screened as part of “Focus on Korea,” a special section that offers an opportunity to explore Korean movies. This is Park’s second time to show in Edinburgh after the movie “Oldboy” in 2004.  The 18-minute short feat