Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Wednesday that real estate taxes should be raised three-fold, as housing prices soar despite governmental efforts to discourage real estate speculation. “The ratio of comprehensive real estate taxes in Korea stands at only 0.16 percent, which is a third of the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,” he said on an MBC radio program. “It is appropriate that the ratio increases three-fold.”　On Monday, the governme

Togo’s President Faure Essozimna Gnassingb met with Park Ock-soo, the founder of Good News Mission and non-government organization International Youth Fellowship to discuss promoting character education in Togo, the IYF said Wednesday. Park, who is the head pastor of the Good News Gangnam Church, met with Gnassingb at the Togolese President’s palace on Monday at the president’s official invitation. It was their third meeting.The two discussed the IYF’s plans to help

The police said Tuesday that they have opened a probe into possible law violations and violence during a rally the previous day by conservative activists in front of the National Assembly building.Some 500 people belonging to right-wing organizations and supporting the main opposition Liberty Korea Party held a rally in protest against a set of reform bills. Following the rally, the protesters remained there for nearly nine hours, tried to break into the National Assembly building and some of th

Parents will be allowed to take paid child care leave at the same time starting Feb. 28, according to a law revision approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday. A working parent whose spouse is already on paid family leave will also be able to take paid parental leave, according to the revised Act on Equal Employment and Support for Work-Family Reconciliation. A clause that bans parents from simultaneously taking parental leave for the same child has been removed in the revised law.Starting from Jan. 1,

 The prosecution suggested former President Chun Doo-hwan, on trial on libel charges in connection with his role in the crackdown of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising, be absent from the court, his lawyer said Monday. The 88-year-old former Army general, who seized power in a military coup on Dec. 12, 1979, and served as president from 1980 to 1988, was absent from a hearing held Monday at the Gwangju District Court. He has not attended court proceedings, citing frail health.The mov

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s relative Cho Beom-dong on Monday denied embezzlement charges raised against him during the first hearing of his trial in connection with the corruption allegations that led to the former minister’s resignation.  Cho Beom-dong, 36, was indicted in October on a number of charges, including embezzlement, over his role in ethically questionable investments in a private equity fund in which the ex-minister’s wife and other family members had in

Former Ulsan Mayor Kim Gi-hyeon, who raised allegations about Cheong Wa Dae’s suspected meddling in regional elections last year, appeared before the prosecution Sunday to be questioned as a witness. Kim, who is affiliated with the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, says that the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency deliberately investigated suspicions surrounding his brother and close aide a few months ahead of the elections last year, to sway the vote in favor of the ruling Democratic

A local labor office said Friday that it is investigating allegations that a subcontractor had paid Vietnamese migrant workers in fake money for their farm labor.  According to an association of migrant workers’ rights organizations based in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the subcontractor paid the workers in paper coupons, instead of cash, promising to exchange the coupons with real currency when they wanted. Their employer, however, did not exchange the coupons in full when re

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Friday lashed out at former President Chun Doo-hwan, who is now on trial on libel charges in connection with his role in the 1980 crackdown on the Gwangju Democratic Uprising, for hosting an extravagant luncheon on the anniversary of the military coup that brought him to power.  The former Army general, 88, seized power in a military coup on Dec. 12, 1979, following the assassination of President Park Chung-hee on Oct. 26 by his spy agency director. C

A 10-year entry ban imposed by immigration authorities on a Vietnamese woman who lived in South Korea on a borrowed passport is lawful, a local court said Friday.  The Seoul High Court ruled against the woman, who had challenged the decision and asked the court to invalidate the deportation order and 10-year entry ban. The woman entered the country in April 1997 as part of an industrial trainee program, but overstayed her visa and continued to live here illegally. She received a deportation

A same-sex couple of Korean nationality were recognized as family members by Korean Air’s membership rewards program, South Korea’s flag carrier said Thursday, a step hailed by sexual minorities’ rights advocates. The female couple, who are in their 40s, completed registering as family members in Korean Air’s SkyPass program on Monday after the country’s largest airline accepted their marriage certificate, which had been issued in Canada. The couple, who have b

The speed limit on Seoul roads with bus-only lanes will be adjusted to 50 kilometers per hour starting late this month as part of efforts to reduce traffic accidents involving pedestrians, the city government said Wednesday.The new speed limit will apply to 14 roads in Seoul with median bus-only lanes, starting Dec. 20. Violators face up to 170,000 won ($142) in fines. Other major roads -- including Hannamdaero and Gyeonginro -- connected to roads with bus-only lanes will have the 50 kph speed l

South Korea was blanketed by a high level of particulate pollution Tuesday, prompting emergency dust reduction measures for the first time this winter and an ultrafine dust advisory issued in the afternoon. The implementation of emergency measures was extended into Wednesday with the high level of PM 2.5 -- ultrafine particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter -- expected to continue across the country due to the stagnant air over the peninsula and the inflow of particles from abroad.Se

A forum on public-private partnerships for the export of smart technology-based public transport infrastructure is set to be held in Seoul on Thursday, the Seoul City government said Monday.  Hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the forum will look at emerging trends in smart transport systems, Seoul’s smart transport policies and the municipality’s support for private companies looking to break into the overseas transport industry. It will also discuss strategies for ex

Seoul-based universities will select more freshmen through a state-administered college entrance exam to be held once a year starting in 2023 as part of college admissions reform measures unveiled by the Education Ministry on Thursday. Under the measures, at least 40 percent of applicants at 16 major universities in Seoul – including Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University – will be selected through the College Scholastic Ability Test, or Suneung.The me

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Tuesday vowed to restrict excessive protests that “threaten public good,” amid complaints over weekend rallies that have dominated Gwanghwamun Square for several months.　He also held politicians accountable for failing to contain the deep ideological division that has led to rallies by both supporters and opponents of the Moon Jae-in administration. 　“The right to public assembly and demonstration is a very basic human right granted by the Constitut

Nearly 45 years after the end of the Vietnam War, some Vietnamese still live in the shadow of the war. 　Among them are the Lai Dai Han people -- a term meaning mixed blood in Vietnamese and referring to those born mostly to Vietnamese women and South Korean men during the war. 　As the Korean government remains lukewarm about recognizing the negative aspects of Korea’s involvement in the war -- from massacres of civilians allegedly committed by Korean troops to half-Korean children left beh

The main opposition party on Tuesday strongly protested the presidential office’s request for the removal of the tent where its leader has held a hunger strike for the past seven days in protest of key reform bills. Liberty Korea Party Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn began his hungry strike Nov. 20 in a tent set up in front of the presidential office to protest against bills on reforming the election system and setting up an independent body tasked with investigating corruption allegations inv

Old diesel cars will be banned from the area within Seoul’s four main gates starting December, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday, as part of efforts to tackle air pollution.Diesel cars classified as grade 5 in terms of emission levels -- some 2.18 million vehicles nationwide and 720,000 in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province -- will be excluded from the city center from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. starting Dec. 1. After that, a driver caught driving an old diesel vehicle in the city center withou

The government said Friday that it will ease requirements for marriage migrants to naturalize even after a divorce and those convicted of violent crimes will be banned from marrying foreign women as part of measures to better protect marriage migrants’ human rights.  Migrant women married to Korean men do not have to prove their husbands were entirely responsible for the breakup to naturalize here, according to the measures unveiled by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family along