Prosecutor-General nominee Yoon Seok-youl pledged to free the prosecution from political influence and reform the powerful law enforcement body at his confirmation hearing Monday.  “I take it with a heavy heart that the prosecution has been shaken and is not strict when facing the powerful,” he said, vowing “drastic” changes in the organization, system and culture.Last month, President Moon Jae-in picked Yoon to lead the prosecution, which many regard as reflecting h

A senior editorial member of broadcaster SBS resigned Monday over suspicion he secretly took a photo of the lower part of a woman’s body in a subway station, according to the TV station.　The broadcaster accepted the resignation of Kim Sung-joon, 55, who had been one of its top news anchormen.　The Yeongdeungpo Police Station booked Kim without detention on suspicion that he took the photo without the woman’s knowledge at Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Station at around 11:55 p.m. Wednesday.&n

Incheon National University has joined prominent universities around the world in efforts to create a new university ranking system that better measures universities’ efforts to drive innovation in Industry 4.0.At a joint press conference, Cho Dong-sung, president of Incheon National University, said the traditional university ranking systems work in favor of research-focused universities. “A new university ranking system that focuses on innovation in the ‘fourth industrial rev

Irregular workers at schools went on strike Wednesday, calling for an end to discrimination in wages and welfare benefits vis-a-vis regular workers and disrupting meal services at thousands of schools nationwide. Six-hour-long negotiations between irregular workers at schools and education authorities fell through the previous day, leading some 22,000 irregular workers at schools -- including cooks, nutritionists and administrative workers -- to stage a walkout until Friday. As of 10 a.m. Wednes

For more than a month, Lee Su-jin, who lives in western Incheon, has relied on bottled water to do household tasks from cooking to cleaning. Driving to a neighboring city to eat out or use a self-service laundromat has become a daily routine. It is all because of “reddish water” still running from her taps, a problem that was first detected May 30 and has affected some 15,000 households and 160 schools in Incheon. “It has become almost impossible to lead a daily life for t

Men should be allowed and expected to take parental leave and attend to their children’s needs as the first step to achieving gender equality at work, according to a prominent US feminist scholar. To encourage men to take parental leave more freely in a society where those who choose to do so are seen as poor workers and ineffectual men, the government should put in place a “daddy quota,” Joan C. Williams, a professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law

Civic groups continued to hold rallies opposing and welcoming US President Donald Trump’s visit to Seoul on Sunday as Trump held a summit with President Moon Jae-in and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Demilitarized Zone.　Trump arrived in Seoul on Saturday after attending the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan. On Sunday, Trump held bilateral talks with Moon at the presidential office and met with Kim at the truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Koreas.

The prosecution said Sunday that it had launched an investigation into possible hiring irregularities at telecom company KT involving the son of Hwang Kyo-ahn, chairman of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party. The minor Minjung Party’s youth branch filed a complaint against the Liberty Korea Party leader for alleged obstruction of business, claiming that his son was hired by the country’s largest telecom company because of Hwang’s position.The complaint was filed after Hwang

A global education firm SPEP has been at the forefront of a paradigm shift in business education, providing training and consulting specialized in nurturing a workforce with a global mindset and foreign language proficiency.  SPEP, which has worked with global firms for more than 22 years, offers training programs on communication skills, basic language skills and business etiquette necessary in a multicultural business environment. The training courses, textbook and other education materia

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Wednesday that the city will bring forward plans to replace aged water pipes by securing extra funds, amid growing concerns over contaminated tap water reported in Seoul, Incheon and other cities.  The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would begin replacing 138 kilometers of the old pipes within the year, earlier than as scheduled in 2020. For the 1.75-kilometer pipe that contaminated tap water in Mulle-dong, the replacement will be completed by the end of

Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il on Tuesday apologized for the prosecution’s past abuses of power and human rights violations in connection with politically sensitive investigations, vowing to make the law enforcement body transparent and politically neutral. In a news conference, Moon said he “repents” the prosecution’s past failures to do its duty to protect people’s basic rights and fairly exercise its investigative powers. 　Moon admitted that the prosecution

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday forcibly removed tents set up by a far-right minor party at Gwanghwamun Square in early May without a permit, only to have them reinstalled by the party amid fierce protests.　About 500 Seoul city officials and 400 contract demolition workers tore down the tents put up by Our Republican Party, formerly the Korean Patriots Party, on May 10 as part of its campaign calling for the release of former President Park Geun-hye, who is serving a 25-year jail te

The prosecution is closing in on Chung Tae-soo, the former head of the now-defunct Hanbo Group who absconded after being convicted of embezzlement, with his son’s extradition to South Korea on Saturday. The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office reportedly had identified Chung, who was believed to have died, as having been in Kyrgyzstan until recently, and pushed to have him extradited to Korea. It plans to release more information about him this week.  　Chung was sentenced to 15 years in

Reddish tap water was detected in apartment complexes in Seoul on Friday, amid growing concerns over contaminated water after reddish water was first reported in Incheon in late May. As of Friday afternoon, the Seoul Metropolitan Government recommended some 1,300 households and an elementary school in Mulle-dong in southwestern Seoul stop using tap water. The municipality has fingered aged water pipes as the cause of the murky water. Results of a detailed analysis are expected to come out in abo

South Korea’s human rights watchdog and refugee activists on Thursday called for better protection of the human rights of asylum seekers, taking issue with what they see as unfair practices in health insurance coverage and human rights violations at the airport.  Marking World Refugee Day, the activists raised concerns about a family of asylum seekers who are stranded at Incheon Airport after being denied entry to the country, and about other cases of mistreatment by immigration offic

Recalling his refugee application interview, Mohamad Sabry, who was formerly a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and is now in Korea on a humanitarian stay visa, said it was the beginning of “another part of a miserable life.”The 38-year-old Egyptian, who came to Korea in 2016 to flee persecution by the military regime that seized power in a coup, said records documenting his refugee application interview had been falsified.“I was verbally assaulted during my formal interview at

Incheon Mayor Park Nam-choon on Monday apologized for the city’s botched response to contaminated tap water and laid out a set of measures to tackle the problem. The cause of the reddish tap water was to be announced Tuesday.“I apologize that we did not have a crisis response manual for every case, we did not seek advice from experts and we did not have a response process in place,” Park said during the press conference. Incheon Metropolitan City will monitor the water qua

A parliamentary impasse appears set to continue, as rival political parties on Sunday failed to narrow differences on holding a parliamentary hearing on the country’s economic situation. In addition, an extraordinary session in June is likely to be held without the main opposition Liberty Korea Party. Floor leaders from the Liberty Korea Party, Democratic Party and minor opposition Bareunmirae Party held behind-the-scenes discussions to narrow their differences over the weekend,

YG Entertainment’s Yang Hyun-suk faced allegations Thursday that he pressured a witness to change his testimony in an attempt to cover up iKON leader B.I’s alleged use of an illegal drug.  The witness filed a report Tuesday with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission claiming the investigation into B.I’s alleged drug use was dismissed due to corrupt ties between police and YG, according to local media. B.I, 23, whose real name is Kim Han-bin, bought the hallucinog

The widow and eldest daughter of the late Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho on Thursday received suspended prison terms for smuggling luxury goods into South Korea through company planes. 　The Incheon District Court sentenced Cho Hyun-ah, 45, the former Korean Air vice president, to eight months in prison suspended for two years. She must pay a fine of 4.8 million won ($4,060) and forfeit 63 million won. 　The late chairman’s wife, Lee Myung-hee, 70, was handed a six-month jail term susp