The number of foreign students in South Korea has hit a record high, topping 100,000, the Justice Ministry said Monday. According to the ministry’s statistics, the number of foreign students studying in Korea was 105,193 in March, up 10.6 percent from January. The number saw a gradual decrease from 88,468 in 2011 to 81,847 in 2013, but started to bounce back in 2015 at 96,357.  Graduates of Konkuk University in Seoul attend a graduation ceremony on Feb. 22. (Yonhap)By nationality, there were 62,

Foreign workers in South Korea are concentrated in labor-intensive industries despite growing calls for a “comprehensive” immigration policy to encourage more skilled workers from abroad, according to a recent report. The study by Hyundai Research Institute, commissioned by the Justice Ministry, suggested that the government fix its immigration system that is heavily focused on low-skilled workers and more effectively make use of foreign workers on a long-term basis in the wake of aging populati

Police questioned seven terror suspects in Belgium and France on Friday as US Secretary of State John Kerry declared "Je Suis Bruxellois" during a solidarity visit after bombings in Brussels claimed by the Islamic State group.   Grieving Belgians were holding prayers in the rain in a central Brussels square carpeted with flowers and tributes to the 31 killed and 300 injured by the airport and metro suicide blasts on Tuesday.   The under-fire Belgian police arrested six people in raids linked to

KB Financial Group and Korea Investment Holdings Co. have submitted a final bid for a controlling stake in Hyundai Securities as they seek expansion to compete with bigger foreign rivals, the deal's lead manager said Friday. Besides the two, Hong Kong's private equity fund Actis also participated in the competition to acquire a 22.56 percent stake in Hyundai Securities up for sale since last year by financially-troubled Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., according to EY Han Young accounting firm.    T

Asiana Airlines said Friday that it has agreed to pay a $55 million settlement in a fuel surcharge price-fixing case, ending a decade-long anti-trust class action lawsuit against South Korea's second-largest carrier.   Asiana said in a regulatory filing that the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York approved the settlement.   The airline said it reached a deal with U.S. cargo companies to address increased costs and the burden of the defense of a protracted lawsuit, though it

A U.S. citizen detained in North Korea confessed Friday to his crime of espionage in connection with South Korea's spy agency and asked for mercy, the North's state media said.   Kim Dong-chul, a 62-year-old U.S. citizen, said at a press conference in Pyongyang that he has been serving as a spy for South Korea by secretly passing on intelligence on the North's party and military to Seoul, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).  Kim was detained by the North after being arrested in O

Early in the morning on Dec. 23, four Burmese families finally arrived at South Korea’s major airport, looking nervous yet excited. Amid warm welcome from government officials and U.N. agencies, they set foot for the first time in the country that they would now can call home.The 22 Burmese people, who had spent a decade at a refugee camp in Thailand, were the first batch of refugees relocated in Korea as part of the U.N.-led refugee resettlement program. Under its independent Refugee Act, Korea

Government data showed Friday that close to 70 percent of high-ranking government officials and lawmakers saw their wealth grow from a year earlier, mainly due to hikes in their real estate assets. According to the report by the Government Public Ethics Committee, 74.6 percent of senior government officials reported an increase in their wealth in 2015. The average assets of those surveyed was 1.31 billion won ($1.12 million) last year, up 55 million won from 2014.Under the country’s public servi

A Kenyan asylum seeker, who murdered a Korean employee at an Internet cafe in Gwangju earlier this month, has been found to be mentally sound, as police continue efforts to identify the motive behind his crime. According to the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office, a medical checkup has suggested that the 28-year-old man is not mentally ill. The checkup was done as prosecutors had faced difficulties in investigating the murder case due to his unusual behavior in a prison cell. The man is seen in

The government will present a revision to family litigation law in September to expand the rights of underage children and more effectively deprive unqualified parents of their authority, legal sources said Tuesday. According to the revision, teenage children who are abused by their parents will be able to file a suit against parents to demand the state invalidate their parental authority. Up until now, children have had limited rights in family-related trials, which experts cited as one of the

A Russian and Liberian who blackmailed a Korean man for cash have been sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for a year, the court said Tuesday.They had already been jailed for six months for fraud. But the prosecutors added a charge of perjury, which led the court to additionally hand down the suspended six-month prison term. The 28-year-old man from Liberia and 32-year-old woman from Russia, who were in a relationship, conspired with a Ukrainian woman to swindle a Korean man via social

A Korean woman threw cash worth 22 million won ($19,030) on the street in downtown Seoul on Monday, but caused no major disruption as passersby did not rush to pick them up, police said Tuesday. The 56-year-old threw hundreds of 1,000-won, 5,000-won and 10,000 won-banknotes in the Seoul Square at around 5 p.m.But there was no single citizen who picked up the bills, with many of passersby glancing at the grass covered by banknotes and taking photos of the scene, police said. Police collect the ba

The family of a farmer knocked down by a water cannon blast from the police during an anti-government rally last year filed a compensation suit against authorities on Tuesday. Two daughters of Baek Nam-gi, 70, who still remains unconscious, demand a total of 240 million won ($207,800) from the state and police officials including the National Police Agency chief Kang Shin-myung and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency chief Goo Eun-soo, the Lawyers for a Democratic Society said. Jung Hyun-chan,

South Korean police will be conducting a poll on whether to tighten the legal alcohol limit for drivers, officials said Tuesday. The National Police Agency said that it will carry out a month-long survey on 1,000 Koreans on whether to lower the legal blood alcohol level for drivers from the current 0.05 to 0.03 percent. A glass of soju can lead to 0.03 percent of blood alcohol concentration.The survey will ask respondents whether they think it is necessary for police to step up its crackdown on

(Yonhap)A Chinese was detained for allegedly running away after crashing into a taxi and injuring a Korean man in Seoul, police said Tuesday. The 30-year-old Chinese man, identified only by his surname Ryu, drove a car under the influence of alcohol and hit a taxi parked in front of the police box in Itaewon at around 5 a.m. on March 13. The crash left a 40-year-old Korean man, surnamed Shim, injured. He is not in critical condition, police said. The Chinese, who came to Korea for a short visit,

The majority of South Korean women view marriage as a hindrance to their careers, in stark contrast to men, a survey showed Monday. According to the poll by recruitment site Saramin on 1,401 married and unmarried workers, 71.8 percent of women said that tying the knot had a harmful impact on their career, while 75.9 percent of men saw marriage as a boost to their working lives. YonhapMost of the female respondents (76.5 percent) cited housework and child rearing as the major factors, followed by

South Korea’s migrant worker and refugee advocacy groups called for an end to racial discrimination in central Seoul on Monday, marking the U.N.-designated day to combat racial discrimination. 　In a press conference held at Gwanghwamun Square in the morning, some 30 civic organizations, including the nation’s first migrant workers’ union, groups of public interest lawyers and labor rights activists, gathered to shed light on the plight of migrant workers here. 　The groups accused the government

With the risks and challenges faced by refugees around the world having become one of the biggest global issues of today, the status and conditions of asylum seekers in South Korea have also been highlighted. The Korea Herald is publishing a series of articles shedding light on refugees in Korea, their hardships, the systematic fallout and ways to go forward. This is the ninth installment. – Ed.For Milene (not her real name), a 25-year-old asylum seeker from a small country in West Africa, life

PAJU, Gyeonggi Province -- A month after the shutdown of Gaeseong industrial park in North Korea’s border city, business owners and employees took to the street on Wednesday, calling for compensation and restarting of operations at the complex. Led by the emergency council of the Gaeseong-based factory owners and workers, some 1,000 people who lost their jobs overnight gathered at Imjingak Pavilion near the heavily guarded Demilitarized Zone in the afternoon.At the rally, the participants, consi

With the tragic death of a 7-year-old boy from long-term abuse by his parents revealed last week, the government has laid out additional measures to prevent child abuse. 　But concerns are growing over the efficacy of the measures, with activists taking issue with shortage of financial, human resources in the field and authorities’ lack of will to implement the policies. 　Police on Monday launched a probe into suspected child abuse cases by reviewing the cases of 809 infants aged from 4 to 6 year