Koreans pointed to political feuds as the biggest reason for deteriorating social conflicts in the country, a state-led survey showed Tuesday. 　According to the poll by the Presidential Committee for National Cohesion, 51.8 percent of the respondents said that the political wrangling between the ruling party and opposition bloc contributed most to worsening social confrontations. 　In the multiple-choice survey of 2,000 Koreans aged 19 and over, the wealth gap was chosen as the second-biggest fac

Braving social bias and ostracism, Kim Hak-soon, a South Korean comfort woman, took to the podium in 1991 to testify about her wartime forced prostitution experiences for the first time in public. 　Another 237 Korean women, forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II, followed suit, demanding a sincere apology and legal compensation from the Japanese government. 　Later that year, Kim and three other victims filed a lawsuit against Japanese authorities. But Japan’s highest

South Korea’s state-appointed media monitoring agency said Sunday that it has set out specific guidelines to restrict the use of foreign languages in TV commercials.　According to the guidelines for the nation’s broadcasters by the Korea Communications Standards Commission, TV advertisements are now banned from containing foreign languages or songs for more than 15 seconds -- half of the 30-second time slot. 　The regulation covers the narrative of product slogans, company names and catchphrases s

The Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that a law barring South Koreans from changing their resident registration numbers was unconstitutional.The court said the current law on resident registration numbers excessively violates citizens’ basic rights to make decisions about their own personal information, ordering the government to present a revision by the end of 2017. “It is an excessive violation of rights that the government does not allow Koreans to change their resident numbers regardles

South Korea’s human rights watchdog said Tuesday that police and prosecutors were recently cautioned for denying foreign suspects’ rights to self-defense by detaining an African man for 12 days without contacting his embassy. 　According to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, police and prosecutors arrested a Nigerian and detained him for 12 days, ignoring his multiple requests to contact the Nigerian Embassy. 　Police arrested the man, who was at the time on the wanted list, on a theft

Hong Yoon-sik, a former vice minister at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, has been named interior minister.Hong, 59, is known as a veteran in state affairs, having served various key posts during his 30-year career in the prime minister’s office. Born in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, the nominee received his bachelor’s degree in law from Seoul National University and master’s degree in policy from the University of Michigan in the U.S. He passed the state civil service exam in 1985

The South Korean government Monday mapped out a plan to expand its part-time work scheme in the public sector by 2018, which would increase the public workforce by more than 1 percent. Under the plan, it will offer government-backed part-time jobs for women in a bid to help them return to work after childbirth and boost the country’s low birthrate. The Ministry of Employment and Labor, along with relevant ministries, announced these and other plans in a meeting.Unlike part-time jobs generated by

On Saturday afternoon, Gwanghwamun Square, which was shut down by police bus barricades to stop protesters a month ago, turned into a playground for antigovernment demonstrators blowing horns and shaking tambourines.Under a “noisy” and “uproarious” theme, an estimated crowd of 2,500 gathered in the square in central Seoul to signify their opposition to the sedition charge leveled against an umbrella union leader and the government’s push for controversial labor, trade and education polices. The

A South Korean church group on Thursday indicated their willingness to show more tolerance of homosexuality, seen as the first such move of a major Protestant organization in the country. “Korean society and churches have been treating homosexuality with hatred, but we will now open a forum to discuss the issue and reflect (on our views),” the National Council of Churches in Korea said in a press conference.The group plans to hold debate sessions on the issue and hear testimonies from the lesbia

A lower court cleared a Japanese reporter Thursday of defaming South Korean President Park Geun-hye by reporting rumors about her whereabouts during a deadly ferry disaster last year. The Seoul Central District Court handed down the not guilty verdict to Tatsuya Kato, former Seoul bureau chief for Japanese right-wing daily Sankei Shimbun, citing press freedom in a democratic society. “Kato’s article was inappropriate in some ways, but press freedom, the core of democracy and its development, sho

By Ock Hyun-ju South Korea’s second-largest umbrella labor union held a partial strike nationwide Wednesday in protest of the government’s push for labor market reform.The third partial strike of the year by the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions was staged for two to four hours in the afternoon in 12 cities ahead of the third antigovernment rally scheduled for this weekend.The KCTU, which encompasses 2,043 unions and more than 691,000 members from sectors including construction, public transpo

A major collision was averted Wednesday, as the police temporarily delayed their operation to arrest the head of the nation’s second-largest umbrella labor union taking sanctuary at a Buddhist temple to evade arrest on charges of leading illegal rallies.Police were on standby to force their way into the Jogyesa Buddhist Temple in central Seoul at around 4 p.m. to arrest Han Sang-kyun, the head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, on charges of leading a series of what they labeled as ill

Three Indonesian migrants who were illegally residing in Korea have been deported on suspicion of supporting an international terrorist group affiliated with al-Qaida, South Korea’s spy agency said Tuesday. The government deported a 32-year-old Indonesian man from South Korea on Dec. 1 and two others whose identities were withheld on Nov. 24 for violating the Immigration Control Act, the National Intelligence Service said. This undated file image posted on a militant website on Jan. 14 shows fig

South Korean men spend the least amount of time on housework among 29 surveyed members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, highlighting the persistent gender imbalance in household responsibilities.According to the work-life balance index published Monday by Statistics Korea and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, South Korean men spent an average of 45 minutes a day on household chores, less than a third of the OECD average of 139 minutes. South Korea was the only

On Saturday afternoon, tens of thousands of protestors peacefully marched through central Seoul under police protection in the second massive rally held in three weeks against government policies, defying concerns over violent confrontation between demonstrators and the police.Thousands of protesters, many wearing masks, hold a rally Saturday at Seoul Plaza in downtown Seoul opposing the government’s reinstatement of state history textbooks and labor reform measures. Police estimated 14,000 peop

The government announced Thursday it would hold off on plans to abolish the state-run bar exam until 2021, as controversy persists over the current law school system that was originally introduced to widen the pool of legal professionals. But the decision was scorned by both proponents and opponents of the bar exam, who said it would only extend confusion in the judiciary sector.The Ministry of Justice said it would delay scrapping the bar exam, initially set to be abolished in 2017, citing publ

Amid mounting tensions ahead of the upcoming Dec. 5 antigovernment rally, the police renewed its determination to take heavy-handed measures against “violent” demonstrators, as their stepped-up warning continued to prompt a public backlash. The police announced a new plan on Monday in a press statement to prevent what it labeled illegal and violent protests. It said it would spray paint into the crowd at the upcoming rallies to better distinguish protestors committing violence and arrest them on

The elderly and those living in one of the least affluent districts in Seoul were at the highest risk of taking their own lives, government data showed Sunday. According to Statistics Korea, the suicide rate in Seoul stood at 24.7, meaning 24.7 Seoul residents in 100,000 committed suicide last year, as the nation’s average suicide rate was 27. By age group, Seoul citizens aged 60 or over had the highest suicide rates, with 50.3 seniors taking their own lives last year alone. The suicide rate for

South Koreans are among the least motivated workers in the world, which might be linked to the “brain drain” that hampers the nation’s competitiveness, according to a report by a Swiss business institute. The World Talent Report 2015 by the Institute for Management Development said South Korea came in at 54th among 61 economies across the world in terms of its employees’ motivation at work. Asia’s fourth-largest economy also saw a serious outflow of local talents, landing at 18th among the surve

Prosecutors said Tuesday they would charge 200 professors for copyright violations next month, suspecting them of changing the covers of existing books by other people and publishing them in their own names.The Uijeongbu District Prosecutors’ Office called in 200 professors from 50 universities for questioning over the past three months. As most of the accused, including well-known lecturers, admitted to the charges, they will be indicted next month, prosecutors said.  (Yonhap)The prosecution ra