Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday proposed a revision bill for the South Korean government to observe Dokdo Day on Oct. 25. The bill floated by Rep. Lee and nine lawmakers seeks to designate Dokdo Day as an anniversary celebrated by the Korean government. It would not be a public holiday, according to the bill. The Korean civic group Party for Tokdo Protection has celebrated Dokdo Day since Oct. 25, 2000, the centennial of Joseon King Gojong's ordinan

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday announced plans to build the second Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Yeouido near the banks of the Han River, as part of the city government's Seoul renovation plan. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said during his trip to Germany that the new concert hall will be inspired by the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, a concert hall located on the banks of Elbe River in Hamburg. According to the city government, the northern part of Yeouido Park will be transform

Seoul's proposal to renovate World Cup Park, which involves building a giant spokeless Ferris wheel, was inspired by Hyde Park in London, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Friday. "I was deeply impressed by Hyde Park where sculptures, galleries and birds come together in the forest in the heart of the city to provide citizens with a place to rest," Oh said in a statement. "I promise that Seoul's parks will better harmonize with the surrounding area and be equipped with various tourist a

The terrifying return of a mother depicted in Netflix‘s revenge drama “The Glory” can be prevented in real life, as long as the bullied protagonist Moon Dong-eun officially designates her mother as a perpetrator of domestic violence, said South Korea’s Justice Ministry on Friday. Under the revision of the Act on Registration of Family Relations effective in January 2022, a victim of domestic violence who managed to get away from their family may request that a perpetrat

Leaders of South Korea and Japan hailed a new era of bilateral ties strained for years over historic disputes on Thursday, with a list of agreements aimed at bolstering cooperation in the fields of security, economy and culture between the two countries. The agreements forged during a summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida held in Tokyo, the first in 12 years, came just 10 days after South Korea unveiled a deal with Japan. On March 6, the Korean governm

President Yoon Suk Yeol views a workweek of 60 hours or longer as "excessive," the presidential office said Thursday, adding that he has ordered further adjustments to be made to proposed reforms to working time limits. The Ministry of Employment and Labor's plan unveiled earlier this month aimed to allow maximum working hours of up to 69 hours in a week. The president expressed regrets over the plan drafted without an "adequate legal cap" on how long a worker could work

Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon returned to South Korea on Wednesday from his weeklong trip to France, the Netherlands and Germany to learn about their immigration policies aimed at multicultural integration. The justice ministry, which oversees immigration-related policies and tasks in Korea, will put great effort into preparing new immigration policies based on the discussions the minister had with representatives of these European immigration authorities. Han told his counterparts, "No

South Korean workers will enjoy an extra day off if either Buddha's Birthday or Christmas overlaps with a Saturday or Sunday following a law revision, the Ministry of Personnel Management announced Wednesday. A new revision of the "Regulations on Public Holidays of Government Offices" will be presented to the public Thursday, allowing for alternative public holidays following Buddha's Birthday or Christmas for the first time. Koreans celebrate Buddha's Birthday on Apri

President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered Tuesday to reexamine a proposed plan to reform the 52-hour workweek, amid criticisms that the proposed revision has stopped short of reflecting the voices of younger generations. "Yoon ordered (the government) to reexamine the proposal itself and its communication with the public to seek improvements," Yoon's office said in a statement. The presidential office also ordered the government to take various employees’ opinions, especially among millenn

South Korea's presidential office on Sunday reaffirmed its push to ease strains over the wartime forced labor dispute with Japan amid further backlash following the Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister's refusal to acknowledge the victims as forced laborers. President Yoon Suk Yeol's office released Sunday clips of Yoon saying during the closed-door meetings with the Cabinet on Tuesday that his effort to mend ties with Japan "will deliver on his presidential election campaign promise" as

South Korean female workers were paid on average two-thirds of the wages of their male counterparts in the first half of 2022, data showed Wednesday. The average monthly salary of female workers during the cited period came to 2.2 million won ($1,600), which stood at 65 percent that of male workers' 3.39 million won, according to data gathered by the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions' research institute. The fact that a greater proportion of women than men are underpaid, with a mon

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Wednesday unveiled a plan to build the world's tallest hubless Ferris wheel on the banks of Han River near the World Cup Stadium in northwestern Seoul. The 180-meter Ferris wheel on the landfill-turned-grassland Haneul Park, which is located on a hilltop, will be the tallest one of its kind, the city government said. The world's tallest spokeless Ferris wheel, at 145 meters, opened in Shandong province in China in 2017. It will also be the second-ta

Card spending in Itaewon's nightlife district in the fourth week of February fell 57.1 percent compared with the fourth week of October 2022, just before the crowd crush disaster during the Halloween weekend which claimed 159 lives. According to data from the Seoul municipal government Tuesday, the foot traffic in Itaewon 1-dong -- which covers streets filled with international shops, bars, clubs and restaurants -- fell 29 percent over the cited period. This downward trend is in contrast wi

South Korean legal service firm Law-Win has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Tax-Ro, its peer specializing in tax practice and consulting, the company said Sunday. Under the agreement, the two companies would be able to address legal services demands of one another, which, for example, will allow Tax-Ro to handle tax practices for Law-Win clients on behalf of Law-Win, and vice versa. In Korea, many small-sized law firms are not capable of covering what is beyond their own pract

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Jae-myung denied charges of violating election law during the presidential election campaign in 2021 during a court appearance Friday. It was Lee's first court appearance since he was narrowly defeated by President Yoon Suk Yeol in March 2022 election and later was voted chair of the opposition party that controls the National Assembly with 169 seats out of 299. Lee reiterated his claim that the prosecution's charge against him is "unre

Police have launched a probe into Chung Sun-sin, the state investigation chief who resigned hours after it was revealed that his son had a history of school bullying. Seoul Metropolitan Police ordered Seodaemun Police Station to investigate allegations that the National Office of Investigation chief had concealed his son's record of verbal abuse in 2017 while applying for a position to lead the office. His son was accused of verbally abusing at least two classmates at a boarding high school

President Yoon Suk Yeol hosted a historic bill-signing ceremony Thursday to elevate the Veterans Affairs Ministry to a full-fledged ministry and establish a government agency to support the Korean diaspora. The event marks the first public bill-signing ceremony by a South Korean president to reorganize the government structure, according to Yoon's office. The elevation of the Veterans Affairs Ministry and creation of Overseas Koreans Agency will become effective early in June. The ceremony

Nearly 1 out of 4 low-skilled foreign workers who came to Korea on the E-9 visa have applied to change their workplace in the past six years on average, with some citing workplace violence, data showed Wednesday. From 2017 until October 2022, Korea has seen nearly 45,000 applications on average to change the workplace each year, out of some 200,000 workers on an E-9 visa, according to data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor requested by Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Lee In-young. They ac

  A new state-run agency dedicated to providing consolidated administrative support to some 7.3 million South Korean diaspora across the world will likely to be set up in June this year. The new government body will be carved out of the Foreign Ministry and be tasked with creating and implementing state policies aimed at supporting Korean diaspora, according to the bill to revise the Government Organization Act, endorsed by the Cabinet at a meeting on Tuesday. This means the first governmen

South Korea's first joint venture between foreign and local law firms said it would provide comprehensive legal services for companies facing a growing number of cross-border litigations, touting its competitiveness in practicing both Korean and international law in Korea. "As companies invest internationally, and often into challenging jurisdictions, the result is often cross-border arbitrations and investigations related to compliance with anti-bribery, anti-money laundering and sanc