Jan 17, 2020

[Newsmaker] Main opposition lawmaker found not guilty in daughter’s hiring scandal

A Seoul court on Friday cleared main opposition lawmaker Kim Sung-tae of bribery charges, clearing a hurdle for him to run in the upcoming April 15 general elections. The Seoul Southern District Court found Rep. Kim Sung-tae of the Liberty Korea Party not guilty of receiving bribes from Lee Suk-chae, former chief of telecom firm KT. Lee was also cleared of offering bribes to Kim. Based on testimony from former KT President Seo Yu-yeol, prosecutors indicted Lee for inappropriately asking Lee

Jan 17, 2020

Korean language test applicants hit record high in 2019: data

A record number of applicants took the Korean language proficiency test last year, data showed Friday, reflecting the growing popularity of the language.A total of 375,871 people sat for the Test of Proficiency in Korean in 2019, up 14.2 percent from 329,224 in the previous year, according to the National Institute for International Education's data analyzed by education service provider Haneul Education Corp.It marks the highest figure since 2,692 people took the exam when TOPIK was first launc

Jan 16, 2020

[Newsmaker] Transgender sergeant seeks to continue serving in military

A South Korean transgender sergeant faces a possible discharge from the South Korean Army after undergoing sex reassignment surgery while enlisted, despite his wish to continue the service as a female officer. The trans person, a 20-something tank driver in a unit in Gyeonggi Province, underwent sex reassignment surgery in December in Thailand after gaining approval from his unit. The staff sergeant, while recovering at a national Army hospital, had applied for a legal gender change and expresse

Jan 16, 2020

‘I am innocent’: Ex-convict granted chance for exoneration

Court date set for possible miscarriage of justice case

Jan 16, 2020

Korea sees second hottest weather on record in 2019

The year 2019 was the second-hottest year on record in South Korea, a government report said Thursday, bringing fresh attention to the effects of global warming.The report issued by the Korea Meteorological Administration said the nation's average annual temperature was 13.5 C, the second-highest figure since relevant record keeping began in 1973.The highest average temperature of 13.6 C was recorded in 2016. Last year's average was also 1 C above the 30-year average between 1981 and 2010, the K

Jan 16, 2020

Law aimed at ensuring workplace safety for contractor workers goes into effect

An industrial safety law aimed at better ensuring safe workplaces for irregular contract workers went into effect Thursday, after public anger heightened over the 2018 death of a young subcontract worker at a thermal power plant.The Kim Yong-gyun bill was passed in December 2018, named after a 24-year-old subcontract worker killed in a conveyor belt accident at the power plant in Taean, about 150 kilometers southwest of Seoul.His death has ignited public debate over the treatment of temporary wo

Jan 15, 2020

Ex-Samsung C&T CEO questioned as part of probe into 2015 merger

Prosecutors questioned a former CEO of Samsung C&T Corp. on Wednesday as part of a probe into suspicions surrounding the company‘s controversial merger with another Samsung unit, Cheil Industries Inc., in 2015.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office summoned Kim Shin, who served from 2010-2018 as CEO of the construction and trading arm of Samsung Group. He was called in last Tuesday but returned home without questioning due to an issue related to the designation of his legal repr

Jan 15, 2020

[Newsmaker] Of kids bullied at school, 1 in 3 targeted ‘as a joke’: survey

One in 3 victims of school violence in South Korea has been bullied “as a joke,” a report from the Education Ministry showed Wednesday. 　　Some 0.6 percent of students enrolled at Korea’s elementary, middle and high schools admitted that they had bullied fellow students, according to a survey conducted in September involving some 130,000 students.　The most common reason behind the bullying was “just as a joke” (29.4 percent). Some 19.2 percent of the bullying took pl

Jan 15, 2020

[Herald Interview] After court clears him, man vows to continue campaign to out deadbeat dads

Court says posting identities of child support dodgers is fair game

Jan 15, 2020

Appellate court upholds suspended sentence for Hyundai scion

An appellate court on Wednesday maintained a lower court's suspended jail sentence against a scion of Hyundai Group indicted for use of marijuana, an illegal substance in South Korea.The Seoul High Court sentenced Chung Hyun-sun, a 29-year-old grandson of Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung, to one year of imprisonment, suspended for two years.Chung is accused of smoking marijuana at his home in Seoul and other places on 26 occasions from February 2018 to January last year. He was arrested in Ap

Jan 14, 2020

S. Korea to strengthen regulations for better animal welfare

South Korea said Tuesday it plans to adopt tougher regulations to prevent animal cruelty and to provide animals with a better living environment as part of efforts to improve animal welfare in the country. The set of strengthened policies, which runs through 2024, will focus on enhancing the public's awareness of animal welfare and on improving living conditions for not only pets but also laboratory animals and livestock, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.Compared

Jan 14, 2020

[Graphic News] Population growth slows in 2019 as number of seniors hits record high

　The number of people aged over 65 years in South Korea climbed to a new high last year, breaching the 8 million mark for the first time in history, while the country’s overall population grew at the slowest pace ever, data showed.　The country’s overall population remained nearly unchanged at just under 51.85 million as of end-December, up only 23,802 or 0.05 percent from a year earlier. It was the slowest on-year gain since the country began publishing related data in 2008, accordin

Jan 14, 2020

Criminal investigation system faces major makeover

New bills rein in prosecution, empower police

Jan 14, 2020

[Newsmaker] Another class-action suit filed against Japanese firms over forced labor

Victims of wartime forced labor and their descendants based in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province filed a class-action lawsuit against Japanese firms on Tuesday, seeking financial restitution amid soured Seoul-Tokyo relations over the colonial-era issue. Two surviving victims forced to work at Japanese steel mills during Japan’s 1910-45 colonization of Korea and 31 bereaved family members of late victims participated in the suit against six Japanese firms -- Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mit