Bill puts press arbitration under watch of ministry, adds excessive punitive damages

An amendment bill on press arbitration proposed by Choe Kang-wook and two other lawmakers of the Open Democratic Party and nine lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea was referred to a National Assembly committee on Monday. They say it was drawn up to remedy the damage caused by fake news, but it seriously threatens freedom of speech, one of the most important roots of democracy. Its point is to change the Press Arbitration Commission into the Press Commission and place it under the

Korea sheds manufacturing jobs amid a widening gap between inbound and outbound investments

The country recorded the first net increase in employment in 13 months last month, in what government officials described as the latest sign that the labor market is improving after a yearlong slump mainly caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The number of employed people reached 26.92 million in March, an increase of 314,000 from a year earlier, according to data released by Statistics Korea last week. Buoyed by the figures, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, who concurrently serves as deputy prime