Lower middle-class households with children in high school saw private education expenditure grow faster than their income in the past 12 years, a study showed Sunday. The study by the Korean Educational Development Institute said household spending on after-school education increased for students of all ages from 2007 to 2018, largely due to higher income levels. But income elasticity, which indicates the connection between income and spending on private education, varied significantly, the

Social Affairs May 24, 2020

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Chairman Kim Myeong-hwan is meeting with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon this week to discuss the government’s plan to implement a universal employment insurance program. Kim and Park are on the same page in that they oppose the current administration’s step-by-step approach to providing employment insurance for all citizens. They both insist that a full-scale program be launched at once. Since paying out COVID-19 disaster relief as part of a universa

Social Affairs May 24, 2020

The government will prepare a road map for a countrywide employment insurance program by the end of this year, Labor Minister Lee Jae-kap said Thursday. Speaking at a press briefing, the minister said the goal is to close loopholes in the state-run job insurance program, which currently covers only half of the employed population.  “We will work with a will to pass a legislation that can provide employment insurance for worker in ‘special forms of employment,’” L

Social Affairs May 21, 2020

Rep. Park Byeong-seug, a veteran politician with close ties to President Moon Jae-in, has effectively been confirmed as the inaugural speaker of the National Assembly. Park, a six-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party and the longest-serving lawmaker in the 21st National Assembly, was the sole candidate for the post on Wednesday after his competitor Rep. Kim Jin-pyo from the same party announced he was dropping out in a social media post. “After contemplating for the past month,

Politics May 20, 2020

Son Jong-woo, a South Korean national who operated the world’s largest child pornography website and is wanted by US authorities, demanded guarantees at his extradition hearing Tuesday that he will not face charges in the US for crimes he has been convicted of here.  The 24-year-old’s defense made the argument during a hearing on his extradition to the US at the Seoul High Court. The court is scheduled to reach a decision in the next two months on the US Justice Department&rsq

Social Affairs May 19, 2020

Heavy rain advisory was issued for easterrn Seoul on Monday, as a pack of dense clouds are advancing over the country. The Korean Meteorological Administration issued the downpour alert, the first this year, at 4 p.m. for some nearby regions of the country’s capital. The administration said that high-impact rain clouds from the west have started bringing more than 40 millimeters of rain accompanied by thunderstorm in the capital, Gyeonggi Province and South Chungcheong Province. The a

Social Affairs May 18, 2020