Online advertising for prostitution surged in Seoul last year amid social distancing measures, with over 40,000 such instances detected by a monitoring group, the city government said Thursday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said its online citizen monitoring group detected a total of 68,711 cases of illegal and harmful information on internet sites, blogs and social media last year. Among them, advertising for illicit massages and arranged meetups for sex outside brothels marked around 42,

Social Affairs Feb. 4, 2021

Na Kyung-won, former floor leader of the conservative opposition, has vowed to improve gender equality and curb crimes against women and children if she becomes the first female mayor of Seoul. “Korea’s perception on gender has not yet reached an advanced level,” said Na in an interview with The Korea Herald. As to why sexual harassment is still rampant in the workplace, Na pointed to “a closed, vertical organizational culture as well as weak law enforcement and insti

Politics Feb. 2, 2021

Former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon says he would use all of his administrative powers to focus on local people suffering from the pandemic, leaving aside support policies for foreign residents and investment for now if he is reelected to the post. “The top priority is (Korean) people’s livelihood. There are limits to what Seoul can invest (in foreigners) except for helping them avoid discomfort in Seoul,” Oh said in an interview with The Korea Herald in his office at Gwangjin-gu,

Politics Feb. 1, 2021

Rep. Jang Hye-young of minor progressive opposition Justice Party has expressed her “regret” that a civic group filed a criminal complaint against former party leader who had sexually harassed her. She says recalling the damage again during an unwanted investigation “is a hindrance to her return to daily life.” Jang’s remarks on her social media comes after conservative civic group Hwalbindan said Tuesday it would file a complaint with the Seoul Southern District

Politics Jan. 27, 2021

A group of South Korean adoptees have taken to social media to demand an apology from President Moon Jae-in over his controversial remarks on adoption and are calling for a change in landscape for future adoptees. In the wake of a series of child abuse cases, Moon recently said that adoptive parents should have the right to cancel their adoptions or switch their child. Although Cheong Wa Dae later explained he was referring to a grace period before an adoption is finalized and such foster care

Social Affairs Jan. 26, 2021

Park Young-sun, former minister of SMEs and Startups, announced her bid to run for Seoul mayor Tuesday, revealing a new compact city plan to improve the life of Seoulites. “In order to overcome the hardships and difficulties of COVID-19, we need a mayor to make Seoul a G-7 global digital economy city after the pandemic,” Park said at an online meeting at 11 a.m. in Yeouido, vowing to create a safe, fair and warm Seoul through the great transformation. The ruling bloc heavyweig

Politics Jan. 26, 2021

The head of a minor progressive opposition party was removed from his post on Monday over sexual harassment, marking the first time the leader of a political party in South Korea has stepped down due to sexual misconduct. The Justice Party -- which has been a strong advocate on gender equality issues -- has pledged to deal with this issue according to the principle of zero tolerance. On Monday Bae Bok-joo, head of the Justice Party’s gender human rights division, officially disclosed le

Politics Jan. 25, 2021

Shin Ji-hye, a 33-year-old feminist and socially liberal politician, hopes to set off sweeping changes in the nation and challenge social, financial and gender inequality, starting with the Seoul mayoral election. Shin, a representative of the minor Basic Income Party, and other members of her party believe a new social contract is necessary in an era where decent jobs are on the decline, poverty is growing, inequality is widening and housing prices are skyrocketing. “We created this

Politics Jan. 25, 2021

Artificial intelligence-based chatbot Lee Luda, which ended this month in ethical and data collection controversy, faces lawsuits on charges of violating personal information. On Friday, around 400 people filed a class action suit against the creator of the chatbot, Seoul-based startup Scatter Lab, claiming their personal information was leaked in the process of developing and providing the service. Launched on Dec. 23, Lee Luda, an AI chatbot service designed to imitate a 20-year-old colleg

Social Affairs Jan. 22, 2021

South Korea lacks a “big picture” for dealing with child abuse, and must break away from the idea that child abuse is a “family problem,” experts say. Although this is slowly changing, child abuse is still perceived as a family issue instead of a crime that society needs to intervene to stop. Even before the horrific death in October of a 16-month-old girl named Jeong-in, child abuse was nothing new. In 2020, a 9-year-old boy who was abused by his stepmother died afte

Social Affairs Jan. 20, 2021

A special investigation unit tasked with reinvestigating the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster announced Tuesday that it had put most of the allegations to rest without additional indictments, ending its 14-month investigation. The team said, “A total of 20 people were indicted after confirming that the Coast Guard command had violated its duty of care and that government officials such as Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries interfered with the special investigation

Social Affairs Jan. 19, 2021

An appellate court sentenced Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong to 2 1/2 years in prison Monday for bribery in a high-profile case involving former President Park Geun-hye, reopening a leadership vacuum at South Korea’s biggest tech giant. In the final verdict, announced at around 2:20 p.m., judges at the Seoul High Court said, “Considering all circumstances, it is inevitable that Lee is sentenced to prison and arrested in court.” Choi Ji-sung and Jang Choong-ki, two other Samsung ex

Social Affairs Jan. 18, 2021

Former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, a member of the main opposition People Power Party, announced on Sunday his candidacy for the Seoul mayoral by-election. With Oh joining the race, the so-called “Big Three” from the opposition bloc -- including Ahn Cheol-soo, head of the minor opposition People’s Party, and Na Kyung-won, former floor leader of the conservative opposition -- are expected to compete for the title of unified candidate, who may be selected next month. The former m

Politics Jan. 17, 2021

The daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases in South Korea stayed in the 500s for a third consecutive day, officials said Thursday, hinting at a possible extension of tough social distancing measures to prevent a resurgence. The government’s central response team said the number of new COVID-19 cases increased by 524 to 77,728 as of midnight. The third wave, which began in mid-November, has seen a gradual decline in the new year. Of the new confirmed cases, 496 were locally transmit

Social Affairs Jan. 14, 2021

Na Kyung-won, former floor leader of the conservative opposition, on Wednesday announced her bid for Seoul mayor, becoming the latest bigwig challenger to enter the April 7 by-elections. With Na announcing her bid, the battle from the opposition bloc is solidifying into a three-way race with head of the minor opposition People’s Party Ahn Cheol-soo and Oh Se-hoon, who was mayor of Seoul from 2006-2011. Ahn joined the race last month and Oh has vowed to run if Ahn does not join the main o

Politics Jan. 13, 2021