Articles by Son Ji-hyoung
Son Ji-hyoung
consnow@heraldcorp.com-
Parliament passes bill to impeach safety minister
South Korea's parliament passed a bill Wednesday to impeach Minister of Interior and Safety, Lee Sang-min, charging him for the "botched response" to the Itaewon crowd crush disaster. Lee is the first Cabinet member in South Korean history to lose his authority through an impeachment bill. At the National Assembly controlled by the liberal opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the bill passed with 179 votes in favor, 109 votes against and five votes abstained. For the vote to pass
Politics Feb. 8, 2023
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Subway murderer gets 40-year prison term for revenge killing
Jeon Joo-hwan, who fatally stabbed an ex-coworker at her workplace to seek revenge last year, was sentenced 40 years of imprisonment and labor at a district court on Tuesday. Jeon, 31, was also ordered to put on a tracking device for an additional 15 years after his release from prison. Jeon was earlier sentenced to nine years behind bars for stalking the same victim in a district court, which both prosecutors and Jeon appealed. A judge at the Seoul Central District Court said the murder was int
Social Affairs Feb. 7, 2023
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Seoul Court orders Korea to pay W30m to Vietnam War victim
A local court in Seoul on Tuesday ordered the South Korean government to pay 30 million won ($23,900) in compensation to a Vietnam War victim, holding the country accountable for a wartime massacre of civilians. The Seoul Central District Court also ordered that the Seoul government be held responsible for any interest on payments to the plaintiff delayed for five decades, as well as the plaintiff's attorney fees. This is the first court ruling in history here that recognizes the state's account
Social Affairs Feb. 7, 2023
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Police panned in performance review over Itaewon response
The Korean National Police Agency received the lowest "C" rating in the government's annual performance evaluation over its response to the Itaewon crowd crush that claimed 159 lives in October 2022, the report showed Tuesday. "The lack of measures to prevent the Itaewon crowd crush and the response to address it was why we came up with the rating," Paek Il-hyun, deputy minister for government performance evaluation at the Office for Government Policy Coordination, told
Social Affairs Feb. 7, 2023
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Ex-justice minister sentenced 2 years for forging kids' admission documents, abuse of power
Cho Kuk, a former justice minister and close aide of former President Moon Jae-in, was sentenced two years in prison Friday for forging his daughter's credentials which helped her get admitted to medical school. He was also found guilty of abusing his power when he was senior presidential secretary for civil affairs. The court ruled him guilty of using his power to interfere in a probe into bribery allegations against another Moon aide, as well as illegally taking 6 million won ($4,800) fro
Social Affairs Feb. 3, 2023
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Customs vows to combat drug trafficking via dark web
South Korea's national customs agency said Thursday it would combat drug trafficking activities, as international drug dealers can reach out to users via encrypted internet. The total volume of drugs confiscated upon arrival came to 624 kilograms in 2022, which the authorities estimate to be equivalent to 8.9 million doses of methamphetamine, cannabis, Chinese pain relievers containing phenobarbital and illegal synthetic drugs combined. Although the figure was halved from that of 2021, this is a
Social Affairs Feb. 2, 2023
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Korean iPhone users lose W2b 'Batterygate' suit
A South Korean court ruled on Thursday that Apple did not deliberately slow down the performance of its iPhone handsets, dismissing some 9,800 Korean smartphone buyers' lawsuit for 2 billion won ($1.64 million) against the United States electronics giant. "The lawsuit is dismissed," a court judge briefly said, without elaborating as to the reason for the ruling. The ruling also indicated the plaintiffs are responsible for the entirety of attorneys' fees. The ruling comes five years aft
Social Affairs Feb. 2, 2023
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Ex-President Park's aide acquitted of hindering Sewol probe
Lee Byung-kee, the former presidential chief of staff under the Park Geun-hye administration, was acquitted Wednesday on charges of obstructing lawmakers' probe into the cause of the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014. The Seoul Central District Court ruling indicated that the allegations against Lee's involvement in the obstruction lacked evidence. Lee and eight other officials were indicted in May 2020 on charges of hindering the probe as lawmakers tried to look into the whereabouts of the
Social Affairs Feb. 1, 2023
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[Herald Interview] Top attorney calls for stronger protection of foreigners, fairer trials
In the face of an increasingly globalized labor workforce and a looming demographic cliff, South Korean legal professionals are calling for stronger protection of immigrants' and refugees' human rights in the country. "Refugees' and immigrants' human rights issues have gained ground in this society," Lee Jong-yop, president of the Korean Bar Association told The Korea Herald in a recent interview at the KBA headquarters in Seoul. During his tenure, Lee created a legal aid team for refu
Social Affairs Feb. 1, 2023
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Seoul hikes taxi fares after 4 years
Seoul taxi fares rose for the first time in four years beginning from 4 a.m. Wednesday through a basic rate hike, amid rising fuel costs and inflation, according to the taxi drivers' association. The ordinary taxi's initial charge for the first 1.6 kilometers is now set at 4,800 won ($3.90), up 26.3 percent from 3,800 won applied for the first 2 kilometers four years ago. The initial charge would cover a ride from Seoul Station to the Myeong-dong shopping district, for instance. When moving from
Social Affairs Feb. 1, 2023
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PM hints at earlier lifting of visa restrictions on China
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Tuesday South Korea might lift short-term visa restrictions on entrants from China earlier than a new deadline set by the end of February if convincing evidence of declining COVID-19 spread is given. The decision could be made depending on the virus situation here as Korea has just eased indoor mask mandate and both China and Korea had family gatherings to celebrate Lunar New Year holiday. "(The government and health experts) can start reviewing plans
Social Affairs Jan. 31, 2023
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Plan needed to attract foreign workers: PM
A greater stream of foreigners to South Korea could be a breakthrough from the aggravating population structure caused by a sharp increase in senior citizens coupled with a record-low fertility rate, Prime Minster Han Duck-soo said Tuesday, urging an action plan to attract foreign workers. "Now is the time to start discussing (creating) an independent government body to seek collaboration with foreign countries and attract more foreigner workforces." Han said, adding that these
Social Affairs Jan. 31, 2023
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Wheelchair-using subway protesters not underprivileged: Seoul mayor
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Monday reiterated a zero-tolerance stance against subway protesters in wheelchairs affiliated with Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, who are demanding residences that allow for independent living. The mayor stressed the negative impact of the protests on ordinary commuters, and noted that funding for disability housing was a matter under the central, not municipal government's purview. "I don't think the protesters in wheelchairs are underpr
Social Affairs Jan. 30, 2023
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Opposition leader blasts 'dictatorial regime,' says won't answer questions during interrogation
South Korea's main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung called the Yoon Suk Yeol administration a “dictatorial regime” controlled by prosecutors as he appeared at a district prosecutors' office in Seoul on Saturday as a suspect to a high-profile land corruption scandal. Lee, defeated by former prosecutor Yoon in the 2022 presidential election in a narrow margin, has since been facing a number of corruption allegations that were raised even before he became a candidate. A
Politics Jan. 28, 2023
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Arrests for online drug purchases rise 20% last year
The number of arrests in South Korea in connection with online drug trades reached 3,092 in 2022, a more than 20 percent increase from the previous year, data showed Friday. The number of packages seized, however, declined from 957 to 657 over the same period, according to data revealed during a vice ministerial pangovernmental meeting held in Government Complex Seoul. Since the total weight of drugs confiscated was nearly double that of 2021, and nearly seven times over the past two years, th
Social Affairs Jan. 27, 2023
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