The Korea Herald

Four Rivers Restoration Project and the future

Oct 17, 2011

The Four Major Rivers Restoration Project will secure abundant clean water, resulting in healthy and diverse aquatic ecosystems. Endangered species including the Miho spine loach (Iksookimia Choii) and the Korean stumpy bullhead (Pseudo bagrus brevicorpus) have been successfully recovered; indigenous fish such as the Nakdong gudgeon (Gobiobotia naktongensis), the black shiner (Pseudopungtungia ni...
Rights watchdog runs multi-language petition system for foreigners

Oct 17, 2011

The state civil rights watchdog has been striving to listen not only to the voices of Korean citizens but also to those of foreign residents so as to help improve their lives here. Since June 2008, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission has run a multi-language section on its petition-filing website (www.epeople.go.kr), which enables foreign residents to file petitions in their native l...
Reaching out to ethnic Koreans in Central Asia

Oct 17, 2011

Kim Dai-sik visits Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan to launch ombudsman outreach program in Central Asia The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, a leading governmental panel promoting citizens’ rights, plans to reach out to Korean firms and ethnic Koreans in Central Asia through a wide-ranging ombudsman program. Last week, the commission’s Ombudsman Outreach team and its vice chairma...
Air quality at theaters to be regulated by law

Oct 16, 2011

The air quality of movie theaters, exhibition halls, Internet cafes and private education institutes will be newly regulated, the government said Sunday, with fines to be issued for poor maintenance. The Ministry of Environment will add the four types of public facilities to its list of places where indoor air quality must be regulated, the Environment Ministry said in its public notice of the r...
Fiery Occupy Seoul peacefully fizzles out

Oct 16, 2011

Angry protests in Seoul joined an international demonstration with a grab bag of complaints centered on the super wealthy, but fizzled out ahead of schedule on account of rain on Saturday. An estimated 600 protesters gathered in front of Deoksu Palace for Occupy Seoul, organized by some 30 civic and labor groups, on the one-month anniversary of its New York counterpart. Protesters here were emp...
Surgeon to compensate for before-and-after images

Oct 16, 2011

A local court has ordered a plastic surgeon to pay compensation to a patient for posting her before-and-after photos on his clinic website without her consent. The Seoul Central District Court ruled Sunday that the surgeon should pay 30 million won ($26,000) to the patient who claims to have suffered psychological damage from the circulation of her image which was later used on other internet si...
Schools to get wider insurance coverage

Oct 16, 2011

Accidents increase 11% to 77,496, damages rise 16.3% to 22 billion won School insurance coverage for accidents in elementary, middle and high schools will expand to activities off campus and the general public from next year. Currently, school insurance covers accidents inside school and is paid only to students and teachers. From 2012, all persons injured inside or outside schools during educa...
Half of sex crimes on children occur in afternoon

Oct 16, 2011

More than half of sexual assaults against children in Korea occurred in the afternoon, with most occurring at home, according to an analysis by prosecutors released Sunday. The 2011 Crime Analysis report by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office showed that in 2010, 51.2 percent of all sex crimes involving children under 13 years old occurred between 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. A recent box-office hit sparked ...
Plastic surgeon ordered to compensate patient after releasing photos

Oct 16, 2011

A local court has ordered a plastic surgeon to pay compensation to a patient for posting her before-and-after photos on their website without her consent. The Seoul Central District Court ruled Sunday that the surgeon should pay 30 million won ($26,000) to the patient who claims to have suffered psychological damage from the circulation of her image which was later used on other internet sites. ...
S. Koreans hold 'Occupy Wall Street' protest in Seoul

Oct 15, 2011

SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- A group of South Korean activists are set to occupy the streets of Seoul on Saturday to protest the greed of conglomerates and the widening income gap, joining the "Occupy Wall Street" movement that originated in the United States. The association of 30 local civic groups said it will hold a two-day "Occupy Seoul" protest around the capital city, including the main fin...
Police vow stern action against 'Occupy' protests in Seoul

Oct 14, 2011

Police vowed Friday to take stern action against any illegal protesters as scores of local civil rights and labor groups moved to launch massive rallies in sympathy with the ongoing anti-Wall Street demonstrations in New York. Taking their cue from the "Occupy Wall Street" rally in Manhattan, about 400 local civic and labor rights groups are set to stage a local version of the rally at about 6:0...
Protest targets financial ‘greed’

Oct 14, 2011

Hundreds of civic activists are expected to express their anger with capitalists, financiers and economic policy makers on Saturday around Seoul. Inspired by “Occupy Wall Street,” a month-long protest against the “greed of capitalists” in the U.S., protestors here will urge financial institutions and authorities to shun derivatives and focus on arranging financial transactions. Korea Finance Co...
SNU to open Japanese dept.

Oct 14, 2011

Seoul National University, the nation’s most prestigious higher education institution, will open a Japanese department as early as next year, the school said Friday. According to SNU, the establishment of an East Asian linguistic and civilization faculty passed the dean’s council on Thursday and is awaiting approval from the general council next month. The plan includes the launch of department...
Samsung, Apple clash in Seoul court

Oct 14, 2011

Samsung and Apple locked horns once again over a Samsung patent technology used in two of the world’s best selling smart phones as a third open trial was held at the Seoul Central District Court on Friday. The iPhone maker denied having used Samsung’s patented technology without permission while Samsung strived to prove its novelty and innovation. The hot potato was Samsung’s “patent 234,” whic...
Gov't declares war on 'fake' gasoline

Oct 14, 2011

SEOUL, Oct. 14 (Yonhap) -- The government declared an all-out war on fake gasoline on Friday, significantly increasing fines for people selling unauthorized products and giving investigative jurisdiction to government officials. The crackdown starts with changing the commonly used name for such fuel, mostly chemical mixtures, from alternative fuel to fake, according to the Ministry of Knowledge ...