The Korea Herald

‘Environment crucial even in downturns’

Sept 28, 2011

Chief of world’s largest environmental network warns on ‘exporting problems’ Dark clouds gathering over the world economy are an ominous sign for environmental conservationists, because when the economy is bad, governments tend to toss environmental issues on the backburner. However, Ashok Khosla, president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, urges government policymakers aro...
Housewife ordered to pay 10 million in divorce for obsession with education

Sept 28, 2011

A housewife’s obsession with her children’s education has led a Seoul court to order she pay 10 million won ($8,500) to her husband in a rare divorce ruling, the family court said Wednesday. The case highlights the excessive attention paid to children’s education by many parents in South Korea. The Seoul Family Court issued its ruling last Wednesday, but did not identify the couple by name. The...
Lee's in-law faces fraud inquiry

Sept 28, 2011

A relative of President Lee Myung-bak is being investigated on charges of fraud and investment in illegal gaming operations with vast sums of money, police officials said Wednesday. The latest scandal comes amid numerous investigations into Lee’s aides, prompting him to call for unsparing investigations of his associates in the eleventh-hour. According to Wonju Police Station in Gangwon Provinc...
Former presidential aide arrested over corruption scandal

Sept 28, 2011

A Seoul court issued a warrant to formally arrest a former senior presidential aide on suspicions of receiving money in a corruption scandal involving a suspended savings bank. The Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant for Kim Du-woo late Tuesday, citing concern that he could flee. Kim was accused of taking bribes from a lobbyist for a troubled savings bank, which was under growing th...
Lawmakers oppose OTC drug sales

Sept 27, 2011

The Cabinet’s approval of over-the-counter drug sales outside pharmacies is facing opposition from lawmakers, with the prospect of the relevant bill passing the National Assembly appearing dim. The Ministry of Health and Welfare is seeking to push the pharmaceutical law revision through the parliament by the end of the year. The move comes at the direction of President Lee Myung-bak who wants to...
Asbestos risk threatens baseball schedule

Sept 27, 2011

The Environment Ministry plans to request that related organizations suspend the use of five baseball fields used in national league games, where a civic group claimed harmful asbestos was detected, officials said Tuesday. Later in the day, officials from relevant ministries, the Korea Baseball Organization and provincial governments held an emergency meeting to discuss the threat posed by the s...
Disgraced soprano sues SNU for reinstatement

Sept 27, 2011

Former music professor and acclaimed soprano Kim In-hei has sued Seoul National University to get her job back. In filings to Seoul Administrative Court, Kim, who was dismissed from SNU for abusing her students, defended her alleged violence as disciplinary action. She also claimed that the school’s decision to dismiss and fine her 12 million won ($10,000) was ill-informed. In February, SNU got...
Weather agency to forecast flu probabilities

Sept 27, 2011

The state’s weather agency will provide the probabilities of catching a cold along with their forecasts, in an effort to help citizens’ maintain their health, said officials on Tuesday. The Korea Meteorological Administration will offer a national flu report on the possibility of catching a cold or the flu by compiling meteorological data including the temperature and humidity. Starting in Nove...
Koreans spent W2.3tr in Macao, Philippine casinos in 2010: report

Sept 27, 2011

More than 220,000 South Koreans visited casinos in Macao and the Philippines last year and lost a total of 2.3 trillion won (US$ 1.9 billion), a lawmaker said Tuesday, calling for government measures to curb overseas gambling. South Korea strictly regulates gambling within the country for its citizens, even though it has one casino open to locals. Visits to casinos overseas are not regulated. K...
New chief Supreme Court justice sworn in

Sept 27, 2011

Yang Sung-tae was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in South Korea on Tuesday, vowing to bolster transparency and openness of the judiciary. The 63-year-old incoming chief justice, who replaced predecessor Lee Yong-hun, said the current level of South Koreans’ trust toward the judiciary is unsatisfactorily low in his inauguration speech marking the beginning of his six-year ...
Weather agency to introduce 'flu infection index'

Sept 27, 2011

SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- The nation's weahter forecast agency is to start alerting residents to how likely they are to catch a cold as part of its efforts to address growing public concern about health and disease, officials said Tuesday. The so-called "flu infection index" will be calculated based on daily weather conditions, including temperature and humidity, and rate the chances of catchi...
Prosecutors investigate head of Jeil Savings Bank

Sept 26, 2011

Prosecutors said on Monday they were investigating the head of a suspended savings bank over allegations that executives of the bank offered illegal loans and engaged in other financial irregularities. Prosecutors earlier arrested Lee Yong-jun, president of the Jeil Savings Bank, along with another executive of the bank, with a court-issued warrant. Lee was the first bank executive to be arrest...
Zenith Travel probed by police for not paying refunds

Sept 26, 2011

A local travel agent that caters to foreigners is under police investigation after failing to refund millions of won in cancelled flights ― and is still operating despite having its business suspended by a local government office. A spokeswoman at Korea Travel Organization’s Tourist Complaint Center said Thursday that she’d been told in writing by Seocho District Office that Seoul-based Zenith T...
Suicide attempts over Han River every other day

Sept 26, 2011

A suicide attempt happens once every two days off the bridges that overlook the Han River in Seoul, a government report said Monday. According to the report by Seoul Metropolitan Government, over the past five years 892 people have attempted suicide over the Han River. The report, submitted to the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, said that of 892 people, 375 hav...
Number of elderly people living alone rises

Sept 26, 2011

Demographic shift demands independence from children South Korea’s elderly demographic is increasingly living alone. The traditional family model of children supporting parents has broken down and more elderly people are choosing to live on their own rather than depend on their offspring. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s report to Rep. Jeon Hyun-heui of the main opposition Dem...