The Korea Herald

S. Koreans shocked but life goes on

Dec 19, 2011

South Koreans were hopeful, shocked and worried, but most of all, skeptical about the news of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Monday that came like a bolt of lightning. Life went on as usual on the streets of Seoul, but, within, citizens were quietly pondering the truth of the news and its implications both good and bad. North Korea’s state media Korean Central News Agency annou...
S. Koreans stunned by news of Kim Jong-il's abrupt death

Dec 19, 2011

South Koreans were shocked by the news of the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Monday, with some voicing concern over potential escalation of tensions on the peninsula. At noon, North Korea's state media (North) Korean Central News Agency announced the country's leader died of a heart attack during a train ride early Saturday. The surprise news of the death of 69-year-old Kim, who ru...
North Koreans rally around Kim's heir

Dec 19, 2011

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) _ North Korea on Monday urged its 24 million people to rally behind 20-something heir-apparent Kim Jong Un as the nation mourned the death of supreme leader Kim Jong Il. South Korea, meanwhile, put its military on high alert, while people in the streets of Pyongyang broke into tears as they learned the news that Kim had died at the age 69 of heart failure. The United ...
SK chairman summoned over suspected embezzlement

Dec 19, 2011

SK Group's chairman appeared before prosecutors Monday morning to be grilled over suspicions that he embezzled a massive amount of group funds in collusion with his younger brother. Chey Tae-won entered the prosecutors' office in southern Seoul around 9:25 a.m., after getting the notice of the summons by prosecutors on Friday. Chey, 50, is suspected of misappropriating part of a 280 billion won...
Seoul pushing to fine street smokers

Dec 18, 2011

Seoul is seeking to expand its non-smoking zones to include sidewalks and pedestrian roads, city officials said Sunday. The city council of the nation’s capital said it has introduced an ordinance on amending the current regulation that curbs second-hand smoking on streets. The ordinance is expected to reach the relevant standing committee at the council in February at the earliest. Under the r...
Court to toughen punishment for child sex offenders again

Dec 18, 2011

The local court is expected to further increase its recommended jail terms for child sex offenders early next year, complying with growing social calls for tougher punishments against violent and inhumane crimes, officials said Sunday. The measure, if implemented, would follow two similar moves over the past two years and is expected to additionally deter sex crimes against children, said the of...
Korea’s icebreaker Araon to join rescue mission

Dec 18, 2011

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (Yonhap News) ― Korea’s first icebreaker, the Araon, is set to embark on a rescue mission to help save a Russian boat trapped in the Antarctic, ship operators said Saturday. The Korean ship, currently anchored at New Zealand’s second-largest city of Christchurch, will set sail later Saturday to head for the 500-ton Russian fishing boat, they said. The Russian ship is s...
Seoul City passes cuts in foreign teacher funding

Dec 18, 2011

Seoul City’s budget committee passed funding cuts Saturday for all of its high school foreign English teachers next year, while funding for them at elementary and middle schools will fall about 7 percent. But the city hinted at further cuts in the middle of next year. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will not renew funding for 255 foreign English teachers in high schools due to the cu...
Police seek revision of law for independence

Dec 18, 2011

The chief of the state police agency on Friday vowed to seek the revision of the Criminal Procedure Code to guarantee police independence and authority in investigations. He also disowned earlier remarks that he would resign should the prosecution and the administration refuse to reflect the police’s request in the upcoming presidential decree on criminal investigation. According to the Nationa...
Number of households exceeds 20 million

Dec 18, 2011

The number of households in Korea has surpassed 20 million while the average number of people per household has dropped in recent years, a government report showed Sunday. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said the number of households exceeded 20 million for the first time in October and reached 21.98 million as of November. The ministry said the total population was 50.71 mil...
Opposition urges probe into Lee aides over NEC attack

Dec 18, 2011

The largest opposition Democratic Unified Party on Sunday urged the prosecution to investigate whether the presidential office had ordered the police to conceal important evidence that could identify the mastermind of the cyber attack on the National Election Commission website during the Oct. 26 by-elections. “If Cheong Wa Dae is revealed to have been involved in the attack against the constitu...
Seoul pushing to fine street smokers

Dec 18, 2011

Seoul is seeking to expand its non-smoking zones to include sidewalks and pedestrian roads, city officials said Sunday. The city council of the nation's capital said it has introduced an ordinance on amending the current regulation that curbs second-hand smoking on streets. The ordinance is expected to reach the relevant standing committee at the council in February at the earliest. Under the r...
Employees of ex-comedian win suit over unpaid wages

Dec 18, 2011

Former employees of Shim Hyung-rae have won a lawsuit over wages that the disgraced comedian-turned-director failed to pay at his bankrupt movie production company, court officials said Sunday. The Seoul Southern District Court ordered Shim, head of Younggu-Art Entertainment, to pay his employees 891.5 million won ($770,190) in monthly wages and severance pay to his employees, they said. After ...
Lee visits Japan amid tensions over wartime sexual slavery

Dec 17, 2011

OSAKA, Japan -- President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Japan on Saturday for talks with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, overshadowed by fresh tensions arising from Tokyo's sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II. Lee's two-day trip to Japan was originally expected to be largely an occasion that would strengthen the recovery of bilateral relations strained earlier this year over Tokyo's...
Gay man‘s objection to service sheds light on sexual abuse in military

Dec 16, 2011

An openly gay South Korean man’s reception of refugee status in Canada in objection to the South‘s mandatory military service, recently revealed two years after the fact, has shed light on abuse and discrimination against gay men in the armed forces. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea on Friday released reports on plight of gay soldiers in South Korea. The first report told the story ...