The Korea Herald

Court rejects ban on free meal vote

PoliticsAug 16, 2011

President backs Seoul mayor in opposition to free school meal planA Seoul court on Tuesday dismissed a request to suspend a plebiscite next week on free school lunches, clearing the way for the city to hold the vote as scheduled. The Seoul Administrative Court rejected the appeal made by the city’s
Events to mark anniversary of Kim Dae-jung’s death

PoliticsAug 16, 2011

Liberal political circles are holding a series of events to mark the second anniversary of the death of former President Kim Dae-jung, who they have long hailed for his lifelong devotion to promoting democracy and inter-Korean reconciliation.Observers said that such a collective move to mark the lat
Chung’s donation draws attention to his presidential ambitions

PoliticsAug 16, 2011

Former Grand National Party chairman and the country’s third-richest man Chung Mong-joon took a major step in his run-up to the presidential election next year by donating 200 billion won for charity.Former Hyundai Group affiliates announced Tuesday that they will set up a 500 billion won ($467 mill
GNP backs Lee’s call for kinder capitalism

PoliticsAug 16, 2011

Opposition demands abandonment of growth-first policy, says more welfare neededThe ruling party geared up its policy drive for the working class a day after President Lee Myung-bak trotted out a new socioeconomic vision for compassionate capitalism. Opposition politicians called on Lee to start with
N.K. cracks down on defections with new border CCTV cameras

North KoreaAug 16, 2011

North Korea has installed surveillance cameras and reinforced barbed wire in its northern border areas close to China to try to stem the flow of defections of its people and stop the influx of foreign influences, a source familiar with the issue said Tuesday.The measures were taken near the North Ko
Lawmaker calls for budget hike for East Sea campaign

PoliticsAug 16, 2011

South Korea should increase its budget and assign more diplomats to bolster its campaign to change the international community’s name for the waters separating the Korean Peninsula and Japan to the “East Sea,” a ruling party lawmaker said Tuesday.Amid renewed passions over the East Sea name, Rep. Ch
Chey under probe for illegal loans

Social affairsAug 16, 2011

SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won is under probe for allegedly taking out loans from a local savings bank, using borrowed names, a local daily reported Tuesday. According to the JoongAng Ilbo, investigators at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office have detected some suspected transactions in b
Allies begin annual military drill

DefenseAug 16, 2011

S. Korea, U.S. mobilize 86,000 troops for Ulchi Freedom GuardianSouth Korea and U.S. forces on Tuesday launched their annual joint exercise in their latest attempt to improve their defense posture against North Korea, military officials said.The Ulchi Freedom Guardian, launched in 1975 to enhance in
School violence surges almost 40%

Social affairsAug 16, 2011

School violence resumed its upward trend in 2010 after a brief drop the previous year, indicating growing aggression among the nation’s young students, a government report showed Tuesday.According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, a total of 7,823 cases of vi
Law allows phone fraud victims to recover loss without litigation

Social affairsAug 16, 2011

Victims of phone fraud, commonly known as voice phishing, will be able to get their stolen money back within three months from the day they were victimized without undergoing litigation, the government decided Tuesday.The government, during a Cabinet meeting, approved an enforcement ordinance of a s
Lee calls for measures to curb expected rise in home rental

PoliticsAug 16, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak expressed concern Tuesday that home rental prices are feared to spike in the fall again and instructed the Cabinet to study ways to curb them, his spokesman said.Earlier this year, home rental prices rose sharply, pulling up overall consumer prices. In April alone, rental pri
Chaebol pushed to change their ways

PoliticsAug 16, 2011

Latest bout of friction with political circles presses conglomerates to assume more social responsibilityWhen asked what word first comes to mind when large corporations are mentioned during a TV interview in July, Grand National Party Chairman Hong Joon-pyo gave an answer that left his interviewer
KT&G to raise social spending

IndustryAug 16, 2011

KT&G Corp., the country’s largest cigarette maker, plans to raise the proportion of annual revenues injected into corporate social responsibility projects to 3 percent.The target was included in the company’s long-term social contribution plans announced Tuesday.KT&G CEO Min Young-jin said in a stat
CJ CheilJedang to build plant for animal feed amino acid in Malaysia

IndustryAug 16, 2011

CJ CheilJedang, Korea’s largest food maker, said Monday that it will establish the world’s first methionine plant in Malaysia next year. In April, CJ sealed a deal with France-based chemical firm Arkema to make an investment of more than $400 million in Kerteh, Terengganu State of Malaysia. If
Korea seeks stock market balance

Aug 16, 2011

Top regulators and heads of banking groups meet to discuss market stabilityKorea’s financial regulators and heads of banking groups agreed on the need to reduce the importance of foreign investors in the stock market, officials said Tuesday.It was the first time that the nation’s financial authoriti