The Korea Herald

Lee may conduct minor Cabinet reshuffle this week

PoliticsAug 28, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak is expected to conduct a minor Cabinet reshuffle, possibly including the minister in charge of North Korean affairs, as early as Monday before the National Assembly convenes next month, officials said Sunday. The expected reshuffle is seen as Lee's latest attempt to revitaliz
Police fire water cannons at protesters in rally against Hanjin layoffs

Social affairsAug 28, 2011

Left-wing civic groups again protested massive layoffs by a major construction firm in central Seoul during the weekend, before they were broken up by police using water cannons for the first time in three years. (Yonhap News)A police-estimated crowd of some 2,500 people from various parts of the co
Prosecution imposes travel ban on Seoul education chief

Social affairsAug 28, 2011

Seoul’s education chief said Sunday that he gave 200 million won to one of his former election rivals purely out of goodwill, denying suspicions that the money was linked to the candidate’s dropping out of race during last year’s election campaign.Park Myoung-gee (left) Kwak No-hyun (Yonhap News)“Af
Professor questioned in corruption probe linked to Seoul's education chief

Social affairsAug 27, 2011

(Yonhap News)A college professor was questioned for the second day Saturday on suspicion that he had dropped out of last year's election for Seoul's education chief in exchange for money, prosecutors said.Park Myoung-gee, a professor at Seoul National University of Education, was taken into custody
5 killed in Gumi chemical plant fire

Social affairsAug 27, 2011

Five people died in a fire at a chemical textile plant in Gumi of North Gyeongsang Province on Saturday. Local police and fire fighters said the fire broke out at TK Chemical plant inside the Gumi Industrial Complex around 1:30 p.m. (Yonhap News)Witnesses said they heard large explosion and saw
U.S. envoy proposes talks on remains recovery to N. Korea: report

North KoreaAug 27, 2011

The United States' special representative for North Korea policy has proposed to Pyongyang that they resume their talks on recovering remains of American troops killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, according to a U.S. radio report Saturday.In a letter by Republican Party Senator Kelly Ayotte sent t
N. Korean leader tours industrial facilities in China

North KoreaAug 26, 2011

BEIJING/CHANGCHUN/MANZHOULI, China (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il toured industrial facilities in northeastern China on Friday on his way back home from a trip to Russia, a source said. Kim visited the facilities in the Chinese city of Qiqihar, a hub of automobile
Explosion hits UN building in Nigeria's capital

InternationalAug 26, 2011

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) -- A large explosion struck the United Nations' main office in Nigeria's capital Friday, flattening one wing of the building and killing several people. A U.N. official in Geneva called it a bomb attack. ``I saw scattered bodies,'' said Michael Ofilaje, a UNICEF
Wheelchair-bound young researcher’s passionate life

Social affairsAug 26, 2011

Shin battles muscular atrophy to study computer scienceIn cyberspace, young researcher Shin Hyung-jin feels as though he is Detective Conan, the Japanese manga character who solves criminal cases with brilliant ideas. Though the wheelchair-bound 28-year-old is too disabled to move a finger and is sm
Mayor resigns, parties brace for by-elections

PoliticsAug 26, 2011

Oh says excessive welfare will increase taxes, place burden on next generationOh Se-hoon resigned as mayor of Seoul Friday, as he had pledged, saying he will take responsibility for his failure to thwart an opposition-led plan to give all elementary school students free school meals from next year.H
S. Korea close to clinching Indonesia submarine deal

DefenseAug 26, 2011

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin is to visit Indonesia early next month to seal a $1 billion deal that would result in South Korea’s first submarine exports.If the deal is secured, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine, which is likely to be chosen as the preferred bidder by the Indonesian government, will si
190 multidrug resistant TB patients committed

Social affairsAug 26, 2011

A total of 190 multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients have been ordered to check in to hospitals by the government this year, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Friday. This is the first time MDR-TB patients were forced to receive treatment for the disease by law, which was implemented in 19
‘Song depicting alcohol not harmful to youths’

Social affairsAug 26, 2011

A Seoul court on Thursday advised the government to cancel its decision to label a K-pop song that mentioned liquor as “harmful to youth.”The ruling is expected to have a huge impact on the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Affairs’ plan to revise censorship criteria, which have been denounced
Man gets 5-year prison term for exploding bombs in public areas

Social affairsAug 26, 2011

SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul man was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday for exploding homemade bombs at crowded public transportation stations in May in a plot he designed to cause a plunge in the stock market.The Seoul Central District Court handed down the jail term to the 43-year-o
Defeated Seoul Mayor resigns over failed free lunch vote

PoliticsAug 26, 2011

SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- Embattled Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced his resignation Friday, saying he would take responsibility for his failed attempt to block the free lunch program in a referendum earlier this week.The decision came two days after the vote on the opposition-led free lunch progra