More than eight in 10 lawmakers saw their personal assets grow in value last year amid the pandemic, data showed Thursday. As of December 2021, 240 lawmakers, or 83 percent of the 289 legislators who disclosed their assets, said their assets expanded compared with a year earlier, according to the National Assembly data. Of them, 147 reported that their assets increased by between 100 million won ($82,610) and 500 million won. Six lawmakers said their assets jumped by 1 billion won over a one-yea

More than eight in 10 ranking public officials mandated by an ethics law to annually disclose their personal wealth reported an asset increase last year, the government gazette showed Thursday. A total of 1,978 senior government and public officials had declared an average of 1.62 billion won ($1.34 million) in personal assets as of the end of last year, marking a rise of 166.3 million won from a year earlier, the gazette said. It found that 83 percent, or 1,641, of the officials reported an inc

Interest in bikes, electric vehicles grow amid record high fuel prices

Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, a disability advocacy group that has recently been staging protests at subway stations, is facing increasing hatred online, with some especially emboldened by a conservative political leader. 　 In a series of Facebook posts People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok has called the protest “uncivilized” and “illegal.” He blamed the protesters for deliberately causing subway delays during busy hours and accused them of staging the

Launch marks ‘important milestone’ in enhancing the military’s space-based ISR capabilities

United Cities and Local Governments Secretary-General Emilia Saiz will visit the city of Daejeon to check preparations for the 2022 UCLG World Congress in October, the city government said Wednesday. Saiz and other representatives from the UCLG will stay in South Korea from Sunday to April 7 to meet with the working group here to discuss detailed plans for the upcoming event and undertake field tours to inspect related venues. The UCLG World Congress is a large-scale international event, thr

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on how receptive Koreans are to a multicultural society, a study by government-run think tank Korean Women’s Development Institute suggests. The research, titled the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s 2021 Multicultural Acceptability Study, has been conducted every three years since 2012. This year, 5,000 adults aged between 19 and 74 and 5,000 middle and high school students were polled. According to the survey, the adult re

Justice Ministry streamlines visa application system for compatriots in Ukraine amid calls for more action

Cheong Wa Dae’s response adds fuel to calls to reveal expense reports

Ahn not to run local elections in June nor contend for People Power Party leadership

Liberal party faces tough challenge of competing against Oh Se-hoon

The White House in February announced its Indo-Pacific strategy in what seems to be its most inclusive and comprehensive report yet. The report makes no doubt that China’s presence is of utmost importance when it comes to the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy, which was initiated in the Trump administration. In the report, the US looks to seek ways to contain China’s rise, but also maintain a somewhat amicable and cooperative relationship with Beijing. The Indo-Pacific strategy i

Nearly 60 percent of South Koreans oppose granting pardons to former President Lee Myung-bak and former South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, a survey showed Wednesday. According to the poll conducted by Data Research on 1,000 adults on Monday, 58.7 percent said they are against granting clemency to Lee and Kim, while 32.1 percent said they support pardoning the two. The issue of their pardons surfaced ahead of a meeting Monday between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, wit

South Korea's military plans to start test-running a homegrown armored vehicle next month as part of a program to support local firms' defense exports, the state arms procurement agency said Wednesday. From April to May, the Army's 11th Maneuver Division is set to conduct the test of the Redback vehicle that has been in a competition to join Australia's defense project, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration. The Redback is an upgraded version of the K-21 vehicle developed b

Kyung Hee University has signed an agreement with Stanford University to conduct joint research on sustainability in Asia, the Seoul school officials said Wednesday. Under the agreement signed last month, the two schools will partner to research various topics related to the enhancement of sustainability in Asia, create exchange programs for researchers and students and raise funds for the project, according to Kyung Hee University. Earlier this month, the universities discussed data constructio