The Korea Herald

[Photo News] Seollal sorting

Jan 21, 2014
Smartphones can be deadly distraction

Jan 21, 2014

It came as a stark reminder of the seriousness of the country’s smartphone addiction: A college student was killed on campus because she was distracted by her phone.The 23-year-old student was run over by a shuttle bus on Korea University campus in 2011 while walking with her head down, eyes fixed and fingers tapping.The tragic incident is just one of hundreds of traffic accidents here that occur every year because people have their eyes glued to their smartphones. Korea’s pride in high-tech pro
Government denies reports of ID leaks

Jan 21, 2014

The Ministry of Security and Public Administration on Tuesday denied an earlier newspaper report claiming that electronic identification cards that contain personal information of government workers had been leaked.The ministry said no personal information from electronic government IDs had been taken, although thousands of officials could have been affected by a major credit card data leak involving KB Kookmin Card, NongHyup Card and Lotte Card, earlier this month. Law enforcement officials cha
McDonald’s, elderly Koreans reach truce on seating hours

Jan 21, 2014

A McDonald’s restaurant in New York on Monday ended a dispute with Korean senior citizens over the use of its seating area by agreeing to allow extended seating hours during its off-peak hours.According to New York Assemblyman Ron Tae-sok Kim, who brokered the deal, the fast food restaurant promised to scrap a previous 20-minute time limit for customers during non-peak hours. Signs will also be posted in Korean and Chinese.In exchange, the elderly citizens will avoid hogging the seats from 11:00
Detailed check on personal information leak in Korea available

Jan 21, 2014

Information on the extent of personal data leaks has been made available on the official homepage of each card company for individual users to check, following a massive data breach. Credit card users are required to go through a simple identification procedure to find out the specific personal details that have been leaked -- including bank account numbers, phone numbers, home and office addresses, and credit cards numbers. Credit card users of KB Kookmin Card, Lotte Card and NongHyup Card floo
Korean kidnapped in Libya confirmed unharmed: official

Jan 21, 2014

A South Korean trade agency employee kidnapped in Libya has been confirmed to be unharmed, a ranking government official said Tuesday. Han Seok-woo, the head of the Libya unit of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), was abducted Monday by four unidentified Libyan gunmen on his way home, prompting Seoul to ramp up efforts to win his release. "Han has been confirmed to be unharmed," the official said, without disclosing how he confirmed his safety and who was behind the abd
Fears of AI spread escalate

Jan 20, 2014

The government confirmed on Monday that avian influenza was the cause of wild bird deaths in North Jeolla Province, fueling concerns of a nationwide outbreak. On Friday, a large number of Baikal teals were found dead in a reservoir between Gochang-gun and Buan-gun in North Jeolla Province, where bird flu broke out on duck farms last week. “It was verified as H5N8 but whether it is highly pathogenic will be confirmed later in the day,” said the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The
Fears grow over safety of Koreans in conflict zones

Jan 20, 2014

Concerns are growing over the safety of South Korean diplomats and workers in conflict-laden countries after a trade agency employee was abducted in Libya on Sunday.The kidnapping of Han Seok-woo, the head of the Libyan branch of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, has prompted calls for Seoul to improve protection of its citizens working in volatile regions such as Africa and the Middle East.Han’s case is the latest in a series of kidnappings of South Koreans that have taken place over
[Photo News] Snow

Jan 20, 2014
Korea, Myanmar to boost agriculture cooperation

Jan 20, 2014

South Korea and Myanmar signed an agreement Monday to boost agriculture cooperation that partly aims to improve their food security, the South Korean government said.The memorandum of understanding was signed by South Korea’s Agriculture Minister Lee Dong-phil and his visiting Burmese counterpart, Myint Hlaing, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.Under the MOU, South Korea will further expand its “Korea Agricultural Policy Experiences for Food Security” program in th
S. Korea confirms bird flu in migratory birds

Jan 20, 2014

South Korea on Monday confirmed the presence of avian influenza (AI) in a group of migratory birds found dead last week, suggesting a possible cause for the recent infection of birds at poultry farms and raising concern that the infection may spread further.Tests were conducted after some 100 migratory birds were found dead at a reservoir in North Jeolla Province in the country's southwest over the weekend, following an outbreak of AI at several duck farms. Three bird flu cases, including two co
Consumer group to demand regulator investigate data leak

Jan 20, 2014

A customer advocacy group said Monday it will ask the financial watchdog to probe banks and credit firms over a recent massive leak of customers' personal information. The Financial Consumer Agency said it will specifically request the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) next month to investigate six financial firms -- Standard Chartered Bank Korea, Citi Bank Korea, Kookmin Bank, NongHyup Bank, KB Kookmin Card and Lotte Card-- on behalf of customers whose private data were leaked.Industry source
Second case of bird flu also of highly pathogenic strain: gov't

Jan 19, 2014

The second reported case of bird flu this year is of the same highly pathogenic strain as the first case, the agriculture ministry said Sunday.Two duck farms in Buan, 280 kilometers south of Seoul, were reported to be infected with avian influenza, and one was confirmed to have the H5N8 strain, the ministry said.Samples from the other farm are still being tested, it said.On Friday, the government confirmed the outbreak of H5N8 in Gochang, 296 kilometers south of Seoul, the first outbreak of AI s
[Graphic News] More doctors file for bankruptcy

Jan 19, 2014

About 40 percent of people who applied for individual rehabilitation in Seoul and Gangwon Province were doctors, a report concluded.According to data by the Seoul High Court, 449 doctors including dentists and oriental medical doctors filed for personal bankruptcy under the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act between 2009 and 2013. The number of hospitals that closed down also jumped by 17.6 percent, from 2,857 to 3,359 in the same period, largely due to fierce market competition and less i
Poster movement expands to gender discrimination

Jan 19, 2014

Term ‘kimchi woman’illustrates problems confronted by Korean women seeking job and stability