Korea’s middle class sharply reduced donations to charity in 2011, squeezed by increasing debts and education costs. Despite the economic slowdown, Koreans across all income strata gave back to society more than in previous years ― with the exception of the middle-income bracket, said the Seoul Welfare Foundation, a group affiliated with the city government.According to its analysis of data from the Beautiful Foundation, a private charity, the middle-class participation rate increased from 54.2

A district office in Seoul announced its plan on Wednesday to build a park to commemorate Park Chung-hee, the late president and father of the incumbent leader, drawing criticism for the big-ticket project despite a tight budget.Seoul’s Jung-gu Office said it will push to build the some 4,000 square-meter commemorative park near the former president’s residence in central Seoul with a budget of 20 billion won ($17.8 million).Former President Park, who ruled the country from 1961-1979 after seizi

A former CJ Group executive suspected of playing a key role in managing a massive slush fund for the conglomerate’s chairman was questioned by prosecutors over a suspicious overseas real estate deal, according to sources Wednesday. A prosecution probe into the food and entertainment conglomerate has been expanded to include its chairman Lee Jae-hyun, who is suspected of orchestrating the creation of a massive offshore slush fund and tax evasion.The former chief of CJ’s Japanese operation, surnam

South Korea’s largest Buddhist sect Jogye Order held a meeting on Tuesday and passed the draft version of “Seungga Cheonggyu,” a recommendation that asks monks to stay away from the luxurious life. The document states that monks should not frequent fancy restaurants, live in a spacious house or drive big cars. They are also restricted from investing in stocks, making financial transactions with ordinary Buddhists and traveling abroad if it is not for a pilgrimage or academic purpose.The Jogye Or

The country issued a warning for a possible power shortage Wednesday after its power reserve dropped to below what is considered a safe level.A level 2 warning was issued after the country's power reserve fell to below 3.5 million kilowatts at 11:20 a.m., the state-run Korea Power Electric Corp. (KEPCO) said in a released statement.KEPCO issued a preliminary warning earlier Wednesday after the power reserve dropped to less than 4.5 million kilowatts.The ongoing difficulty of a possible power sho

CJ Group may have used its Hong Kong-based subsidiaries to purchase overseas real estate with the owner family’s illegal funds, the authorities investigating the group’s slush fund scandal revealed Tuesday. According to the authorities, investigations have uncovered clues indicating that CJ acquired a 2.1 billion yen ($21 million) building in Tokyo in 2007 through a series of overseas operations.The investigators also suspect that the transaction was funded with the slush funds of CJ chairman Le

District heads in Seoul on Tuesday called for swift central government action to ease the financial burden of the Park Geun-hye administration’s free child care policies. In a press briefing, 10 district chiefs warned of drastic action if their demand was not met. They asked the central government to cover the 270 billion won ($241 million) further needed to meet the costs of the welfare services.“The necessary budgets of the district offices have increased 518 billion won compared to those of t

Prosecutors have questioned a Buddhist nun accused of conducting a smear campaign against President Park Geun-hye ahead of last year’s presidential election.The suspect, Rev. Wonjung, claimed that then ruling party candidate had a shaman conduct a 150 million won ($133,000) ritual praying for the resolution of controversies over a scholarship foundation linked to Park.She has continued an anti-Park campaign including posting comments on Twitter and other blogs that her election should be invalid

The government said Tuesday it will create nearly 1 million decent part-time jobs by 2017 as part of an effort to boost the country's employment rate by diversifying employment patterns and to give women, adolescents and the elderly more chances to work. It is one of the key measures under the government's comprehensive policy roadmap to raise the employment rate to 70 percent, a main pledge made by President Park Geun-hye during last year's election campaign. The latest government data showed S

A project is underway to translate into English the testimonies of Korean women who were forced into sexual slavery by Japan in the early part of the 20th century.The project, conducted by a team of professional translators and a foreign editor, began in December last year as part of efforts to bring more international attention to the issue. The group is currently translating the testimonies of Kim Bok-dong and nine other victims. So far, six of the 234 testimonies collected since 1991 have bee