The Korea Herald

Lawmakers band together to advance Korean wave

Apr 29, 2013

About 40 lawmakers on Monday launched a study group aimed at sustaining and expanding hallyu. At its inaugural meeting at the National Assembly, the participants pledged their commitment to maturing the Korean cultural wave. “The group will try to contribute to developing hallyu by working closely with the entire cultural sector,” said Rep. Park Byeong-seug from the Democratic United Party at the meeting. He co-chairs the group with Rep. Choung Byoung-gug from the Saenuri Party. During the sess
Professor calls foreign student a ‘low animal’

Apr 29, 2013

A Korean professor has been captured on film scolding two Indonesian exchange students, calling one “not human” and “a low animal.”The online video shows the professor at Gyeongsang National University in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, berating two female students from Indonesia for not attending his classes, as well as threatening to call the police and cancel their master’s degrees. Noting one section of the video that skips, some YouTube users commented that the footage may have been edite
Prosecution questions former spy agency chief

Apr 29, 2013

Prosecutors questioned former National Intelligence Service chief Won Sei-hoon Monday as part of a probe into the national spy agency’s alleged attempt to intervene in the 2012 presidential election. “The investigation is currently underway. He will likely be summoned several more times,” said an official at Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.The Democratic United Party, which first raised the allegation of illegal political intervention before the presidential election last December, fi
Lawyers accuse NIS of fabricating spy charge

Apr 28, 2013

A group of lawyers accused the National Intelligence Service of fabricating a pro-North Korea espionage charge against a Chinese-Korean man. In February the former Seoul City employee identified by his surname Yoo was indicted for handing information on around 200 North Korean defectors to Pyongyang agents. The Lawyers for a Democratic Society said Saturday that NIS agents threatened and coaxed his sister to make false confessions about her brother’s espionage activities. “Yoo’s sister made the
More students seek mental health counseling

Apr 28, 2013

Mental health accounted for over one-quarter of problems for which teenagers consulted experts last year, a sharp increase from four years before, according to a report released Sunday.The Korea Youth Counseling and Welfare Institute said 3,500 students received its counseling services in 2012, of which 25.8 percent involved depression, anxiety, anger and suicidal tendencies and other mental problems.Depression, in particular, has become the major concern for the students, jumping to 12.6 percen
Submissive attitude of flight attendants can be problematic

Apr 28, 2013

Flight attendants represent nice and kind service manners which bring nothing but positive images to the customers’ minds. However a recent study revealed that such attitudes trigger an imperial attitude from the customers, giving them a false impression that they can abuse their given authority. “The Korean airlines unnecessarily overemphasize kind service manners so much that sometimes the flight attendants end up acting in an overly obedient way. It leads many middle-aged men to treat them as
General appointed to senior member of U.N. Command

Apr 26, 2013

A South Korean major general was appointed to lead the United Nations Command’s military armistice commission, which supervises the implementation of the Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War in 1953, the UNC said Friday. Maj. Gen. Chun In-bum will lead the UNC’s five-member military armistice commission team in the truce village of Panmunjom on the southern section of the demilitarized zone, which is co-supervised by five representatives on the northern side of the DMZ. With 28,500 Amer
Top court upholds 20-year term for wife-killer doctor

Apr 26, 2013

The nation’s top court on Friday upheld the conviction of a medical doctor for murdering his pregnant wife.The 33-year-old doctor, surnamed Baek, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for strangling his nine-month pregnant wife to death during an early-morning quarrel over his heavy computer game addiction in January 2011.Baek initially received the same jail sentence by a district court and an appellate court in Seoul. The Supreme Court, however, overturned the appellate court’s conviction and se
Seoul to launch website on Dokdo in Japanese, other languages

Apr 25, 2013

The Foreign Ministry plans to establish a website on Dokdo in seven languages, including Japanese, in August to counter Tokyo’s claim to the easternmost islets.The ministry also plans to create a mobile version for smartphone, and tablet PC.“The ministry decided to create a homepage in multiple languages so that foreigners can easily understand Korea’s stance,” a ministry official said.The current Korean-language homepage contains information and the government’s stance on the Dokdo issue.Japan
Migrant spouses allowed to apply for Korean names

Apr 25, 2013

Naturalized migrant spouses in South Chungcheong Province can now apply to get a Korean name.The Chung Cheong Nam Do Council of Social Welfare, the provincial government and law firm Blue and Wise will receive applications for name changes until July 26, the Council announced Thursday. The purpose of the project is to provide naturalized migrant spouses with a sense of solidarity in Korea and stability at home. Along with a Korean name, applicants can even make a family name and location of fami
Park to preside over trade, investment promotion meeting

Apr 25, 2013

President Park Geun-hye will meet with government officials and businesspeople next week to discuss ways to boost trade and investment during the prolonged economic slump, a senior government official said Thursday.The meeting, scheduled to be held at the presidential office next Wednesday, will be the first of its kind under the new government of President Park, who took office in late February. A large number of businesspeople are expected to attend along with economy-related ministers and chi
Park calls for rule of law to protect weak

Apr 25, 2013

President Park Geun-hye on Thursday renewed her call for a strict rule of the law, saying laws should be a means to protect the weak.“The law should be a warm protective shield for the weak in society,” Park said in a speech marking the 50th Law Day at the Supreme Court. “The phrase, ‘Let’s do what the law says,’ should not be a means for the strong to threaten the weak, but a safety shield for the weak to protect themselves.”In a first step to build a country ruled by laws, the government will
Migrant workers were not ‘aliens,’ after all

Apr 24, 2013

In 1996, eight Chinese laborers ran away from the sock factory where they were employed and sought refuge at nearby Cheong Am Church in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Minister Choi Eui-pal was not very welcoming at first. But upon learning about the abuse and harsh conditions they had faced, he and his colleagues built deeper ties with their guests, and he found a mission to which to devote the rest of his life. “At one point, we realized that we were not so different after all. We realized we wer
Will to change key to migrant policy

Apr 24, 2013

Korea must be open to accepting migrant workers for industrious future
Medical union resumes talks on Jinju Medical Center

Apr 24, 2013

The trouble surrounding Jinju Medical Center entered a new phase as the South Gyeongsang Provincial Government and the medical trade union agreed to postpone its closure and resume talks over its operation.Governor Hong Joon-pyo, who pushed shutting down the hospital because of its financial hardships, said on Tuesday evening that he will defer his plan for one month and reopen talks with the labor union. The governor’s offer was made after two union members tied themselves to a steel tower on t