The Korea Herald

Ministry to support four vocational colleges to strengthen competitiveness

Sept 18, 2012

Four vocational colleges have been selected to receive government support in a state program to strengthen competitiveness of technical schools, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Tuesday.They are Gyeonggi College of Science and Technology in Gyeonggi Province, Kyungbuk College in North Gyeongsang Province, Ajou Motor College in South Chungcheong Province and Hallym Polytechnic University in Gangwon Province.The selected schools will receive incentives, including some 500 mil
Sungkonghoe University names new president

Sept 18, 2012

Professor Lee Jeong-ku, 58, has been appointed as new president of Sungkonghoe University in Seoul, the university announced Tuesday.Rev. Lee earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theology from Hanshin University, and was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1987. Lee earned his doctoral degree from Birmingham University in England in 1998.He has taught Christianity and art at Sungkonghoe University since 1999 and worked previously as dean of the graduate school, and was a board member of t
Government must work toward vocational colleges’ sustainability

Sept 18, 2012

There are two major types of higher education institute in Korea ― two-to-three-year vocational colleges and four-year general universities. There have been both dark and bright sides to vocational college education in recent years. Let’s review some of the negatives first. As of 2011, 503,493 students were enrolled in 147 vocational colleges, while 1,437,058 students were enrolled in 183 universities. It’s been pointed out that the constant decrease in the age cohort of college education and yo
A military renaissance in higher education

Sept 18, 2012

Universities offer military courses, more students don military uniforms in shrinking economy Mandatory military service was often viewed as an unavoidable nuisance among young men in Korea. Some, in particular those from wealthy and powerful families, avoided the draft by forging medical records or obtaining foreign citizenship. As the armed services fell out of favor with young Koreans, military schools struggled to keep their doors open in recent years.Today, however, the trend has reversed.
Korean martial arts master to receive LAPD award

Sept 18, 2012

A Korean martial arts master who helped take down a street assailant will be awarded by the Los Angeles Police Department.Lee Gak-soo, a martial arts professor at Myongji University in Seoul, confronted a man who was running away after stabbing two former co-workers and two passersby in Yeouido in Seoul last month. Lee, a former mixed martial arts champion, kicked the attacker in the face and chest while the man was wielding a knife threatening Lee and other civilians. The man, surnamed Kim, was
N.K., China push joint port development projects

Sept 17, 2012

North Korea and China are jointly developing several North Korean ports lining its northern east coast, a source in Beijing said Monday.Under the joint deals struck between North Korean and Chinese firms, the two countries are re-developing as many as five ports along the eastern coast line linking the Sonbong port near the northern border to the Wonsan port in the lower part, the source said. The source said a Chinese official had confirmed the joint port development deals. “The Rajin port in t
Schools see 5-fold rise in multicultural students since 2006

Sept 17, 2012

The number of students from multicultural families in South Korea rose more than 20 percent on-year in 2012 to take up 0.7 percent of the country’s total school children, data showed Monday.According to the data compiled by the Education Ministry, the number of multicultural students who attend primary or secondary schools in South Korea reached 46,954 in 2012. It is nearly five times larger than 9,389 in 2006, when the ministry began compiling the data.Some 9,035 foreign students here attend in
Korea to rev up PR campaign for Dokdo on SNS

Sept 17, 2012

South Korea will rev up a public relations drive on social networking sites worldwide for its easternmost islets of Dokdo to counter Japan’s claims to the islets, a high-ranking government official said Monday. Last week, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan told reporters that his government was preparing to run counter ads in Japanese media shortly after the Tokyo government ran ads in Japanese newspapers defending its sovereignty claims to Dokdo. “We are considering running ads in Japa
Ex-police chief to stand trial for defaming Roh

Sept 17, 2012

Prosecutors on Monday brought charges against a former police chief for making defamatory remarks against late President Roh Moo-hyun.Commenting on the motive of Roh’s suicide in a meeting with police officials in March 2010, Cho Hyun-oh, the former commissioner of the National Police Agency, said that police found large amounts of money kept in a borrowed-name bank account the night before Roh jumped to his death.The former president jumped off a cliff behind his retirement home and died in May
Typhoon Sanba pounds southern regions

Sept 17, 2012

Typhoon Sanba slammed southern regions of Korea on Monday, causing massive power outages, submerging roads and houses and destroying farmland just ahead of harvest time. At least one was killed and several others injured. The third storm to strike the country in three weeks left a trail of destruction in the provinces of Jeju, Jeolla and Gyeongsang, already battered by two powerful typhoons late last month. A 53-year-old woman died in a landslide in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, where the t
Teens nabbed in police hit-and-run

Sept 17, 2012

A teenage boy surnamed Sim has been arrested on charges of hitting a police officer while driving and failing to stop at the scene, and two other teens were indicted without detention, police said Sunday.According to Paju police in Gyeonggi Province, 16-year-old Sim and two other teens hit traffic officer Gu and attempted to flee the scene around 10 a.m. on Friday. Police officers, including injured Gu, pursued the suspects in a furious car chase and caught the suspects after 10 minutes.The susp
Typhoon Sanba slams S. Korea hard, causes property damage

Sept 17, 2012

Tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate and hundreds of sea and air passenger services were canceled as a powerful typhoon made landfall in southern South Korea on Monday.Packing strong winds of 43 meters per second and heavy rains, Typhoon Sanba was moving northeastward at a speed of 34 kilometers per hour after battering the southwest coastal areas Monday morning, according to the Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA). It forecast the typhoon would veer to the East Sea after p
Nuke reactor malfunctions, stops generating electricity at power plant

Sept 17, 2012

A nuclear reactor at one of South Korea's nuclear power plants stopped generating power due to malfunctions on Sunday, plant operators said.A turbine and a generator of the Wolsong 1 reactor in Gyeongju stopped at 4:51 p.m. due to the malfunction of a device that supplies exiting currents to the generator, according to an official from the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. The reacto
Personal data on sex convicts to be updated more often

Sept 16, 2012

The government will update and verify residence details and other personal information of convicted sex offenders every six months in an effort more effectively monitor them, the Justice Ministry said Sunday.Under the current law, sex convicts subject to personal information disclosure are required to voluntarily update their residence and employment information with police once a year. The law, however, does not require police to verify such information.The Justice Ministry said it revised the
Typhoon Sanba plows north toward Korea

Sept 16, 2012

Authorities went on full alert on Sunday for a powerful typhoon approaching the country, ordering closure of schools, suspension of ferry services and evacuation of residents in flood-prone areas. “Typhoon Sanba is medium-sized but is very strong on a scale of intensity,” the Korea Meteorological Administration said, calling for serious precautions. As of 1 p.m. as it passed through Okinawa, Japan, the typhoon had central pressure of 935 hPa and winds of up to 48 meters per second. Winds of such