The Korea Herald

Leader of embattled UPP resigns from politics

Sept 10, 2012

Kang Ki-kab, the chairman of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party, said Monday he is stepping down to take responsibility for the party’s split.Four lawmakers quit the embattled party Friday after months of factional infighting over an allegedly rigged primary race ahead of April’s parliamentary elections.The self-expulsions came as little surprise as the party’s two factions have made no headway in their talks to resolve their differences over the voting scandal.“I have put in my all
Government mulls punishing sex offenders regardless of victim's complaint

Sept 10, 2012

The government is considering revising the law to punish sex offenders without a complaint from their victims, the justice ministry said Monday, in response to growing calls to eliminate loopholes in the current law. Under the current law, those suspected of committing sex-related crimes are indictable only if a formal complaint is made by the victim, stoking concerns that sex offenders sometimes
Suicide rate in S. Korea 2.6 times higher than OECD average: report

Sept 10, 2012

South Korea's suicide rate was again the highest among the nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), coming in 2.6 times higher than the OECD average, a government report showed Sunday. An average of 33.5 people per 100,000 took their own lives in South Korea in 2010, up from 28.4 in 2009, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said in a report, citing the OECD Healt
Calls for action to tackle Korea’s suicide rate

Sept 9, 2012

As Korea continues its battle against rising suicide rates, organizations and civic groups planned a wide range of activities and events for Monday to mark World Suicide Prevention Day here.While suicide rates have decreased in many developed nations since 1995, the rate has increased rapidly in Korea. In 2010 alone, more than 15,500 people in Korea committed suicide. This amounts to about 28.4 deaths by suicide for every 100,000 people, or 42 deaths every day ― the highest rate among the OECD c
Child benefit to be expanded to all children under 2

Sept 9, 2012

The government and ruling Saenuri Party reached an understanding to give child rearing allowances to all babies under age two starting next year to expand welfare coverage, sources said Sunday.Saenuri sources said the new plan is a move in the right direction and could make it easier to deal with soaring costs of looking after babies.South Korea has one of the lowest birthrates in the world. Low birthrates can hurt the country’s growth potential down the road and fuel rapid population aging.At p
Prosecutors protest court’s denial of lawmaker’s arrest

Sept 9, 2012

Prosecutors investigating a cash-for-candidacy scandal in the ruling Saenuri party strongly protested the court’s decision Friday to reject the arrest warrant sought after a former Saenuri lawmaker suspected of bribery.“It is a decision that is extremely difficult to understand. We cannot help but view it as an intentional rejection in favor of a certain suspect,” the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office said in a four-page statement on Saturday.The court denied the prosecutors’ request, citing a
Child porn to be censored on mobile messengers

Sept 9, 2012

Child pornography could be automatically blocked on online messengers, and people making or distributing such material could face tougher punishments in a move to crack down on sex crimes against children.Public calls are growing for a stricter crackdown on child porn in the wake of increasing cases of child sexual abuse, including a 7-year-old girl who was kidnapped and raped by a 23-year-old man in Naju, South Jeolla Province. And police are working to introduce comprehensive measures to deal
2 bodies recovered on Mount Rainier glacier

Sept 9, 2012

Park rangers returned to a glacier on Mount Rainier Saturday to search for a fourth victim of a series of winter storms, a day after recovering what they presume to be the second and third bodies.The climbers _ two parties of two _ vanished during unrelenting storms on the 4,392-meter volcano in mid-January. The summer snowmelt last month revealed one of the bodies not far from the climbing route
Seoul City plans elderly-friendly streets

Sept 7, 2012

Seoul’s Jongmyo Park and Tapgol Park will receive a makeover as part of the metropolitan government’s efforts to turn the districts in central Seoul into elderly-friendly areas, officials said Friday.The two parks now surrounded by elder-oriented facilities, such as a classic movie cinema, hairdresser and soup kitchen, are visited by an estimated 3,000 senior citizens every day. The metropolitan government and the Ministry of Health and Welfare will collaborate to refurbish the surrounding areas
Media firm chief acquitted of insulting President Lee

Sept 7, 2012

A local court acquitted the chief of an online media firm Friday of charges of insulting and threatening President Lee Myung-bak in a hostile online posting.Shin Sang-cheol, head of online news outlet Surprise, was indicted on the charges in February after a conservative group sued him over his posting on the company’s website that allegedly threatened the president with foul words.He told prosecutors that he wrote it after the prosecution launched an investigation into former President Roh Moo-
Mannam charity denies recruiting for fringe church

Sept 7, 2012

A volunteer organization for foreigners embroiled in controversy over its connections with a controversial church has denied that it is a recruiting tool for the religious institution. Mannam Volunteer Association, an organization that offers language and cooking classes to foreigners as well as recruits them for charitable activities, released a statement on Sunday addressing its connection to Shinchonji, a church founded in 1984, and World Peace Initiative, a group which, according to its webs
Top conservation group denies praise of four-river project

Sept 7, 2012

JEJU ― A top official of the International Union for Conservation of Nature on Friday denied the presidential office’s claim that she expressed positive views on Korea’s controversial four-river restoration project. In June, Cheong Wa Dae said that Julia Marton-Lefevre, secretary-general of the world’s largest environmental organization, highly evaluated the river project during a courtesy call on President Lee Myung-bak.“I am afraid I was misquoted,” she told a news conference. She was attendin
4 lawmakers quit UPP over factional infighting

Sept 7, 2012

Four lawmakers of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party quit the scandal-ridden party Friday to establish a new form of progressive politics.Their “voluntary self-expulsion” was approved in a meeting of the UPP lawmakers, leaving it with nine seats in the 300-member Assembly. The four lawmakers accepted expulsion from the party’s Seoul chapter in order to keep their seats in parliament. Under South Korean law, lawmakers elected on a proportional representative ticket lose their legisla
Obama thanks HUFS president

Sept 7, 2012

U.S. President Barack Obama sent an appreciation letter to Park Chul, the president of the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, in appreciation of kindness and hospitality he had received during his visit in March to the university. In the letter Obama said that he and his wife, Michelle extended their deep thanks to Park. He said he believes Koreans and Americans can meet shared challenges and build a brighter future for all nations as both share an enduring bond. Obama made a speech at the un
Park GH’s sister-in-law resigns from law jobs

Sept 7, 2012

A sister-in-law of Rep. Park Geun-hye, the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate, has left her posts at a law firm and the nation’s land and housing firm. Seo Hyang-hee, wife of the presidential candidate’s younger brother Park Ji-man, resigned as a representative lawyer at law firm Sebit and a legal adviser for the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), the state-run land and housing developer.Seo worked as a legal adviser for two years for Samhwa Savings Bank before it went bankrupt