Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon vowed to promote gender equality, as he announced a set of strategies to improve women’s lives on Tuesday. His announcement came two days before International Women’s Day on March 8 and as part of his election pledge to change the lives of women in areas such as employment, safety and health.To asses whether existing policies run counter to gender equality, the city established a gender equality committee last month. The 35-member committee of city officials, social wor

More children are addicted to the Internet than adults, and teenagers are the most likely age group to suffer Internet addiction, a government study found Monday.Children aged 5-9 are more addicted to the Internet, at 7.9 percent, than adults aged 20-49 who had an addiction rate of 6.8 percent, according to the study by the Public Administration Ministry and the National Information Society Agency. The addiction rate for children is higher than the average rate of 7.7 percent for all age groups.

Demand CEOs resign to take responsibility for ‘censoring news’Unions at three leading broadcasters agreed Monday to stage a joint strike against what they claim is interference in reporting from politically biased management.This is the first time the three networks will carry out a simultaneous strike and their collective action is expected to have an impact on the April general elections. The union members from KBS, MBC and YTN held a launch ceremony of their walkout in central Seoul on Monday

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday that it planned to open two graduate schools dedicated to the pharmaceuticals industry in September. The government has started looking for universities interested in hosting the schools, one in Seoul or its outskirts and another elsewhere in the country. The ministry plans to open the schools in September in time for the start of the second semester of the year. The Korea Health Industry Development Institute will hold a briefing for the interested

Demand CEOs resign to take responsibility for ‘censoring news’Unions at three leading broadcasters agreed Monday to stage a joint strike against what they claim is interference in reporting from politically biased management.This is the first time the three networks will carry out a simultaneous strike and their collective action is expected to have an impact on the April general elections. The union members from KBS, MBC and YTN held a launch ceremony of their walkout in central Seoul on Monday

More children are addicted to the Internet than adults, and teenagers are the most likely age group to suffer Internet addiction, a government study found Monday.Children aged 5-9 are more addicted to the Internet, at 7.9 percent, than adults aged 20-49 who had an addiction rate of 6.8 percent, according to the study by the Public Administration Ministry and the National Information Society Agency. The addiction rate for children is higher than the average rate of 7.7 percent for all age groups.

The police said Monday that the number of school gang members under their observation is 2,831. After weeks of profiling school gangs likely to cause school violence, the police drew up their list of school gangs nationwide. The list is categorized by two groups -― 129 school gangs which are currently under investigation or have been probed, and 36 groups with a high chance of committing school violence in the future, the police said. The police plans to break up groups they believe have contrib

President Lee Myung-bak called for an end to prejudices and discrimination against non-college graduates, stressing Monday that such deep-rooted perceptions lead too many people to seek college education and cause a number of social and economic problems.In South Korea, nearly 80 percent of high school students go to college due to the widespread social practice of judging one’s abilities based on one’s academic background. This so-called academic inflation has been a chronic social problem in t

South Korean scholars will promote the adoption of the name “East Sea” for the body of water between Korea and Japan during a seminar with more than 30 international experts in Brussels this week, organizers said Monday, ahead of a crucial sea-naming conference next month.The 18th international seminar on ocean names will open Wednesday in the Belgian capital and run through Friday, with more than 30 experts from 15 countries participating, according to the event‘s Seoul-based co-hosts Northeast

TOKYO (Yonhap News) ― Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has expressed interest in attending this month’s nuclear summit in Seoul to tell the world the lessons his country learned during the nuclear disaster of 2011.Japan’s northeastern areas were devastated by last March’s giant earthquake and tsunami that also crippled the Fukushima nuclear power plant, releasing radioactive materials.The accident, classified as the worst nuclear calamity since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, has prompted cou

Military watchdog asks for investigation of violations related to pro-N.K. app banHuman rights organizations have criticized the National Human Rights Commission for rejecting requests to look into reports of human rights violations in the Army.According to non-governmental organizations, the National Human Rights Commission rejected a request from the Center for Military Human Rights to investigate alleged rights violations by an Army unit that was trying to uncover the person who leaked an int