The Korea Herald

Ministry considers imposing tax on junk foods, alcohol

Jul 6, 2011

The government is considering levying health promotion tax on alcohol and junk food in a bid to cut snowballing medical costs for treating chronic illnesses. A Ministry of Health and Welfare committee on Wednesday considered the new tax as a way to extend the country’s disability-adjusted healthy life expectancy to 75 years by 2020. According to the World Health Organization’s definition, the DAHL
Marine held for help in shooting

Jul 6, 2011

Top military officers salute during the funeral at a military hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday for the four Marines killed in Monday’s shooting rampage. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Bodies of four soldiers laid to rest at Daejeon National CemeteryMilitary investigators on Wednesday morning arrested a Marine private first class on charges of complicity in Monday’s shooting ra
SK Group No. 2 banned from overseas travel

Jul 6, 2011

Chey Jae-won, SK Group’s senior vice chairman and younger brother of Chairman Chey Tae-won, has been banned from travelling overseas on allegations that he amassed tens of billions of won in illicit slush funds. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, which leads the probe, suspects that the younger Chey raised the funds by falsifying the value of transactions between the group’s subsidiar
We can’t say where the aid will end up

Jul 6, 2011

We can’t say where the aid will end upBy Kim Yong-soon Kim Yong-soonThere have been many voices heard from both in and outside of the South Korean government advocating the resumption of aid to North Korea. The debate between the doves and the hawks has raged on ever since the peninsula was divided in 1945. This is an overly politicized issue in our domestic society of which I have no inclination
It is a matter of responsibility, pragmatism

Jul 6, 2011

It is a matter of responsibility, pragmatismBy Rudiger Frank Rudiger FrankFood aid to North Korea is a costly endeavor; food needs to be harvested, stored, packed, delivered and distributed. We can therefore assume that it is provided for a reason; or actually, a wide range thereof. From a humanitarian perspective, food is to feed the hungry. From the perspective of South Korean farmers, deliverie
Marine private arrested in connection with shooting spree

Jul 6, 2011

The Marine Corps on Wednesday arrested a private for allegedly aiding the recent shooting spree on a seaside unit, a military official said.According to the official, the private, whose name was withheld, is accused of failing to stop the shooter, a corporal named Kim, when Kim was taking out ammunition from a locker to load a rifle.Kim opened fire inside the barracks on the Ganghwa Island unit we
Korea launches new volunteer corps

Jul 5, 2011

Members of “Korea Hands” and guests cheer at the launch ceremony of the state-led volunteer group at Yonsei University in Seoul on Tuesday. (Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald)Korea Hands youth, elderly members committed to varied charity workA total of 500 “young people” and 200 elderly citizens in Gyeonggi and South Jeolla provinces devoted themselves to charity work for their local communities on Tuesd
Shaking shopping mall evacuated

Jul 5, 2011

Thousands of people evacuated from a high-rise office building after tremors were felt throughout the building for unknown reasons in Seoul on Tuesday.According to the Gwangjin Fire Station, the 39-story Prime Center including TechnoMart, a major electronics retail outlet in Gwangjin-gu, shook violently for 10 minutes at around 10:10 a.m., prompting some 300 people to evacuate.At the time of the t
iPhone app uncovers stunning view of N.K.

Jul 5, 2011

A U.S. photo album app maker released its latest app, showcasing more than 1,000 photos of North Korea, from all facets of life. Fotopedia North Korea, available free for the iPhone, iPod and iPad at the App Store, features photos by world renown photographer Eric Lafforgue from his visits into the isolated country.“I traveled to North Korea four times between 2008 and 2010, always under strict su
Mongolian Airlines sells tickets for ‘ghost’ flights

Jul 5, 2011

An airline carrier that operates flights to Mongolia has been creating “ghost” flights out of Korea to sell extra tickets, according to Seoul’s transportation ministry on Tuesday.Starting last month, Mongolian Airlines has been increasing the number of flights, promoting ticket sales. But because those flights were not authorized by Seoul, customers were forced onto alternate flights.According to
The forgotten men who helped create the miracle on the Han

Jul 5, 2011

Keenan FaganA short time ago, I received a call from Han Sang-man, voicing his disappointment that his father’s contributions to Korean development had been virtually forgotten. Han’s father helped rebuild Seoul National University and the Korean education system. These contributions, which started in 1954, just after the ravages of the Korean War, were so extensive that Han’s father received grea
'Bullying could have led to shooting'

Jul 5, 2011

A family of the four soldiers killed in Monday’s shooting rampage enter a military hospital, where their bodies are laid, in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday.　(Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald)The Marine who went on a shooting rampage Monday, killing four fellow soldiers, had been treated like an outcast on his base on Ganghwa Island, military officials said Tuesday.The 19-year-old corporal, ide
Tainted milk powder rekindles China safety concerns

Jul 5, 2011

Food safety concerns are resurfacing in China after piglets in five farms in southwest parts of the country were confirmed to have been fed milk powder contaminated by melamine, an industrial chemical used to make plastics and tan leather. According to a report by Xinhua News, the farms used 515 times more tainted milk powder than the legal limit. In 2008, melamine-laced powder killed about six ba
Shaking shopping mall evacuated

Jul 5, 2011

Firefighters exiting the building after finishing their survey, while thousands were evacuated earlier from Technomart and Prime Center following violent tremors throughout the building, in Seoul on Tuesday. (Park Hyun-kyoo/The Korea Herald)Thousands of people evacuated from a high-rise office building after tremors were felt throughout the building for unknown reasons in Seoul on Tuesday.Accordin
Chief prosecutor offers to resign over investigation right feud

Jul 4, 2011

Prosecutor General Kim Joon-gyu on Monday expressed his willingness to step down from his position in protest against political circles’ attempt to weaken his organization’s status. If his offer to resign is accepted, Kim will be the highest ranking and the sixth prosecutor to quit over the recent passage of a bill empowering police officers by sharing investigation rights currently exclusive to t