Criticism is mounting over the government’s plan to pour another 20 trillion won ($19 billion) into redeveloping more than 3,000 tributaries of the country’s four major rivers. While the announcement was perceived by opposition lawmakers and environmentalists as an admission of failure of the original 22.2 trillion won four-river refurbishment plan, some expressed concerns over how to finance the

Democrats in the Seoul City Council proposed that parents of elementary school children vote on whether schools should provide free meals to all students, reigniting a two-year-old political controversy.The suggestion came as civic groups opposing the across-the-board complimentary meals staged a signing campaign for a referendum on the issue.Forty-two Democrats in the city council submitted a pro

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Thursday declared a “paradigm shift” in the city’s housing development strategy, which has seen standardized apartment complexes dominate the city over the past 40 years.“Seoul City will discontinue its ‘new town projects,’ in which existing buildings are demolished to build new apartment complexes. Instead, we will adopt a new development style that puts more emphasis on

Singles looking for a significant other can increase their chances by choosing different locations, with different areas throughout Seoul showing a wide range of gender ratios, according to census data released Wednesday.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, more men resided in areas north of the Han River, including Yongsan-gu, Jongno-gu and Jung-gu, which had the highest ratio of men t

Seoul’s anti-corruption watchdog will host a conference Thursday to discuss corruption and inform chiefs from foreign corporations of the state’s efforts to handle the issue.The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission will invite some 50 CEOs and representatives of multinational corporations, foreign chambers of commerce and embassies, to form an understanding of the problems in the past and i

The female population outnumbered the males in Seoul for the eighth straight year last year, though the proportion of the male population grew slightly, census data showed Wednesday.    Out of 10.5 million people living in the capital, 5.2 million or 49.5 percent were male, and 5.3 million or 50.3 percent were female as of December, showing a male-to-female ratio of 98.09, according to data from t

Local police said Tuesday they were investigating a suspect for the leak of personal information from Hyundai Capital Services Inc., the country's major lending company and a financial unit of Hyundai Motor Group.The 33-year-old man, whose name was withheld, was caught because he paid a usage fee for one of the Internet servers involved in the hacking of Hyundai Capital's server last month, the po

The government is considering establishing Korean language institutes in foreign countries that send workers to Korea through the employment permit system.The institutes would introduce Korean culture and language to permit workers, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Tuesday. Further details have yet to be drawn up but the administration is reportedly looking to set up the language institut