The Korea Herald

Half of foreign spouses identify as liberal

Feb 9, 2011

A foreign resident asks a question during the annual town meeting at Seoul City Hall on Dec. 17. (Seoul City)About half of foreign spouses here consider themselves progressive and are willing to participate in political activities such as voting, a study showed Tuesday. For her master’s degree at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Ariun Shukertei surveyed 670 foreign-born people who have either
Bachelors can apply for virtual wife online

Feb 8, 2011

Lonely bachelors longing for a female companion can now simply log on and apply for a virtual wife. (captured from biwihotohaisi.com)The Indian website biwihotohaisi.com offers men the choice of a homemaker, a “control freak,” an ambitious banker and a woman obsessed with soap operas. Men subscribing to the service will receive automated telephone messages from the virtual woman at a chosen time.
Fewer S. Koreans view reunification as ‘essential’

Feb 8, 2011

While a growing number of South Koreans are empathetic toward North Koreans, fewer view reunification as essential, a local study showed Tuesday. Some 12 percent of people here currently view reunifying with communist North Korea as an “essential national goal,” a sharp decline from the 58 percent of people who felt this way in 1995, according to analysis released by a North Korea expert here. On
Illegal protests become less frequent

Feb 8, 2011

Illegal violent protests have significantly declined over the past couple of decades, especially since the 2008 inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak administration, police data revealed Tuesday. According to the National Police Agency, an average of 12,200 demonstrations had taken place in each of the past three years. Of them, 56 cases, or 0.46 percent, were illegal violent protests ― a drastic decr
Petition to block free school meals starts

Feb 8, 2011

Conservative civic groups will start a signature-gathering campaign Wednesday, and aim to have a plebiscite vote on the controversial free school meals at schools issue, Seoul city officials said Tuesday.The Commission for Anti-Welfare Populism, an association of some 160 conservative civic groups, filed a petition Tuesday ahead of collecting signatures from Seoul citizens. Despite Seoul City Coun
One-third of imprisoned N.K. defectors in for narcotics

Feb 8, 2011

More than a third of imprisoned North Korean defectors here were sentenced for drug trafficking, highlighting a lack of screening and reintegration policies for defectors, according to the Korean Institute of Criminology on Monday.Professor Jang Joon-oh, director of the International Center for Criminal Justice, said 17 of the 48 defectors incarcerated in the South were charged with trafficking op
Concerns rise that cull may cause disaster

Feb 8, 2011

Minister Lee says reckless burial of infected livestock may result in widespread contaminationThe reckless burial of cattle in an attempt to prevent the further spread of foot-and-mouth disease could trigger a massive environmental disaster, Environment Minister Lee Maan-ee said. The minister called for a thorough examination of the effect of the burials on the surrounding soil and environment to
Wounded captain of rescued freighter to return home Saturday

Feb 7, 2011

SALALAH/MUSCAT, Oman -- The captain of a rescued South Korean freighter, who was wounded during a naval raid on Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea last week, will be airlifted home Saturday, officials here said Friday.The 58-year-old Seok Hae-kyun was shot three times by pirates during the rescue operation by South Korean commandos for the Samho Jewelry. He was the only one wounded among the 21-mem
Taiwanese man gets one-year prison term for phone fraud

Feb 7, 2011

A Seoul court sentenced a Taiwanese man to a one-year prison term for swindling money from a Korean family through a fake kidnapping telephone scam, court officials said Monday.The 31-year-old defendant, whose name was withheld, had been indicted on charges of receiving 2 million won ($1,800) in July of last year from Korean parents by claiming their son had been kidnapped with a fake voice of a b
Plan to produce home-grown medicine Nobel winner by 2030

Feb 7, 2011

An ambitious plan to produce home-grown medical scientists who could win the Nobel Award in Physiology or Medicine by 2030 was unveiled by the government Monday.The plan, tentatively called “Nobel Project in Physiology or Medicine,” will support young medical scientists in their 20s or 30s for their own long-term research work, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said in its annual budget for healt
State watchdog pushes for education on human rights

Feb 7, 2011

Human rights education will be mandatory for officials and employees of public institutions in an effort to prevent the prevalence of civil rights violations, state human rights watchdog said Monday.The National Human Rights Commission of Korea plans to propose a bill regarding the education of civil liberties after they review the draft. “If the human rights education act is put into effect, it w
One of four bullets from injured captain shot by S. Korean Navy: Coast Guard

Feb 7, 2011

One of the four bullets removed from the injured South Korean captain of a chemical freighter hijacked by Somalis last month was shot by South Korean Navy commandos during their raid on the ship in the Arabian Sea, the South Korean Coast Guard said Monday, wrapping up a probe on five captured Somali pirates.Seok Hae-kyun, the skipper of the 11,500-ton Samho Jewelry, has drawn keen national attenti
100 dogs in Canada killed after business slows

Feb 7, 2011

VANCOUVER _ An organization that fights animal abuse is calling the slaughter of 100 sled dogs by an outdoor adventure company in British Columbia a bloodbath and police are investigating.Sled dogs pull a tourist during a tour run by Outdoor Adventures in the Soo Valley north of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, on Monday, Jan. 31, 2011. (AP-Yonhap News)The British Columbia SPCA's manager of ani
South’s the right medicine for N.K. trio

Feb 7, 2011

Three brothers obtain Oriental medical doctor’s license in SouthSEONGNAM, Gyeonggi Province ― In a cozy and welcoming oriental clinic, a smile never leaves the doctor’s face as he runs about greeting the steady flow of patients, answering the ceaseless phone calls and treating those who trust his hands and herbal medicine.The 45-year-old doctor of Myohyangsan Oriental Medical Clinic gives a good i
Smoking to be banned at three Seoul plazas

Feb 6, 2011

Smoking will be prohibited at three main squares in central Seoul from March and those who break the ban will be fined 100,000 won ($94) from June after a three-month grace period.Under the city administration’s ordinance putting stricter regulations on outdoor smoking, the no-smoking public areas will be expanded to 23 parks by September and 295 bus stops on central lanes by the end of the year.