South Korean soldiers have been using substandard exercise clothes and berets for years, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said amid continued reports about poorly fed troops. According to DAPA data released by Rep. Yoon Joo-kyung of the main opposition People Power Party on Thursday, eight of the 18 companies that provide apparel for the military has supplied substandard exercise clothes and berets. The total cost of the faulty products supplied by the eight firms over the past

Defense Minister Suh Wook convened a meeting of top military commanders Thursday to discuss troops' living conditions, his office said, amid continued complaints over poor meal quality, especially for those under coronavirus quarantine. Earlier this month, the defense ministry unveiled a set of measures to improve service members' living conditions, including a plan to raise the average daily meal cost, following a series of complaints over the quality of meals. Yet questions were raised over

Seven witnesses saw man walk into river the day Sohn Jung-min disappeared

The Seoul city government said Wednesday it plans to install "smart poles" at riverside parks along the Han River to strengthen CCTV surveillance as safety concerns have grown in the wake of the death of a medical college student. Smart poles, also known as intelligent light poles, can perform their prime function of shining light along with other advanced functionality such as CCTV, public Wi-Fi and Internet of Things (IOT) sensors. Calls have risen in recent weeks for installing mo

Two report Guillain-Barre syndrome after AstraZeneca vaccinations

President Moon Jae-in commemorated the anniversary of a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju on Tuesday with a call for finding the truth behind the bloody crackdown by soldiers and recovery of victims' honor. Thanks to "courageous" testimonies by some of those involved, "We are coming close to the truth of Gwangju," Moon wrote on his Facebook and Twitter accounts in commemoration of the May 18 Democratization Movement. In Gwangju, 329 kilometers south of Seoul, at that t

The case of a 21-year-old medical student found dead in the Han River on April 30, which has received much media interest, took a new turn on Monday as his friend spoke out through his lawyer for the first time. Sohn Jung-min went missing early on April 25 after drinking overnight with his friend at a riverside park in Banpo, Seoul, and was found dead in the river days later. As Sohn’s father desperately looked for his son, and after he told the press that he wanted to know how his son g

South Koreans appear to be almost evenly divided on whether to remedy the current parliamentary confirmation hearings for minister nominees, a poll said Monday, as the ruling party and the presidential office are pushing to shift the focus of the system to their job performance ability. In the Realmeter poll of 500 adults nationwide conducted Friday, 47.9 percent agreed to the need to refurbish the present confirmation hearing system, while 45.5 percent expressed an opposite view. The remaining

Major conglomerates in South Korea are introducing paid leave of 1-3 days for workers who get COVID-19 vaccine shots, following the government’s recommendation. CJ Group was the latest to announce it would introduce the system, allowing its employees to take two days off work -- the day of the vaccination and the day after. Those who suffer from side effects of the vaccine can take one more day off paid, without a doctor’s note, the company said. The vaccination leave is also g

Uncommitted voters without preference for a particular political party outnumbered respective supporters of the two biggest rival parties, a poll showed Sunday. According to the poll conducted by Gallup Korea on 1,000 people aged 18 or over from Tuesday through Thursday, 30 percent of the respondents said they do not support any party, up 1 percentage point from the previous week. Twenty-eight percent threw their support behind the ruling Democratic Party (DP), down 2 percentage points from

The court said Friday that it had rejected an injunction request from NGOs to ban the sales and distribution of a memoir of North Korea’s founder Kim Il-sung. Kim Seung-kyun, who runs a company that used to trade with North Korea, republished the eight-volume memoirs, titled “With the Century,” last month for the first time in South Korea, and sales of the books once called by the Supreme Court “an item of expression that benefits the enemy” began. The set of book

Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung has overtaken Yoon Seok-youl, the former prosecutor general, for the first time in a hypothetical two-way presidential hopeful poll released Friday. In a survey conducted by Gallup Korea on 1,007 adults nationwide from Tuesday to Wednesday, 42 percent picked Gov. Lee, affiliated with the ruling Democratic Party (DP), as their favored candidate for the next presidential election slated for March 2022. Yoon, who has led the presidential hopefuls' race in various pol

Death of intoxicated medical student spurs review

WASHINGTON -- Two lawmakers from South Korea's main opposition People Power Party arrived in the United States on Wednesday for talks on possible US assistance to help relieve South Korea's COVID-19 vaccine shortage. Rep. Park Jin stressed the need to quickly secure vaccines for his country, calling his trip a bipartisan effort. "There is a need to strengthen the South Korea-US alliance and enhance their relations in various areas including vaccine cooperation," he said. "We wil

‘Big Three’ focus on social welfare policy as they outline platforms