Four Korean pharmaceutical companies will export their products, including antibiotics and anticancer drugs, to a Saudi Arabian firm for the next five years, the Health Ministry said Wednesday, as a result of President Park Geun-hye’s business-oriented trip to the country this week.The representatives of the Korean firms ― JW Holdings, Chong Kun Dang Holdings, Boryung Pharm and BC World Pharm Co. ― signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi firm Sudair Pharmaceutical Co. on Tuesday in S

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is speeding up its investigation into alleged water contamination near the Yongsan Garrison, the U.S. military base in central Seoul.The city’s inspectors plan to request approval from the United States Forces Korea next month to obtain a sample of underground water from the base for further research after completing a preliminary investigation last month.About 10 city officials accessed the site last month to begin inspecting the ground water tube wells, the ci

South Korean nationals who run international marriage agencies in the Philippines may be subject to legal punishment including prison terms, the Philippines government recently told Seoul.According to South Korea’s Gender Equality Ministry, it is the first time the Southeast Asian country has sent an official notice on the matter. Under the Philippines’ Anti-Mail-Order Bride Law, which was established in the 1990s, matchmaking agencies that connect Filipino women to foreign nationals for marriag

South Korea’s government report to be submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council has excluded issues affecting sexual minorities and Sewol ferry victims, local NGOs and activists claimed Sunday.Human rights experts say the government omitted some of the most crucial issues to avoid international criticism.The UNHRC asks its member countries’ governments and NGOs to each submit a report about their human rights situation. Once submitted, the UNHRC reviews the documents and releases its

More language support programs will be launched for multicultural families this year, according to the Gender Equality Ministry and municipal governments.The programs have been organized to encourage multicultural children to learn their parents’ mother tongues as well as the Korean language.They consist of classes for the migrant’s spouse and Korean in-laws on the importance of bilingual education, as well as separate sessions for foreign-born parents on how to support their children in a bilin

An expensive drug for the treatment of myelofibrosis, a rare bone marrow cancer, will be covered by the national health insurance in South Korea starting next month.With the coverage, patients only have to pay 170,000 won ($154) compared to 6 million won, previously, for the same amount of the drug ― one pill per day. The Health Insurance Review & Assessment service predicts that some 450 patients with high-risk myelofibrosis will benefit from the coverage. About 700 South Koreans suffer from th

Less-educated women in South Korea have an increased chance of dying of cancer, including breast cancer and cervical cancer, a study showed.The statistics show that socioeconomic inequality in women’s cancer mortality is rising here, the researchers said.According to Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, the death rate of women who never finished elementary school and died from breast cancer was 8.5 out of 100,000 in 2001. A decade later, that statistic jumped to 29.1 out of 100,000.However, the deat

Almost 40 percent of elderly dementia patients in Seoul are being supported and taken care of by their spouses, according to the municipal government.Of the 360 dementia patients who were surveyed last year from June to August, 39 percent were being looked after by their wives or husbands, while 23.6 were cared for by their daughters. Almost 15 percent were supported by their sons, while 12.9 percent were assisted by their daughters-in-law. Among all caretakers, 55 percent said they are supporti

South Korea’s increasing number of delayed marriages is one of the biggest factors behind the country’s low birth rate, a report has shown.According to Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, the out-of-wedlock birth rate in South Korea in 2010 was 2.1 percent, which was dramatically lower than the rate in countries such as Ireland and Norway. Norway’s out-of-wedlock fertility rate was 55 percent, while Ireland’s was 64.1 percent in the same year. Meanwhile, Japan’s rate was 2.2 percent.

South Korean women with graduate degrees have much lower marriage prospects than those with undergraduate degrees only, according to a report by Korea University.The study, involving 524 individuals from different social and economic backgrounds, began in 2000 and lasted for 10 years. All of the participants were single in 2000.According to the study, women with either master’s or doctorate degrees were 58.3 percent less likely to marry than those who only had undergraduate degrees.Also, women w

The number of children aged 13 and under who sought help for domestic violence increased dramatically in 2014 from the year before, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.According to the ministry, the number of children who visited the state-run Sunflower Center ― a shelter for women and children with 34 branches nationwide ― for domestic violence increased by 131.7 percent last year from 2013.Also, children accounted for 10.7 percent of a total of 5,571 domestic violence victi