Another South Korean woman who was forced into sexual slavery by Japan during its occupation of Korea in the first half of the 20th century died Sunday, a local civic group said, bringing the number of known living South Korean victims of the sex slavery to 37.According to the House of Sharing, Kim Gun-ja died aged 91 at the shelter for living “comfort women,” a euphemistic term for sex slaves forced to work in Japan’s military brothels, south of Seoul, at 7:51 a.m. Born in Pyeongchang, Gangwon

Labor minister-nominee Kim Young-joo is a third-term legislator who switched from basketball courts to labor unions in her career pursuits. (Yonhap)Kim played on a bank-owned basketball team and later became an employee of the bank. In 1985, she became the leader of the women's committee at the bank's union, her first step into labor activities.Kim's focus has been on gender equality in employment and workplaces. In 1995, she became the first woman to serve as vice chairman of the country's fina

Slumping South Korean infielder Hwang Jae-gyun has been demoted to the minor leagues by the San Francisco Giants. (Yonhap)The Giants made the move on Saturday (local time), with Hwang having lost his playing time at third base since the return of Eduardo Nunez from the disabled list.The 29-year-old batted .167 with a home run and three RBIs in13 games since getting called up in late June. He homered in his major league debut on June 28 but got mired in a 6-for-36 slump in July.In Triple-A Sacram

Financial investors of Dongbu Daewoo Electronics are moving to sell 100 percent of their stakes in the appliance maker, which is raising questions about the future of the company, market watchers said Sunday. Dongbu Daewoo at 2013 Latin America Dealer Convention (Yonhap)Sources said that Korea Securities Finance Corp., KTB Private Equity and other FIs took steps last month aimed at selling the home electronics company.Investors control 45.8 percent of the company's stakes, while Dongbu Group hol

The number of young people who left their jobs due to involuntary reasons reached a fresh record high in May amid the tightened job market, government data showed Sunday. (Yonhap)A total of 372,000 employees aged between 15 and 29 lost their jobs as of end-May on occasions like contract expiration or the companies they worked for closing down, according to the data by Statistics Korea.The May figure marked the highest monthly figure since 2004 when the statistics office started to compile such d

The Fair Trade Commission overturned a preliminary decision on penalizing a franchise in a rare move to increase the amount of levied fines, an indication that the watchdog is serious about punishing unfair business practices. (Yonhap)Bon IF, a foods company, was fined 46 million won ($41,108) and ordered to take corrective measures in an initial decision by the FTC in March. The franchise had been the first company to be penalized for hyping advertisement and misinforming its brand licensees by

President Moon Jae-in nominated an incumbent ruling party lawmaker as labor minister on Sunday after his previous pick withdrew amid strong objection from opposition parties. President Moon Jae-in and Rep. Kim Young-jooRep. Kim Young-joo of the ruling Democratic Party was nominated to lead the labor ministry, according to presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun. Kim is a third-term lawmaker and known to have built her expertise in the National Assembly on environment and labor issues. "She is the r

The torrential downpour in the central regions could bring up to 100 millimeters more rain through late afternoon Sunday, the Korea Meteorological Administration says. 　Torrential monsoon rains, along with lightning and thunder, battered the country Sunday, with some roads and bridges closed and trains halted in Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi Province and Gangwon Province.(Yonhap)The KMA said some 20 to 70 mm more rain is forecast, with up to 100 mm in some areas in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinc

South Korea's defense ministry has been making a push to adjust the functions of its cyber security and anti-espionage units, each criticized for getting involved in politics and undue monitoring of individual soldiers, a military source said Sunday. (Yonhap)"Since Defense Minister Song Young-moo took office, we have been preparing reform measures for the ministry's Cyber Command and the Defense Security Command," the source said on condition of anonymity. "They will likely include measures aime

More elderly people are dying lonely deaths as society ages and families are being replaced by single-person households, data showed Sunday. (Yonhap)According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 1,232 people who died last year had no family members who could be contacted.The number of such deaths has been gradually rising, from 693 in 2011 to 741 in 2012, 922 in 2013, 1,008 in 2014 and 1,245 in 2015.It marks a 77.8 percent increase over the past five years.Some 24.6 percent of these people we

Record high temperatures sweeping South Korea is causing people to change the way they shop, with more consumers opting to purchase goods at night, industry data showed Sunday. (Yonhap)Retail data compiled by stores like E-Mart showed from July 1 through the 20th, people visiting stores from 8 p.m. to midnight made up 27.9 percent of the total, up a significant 4.1 percentage points from the 23.8 percent average tallied for the first six months of this year. It said sales figures for hours befor

With the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics 200 days away, the local tourism industry and the government are gearing up for the quadrennial sports event with a wide array of events aimed at attracting more foreign and local visitors. This photo, provided by the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics organizing committee on Feb. 10, 2017, shows PyeongChang Olympic Stadium, the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, under construction in PyeongChang, Gangwon

On Thursday afternoon, the 17th Korea Queer Film Festival kicks off, the latest event in a monthlong program organized as part of the Korea Queer Culture Festival.Saturday’s gay pride parade proved a massive success, drawing a record 85,000 people to Seoul Plaza. The turnout apparently shows Korea becoming more understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and the organizers hope to build on that.From left to right: Holic and Ha-re stand outside the Korea Herald building

A Korean man recently shared stories of discrimination he has faced because of his “foreigner-like looks” on KBS2 talk show “Hello Counselor.”On Monday’s episode, a Korean man talked about discriminatory comments and treatment he received because of his dark skin and “foreigner-like” facial features. (KBS)In addition to being stared at, he has even heard derogatory comments like “Foreigners like you are the ones who drive our country into this mess.” Despite his appearance, however, he is native

President Moon Jae-in was set to hold a rare meeting with ruling and opposition party leaders Wednesday, where he was widely expected to seek their support for the new government and its policies. (Yonhap)The five-way meeting involving ruling Democratic Party chief Choo Mi-ae and the leaders of three opposition parties was to be held over lunch at the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae.The three opposition party leaders are Park Joo-sun of the liberal People's Party, Lee Hye-hoon of the splinter