A record number of ships had accidents at sea last year, with over 90 percent caused by human errors, Korea Coast Guard statistics showed.Accidents involving 3,160 vessels were reported to 18 maritime police stations across the nation last year, up 11.3 percent from the previous year, according to data posted on the government statistics portal.The figure is the highest since the Korea Coast Guard began compiling the figures in 1993.The number of casualties in last year’s ship accidents was also

The economics department at Seoul National University is expected to hire its first female Korean professor in its 72-year history.In posting a job opening for an economics professor last month, the university’s College of Social Sciences said only women are eligible to apply.The college said this was due to the Education Officials Act that calls for policies to provide equal opportunities for both genders in appointing faculty members.Currently, all of the 35 professors at SNU’s economics depar

In nearly two-fifths of elder abuse cases, the perpetrators were sons of the victims, a report showed.According to an annual report issued by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Elder Protection Agency, 12,009 cases of elder abuse were reported to 29 state-run regional elder protection agencies in 2016. Authorities determined that 35.6 percent of them, or 4,280 cases, were actual cases of elder abuse. The figure marked a 12.1 percent increase from the previous year.Emotional abuse a

A Ministry of Justice panel said Monday it will review how the ministry and the prosecution have dealt with sexual misconduct by their staff. The committee for measures against sexual harassment and sexual crimes was launched after a prosecutor revealed on television in January that she had been molested by a former senior ministry official.The panel will look into 130 cases of sexual misconduct over the past five years -- 50 within the prosecution and 80 within the ministry and its affiliated o

President Moon Jae-in’s top security adviser is visiting Washington to discuss matters related to the upcoming summit between the US and North Korea, Cheong Wa Dae confirmed Friday.Chung Eui-yong, chief of the presidential National Security Office, traveled to Washington on Thursday at the request of the White House National Security Council, according to an official at the presidential office.“Chung went to the US at the request of the NSC for closed-door talks about the summit between the US a

The court on Thursday rejected the prosecution’s request for warrants to detain an executive of Samsung Electronics’ after-sales service affiliate and two chiefs of its partner firms over their alleged attempts to sabotage labor union activities. The executive of Samsung Electronics Service, surnamed Yun, is suspected of leading an operation to bring down the union from July 2013 to late 2015. The Seoul Central District Court said it is “difficult to acknowledge the reasons

Police on Thursday questioned two lawyers in connection with an influential blogger charged with rigging online comments on news articles about the Moon Jae-in administration.The blogger, who goes by the alias “Druking,” was arrested and indicted last month for allegedly using a computer program to boost the number of “likes” for comments critical of the government in January.Once an avid supporter of Moon, Druking requested Rep. Kim Kyoung-soo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea have two la

Prosecutors are looking at ways to forfeit criminal proceeds from embezzlement, in addition to bribes, drawing attention to whether more of former President Lee Myung-bak’s assets will be put on hold.The Seoul Central District Court last month approved the prosecution’s request to freeze 11.1 billion won ($10.3 million) worth of Lee’s assets, matching the amount of kickbacks he is accused of having received.The court said the decision forbids Lee from making any transactions on those assets, inc

Four in 5 Koreans said they support the #MeToo movement, according to survey results released Wednesday.In a poll of 1,013 citizens and 70 gender policy experts conducted last month by the Korea Women’s Development Institute, 79.8 percent of the citizens said they support the movement against sexual harassment and assault.Some 14.4 percent of the citizens said they did not support it.Over 7 in 10 citizens said the public’s level of interest in sexual harassment, sexual violence and gender discri

More medical disputes are being negotiated since the enactment of a revised law that allows a state-run agency to begin mediation for medical malpractice without the consent of hospitals or doctors.The “Shin Hae-chul law,” named after the singer who suddenly died following a controversial stomach surgery in 2014, went into effect in late 2016.The surgeon who did not provide proper care to singer Shin Hae-chul after an abdominal surgery in 2014 is arrested in this file photo. (Yonhap)According to

Nearly 4 in 5 (77.4 percent) female officials at central government ministries said there is gender discrimination in promotions, according to survey results released Monday.Some 64.5 percent of male civil servants said, however, there is no gender discrimination in promotions, revealing a gap in perception between the genders.Women picked the “male-oriented organizational culture” (29.8 percent) and “disadvantage for taking maternity leave or child care leave” (22.4 percent) as the key reasons

The Supreme Court on Thursday finalized an 18-month prison term for an aide to former President Park Geun-hye for leaking confidential presidential documents to Park’s friend at the center of a massive corruption scandal.It was the first Supreme Court verdict on a case implicating Park as an accomplice in the influence-peddling scandal that led to her impeachment and removal from office last year.Jeong Ho-seong was indicted last November for providing 47 classified documents, under Park’s instru

Three minor opposition parties on Wednesday called on the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and main opposition Liberty Korea Party to revive efforts to amend the Constitution. The rival parties failed to reach an agreement on revising the law on national referendums in time to put the constitutional amendment to a public vote alongside local elections in June.President Moon Jae-in criticized the National Assembly on Tuesday for failing to make the referendum possible in June, and for not even on

Three opposition parties agreed to work on regulating large internet portals’ news service and comments sections in the wake of an opinion rigging scandal involving former ruling party members.In addition to editing and arranging news articles, Web portals in Korea show the number of clicks on each article, the rankings of the most searched keywords on a real-time basis, and places comments that get the most “likes” at the top of the comment box below the articles.The leaders and whips of the ma

Three opposition parties agreed Monday to jointly propose a bill for an independent counsel probe and request a parliamentary investigation into an opinion-rigging scandal involving former members of the ruling party. The main opposition Liberty Korea Party, the Bareunmirae Party and the Party for Democracy and Peace said they would normalize the legislature if the ruling Democratic Party of Korea accepts their proposal for a special probe. The Liberty Korea Party and the Bareunmirae Party have