A direct telephone line between the leaders of South and North Koreas on Friday ahead of their summit a week later.One end of the hotline is Cheong Wa Dae, and the other end will be at Pyongyang’s State Affairs Commission, of which North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is the chairman.Working-level officials were to make a test call on Friday, a Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters.President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim are expected to have their first telephone conversation via the hotlin

Korean television entertainment shows are still replete with gender stereotypes and even comical portrayals of sexual violence, according to a recent study.The Korean Institute for Gender Equality Promotion and Education said on Thursday that monitoring of the 33 most watched TV entertainment shows aired in the first seven days of March found 56 cases of gender bias. This was eight times the number of cases in which content promoted gender equality over the same period, and nearly triple the 19

Former short track speedskating champion Choi Min-kyung has pressed charges against her boss for sexual assault.Choi, who won a gold medal in the 3,000-meter short track relay at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, now works at the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee.In a complaint filed with police on Tuesday, Choi said her boss at KSOC had wrapped her arms around Choi’s neck and kissed her in a karaoke room during a get-together with colleagues in July last year.Choi said it was extremely unpleasan

Under a revised code of conduct that took effect Tuesday, public officials are now required to report in advance all personal meetings with retired officials.Civil servants must report to the head of their agency if they plan to play golf, travel, engage in other leisure activities or personally meet with a former colleague who has retired within the past two years. This is to prevent any chance of granting privileges to retired public officials or colluding with them.Those who violate the code

The Supreme Court said Friday it overturned a lower court decision to reinstate a professor who was fired for sexually harassing students, saying it lacked sensitivity to gender equality.The top court sent the case back to the Seoul High Court for retrial, and stressed that judges should apply gender sensitivity in handling cases of sexual wrongdoing, presenting a yardstick for future trials as the #MeToo movement sweeps the country. Gender sensitivity refers to the aim of understanding societal

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon officially announced his candidacy for a third term Thursday, joining the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s primary for the June local elections.Park will compete against four-term lawmaker Park Young-sun and three-term lawmaker Woo Sang-ho for the party’s nomination.The winner of the primary will run against former presidential hopeful Ahn Cheol-soo of the minor Bareunmirae Party and former Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Moon-soo of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party

More than half of the elderly who collect waste paper for a living were found to be earning less than 100,000 won ($94) a month.In a survey of 2,417 people aged 65 and above who collect waste paper in Seoul, 51.9 percent said they made less than 100,000 won a month, the city government said Tuesday.Nearly three-quarters of them were aged 76 or above.“As the price of waste paper dropped recently, they are in greater need of help to meet basic food and clothing needs,” a city official said.“They a

A convicted sex offender under investigation for another alleged sex crime fled abroad while wearing an electronic monitoring device, and was repatriated, police said on Tuesday. The Seoul Nowon Police Station said it arrested the man surnamed Shin at the Incheon International Airport last Thursday after he was sent back from Ho Chi Minh City with the cooperation of Vietnamese police. It is the first time a criminal under surveillance left the country while wearing an electronic tag. A man convi

The verdict on former President Park Geun-hye came after her key accomplices in the massive corruption and influence-peddling scandal were found guilty and sentenced to jail terms.In February, Park’s longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil was sentenced to 20 years in prison, a fine of 18 billion won ($16.9 million) and forfeiture of 7.29 billion won on convictions of bribery, abuse of power and coercion, among others. The ruling on Choi was made by the same judge that handed down the verdict on Park

The court has once again denied a warrant to detain former South Chungcheong Province Gov. An Hee-jung on sexual offense charges. The Seoul Western District Court decided not to issue the warrant early Thursday, saying the accusations against An are arguable and there is not enough proof that he may flee or destroy evidence.This is the second time the court has denied a warrant for An, who is accused of forcing his secretary to have sex with him multiple times.   Former South Chungcheong Provinc

Ruling and opposition parties on Wednesday failed to narrow differences on how to revise the Constitution and normalize this month’s extraordinary National Assembly session.Floor leaders Woo Won-shik of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Kim Sung-tae of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, Kim Dong-cheol of the Bareun Future Party and Roh Hoe-chan of a joint floor negotiation bloc of the Justice Party and Party for Democracy and Peace held a breakfast meeting, but couldn’t reach a comprom

The Seoul mayoral election in June is expected to be a three-way race, with former opposition leader and presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo running against contenders of the two main parties.Ahn will declare his candidacy Wednesday, an official of the Bareun Future Party said Sunday. Ahn currently heads the party’s committee for recruiting local election candidates.Incumbent Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea plans to run for a third term, while the main oppositi

The court has extended the detention period for former President Lee Myung-bak until April 10 for further investigation into corruption allegations against him.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said on Friday that the court has approved the extension by 10 days as more time was needed to indict him.Under the law on criminal procedure, a suspect can be kept in custody for a maximum of 20 days through an extension of the detention period by up to 10 days upon the court’s approval. The

The chief of Ulsan police, who has been accused of political maneuvering by the Liberty Korea Party, is now under fire for playing golf with members of a partner organization. According to news reports, Hwang Woon-ha, commissioner of the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency, played golf with members of a committee for youth safety in November, and a committee official paid the green fee for Hwang. After finding out that his green fee had already been paid, Hwang said he gave the committee official a

South Korea‘s political parties showed mixed responses to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.The ruling Democratic Party of Korea said it believes the summit “created an opportunity that would help find a peaceful resolution to the North’s nuclear issue through dialogue.”“The more North Korea comes out to the diplomatic stage, the easier it will be to solve problems of the Korean Peninsula,” the party’s spokesperson Kim Hyun said in a statement Wednesday.“