Japan’s national interests could be eventually undermined unless it heeds calls for resolving a long-standing issue of wartime sex slaves that continues to fray Tokyo’s ties with its neighbors, a South Korean scholar warned Tuesday.Seok Tong-youn, secretary-general of the Seoul-based Northeast Asian History Foundation, also blasted some right-wing nationalists in Japan for trying to obliterate the Japanese military’s system of sexual slavery during World War II, denouncing the move as “nonsense.

A total of 19 trillion won ($17.6 billion) of taxpayers’ money has been channeled into South Korea’s military pension fund over the past 42 years in order to cover the fund’s deficits, data showed Monday.The South Korean government has funneled 19.12 trillion won into the military fund since 1973, when the fund went into the red for the first time, according to the data compiled by the Korea Tax Internet, a Seoul-based nonprofit organization.In comparison, the public officials’ pension has absor

The number of passengers using Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea’s top flag carrier, dropped in December apparently affected by the so-called “nut rage” that has tarnished its image among travelers, industry data showed Saturday.Cho Hyun-ah, the eldest daughter of Korean Air chairman Cho Yang-ho, resigned as a vice president for cabin service four days after a national uproar over her conduct aboard a Seoul-bound Korean Air flight from New York on Dec. 5.The plane had already been taxiing when s

The state-controlled agency for environment-related technology is vitalizing its support for Southeast Asian countries, which are seeking to improve water supply in residential areas.The Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute said Sunday that it has provided a village in Vung Tau City, Vietnam, with 300 water-purifying devices, which can filter out arsenic.It marked the first implementation of KEITI’s water purifying project in Southeast Asia, while the institute had signed pacts

The government on Thursday ordered a halt in the movement of all birds, poultry farmers and vehicles to prevent the further spread of bird flu.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said the ban will go into effect as of 6 a.m. Saturday and stay in place until 6 p.m. Sunday. A total of 106,000 people will be affected along with 31,000 facilities.Failure to follow the order could result in a maximum fine of 10 million won ($9,220) or a prison term of less than one year.The ministry s

The Korea National Red Cross said Thursday it would push to hold regular reunions of separated families and provide more humanitarian assistance to North Korea.Under the so-called Action 110 plan drawn up to mark its 110th anniversary, the KNRC will propose to its counterpart in North Korea that both entities try to organize reunions of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War on a regular basis.To that end, the KNRC plans to carry out a survey to locate living North Korean relatives of abou

The Ministry of Environment said Thursday that more than 1,000 child care centers and kindergartens across the nation had failed to meet environmental safety standards.Out of the 7,500 nurseries and preschools inspected last year, 1,309, or 17.4 percent, reported cases such as dangerous emissions, excessive levels of heavy metals in outer walls or paints, or harmful parasites in the playground.A total of 717 ― 9.8 percent of the locations ― were found to have dangerous levels of lead.Children wh

North Korea lashed out at the United States Thursday for clinching a military intelligence-sharing pact with South Korea and Japan, calling it “an attempt to be the hegemon in the Asia-Pacific region.”Late last year, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan signed the pact on sharing sensitive military information on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs to better counter Pyongyang’s evolving security threats to the region and beyond.The arrangement “is the first step for the U.S. to compete its mis

South Korea’s foreign minister will leave for Switzerland next week to attend this year’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum to discuss global economic and geopolitical issues, officials said Thursday.Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is likely to depart Seoul around Wednesday to attend the forum to be held in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, officials from the foreign ministry said. The forum is scheduled to kick off on Wednesday for a four-day run.This year’s forum is expected to draw about 2,

The ruling Saenuri Party aims to enhance fire safety measures at tall apartment buildings, having reached a consensus with the government to revise the law on firefighting in residential areas.Its move came after fire accidents at apartment buildings in Uijeongbu and Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, claimed six lives within a week. A third fire broke out at an apartment in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, with four people injured, earlier this week.The party and ministry officials in charge of public saf

The Ministry of Justice is not likely to include imprisoned business leaders on its list of recommendations for conditional release, while some conglomerate lobbies and the ruling Saenuri Party have raised the necessity of granting them parole.Since the second half of last year, conservative politicians and the business sector have continued to argue that parole for the jailed group owners is urgent for invigorating the sagging economy.According to Justice Ministry officials on Tuesday, SK Group

North Korea slammed the United States on Monday for rejecting its offer to temporarily suspend nuclear tests in return for a halt to military drills with South Korea, calling on Washington to accept the overture.On Friday, the country proposed a temporary halt to nuclear tests if the U.S. suspended joint military exercises with Seoul, expressing its willingness to have dialogue with the U.S. on the matter. But the U.S. rejected the offer, denouncing it as an “implicit threat.”“It is nonsense tha

South Korea’s military procurement agency said Monday that it had completed the deployment of an integrated monitoring system to reinforce the defense of vulnerable areas along the country’s eastern, western and southern coasts. Before deploying the 250 or so pieces of coastal monitoring equipment including thermal observation devices, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration carried out consultations with some 2,000 local residents about the deployment over the past 18 months, officials s

South Korea and the United States have held their first talks to discuss the issue of growing space debris and ways to beef up cooperation, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Friday.At the so-called space policy dialogue held in Washington Thursday, officials from Seoul and Washington exchanged views on how to cooperate with each other on the peaceful use of outer space, it said.Space debris refers to an array of now-defunct objects flying in universe such as spent satellites and used rocket parts th