South Korea saw five new special schools open in the year ending March 31, the largest yearly increase in seven years, with new additions in Seoul, Incheon, Gangwon Province and South Chungcheong Province. Special schools are tailored to the needs of students with physical, intellectual and emotional disabilities.  According to the Ministry of Education on Sunday, the number of special schools in Korea marked 182 as of April 1. The increase is the largest since 2013, when seven new special

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung said his regional government will pay irregular workers higher wages than full-time employees. The governor said in a Facebook post Thursday that the provincial government will introduce a new bonus system, roughly translated into job insecurity bonus, for employees with a short-term, fixed contract. “If doing the same work, who should we give out higher wages? Workers with stable employment status or unstable ones?” Lee wrote, arguing that it

Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae said Wednesday that the government’s “Green New Deal” initiative is the first step in the country’s bigger, broader and long-term plan to transition to a carbon-neutral economy. In a meeting with reporters, he defended the recently-unveiled national development plan, which was criticized by environmentalists for lacking substance in green initiatives, and by economists for being insufficient to reinvigorate the pandemic-hit economy.

Worm-like creatures that were first found in tap water in Incheon were detected at seven water-purifying facilities across the country, the government confirmed Tuesday, suggesting that water contamination wasn’t limited to just Incheon. The Ministry of Environment’s three-day inspection which ended Friday found larvae of nonbiting midge and other organisms at seven out of a total of 49 water treatment centers with an activated carbon filtering system. They are two facilities in I

The Education Ministry plans to ask all of nearly 60,000 student athletes in the country about their experiences with physical and verbal abuse, after the suicide of a triathlete last month brought the issue of violence in elite sports into the spotlight. Through 17 regional educational offices, the ministry will interview all 59,252 student athletes enrolled at elementary, middle and high schools across the country to investigate all instances of abuse until Aug. 14. The survey will be condu

The Ministry of Education on Monday backed the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s decision to revoke special status to two autonomous middle schools. The ministry announced it has decided to uphold the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education’s proposal to revoke the licenses of Daewon International Middle School and Younghoon International Middle School for stratifying schools, for deepening inequality and promoting private education. The education office’s evaluation was fair a

Ruling Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Hae-chan will retire from politics next month. A memoir recapping his 50 years of involvement in local politics, spanning from his days participating in pro-democracy student activism in the 70s, to turbulent partisan politics and the inner workings of the liberal Cabinet, is in the works. Lee, 67, whose two-year term as the chief of the liberal party ends next month, will not be taking any official post in politics after that, as Lee pledged during

As coronavirus continues to rage across the US, affecting education and the job market, young Koreans who have spent years in the country studying are pivoting back to their homeland for a safer future. But many find that the grass on this side of the Pacific is not much greener. In-person classes are limited here too, as universities try to cope with the persistent threat of the virus, while the influx of students returning from abroad adds to the already fierce competition for jobs and resea

Calls are growing for the truth behind the suicide of a promising triathlete late last month, amid allegations she had repeatedly been abused by team officials. Five public petitions regarding the death of Choi Sook-hyun, posted on the website of the presidential office, together garnered more than 58,400 signatures by 5 p.m. Thursday, less than a day after they were posted.   “Another unfortunate accident occurred, and we can’t help but ask until when we should be seein

The Minimum Wage Council has been met with a stark contrast in opinion between labor and business representatives, with both sides proposing radically different figures in determining next year’s minimum wage. At the fourth plenary meeting held Wednesday, labor representatives proposed a 16.4 percent hike for next year’s minimum wage to 10,000 won, while the business circle demanded a 2.1 percent cut to 8,410 won. It is the first time the both sides shared their proposals since the

Tripartite labor, management and government dialogue fell short just 15 minutes before the scheduled signing of the final agreement Wednesday morning following strong opposition within the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the two major umbrella labor groups. The remaining parties, including the other labor group Federation of Korean Trade Unions, are waiting for the KCTU to reach an internal agreement soon, but it is becoming increasingly likely that the deal may never be inked as i

Seoul City’s education chief vowed to reduce educational disparity and innovate the current grading system to promote equal opportunities for all students. The initiatives are intended to support the liberal Moon Jae-in administration’s educational reform promoting social fairness, which has also called for abolition of elite institutions across the country. The policy has faced some controversy for depriving students of educational choice. Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Su

Tripartite dialogue between sector representatives of labor, business and the government to find ways to overcome the COVID-19 crisis is forecast to end with no solid outcome within this month, as scheduled, as the three parties are nowhere near closing gaps between their drastically different arguments and demands. The parties agree on the need to stabilize employment and support businesses struggling from fallen profit levels, but the ways to achieve those goals and how to finance support ini

In light of two brutal child abuse cases that grabbed major headlines of Korean media outlets, many angry Koreans are calling for tough penalties on parents who abuse their children under the pretext of discipline. Earlier this month, police arrested a stepmother in her 40s after her 9-year-old stepson died days after having been found unconscious inside a suitcase. According to the police, the boy was locked up inside the suitcase -- measuring 44 centimeters across and 6 centimeters wide -- f

Controversy over the Incheon International Airport Corp.’s plan to directly hire security workers has spilt over into the political arena, with the main opposition party pinpointing President Moon Jae-in’s “zero irregular job” initiative as the root cause of the problem.  Public outcry erupted when the state-run airport operator, favored by many job seekers for its job security and benefits, announced plans last week to grant permanent positions to 1,902 contract a