Thousands of people marched through central Seoul on Saturday to stand up for equality and respect for sexual minorities in South Korea’s biggest-ever pride parade, despite vocal opposition from antigay protestors. An estimated 50,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, along with their supporters, turned up at Seoul Plaza to demonstrate their pride and fight homophobia under the slogan “Queer I Am.”  Participants march through central Seoul at the Pride Parade, waving rainbow-colored

Police concluded Thursday that the gang rape of a female teacher in an island village was a premeditated crime, with the case expected to be transferred to the prosecution the next day.Two men, who were her students’ parents, and a villager are suspected of raping the temporary primary school teacher in Shinan County, South Jeolla Province, at her on-campus residence last month. The Mokpo Police Station said that it will ask prosecutors to indict the suspects in their 30s and 40s on charges of r

The prosecution on Thursday raided printing and advertising companies suspected of offering a rebate to a lawmaker as part of the probe into election law violations. The Western District Prosecutors’ Office did not specify which locations were searched and what items were seized through the raid. The raid came after the National Election Commission filed a complaint against Rep. Kim Soo-min of the third-largest People’s Party for alleged election law violations. Rep. Kim Soo-min Park Hae-mook/Th

A Seoul court on Wednesday began to hear a case involving an Australian woman who was allegedly drugged, abducted and raped during a night out in Seoul last year. Airdre Mattner, who now teaches English in Japan, came forward as a rape victim in March through her campaign to raise funds on the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe. The case shed light on Korea’s justice system and its alleged failure to protect sexual assault victims. “I feel exhausted. I have absolutely no faith in the Korean justice

Activists and families of toxic humidifier victims held a joint news conference on Tuesday with an advocacy group representing families of Samsung employees who contracted diseases or died, calling for a safer society.At the joint event held outside Samsung’s headquarters in southern Seoul, the participants denounced “conglomerates’ profit-focused practices and the government’s inaction,” which they saw as the major reason behind hundreds of deaths related to industries.EXPANDING PROTEST -- Memb

Citizens pay tribue to 19-year-old worker, surnamed Kim, who was killed by an arriving train while repairing a safety door on subway platform, at the memorial site inside Guui Station in eastern Seoul, Saturday. (Ock Hyun-ju/The Korea Herald)On Saturday, a week after a 19-year-old irregular worker died while repairing a screen door on a subway platform at Guui Station, hundreds of people took to the streets calling for a fundamental change to a “money-focused” society. Since the worker’s death o

A South Korean man, suspected of murdering a 63-year-old woman on a mountain trail, apologized to the victim before taking part in a police reenactment of the crime scene on Friday. The ex-murder convict Kim Hak-bong, 61, is suspected of stabbing the victim to death in her neck and stomach in the early hours of Sunday near the entrance of the Mount Suraksan trail on northeastern Seoul. He turned himself in on the same day. “I am sorry to the victim and her family,” Kim told reporters, when stepp

For 26-year-old office worker Lee Hye-ri, it seems like a far-fetched dream to exercise and enjoy her hobbies after work every day. It is quite difficult to imagine life outside her workplace as she works as late as 11 p.m.The newcomer, who was employed by a state-run company last year, often works overtime and sometimes works at home on weekends. She dozes off on the bus while commuting and sleeps a lot on weekends to fight a chronic lack of sleep. 　“It has become a habit to work overtime. I mi

With the launch of the 20th National Assembly on Monday, the labor minister has renewed calls for the swift passage of bills to boost the sluggish economy and create jobs. The ruling Saenuri Party was set to resubmit four labor market reform bills aimed to improve labor conditions and provide more flexibility to the market. The bills failed to pass the 19th National Assembly amid objection from labor unions and the opposition bloc.Employment and Labor Minister Lee Ki-kweon underscored the need f

For South Koreans, a platter of fried chicken, whether it is seasoned in soy, pan-fried in hot and sweet sauce or deep-fried in oil, has become an iconic dish that is typically downed with draft beer or soju any day of the week. But for 54-year-old housewife Kim Young-mi, deep-fried chicken was once a special treat her late father used to bring home on payday or for special occasions in her childhood. “It was when Korea was poor and meat was scarce,” she said. “I gave most of the chicken to my y

South Korean prosecution said that it indicted 10 people including two foreigners on Friday on charges of smuggling drugs into Korea. According to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office, it detained a 28-year-old French man suspected of selling drugs, including cannabis and ecstasy, in clubs in Seoul after buying them from websites based in the U.S., U.K., and Netherlands via international parcel services.  (Yonhap)The investigators also indicted a U.S. national, 30, who teaches at an in

A prosecutor-turned-lawyer was summoned Friday for questioning over suspicions that he peddled influence in the legal circles for his clients and evaded taxes, amid the widening probe into a high-profile corruption scandal. Hong Man-pyo, 56, is suspected of having used his connections in the judiciary to seek a lenient ruling for Jung Woon-ho, CEO of local cosmetics company Nature Republic, over his overseas gambling charges. “I will take responsibility for what I did, and will cooperate with in

Following a South Korean court’s rejection to recognize same-sex marriage, the country’s most outspoken gay couple and civic groups lodged a protest, calling for equal rights at a press conference Thursday.Filmmakers Kim Jho Gwang-soo, 51, and his partner Kim Sung-hwan, 32, the first gay couple to openly tie the knot in Korea in 2013, expressed their disappointment with the court decision that they denounced as abandoning the responsibility to uphold justice. Gay Korean couple Kim Jho Gwang-soo,

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of people gathered to mourn the death of a 23-year-old woman outside exit 10 of Gangnam Station, leaving post-it messages, flowers and wiping their tears. 　But the peaceful mourning was soon disturbed by the arrival of a group of men with their faces covered. They held up placards that read: “Not all men are potential criminals” and “Only those (who) commit crimes are bad.” Enraged by the placards and by some of the men who attempted to take post-it memos off the wa