Two South Korean victims of Japan’s sexual slavery during World War II on Thursday offered humanitarian assistance totaling 1.3 million won ($1,150) to quake-hit regions in Japan. Kim Bok-dong, 90, and Kil Won-ok, 87, offered the money to aid Japan’s rescue and restoration efforts for the disaster-stricken Kumamoto prefecture.The first quake on April 14 and the larger magnitude-7.3 quake 27 hours later left 48 people dead and more than 1,100 injured, with aftershocks continuing to strike the are

Amid the prosecution’s widening probe into Oxy Reckitt Benckiser Korea and other companies related to their toxic humidifier disinfectants, the British firm apologized on Thursday to victims and unveiled a plan to offer an additional 5 billion won ($4.4 million) in humanitarian assistance.　In a letter released Thursday afternoon, the company addressed its “social responsibility” in deaths and diseases caused by its humidifier sterilizers, saying it would cooperate with investigators to solve the

Maria, a 25-year-old dancer from a small country in West Africa, sustained leg injuries after falling on a slippery floor during a performance in 2012. The young migrant worker used to work for the African Art Museum in Pocheon, which later made headlines for their appalling working conditions for African workers in 2014. Her employer neither took her to a hospital nor paid for her medical expenses when she cried for help. Foreign workers attend a rally calling for protection of their rights in

This year’s Queer Cultural Festival will kick off on June 11 with a pride parade to be held in central Seoul, its organizing committee said Monday. The rainbow-studded pride parade will take place in Seoul Plaza for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender revelers and their supporters under the slogan “QUEER I AM.”During the nine-day Queer Festival, the main overnight party “Private Beach” will be hosted on June 11, after the parade. Films about sexual minorities will be played in major cinemas a

On a Sunday afternoon, fishmongers cheerfully call out to customers in several languages to lure them into buying seafood displayed in their small tanks and baskets lined up at the front -- a typical scene at the Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market located in western Seoul. (Ock Hyun-ju/The Korea Herald)But in what is a usually vibrant and lively fish market drawing some 30,000 customers a day, tension is running high. Red ribbons reading “Opposition to relocation of fish market” or “Please sa

A Japanese reporter cleared of defaming South Korean President Park Geun-hye last year filed a criminal compensation suit against the government recently, according to legal sources. Tatsuya Kato, former Seoul bureau chief for Japanese right-wing daily Sankei Shimbun, on March 18 demanded financial compensation to cover legal costs and transport fees incurred while standing trial in Korea. Tatsuya Kato (Yonhap)Under the country’s criminal law, the wrongly accused, whose charges are cleared in co

The local polling industry is in a sense of crisis after failing to forecast many of the outcomes of Wednesday’s parliamentary election, with questions growing over the validity of opinion surveys. In the election, the opposition bloc made an unexpectedly strong showing, defying the expectations of local pollsters and analysts, who thought that the ruling conservative party would easily regain the majority. Saenuri took 122 seats in the 300-member National Assembly, while The Minjoo Party of Kor

The provisional voter turnout in Wednesday’s election reached 58 percent, marking the highest for a general election in 12 years.More than 24.4 million of over 42.1 million eligible voters cast ballots at 13,873 polling stations to elect 300 members to the 20th National Assembly, who will serve four-year terms. The turnout is 3.8 percentage points higher than in the previous general election in 2012, according to the National Election Commission. (Yonhap)The official turnout was set to be announ

Voter turnout in South Korea’s parliamentary election stood at 16.1 percent as of 11 a.m., six hours after polls opened Friday, according to the National Election Commission.The voter turnout does not include early voting, overseas voting and absentee voting. (Yonhap)In the last general election, the voter turnout recorded 24.9 percent as of 11 a.m. The country saw the highest voter turnout in Gangwon Province at 19.8 percent, while Daejeon recorded the lowest turnout of 14.3 percent. The voter

The number of asylum seekers in South Korea has steadily increased in recent years since it began accepting refugee applications in 1994, government statistics showed. With millions of people fleeing conflicts in war zones across the world, South Korea saw a surge in the number of asylum seekers from 1,574 in 2013 to 2,896 in 2014 and 4,265 last year. The number of those who were granted asylum, too, rose from 57 to 94 and on to 106 during the same period.Since 1994, the country has accepted 576

A migrant workers advocacy group called for an end to the government’s “inhumane” crackdown on unregistered foreign workers in Seoul on Thursday, following the government’s announcement to reduce the rate of illegal migrants to below 10 percent by 2018. An association of some 60 lawyers, foreigners and labor rights groups urged the government to revise the Employment Permit System to curb illegal migration in a press conference held in front of the immigration building in western Seoul. Migrant