More than half of Koreans oppose Seoul’s controversial new slogan “I.Seoul.U,” a survey showed Thursday. According to the survey conducted by local pollster Realmeter, 54.7 percent of the respondents were against the slogan, while only 11.9 percent supported it. Nearly 7 in 10 Seoul residents were unhappy with it.Nearly 36 percent of respondents opposed said that Seoul should keep the current slogan “Hi Seoul” while 18.9 percent thought the government should pick a new one. Last week, “I.Seoul.U

The South Korean government said Tuesday that it would send major companies guidelines on how to prevent sexual discrimination in the hiring processes in response to criticism over the lack of efforts to monitor and discipline workplaces against such violations. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said it would introduce a set of discrimination rules to 2,186 conglomerates and 82 major franchises to encourage them to root out sexual discrimination in the hiring process and at workplaces. While

South Korean women married to men from regions with stronger preference for sons tend to spend more time on housework than those in less conservative households, a study showed Friday. Korean men born in regions such as Gyeongsang Province with strong tendencies toward traditional gender roles cause imbalance in the amount of shared domestic chores with the wife, the report said.Led by economics professor Lee Chul-hee of Seoul National University, the research team studied the gender ratio at bi

South Korea’s top military court on Thursday ordered a lower court to reconsider the ruling that jailed four sergeants and corporals for beating a junior soldier to death, questioning the murder charge applied on three of them as accomplices.The court upheld the murder charge for a sergeant, surnamed Lee, for physically abusing a 23-year-old private first class Yoon Seung-joo to death, but differed on the other three equally accused of murdering Yoon as accomplices. “The murder charge can be app

The proportion of foreigners working on construction sites is steadily increasing, with those in their 40s forming the largest group, government data showed Tuesday. According to the survey released by the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association, the number of migrants who work on construction sites has risen at a fast pace, with the proportion doubling from 7 percent in 2010 to 15.5 percent last year. The government agency compiled the data based on the workers’ membership in its welfare sc

A Seoul court ordered the police on Tuesday to withdraw its decision to ban a demonstration in memory of Sewol ferry tragedy in central Seoul, questioning the authenticity of a petition that was cited.The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of a man, identified only by his surname Kim, who asked the court to lift the prohibition order by the police on holding a demonstration to pay tribute to the victims of the politically sensitive Sewol ferry disaster. Kim applied for a permit from the J

Smoking is the greatest contributing factor to ischemic strokes among young men, a recent medical study showed Monday. The research team, led by neurology professor Bae Hee-joon of Seoul National University, found that smoking plays the largest role in causing strokes for men aged 65 and younger, while high blood pressure was the main cause behind the fatal disease for those older than 65. The team studied the habits and medical records of 4,743 stroke patients, both men and women, aged 18-90 wh

A Nigerian man, who smuggled himself into South Korea to take shelter from his country’s militant Islamist group Boko Haram, faces deportation as an appeals court overturned its initial ruling Thursday. The court ruled against the Nigerian, who illegally entered the country by sea last year and applied for refugee status upon his arrival citing attacks and threats from the terrorist group in his home country. While the refugee application was in process, he filed a lawsuit to cancel the deportat