Ratio of women execs at major firms more than doubles over 5 years

The share of female executives at South Korea's major firms has more than doubled over the past five years on positive factors, including last year's implementation of a related law, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. A total of 265 firms belonging to the country's top 30 business groups had a combined 726 women executives as of end-March, accounting for 6.9 percent of their total 10,561 C-suite positions, according to the Leaders Index. The proportion was up 3.7 percentage points

Social AffairsSept. 19, 2023

N. Korean leader returns home after trip to Russia: state media

Leader Kim Jong-un has crossed back into North Korea after a trip to Russia that "opened a new chapter" for the development of the bilateral relations between the two nations, Pyongyang's state media reported Tuesday. Kim passed through the Tumangang Railway Station on the border between the two countries on early Monday morning, according to the official Korean Central News Agency. Kim, who left Pyongyang on his armored train on Sept. 10, held a summit with Russian President Vlad

North KoreaSept. 19, 2023

Biden thanks S. Korea, other countries for helping achieve return of US detainees from Iran

President Joe Biden expressed his appreciation Monday to South Korea and other countries for helping achieve the return of five American citizens who were detained in Iran. Biden issued a statement celebrating their release under a rare swap deal with Tehran that reportedly saw around $6 billion in Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks under US sanctions unlocked. "I am grateful to our partners at home and abroad for their tireless efforts to help us achieve this outcome, including the

Foreign AffairsSept. 19, 2023

S. Korea, US nearing completion to revise joint deterrence strategy against NK threats

South Korea and the United States are nearing completion to revise their joint deterrence strategy document against North Korea's military threats, Seoul's defense officials said Monday, as the allies held regular defense talks here. The two sides evaluated progress in the ongoing efforts to revise the "Tailored Deterrence Strategy" (TDS) during the biannual Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) earlier in the day, officials said, with the revision set to be complete by

DefenseSept. 18, 2023

[Herald Interview] 'Indonesia's political stability, regulatory reforms offer new opportunity for Korea Inc.'

Indonesia is on a historic transition from a natural resource-dependent economy to a modern one by fostering manufacturing and service industries as drivers of future growth. During this ongoing transformation, political stability and regulatory reforms are poised to create a business-friendly environment, according to Moeldoko, Indonesia's chief of staff to President Joko Widodo. And the country wants Korean businesses, in particular, to be a part of its journey, he said. In an interview

Foreign AffairsSept. 18, 2023

Another arrest warrant sought for Actor Yoo Ah-in over alleged drug use

Prosecutors filed a request for an arrest warrant on Monday for actor Yoo Ah-in on charges of illegal drug use, four months after the court rejected the police’s request an initial warrant against him. The department investigating violent crimes under the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it has requested the court issue an arrest warrant for the 37-year-old actor. Yoo, whose real name is Uhm Hong-sick, is suspected of breaching the country’s Narcotics Control Act

Social AffairsSept. 18, 2023

Seoul to build domed baseball stadium, massive convention center in Jamsil

A domed baseball stadium and convention center will be built in Jamsil as part of Seoul City’s initiative to develop the area in Songpa-gu, southern Seoul, the city government said Monday. As part of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s eight-day trip to Canada and the US, Oh announced the city’s plans to build a domed baseball stadium and convention center after visiting the Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday. The Rogers Centre is a multi-purpose baseball stadium and is home to the Toro

Social AffairsSept. 18, 2023

Police to strengthen preventive patrol

South Korea's police authorities announced on Monday plans to reassign 2,900 back-office staff to preventive patrol duties. The organizational reform is aimed at strengthening crime prevention capabilities amid a surge in apparent senseless crimes, the National Police Agency said. Most police officers who perform back-office jobs -- largely dedicated to administrative affairs -- will be given new high-visibility roles in crowded areas and secluded areas like park walking trails This is part of a

Social AffairsSept. 18, 2023

[Bills in Focus] Human rights and environmental due diligence, more exemptions from development charges

Proposed bill: Act on Human Rights and Environment Protection for Sustainable Business Administration of Corporations Proposed by Rep. Jung Tae-ho (Democratic Party of Korea) ● ESG policies are now considered a key factor in business management in achieving corporate sustainability and long-term value. In tandem with the global trend of mandating human rights and environmental due diligence within supply chains, this bill requires companies to create plans for implementing human rights and envir

PoliticsSept. 18, 2023

Railroad strike over, but second strike may follow

The Korean Railroad Workers' Union ended its four-day general strike Monday morning, but announced the possibility of a second general strike without specifying when. “The second general strike plan has been set internally, but we will decide whether or not to go on a second strike and the exact schedule based on the Land Ministry's response,” Baek Nam-hee, the media communication chief of the railway union, said to The Korea Herald. “There are many concerns regarding

Social AffairsSept. 18, 2023

Korea stacks up 15m doses of COVID-19 vaccine for winter

The first batch of Pfizer's vaccine for XBB.1.5, an omicron subvarient of COVID-19, has arrived at Incheon Airport on Monday, according to the quarantine authorities. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said that 4.04 million doses of the latest Pfizer vaccine arrived in the afternoon, out of a total 15 million doses set aside for this year's winter vaccination program. "A lot of research has shown that those who have taken this updated COVID-19 vaccine, which i

Social AffairsSept. 18, 2023

A third of Korean households made up of single people

The landscape of Korean families has changed quite significantly over the last 30 years, with one-third of households in the country made up of single people and a fertility rate that has halved in the last two decades, government data showed Monday. According to the “Social Security in Statistics 2022” report released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of people living alone has more than doubled in the past 20 years. The number of single-person homes was 2.25 million

Social AffairsSept. 18, 2023

Yoon seeks global backing against NK after Kim-Putin talks

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol left for the 78th United Nations General Assembly on Monday to seek international support against North Korea's recent summit with Russia and promote Busan's 2030 World Expo bid. In his second attendance to the UN General Assembly since taking office last year, Yoon was expected to deliver a strong message condemning the military cooperation between North Korea and Russia during his keynote speech on Wednesday, Eastern Standard Time. Earlier last we

PoliticsSept. 18, 2023

Anti-corruption office demands indictment of ex-Defense Minister

The anti-corruption investigation office has demanded the prosecution indict former Defense Minister Song Young-moo over suspicions of abuse of power, officials said Monday. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials has been investigating Song on suspicions of forcing then senior ministry officials to make and endorse documents refuting a media report that he had said a controversial contingency martial law plan authored by the previous Park Geun-hye government "legally

PoliticsSept. 18, 2023

Prosecution seeks arrest warrant for ailing opposition chief

Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the bedridden leader of the Democratic Party of Korea on a strike against what he calls President Yoon Suk Yeol’s “tyrannical rule,” is wanted by prosecutors on an arrest warrant request for the second time this year. Seoul prosecutors said Monday they filed a request for an arrest warrant against Lee, who is already a defendant in two corruption trials, on three different counts of accusations. One is that he colluded with a policy aide while he was mayor o

PoliticsSept. 18, 2023

Opposition leader taken to hospital on 19th day of hunger strike

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was taken to a hospital on Monday due to deteriorating health as his hunger strike entered the 19th day, officials said. Lee was almost unconscious after showing a sharp drop in blood sugar levels and was brought to a nearby hospital at 7:10 a.m., according to his main opposition Democratic Party. It is unclear whether Lee will be able to continue his fast, and the party plans to keep a close watch on his conditions after emergency measures are taken, party spokes

PoliticsSept. 18, 2023

Rail workers' 4-day strike comes to end; train services to normalize by night

Unionized rail workers were returning to work Monday after a four-day general strike staged to demand better working conditions and an expansion of the KTX bullet train service. The Korean Railway Workers' Union began the first walkout in about four years on Thursday, demanding the expansion of the KTX bullet train route to Suseo Station in southern Seoul, the starting point of another high-speed rail service SRT, as well as the full implementation of the four-team two-shift system. The uni

Social AffairsSept. 18, 2023

Yoon sends letter to Pope Francis on anniversary of S. Korea-Vatican relations

President Yoon Suk Yeol sent a letter to Pope Francis on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Vatican City, expressing his hope to deepen the friendly and cooperative partnership, his office said Sunday. Yoon sent the letter via Kang Seung-kyoo, senior presidential secretary for civil society, who has been visiting the city-state as a special presidential envoy. During a meeting with the pope on Saturday, Kang conveyed Yoon

PoliticsSept. 17, 2023

S. Korea offers $2 mln in aid to flood-stricken Libya

South Korea will send $2 million in humanitarian aid to flood-stricken Libya, the foreign ministry said Sunday. The aid will be sent via the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the ministry said. More than 13,300 people have died since a powerful typhoon struck Libya's eastern coastal city of Derna last Sunday and caused devastating flooding, according to the U.N. "We hope this ai

Foreign AffairsSept. 17, 2023

Lee Jae-myung and the politics of fasting

South Korea’s main opposition leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung has been on an indefinite hunger strike, having consumed nothing other than salt and fluids for 18 days straight. The chair of the Democratic Party of Korea says he is forgoing food to protest the way President Yoon Suk Yeol is running the country, which he has characterized using two keywords -- “tyranny” and “incompetence.” He insists he would not give up unless his demands are met, one of which is that Yoon

PoliticsSept. 17, 2023