A 40-year-old man enters a hall full of graffiti and loud music. People in vibrant tracksuits throw curious glances at him. He strolls past and opens a door to his left -- where his crew awaits. When he greets them, they immediately stop and bow -- he is their boss.This is not a scene from a gangster flick. They belong to a financial company in Seoul, and they gather every weekend for a month each year to learn to dance, all in the name of team spirit. More Koreans have begun to learn entertainm

Social Affairs Feb. 5, 2016

The Seoul Western District Court on Wednesday dismissed a libel suit filed by the son of late President Roh Moo-hyun against a Hongik University law professor on charges of insulting the late president in his class.The professor, identified by his surname Lyou, had included in his U.S. contract law class exam last year a question which included the sentence: “Roh was 17 years old and his IQ was 69. He suffered brain defects caused by his jumping from the Owl Rock at age six.” Roh Gun-ho (Yonhap)

Social Affairs Feb. 3, 2016

The number of people seeking domestic violence counseling in South Korea soared by 1.7 times since 2012, data showed Wednesday.According to the Women’s Human Rights Commission of Korea, domestic violence accounted for 58 percent or 159,081 out of 274,226 cases of emergency phone counseling last year. The corresponding figure was 42.6 percent or 94,985 cases in 2012.  (123rf)A majority of the calls involved physical abuse, with 127,565 cases, or 80.2 percent of the total, and was followed by emot

Social Affairs Feb. 3, 2016

Former Interior Minister Chong Jong-sup, who announced his candidacy for the April parliamentary elections, came under fire Wednesday for having resumed his position at Seoul National University Law School. Faced by criticism that this may infringe upon students‘ rights, however, he immediately announced his resignation.  Chong Jong-sup announces his bid to run in Donggu of Daegu for the April parliamentary election on Jan. 25. (Yonhap)Chong, who had taken a leave of absence upon taking his mini

Social Affairs Feb. 3, 2016

President Park Geun-hye refused to accept orchids sent by the main opposition party’s interim leader Kim Jong-in to celebrate her 64th birthday on Tuesday, an icy gesture to the former architect of her economic policy.The Minjoo Party of Korea said that it tried to send the flower to Cheong Wa Dae around 9 a.m., but received a call some 50 minutes later from the presidential office that she will “respectfully decline.” Two more attempts to send the orchids were also turned down. The flowers that

Social Affairs Feb. 2, 2016

Professor Seo Kyoung-duk said Tuesday that he distributed an animated advertisement on Facebook that criticized Japanese leader Shinzo Abe for his recent remarks denying forceful nature of the country’s sexual slavery of Korean women during World War II.“Abe has restarted a distortion of history. Alerting the whole world of such an attempt, and pressuring Abe via public opinion, is important in preventing (Abe) from twisting history,” said Seo, a local professor. An excerpt from Seo’s advertisem

Social Affairs Feb. 2, 2016

Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday denied allegations that he instructed city government officials to conduct an illegal election campaign before the official campaigning period via social media. The local election is slated to be held in 2018.Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung (Yonhap)The National Election committee Monday said it had requested police in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, to investigate Lee on a tip-off from a civil group last August. Investigators said they have yet to specify charges a

Social Affairs Feb. 2, 2016

The Employment and Labor Ministry on Friday released the final version of its employment guidelines, which include allowing companies to lay off underperforming workers, drawing vehement opposition from the labor unions.The ministry, which had revealed its draft version last month, said that companies will be allowed to fire workers that have shown “extremely” low job performance or capacity to an extent that they “burden their colleagues.” They will first be given a chance to redeem themselves

Social Affairs Jan. 22, 2016

Former floor leader of the main opposition party Rep. Park Jie-won announced his defection Friday, vowing to remain independent for the time being.The former aide to late President Kim Dae-jung has been considered a pivotal figure representing the old guard of The Minjoo Party of Korea, holding significance influence over Jeolla Province constituents. Rep. Park Jie-won(front) pays respect at the grave of former President Kim Dae-jung after his announcement to leave The Minjoo Party of Korea on F

Politics Jan. 22, 2016

South Koreans tend to feel disproportionately that they are unhealthy despite their long average life expectancy among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries, state-led research showed Friday.According to the report by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, 35.1 percent of Koreans aged 15 years and over deemed their health condition to be “good.” That was about half the OECD average of 69.2 percent. Only Korea and Japan scored less than 40 percent

Social Affairs Jan. 22, 2016