Korean conglomerate Hyundai Steel lost its suit against the state’s move to allocate carbon credits to businesses, a court announced Thursday. The Administrative Court dismissed the steelmaker’s request to revoke the Environment Ministry’s action to allocate a set amount of carbon credits to the company. This is the first verdict released over the controversial carbon credit quota after a number of companies filed lawsuits against the state to nullify the carbon credit move earlier this year. In

Social Affairs Dec. 17, 2015

Seoul City and the International Organization for Migration installed a sculpture work in Seoul Plaza to mark International Migrants Day, slated for Friday, officials said Wednesday. Titled “My Migrant Neighbor,” the large sculpture representing three multicultural siblings offers distinguished looks through different angles, delivering a message of importance of embracing diverse cultures, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said. This is part of the IOM’s campaign to raise awareness of the migra

Social Affairs Dec. 16, 2015

Seoul City said Wednesday that it has requested prosecutors to investigate Gangnam district’s alleged online smear campaign against the city government. Last week, Seoul Metropolitan Government said it caught signs that Gangnam-gu Office had systematically posted slanderous online comments against Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. The two parties have been in discord over various infrastructure projects since 2012. “The majority of suspicious comments are currently being deleted and there are concerns

Social Affairs Dec. 16, 2015

Seoul City will put the names of subway stations up for sale from next month to help subway operators raise profits, city officials said.Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would sell the names of 10 stations on Subway line Nos. 1-8 on a trial basis. The new names will be used together with the original subway names at subway entrances, platforms, metro maps and in announcements. Companies within 500 meters of the stations will get priority in being able to apply for the name change. The quali

Social Affairs Dec. 16, 2015

Hundreds of more potential victims of toxic humidifier disinfectants were reported over the past month amid concerns over the government’s move to stop receiving health damage reports from next year, a civic group said Tuesday.The Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health said a total of 310 potential victims made health complaints to the Environment Ministry to join the third round of the public health investigation into the humidifier disinfectant impacts. Of them, 38 were reported by

Social Affairs Dec. 15, 2015

South Korea is less peaceful than last year, due mainly to domestic political discord, a report showed Monday. According to the Global Peace Index released by the World Peace Forum, Seoul ranked 51st with 72.9 out of 100 points, down four notches from last year and 10 steps from 2013. The average of a total of 143 countries recorded 67.4 points, the lowest figure since 2000. In subrankings, Korea’s local political peace ranking plummeted from 29th to 51st while the military and diplomatic index

Social Affairs Dec. 14, 2015

South Korea is expected to beef up its anticarbon moves in order to meet the targets of the Paris agreement approved by the global community Saturday. Envoys of 195 countries made a historical accord in Paris to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, which experts consider the threshold for catastrophic climate change.As part of efforts to scale up the countries’ commitment, their pledges will be reviewed every five years from 2023 under the agreement, officials said. In an effort to j

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2015

Seoul City on Thursday warned it would approach the Constitutional Court against the central government’s attempt to block its youth welfare policy in an escalating controversy over its plans to subsidize unemployed youth. As an alternative, it proposed creating a social consultative body to discuss the differences.On Dec. 1, the central government passed an ordinance that would allow the state to cut subsidies for municipalities if they do not consult it before introducing or changing welfare-r

Social Affairs Dec. 10, 2015

Seoul City will inject about 2.3 billion won ($2 million) to promote its new slogan “I·SEOUL·U” starting next year with a variety of events, including a large-scale K-pop concert, officials said Thursday. The capital’s new slogan was picked in October through a series of public votes and is set to replace “Hi Seoul,” which had been used for 13 years. The budget is currently being reviewed by the Seoul City Council.The city has spent approximately 1.4 billion won to develop the new brand and for

Social Affairs Dec. 10, 2015

Seoul City said Wednesday it had confirmed signs that the Gangnam district office conducted an online smear campaign against Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon amid deepening conflicts between the two parties over various infrastructure projects. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it verified circumstantial evidence that the Gangnam district government had systematically posted slandering online comments against the city government while advocating Gangnam district Mayor Shin Yeon-hee from October to

Social Affairs Dec. 9, 2015

Herald Corp. acquired a family-friendly certification from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in recognition of promoting employees’ good balance between work and family life, the company said Thursday. The family-friendly certification is given to companies that provide exemplary welfare schemes for workers. The certification is valid for three years and can be extended for two additional years upon review.This is the first time a media company has received the family-friendly certifica

Social Affairs Dec. 9, 2015

South Korea’s economic inequality widened over the past year, with the poverty rate showing little improvement, a report showed Tuesday. According to statistics released by the Korea Institute for Health and Science Affairs, the country’s Gini coefficient, or Gini index, based on expenditures surged to 0.262 last year, nearly equivalent to the figure from 2009, suggesting widening economic disparity. The index reached its highest in 2009 at 0.266, with the figure gradually improving until 2012.

Social Affairs Dec. 8, 2015