Seoul has endured tropical nights -- defined by overnight lows above 25 degrees Celsius -- for a record-breaking 25 consecutive days amid South Korea’ s prolonged heat wave, the country’s weather authorities said.　The city’s nighttime low hit 28.4 degrees Celsius on Tuesday night, making this year’s ongoing tropical night phenomenon the longest since 1994. 　In 1994, such warm nights continued for 24 consecutive days, from July 17 to Aug. 9. This year, Seoul residents have been experiencing unusu

Social Affairs Aug. 15, 2018

Seven Korean business owners in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province, were caught by authorities after abusing livestock dogs by forcing them to eat harmful food waste, among other abusive activities. The abused dogs were for sale to dog meat suppliers. The suspects were booked without detention, police said Tuesday. The suspects, including a businessman surnamed Lee, are suspected of abusing 219 dogs that were being raised together in an enclosed space as livestock animals for their meat.  (Yonhap)Authorit

Social Affairs Aug. 14, 2018

A record-high number of Koreans involuntarily left their jobs at bars and restaurants in the first half of this year, possibly due to the country’s latest minimum wage hike, government data showed. The number, 46,563, is the highest since the government began recording the data in 2009.According to the report, the number of Koreans who were forced to leave their jobs at restaurants and bars, because they failed to get their contracts renewed or their employers went out of business, among other r

Social Affairs Aug. 14, 2018

The South Korean government will consider banning teenagers from accessing online communities where hate speech prevails, including an extremist feminist site, the Korea Communications Commission said.According to the state-run media regulation agency, the government will discuss ways to revise relevant laws to designate hate speech in such websites as “adult content.” Once the laws are revised, the sites would only be accessible to those aged 18 or older. The operators of the sites would be sub

Social Affairs Aug. 13, 2018

South Korea’s highest court ruled Sunday that the state should compensate the financial damage suffered by Koreans who lost their jobs after their parents were falsely accused of being North Korean spies by the country’s authoritarian government in the 1980s.　The victims’ parents, Nah Soo-yeon, 90, and Nah Jin, 85, are siblings. In 1981, they were imprisoned after the Chun Doo-hwan administration falsely accused them of being North Korean sympathizers. Prior to the trials, the siblings were ille

Social Affairs Aug. 12, 2018

Former South Chungcheong Provincial Gov. An Hee-jung, who pleaded not guilty to all of the sexual assault charges against him, will receive his sentence Tuesday, some five months after his former secretary made a highly public rape accusation in March.　Last month, prosecutors requested four years in prison for An, who has been charged with five counts of indecent act by compulsion, four counts of sexual abuse by occupational authority, and one count of indecent acts through abuse of occupational

Social Affairs Aug. 12, 2018

Five activists from Democratic Republic of Congo met the head of Korea’s National Election Commission on Thursday, asking the Korean government to ban a Korean firm from supplying their controversial voting machines for an election in Congo scheduled for Dec. 23.　Although the Korean government has “no legal grounds to ban a private firm from doing business,” the NEC will still forward the activists’ concerns to Korea’s Foreign Ministry, the electoral branch said. 　The meeting was arranged in res

National Aug. 10, 2018

A warrant for the operator of the radical feminist group has caused an uproar in South Korea, with women critics saying that the authorities have never been this strict in countless cyber sex offense cases involving male suspects. The warrant to detain the operator of the group, Womad,  which is suspected of being complicit in an online sexual harassment case against a male nude model, was issued for the charge of abetting propagation of sexually explicit material. Following police’s announcemen

Social Affairs Aug. 9, 2018

A man’s body, which had seemingly remained unnoticed for a significant period of time after his death, was found Wednesday in a house next to Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon’s temporary residence in northern Seoul -- in an unexpected twist to the mayor’s effort to “experience” everyday reality in one of Seoul’s poorest districts.The Seoul mayor moved into his current temporary residence -- a two-room rooftop dwelling without air conditioning -- on July 22 to feel "what it really means to live in one o

Social Affairs Aug. 8, 2018

The prolonged heat wave in Korea has claimed 42 lives, the highest number since the country began recording heat-related fatalities in 2011, health authorities said Wednesday. 　According to the Health Ministry, some 3,440 Koreans have been medically treated for heat-related illnesses, including heatstroke, from May 20 to Aug. 6. Among them, 42 have died, including five who were working outdoors. 　This year’s heat wave, which began in mid-July, is one of the most severe heat waves in Korean histo

Social Affairs Aug. 8, 2018

Traffic volume in central Seoul area -- which includes the famous shopping district of Myeong-dong and the picturesque Gyeongbokgung palace -- will be reduced by 30 percent by 2030, by restricting the number of road lanes to a maximum of four and introducing a "toxicity charge," the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday. 　The goal is to reduce the area’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent, from the current 943,000 tons to 566,000 tons by 2030, the Seoul Metropolitan Government added. 　S

Social Affairs Aug. 7, 2018

 Public bathrooms in all transportation hubs in South Korea, including airports, bus terminals, metro and train stations, will be regularly monitored as a measure to better deal with secret cameras installed in public toilets, as well as spy cam pornography that has been prevalent in the cyberspace in the country, its government announced Sunday.Spycam pornography, locally known as “molka,” generally refers to secretly produced, sexually exploitive videos or pictures of women in public spaces, s

Social Affairs Aug. 6, 2018

PANGYO, GYEONGGI PROVINCE -- On a warm Monday morning in July, a rather unusual scene played out at Pangyo Techno Valley in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The South Korean industrial complex is best known as the "Silicon Valley of Asia" -- it is valued for its role in innovation and technology start-ups, focusing on biotech, information technology, among others. Consisting of many high-rise, shimmering buildings that give off futuristic vibes, the complex is certainly not known as the go-to place

Social Affairs Aug. 5, 2018

A woman in her 40s was found dead in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, reportedly after sleeping in a coffin as part of a spiritual ritual, regional police have said.　　According to police, the woman’s body was found inside a wooden coffin at about 6:30 a.m., Friday. The cause for her death may be suffocation or heat-related given the ongoing heat wave, authorities added. 　　Police believe the woman participated in a religious ritual aimed at bringing good fortune by “getting rid of the bad spirits

Social Affairs Aug. 3, 2018

Seoul’s nighttime temperature hit a record high for two consecutive days amid the country’s prolonged heat wave, the state weather agency said Friday.　The city’s overnight lows hit 30.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday night -- marking the highest nighttime low since the Korean government began recording weather data in 1907, the warmest in 111 years, authorities said.　Thursday’s nighttime lows broke the record from the previous night, which recorded 30.3 degrees Celsius.  (Yonhap)　Seoulites have bee

Social Affairs Aug. 3, 2018