President Moon Jae-in’s constitutional amendment bill was scuttled Thursday, after voting at the National Assembly was declared void as the quorum could not be reached due to the opposition parties’ boycott.Amid public calls to revise the Constitution that was last amended in 1987, the Moon administration announced and submitted its amendment bill to the National Assembly on March 26. Thursday was the legal deadline for lawmakers to decide whether to accept or reject the proposal.Empty seats at

Politics May 24, 2018

Opposition parties called on the government to withdraw its constitutional amendment proposal Wednesday, a day before the deadline for a parliamentary vote.The main opposition Liberty Korea Party said it would be “right” and “rational” for the government to take back its own proposal, and announced it would not take part in Thursday’s plenary session for the voting. Floor leader Rep. Kim Sung-tae of main opposition Liberty Korea Party (Yonhap)“While the proposal contains the ideals of democracy,

Politics May 23, 2018

Former President Lee Myung-bak denied the charges against him at the first hearing of his trial Wednesday, accusing the prosecution of conducting “unreasonable” investigations. At the Seoul Central District Court, the 77-year-old former leader attended his hearing held at 2 p.m., making his first public appearance 62 days after he was arrested in March 22 over a series of charges including bribery and embezzlement. Former President Lee Myung-bak (Yonhap)“I stand here today with grief. I could no

Social Affairs May 23, 2018

The National Assembly on Monday passed the government’s 3.83 trillion won ($3.54 billion) supplementary budget bill and a proposal to conduct a special counsel probe into an opinion-rigging scandal, after a monthslong deadlock.Motions for the arrest of two opposition lawmakers, suspected of embezzlement and abuse of power, were voted down during the plenary session. National Assembly (Yonhap)On Sunday, rival parties agreed to end the standoff that had lasted almost two months. The ruling Democra

Politics May 21, 2018

GWANGJU – The government on Friday promised to delve further into the 1980 Gwangju movement on the 38th anniversary of the May 18 Democratization Movement.The commemoration event took place under a rainy sky, with thousands gathered at the May 18 National Cemetery commemorate the movement that was met by a brutal crackdown by the government. Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon speaks at the 38th commemoration of the May 18 Democratization Movement at May 18 National Cemetery in the southwestern city of G

Politics May 18, 2018

More than half the number of female employees working at the Justice Ministry and the prosecution experienced sexual harassment and/or assault by other employees, and most of the incidents were kept secret, a special ministry panel revealed Thursday. In a press meeting, the independent panel looking into sexual crime at judicial bodies reported that 61.6 percent of 7,407 female workers, including prosecutors and ministry officials, responded that they had experienced sexual harassment and/or ass

Social Affairs May 17, 2018

Dog meat farmers staged a protest near the National Assembly on Wednesday, calling for equal treatment as other animal farms and demanding survival rights. Some 200 members of Korea Dog Farm Council members took to the streets in front of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, and demanded the lawmakers introduce a grace period for dog farms to install excreta treatment facilities.  (Yonhap)In February, the National Assembly passed a revision to the Act on the Manag

Social Affairs May 16, 2018

Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il on Wednesday denied a prosecution team’s claim that he wielded influence during an investigation into alleged illicit hiring at a state-run casino operator. On Tuesday, the prosecution’s independent investigation team looking into the Kangwon Land Casino scandal accused Moon and other ranking officials of intervening to delay the team from requesting an arrest warrant against Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, who has been implicated

Social Affairs May 16, 2018

Celebrating Teacher’s Day on Tuesday, Lee Seo-hee felt a sense of awkwardness receiving a paper carnation from a student, as he has often been a troublemaker who would never listen to her.“I know I have to embrace all students, but still it is difficult for me to deal with students when they often tease me and do not respect me as their teacher,” Lee, who has been teaching in an elementary school for three years, told The Korea Herald. In her career, she has experienced some cases of sexual rema

Social Affairs May 15, 2018

Wang Kena, a naturalized Korean citizen who originally came from China, believes that in order for migrant families and individuals to have a voice in Korean society, it is important for them to contribute to society. Working to improve awareness of migrant households and their children for the past five years, Wang ran for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s proportional representative seat in the Suwon City Council for the upcoming local and gubernatorial election slated for June 13. While

Politics May 14, 2018

Three-term lawmaker Rep. Hong Young-pyo was elected as the new floor leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea on Friday.The new floor leader faces the task of reducing differences with the opposition parties to normalize the National Assembly that has been crippled for the past two months. Hong decisively beat Rep. Noh Woong-rae for the leadership position, garnering 78 votes out of 116 ballots cast. Noh, who is also a three-term lawmaker, obtained 38 votes. Hong, a close aide of President

Politics May 11, 2018

Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho on Thursday quit the top post in Jin Air Co. amid ongoing investigations into his family over a series of allegations of physical and verbal violence as well as tax evasion and smuggling.Jin Air made the announcement in a regulatory filing with the Financial Supervisory Service. The low-cost carrier said Cho’s resignation from its CEO post is intended to strengthen a responsible management system by a professional manager. Cho Yang-ho (Yonhap)Jin Air is the budget

Industry May 10, 2018

Police said Thursday that a female model was suspected of having secretly taken photos of her male colleague who was working as a nude model for a fine art class at Hongik University and leaking them to an Internet community site.Police have been investigating the leak of a photo showing the male model in the nude since last Friday as what appeared to be a person attending the class allegedly uploaded it to the website. Hongik University (Yonhap)Police said that they are investigating one of fou

Social Affairs May 10, 2018

The State University of New York Korea established a development advisory committee to make improvements as a leading institution in the age of the “fourth industrial revolution,” the school said Thursday. The 13-member Development Advisory Committee led by former Health and Welfare Minister Lim Chae-min, aims to lay the groundwork for SUNY Korea to become the first US university in Korea to lead in innovative education for Asia, the school said.  Participants pose at the opening ceremony of SUN

Social Affairs May 10, 2018

The Sewol ferry at the southwestern port of Mokpo was moved from its side to an upright position Thursday to facilitate the search for the remains of victims still missing. The Sewol Investigation Commission and Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, which took on the task, announced they completed making the 6,825-ton ferry stand at 94.5 degrees at 12:10 p.m. It took 190 minutes for the 10,000-ton crane used for the mission to set the ferry upright.(Yonhap)After the ferry reached the target angle on T

Social Affairs May 10, 2018