GOYANG, Gyeonggi Province -- When Kim, a worker at a diner, opened the door to look outside at around 8:40 p.m. Tuesday, she found the ground was flooded with hot water, and the air was thick with steam.“It was chaos. There was hot muddy water on the ground. And as we tried to evacuate the building, we could not see anything ahead of us because of the steam,” Kim, who only gave her surname, told The Korea Herald on Wednesday.“I cannot fully describe the fear. I thought to myself ‘This is how I’m

Social Affairs Dec. 5, 2018

Another elderly Korean victim of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery died Wednesday, a civic commemoration council said. Kim Soon-ok died of natural causes at the age of 97 at Seoul Asan Medical Center, according to the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan.  (Yonhap)With Kim’s death, the number of known surviving victim stands at 26. This year alone, five other victims have died, including Kim Bok-deuk in early July. Kim Soon-ok, who was born i

Social Affairs Dec. 5, 2018

A former justice minister and a head of South Korea’s leading liquor maker are implicated in the sexual abuse case centering on late actress Jang Ja-yeon, investigators said Tuesday.The special investigation team that reopened the case revealed that the rookie actress met with Park Moon-deok, the head of liquor maker Hite Jinro, as well as Koreana Hotel CEO Bang Yong-hoon and former Justice Minister Kwon Jae-jin, at a dinner in 2008.Kwon, who was a senior prosecutor at the Supreme Prosecutors’ O

Social Affairs Dec. 4, 2018

While the main opposition Liberty Korea Party continues to suffer from low approval ratings and factional conflicts, the party is discussing the adoption of a resolution demanding that two of the nation’s former presidents be freed from detention as they await their appeal trials, having already been convicted on various corruption charges. The lawmakers of the conservative party are broadly divided between those “loyal to” ousted former President Park Geun-hye after her impeachment and her oppo

Politics Dec. 4, 2018

Prosecutors raided the offices of two lawyers at the country’s top law firm Kim & Chang last month, reports revealed Monday, amid allegations that they colluded with the top court’s leadership to delay the ruling on Korean victims forced to labor by Japanese firms during Japan’s colonial rule of Korea.According to the prosecution, it carried out a search-and-seizure operation at the offices of Kwak Byung-hoon, a lawyer and former presidential secretary for legal affairs, and a lawyer surnamed Ha

Social Affairs Dec. 3, 2018

The prosecution on Monday filed for arrest warrants for former top court justices over their suspected involvement in a massive judiciary power abuse case. It is the first time in Korean history that arrest warrants have been requested for former Supreme Court justices. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it submitted the request early Monday for former Supreme Court Justices Park Byong-dae and Ko Young-han over their alleged abuse of power. They are suspected of colluding with f

Politics Dec. 3, 2018

Following the crash of a firefighting helicopter Saturday, concerns are rising over the safety of the aircraft, which are decades old. 　After taking off from Gimpo Airport at 10:52 a.m. Saturday, a helicopter belonging to the Korea Forest Service crashed into the Han River near Gangdong Bridge at around 11:20 a.m. The helicopter was filling its water tank there, to put out a fire on Yeongchuksan in Nowon, Seoul. The accident left one dead and two injured. Authorities dismantle a helicopter after

Social Affairs Dec. 2, 2018

Under the law, a drunk-driving repeat offender caught three times is subject to stricter punishment, even if not convicted, the top court said Sunday.The Supreme Court revealed that it had overturned a lower court’s acquittal of an offender surnamed Kang, who was charged with drunk driving in February last year, his third time being caught for the offence.  (Yonhap)Kang, 35, was indicted for driving under the influence with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.177 percent on Feb. 27 last year. He

Social Affairs Dec. 2, 2018

You are what you eat, or so they say. For Buddhist practitioners in Korea, this idea develops further, and eating becomes part of spiritual practice. The dietary culture of Korean Buddhism is not much different from the common Korean cuisine. But its core principles on healthy and humble diet is getting welcomed by nonreligious public, as an independent diet culture. Buddhist nun Hyungmin leads the temple food cooking class at the Korean Temple Food Center on Saturday. (Jo He-rim/The Korea Heral

Social Affairs Nov. 29, 2018

The number of foreign residents in Korea is increasing at a fast pace, approaching almost 2 million last year, according to Statistics Korea. Experts forecast the number will reach about 3 million in four years. As the country gains more attention abroad, once-closed Korean society is becoming more accepting of other cultures, with one example being thriving ethnic dining places. However, relationships between Koreans and foreigners appear to be developing at a much slower pace. Members of the p

Social Affairs Nov. 29, 2018

South Korea’s top court on Thursday ruled in favor of Korean victims who were forced into labor during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, ordering a Japanese company to compensate them for their unpaid work and reaffirming that an international treaty does not negate an individual’s rights to seek damages.The Supreme Court upheld two lower court rulings against the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., and ordered payments in the amount of 80 million won ($71,500) to the

Foreign Affairs Nov. 29, 2018

Korea’s top court said the recent resolution by a group of judges addressing the possibility of impeaching justices involved in a power abuse case does not have legal power, a lawmaker revealed Tuesday.In light of a massive judiciary power abuse case, allegedly led by former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae, the National Judges Representative Meeting adopted the resolution that power abuse by fellow judges should be considered “serious violations of the Constitution, for which not only

Social Affairs Nov. 28, 2018

A woman died of a heart attack Sunday, when her husband could not call for an ambulance on time due to an abrupt network blackout in Seoul caused by a fire.The damage that hit one regional branch of the nation’s telecom giant, KT Corp., shook the hyper-connected country -- not only paralyzing the basic communication tools of residents in the area, but also interfering with essential social infrastructure and emergency services. (Yonhap)When the 76-year-old woman in Mapo, western Seoul, complaine

Social Affairs Nov. 27, 2018

The Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation released the answers for this year’s Suneung, or college scholastic ability test, on Monday, after reviewing complaints filed against this year’s exam questions.The institute, which organizes the multi-subject standardized exam, released the answers to this year’s Suneung, held on Nov. 15, on its website. It said it reviewed all 991 complaints submitted by test-takers and confirmed no errors were made in the 107 questions that faced objections. 

Social Affairs Nov. 26, 2018

A group under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions demanded direct talks with President Moon Jae-in on Monday, denouncing him for not keeping his promise to turn all temporary workers into regular or permanent workers.The labor group, which represents temporary workers, held a press conference in front of the presidential office expressing disappointment with the Moon administration for keeping silent in response to its request for a direct meeting between the president and the group’s 100 r

Social Affairs Nov. 26, 2018