Babyboomers forced to retire earlier
Kim Seong-ho, born in 1961, will never forget the day his boss asked him to take an early retirement package earlier this year. The 52-year-old Korean baby boomer (those born between 1955 and 1963), who is now unemployed, used to be a production manager at a small industrial plant in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. Under […]
Game changer
Samsung Electronics vows to widen gap with Apple Samsung Electronics is seeking to widen its lead over the California-based Apple in smartphones as it believes the just-unveiled Galaxy S3 will be the most successful in the company’s phone-making history. “We strongly believe that the Galaxy S3 is a game changer, not just another technologically advanced […]
Heavy debtors borrow more to apply for rehabilitation program
A 29-year-old single working woman, surnamed Kim, who found herself in excessive debt, sought a way of breaking through the debt problem she faced such as pressure from debt collectors of banks and heavy burden of up to 40 percent in interest on loans from secondary banking institutions. Kim turned her eyes to a debt […]
Chinese upset in kimchi cabbage row
Chinese cabbage has been the name for the main ingredient for the Korean side dish kimchi. But now Koreans are establishing sovereignty over what they eat by having an international naming organization almost decide to call it “kimchi cabbage.” Of course, there are grounds for the name change with the change in appearance, but Chinese […]
Park Jie-won elected DUP’s interim leader
Rep. Park Jie-won won the competition to become the new floor leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) Friday. Together with a chairman to be elected in the June 9 National Convention, Park will lead the main opposition party until the presidential election in December. In the meantime, he will serve as interim […]
Pregnant N. Korean defector beaten, sent to gulag
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has published its first list of North Korean human rights violations to enhance public awareness about the dire situation in the world’s last Stalinist state and put pressure on Pyongyang. A commission official said Friday that the list contained the names of 278 prisoners including ranking officials who have […]
China weakens UN sanctions on North Korea
The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) ordered the freezing of all assets abroad of three North Korean state companies Wednesday to punish the recalcitrant state for its failed April 13 rocket launch. While some experts did not expect the move to inflict major pain on Pyongyang, it was seen as a warning over future provocations including […]
Yu-na set to wow local fans
Olympic champion Kim Yu-na will make a long-awaited appearance on ice in “E1 All That Skate Spring 2012,” scheduled from May 4 to 6 in Seoul. It’s her first appearance in nine-months. “I feel nervous to perform after the long break, but I have trained hard for the show with other participants. Many world-renowned skaters […]
Let’s set mad cow facts straight
The first case of mad cow disease in the United States was discovered in a Holstein dairy cow in Washington State on Dec. 23, 2003. In memory of the 2008 candlelit protests that were triggered by concerns about the safety of U.S. beef, over 3,000 gathered in Cheonggye Square, central Seoul on Wednesday night. Holding […]
Important milestone
Korea aims to reach $10 bil. in food exports After reaching the $10 billion plateau in exports in the late 1970s, Korea has chalked up fast growth in overseas shipments to become the world’s ninth country to top $1 trillion in trade last year. Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. CEO Kim Jae-soo expects the […]