• Boosting youth hiring

    Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Korea usually wrestle with chronic labor shortages. It’s not strange, therefore, even if it’s hard to find young workers at small factories. By contrast, many young college graduates are out of work ― the employment rate among youths aged 15-29 remained at 39.7 percent…

    Read More »

  • Court rules men’s sex toys not obscene material

    Men’s sex toys are not obscene material, a court said Wednesday, countering a previous top court ruling. The Cheongju District Court acquitted an adult products shop owner, 52, accused of displaying vagina-shaped masturbation devices in an appeals case. She was indicted for displaying 13 men’s sex toys in her shop.…

    Read More »

  • Ferry may have hit submerged rock

    What caused the Sewol, a 6,852-ton car ferry, to sink? According to Coast Guard and news reports, survivors said that they heard a big “thumping” sound before the vessel started to list. Based on initial investigations, the authorities said that the Sewol might have hit a submerged rock. Some reports…

    Read More »

  • ‘Wrong instructions increased death toll’

    Survivors of the ferry Sewol said an announcement from the captain asking passengers to stop moving worsened the situation. “I ran into my room, after I heard the announcement. But things didn’t seem right,” a female student who jumped into the water told a local TV station. She injured her…

    Read More »

  • 290 missing; six dead

    Ferry boat Sewol capsizes in foggy morning near Jindo, 179 rescued Two hundred and ninety people remained unaccounted for and six were confirmed dead after a ferry apparently hit a submerged rock and capsized off the southwest coast Wednesday morning. The Korea Coast Guard said that 179 passengers were rescued…

    Read More »

  • University student bodies lose reputation, popularity

    College student bodies are losing their previous reputation as the champions of students’ rights, suffering from a double whammy of internal problems and students’ indifference. Back in the 1970s and ’80s, when the Korean thirst for democracy was strong, university student councils stood at the forefront, paving the way. Young…

    Read More »

  • Chaebol’s undue gains

    The entrenched business malpractice of chaebol owners and their family members receiving huge dividends through unlisted companies remains intact despite an avalanche of criticism. Rather, such “dividend parties’’ are becoming more conspicuous amid slack public scrutiny. Some of the unlisted companies made hefty dividend payouts while in the red, which…

    Read More »

  • Remake of spy agency

    NIS chief must step down for his boss, nation Since its birth in the early 1960s, Korea’s national intelligence agency has kept changing its name and image in keeping with the times. What has remained unchanged in the past half-century has been the public’s view of the agency as an…

    Read More »

  • NK’s call for joint drone investigation spurned

    Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday spurned North Korea’s call to conduct a joint investigation into three aerial drones that crashed near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) which the South claims were sent by the North for surveillance purposes. “In no crime case would a suspect be allowed to investigate the evidence…

    Read More »

  • Planned papal visit to Kkottongnae prompts protest

    A society of Catholic priests is opposing a planned visit by Pope Francis to Kkottongnae, a community for disabled people, claiming that the pontiff should not associate with the “mafia.” Some 50 members of Little Jesus Society’s House of Joseph, and nuns and monks from the society staged a protest…

    Read More »