A heated debate on mental health and its link to violent crimes is underway after a murder suspect requested that his medical history be considered to mitigate punishment. He had been medically treated for depression before allegedly stabbing a man to death. Kim Seong-su, 29, is suspected of having stabbed a man to death at an internet cafe in western Seoul on Oct. 14. On Monday, he was sent to the Institute of Forensic Psychiatry in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, for a monthlong examinatio

Social Affairs Oct. 22, 2018

　When Jeong Ji-eun was in her high school, in the early 2000s, one of her close friends pierced her tongue. The friend, who had hated having to wear her school uniform all the time -- she especially found the stiff fabric of her blouse unbearable --, wore a red-color tongue ring, which almost looked like a candy in her mouth. “That’s what I first thought, too -- that she was having her candy,” Jeong, now a 32-year-old professional in Seoul, told The Korea Herald. “Until it was caught by our teac

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2018

A professor at a public university allowed his son to enroll in his classes and gave him top grades, and the son received multiple scholarships worth about 5.4 million won ($4,776) from the institution, a lawmaker has revealed.　According to Rep. Kim Hyun-ah of the main opposition Korea Liberty Party, the son, who had been enrolled in a different university, transferred to the Seoul National University of Science Technology, where his father is a faculty member, in 2014. 　SNUST is a public univer

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2018

Four Yemeni nationals are being investigated by police on suspicion of having consumed Khat, a plant classified as an illegal narcotic in Korea, according to the Jeju police. 　The four individuals, who entered Korea earlier this year, underwent a health examination as part of their application for refugee status. Authorities said cathinone, a stimulant that is illegal in Korea, was detected in their urine samples.South Koreans protest against asylum seekers in central Seoul. (Yonhap)　Earlier thi

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2018

Employers in the service and retail sectors who fail to take action after their workers are harassed or assaulted by customers can be fined as much as 10 million won ($8,817) starting Thursday, the Ministry of Labor said.　Under the revised law, employers are required to grant breaks to employees who have been subjected either to verbal harassment or physical assault by customers at work, and to finance medical treatment and counseling if necessary.　The law also requires employers to submit all a

Social Affairs Oct. 18, 2018

A total of 16 low-ranking civil servants working for the Seoul Metropolitan Government took their own lives since Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon took office in 2011, many of them due to work-related stress, a lawmaker claimed during the parliamentary inspection of the city government Thursday.　According to Rep. Hong Moon-pyo of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, among the 16 deaths, 10 of them have been recognized as “deaths related to work stress” by the Government Employees Pension Service. 　

Politics Oct. 18, 2018

An online community of mothers of young children in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, is being blamed by the public for the recent death of a day care worker, who took her own life after one of the community members brought child abuse allegations against her online.The case has drawn attention as it involves several issues that have long been a social problem in South Korea, including child abuse, online bullying and widespread misogyny against young mothers. 　The late teacher, who had been working at

Social Affairs Oct. 17, 2018

South Korea’s National Election Commission is deeply involved with a Korean nongovernmental organization’s alleged criminal activities linked to its past foreign aid projects of installing election automation equipment in developing democracies overseas, including Fiji and Ecuador, a lawmaker revealed during the parliamentary inspection of the electoral branch on Tuesday. 　The revelation comes just about three weeks after the NEC’s former secretary-general Kim Dai-nyeon abruptly resigned as the

Foreign Affairs Oct. 16, 2018

Lee Jae-gap, the newly appointed Minister of Employment and Labor, is taking on the new role as things are especially getting rough in the South Korean labor market. 　The country’s unemployment rate reached its highest level since 1999 last month, while the government allowance for jobless hit a record high. 　Prior to Lee’s appointment last month, the Moon Jae-in administration had been criticized by some for its purportedly pro-labor policies, including the latest minimum wage hike and reductio

Social Affairs Oct. 15, 2018

Police raided Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung’s home Friday as part of a probe into allegations that Lee forcefully institutionalized his estranged brother in a mental hospital and lied about the matter during the June general election campaign period.Investigators from the Bundang Police Station also raided a number of offices in Seongnam City Hall, where Lee’s office is located. The officers also took the governor’s mobile phone on the same day. Lee, who is affiliated with the ruling Demo

Social Affairs Oct. 12, 2018

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has launched a pilot program to provide free female sanitary products at 10 public facilities in the South Korean capital, including the Seoul Museum of Art and the Seoul Museum of History, in its effort to tackle the so-called “period poverty” among young women. 　　The program, which went into effect Monday, is part of Seoul’s newly revised Gender Equality Basic Ordinance, which advises the Seoul Metropolitan Government to offer free feminine products at public

Social Affairs Oct. 11, 2018

Some 50,000 foreign nationals visited South Korea last year to receive plastic surgeries and spent some 215 billion won ($189 million), a government report showed.The amount spent by those who received plastic surgeries in Korea last year was almost four times higher than the figure for the same medical procedures in 2012. Compared to 2016, 968 more foreign nationals visited Korea last year for plastic surgeries, while the total number of foreign patients who visited the country for medical trea

Social Affairs Oct. 11, 2018

Just a few days before he won the presidential election in December 2007, now ex-President Lee Myung-bak attended a church service in Seoul. “All of our family members became rich after believing in Jesus,” he famously told the worshippers. 　If there is one thing that is clear about Lee, who was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for bribery and embezzlement, as well as a fine of 13 billion won, is this: He seems to have been obsessed with money.　Last week, the court ruled that Lee accepted

Social Affairs Oct. 10, 2018

Some 11,000 foreign nationals who initially entered South Korea as international students are in the country illegally, having overstayed their visas, data released by a lawmaker showed.　The report, released by Rep. Kim Hae-young of the ruling Democratic Party, showed that the number of such individuals had increased 97.7 percent since 2016, from 5,652 to 11,176. International students in South Korea ateend a job fair at COEX in central Seoul on Oct. 1. (Yonhap)　The largest proportion, 20 percen

Social Affairs Oct. 10, 2018

A sky lantern released by a construction worker caused the recent massive fire that erupted at a large oil storage facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, the Korean police concluded Tuesday.　Police requested an arrest warrant for the 27-year-old suspect, a Sri Lankan national, who they believe had been aware that oil storage tanks are located near the mountain where he released the lantern into the sky on Sunday morning.Some Koreans, including lawyers, criticized the authorities for unfairly bla

Social Affairs Oct. 9, 2018