The Korea Times

Rights watchdog to recommend gov't collect statistics on sexual minorities

LGBTQ activists hold a press conference at Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall in this March 27 photo, on the occasion of March 31 International Transgender Day of Visibility. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiThe nation's human rights watchdog will recommend sexual minorities be included in the government's statistical and fact-finding surveys, concluding that Korea lacks any government-level efforts to learn about the demographics and current conditions of such people, it said, Sunday.The recommendation follows a series of cases where sexual minorities, including transgender people, suffered discrimination in various sectors, such as the military and college admissions.The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) said, Sunday, it decided on the recommendation recently to help the government set up policies to eliminate acts of hate and discrimination against LGBTQ people.National Human Rights Commission of Korea headquarters / Korea Times fileUnder the decision, the Prime Minister's Office will be recommended to prepare guidelines for statistics conducted by central government organizatio

Dec 26, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Rights watchdog to recommend gov't collect statistics on sexual minorities

Politics

60th anniversary of female journalists' group

Participants pose at an event celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Korean Women Journalists Association at Korea Press Center in Seoul, Wednesday. From left in the front row are National Assembly Deputy Speaker Chung Jin-suk, People Power Party Chairman Lee Jun-seok, minor opposition Justice Party presidential candidate Rep. Sim Sang-jeung, the association's President Kim Su-jeong, ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, DPK Chairman Rep. Song Young-gil and Assembly Deputy Speaker Kim Sang-hee. Yonhap

Dec 22, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

60th anniversary of female journalists' group

Society

Human rights commission investigates assault on Mongolian teen

By Bahk Eun-jiThe National Human Rights Commission of Korea / Korea Times fileThe National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) said Wednesday that it has decided to conduct an investigation into a group assault by four middle school students of a girl originally from Mongolia. “We concluded that we need to look thoroughly into whether the school and the regional education office took proper initial measures in the case, whether the school's disciplinary process for student violence was appropriate, as well as into allegations that the police did not take proper measures during the investigation and failed to protect the victim,” the commission said in a press releaseThe commission continued, “A minor's rights and interests must be protected under all circumstances, regardless of nationality. So if any human rights violations are confirmed during the investigation, we'll discuss measures to prevent similar cases from recurring.”It was presented to the commission earlier this month that four Korean female middle school students assaulted a classmate from Mo

Dec 22, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Human rights commission investigates assault on Mongolian teen

Society

Korea sees rise in paternal leave, but still has long way to go

gettyimagesbankBy Bahk Eun-jiA growing number of fathers here are taking parental leave, with more than one in five of the parents taking childcare leave being male, as more are seeing parenting as a job done by mothers and fathers together.According to recent data from Statistics Korea, 169,345 workers went on parental leave last year. It was a 3.7 percent rise from 2019 and a 2.3-fold increase compared to 2010.Of them, 38,511 or 22.7 percent were fathers. It was the first time that the ratio of fathers has exceeded 20 percent. Back in 2010, the ratio of fathers among the total people taking childcare leave was 2.7 percent.An elementary school teacher in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, who wished to be identified only by his surname Ryu, was one such father. He returned to work in September after six months of parental leave. “When another teacher in my school became the first father to take the leave two years ago, many colleagues asked him why he did so instead of his wife,” Ryu said.“But when I took the leave, things were much better, and many male teachers now take

Dec 22, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Korea sees rise in paternal leave, but still has long way to go

Foreign Affairs

Umbrella union opposes ex-FM's bid for ILO leadership

Then Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha speaks in a meeting with correspondents at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., in this Nov. 10, 2020 photo. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiOne of the nation's two largest umbrella labor unions has voiced its disapproval of a former Korean foreign minister who is running for the top post of the International Labor Organization (ILO).The stance of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) is expected to sway the prospects of former Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in the election slated for March 25 of next year.The KCTU said, Tuesday, it recently sent a letter to Catelene Passchier, the chair of the Workers' Group in the ILO, and Sharan Burrow, secretary general of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), saying it does not support Kang's bid for the ILO director-general post.It said an ILO chief should guarantee the rights and safety of workers, but Kang does not qualify for the position because she lacks experience in that regard.“The ILO director-general needs the capability to lead its action in order to realize the universal lab

Dec 21, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Umbrella union opposes ex-FM's bid for ILO leadership

Health

Unvaccinated people getting desperate under toughened distancing rules at restaurants

A visitor to a movie theater in Seoul points to a sign notifying that only vaccinated people or those with negative PCR test results can be admitted, Sunday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiConflicts have been taking place at cafes and restaurants, after the government introduced new quarantine guidelines last Saturday. Under the new rules, people unvaccinated against COVID-19 are banned from using the establishments unless they are alone, but some eatery owners are not accepting such people even when they are alone.While some unvaccinated people are sharing lists of places where they are denied entry, others are even resorting to illegal means by trying to borrow others' vaccine passes.Under the strengthened guidelines to be applied until Jan. 2, private gatherings of more than four people are prohibited and unvaccinated people can use restaurants, cafes and other multiuse facilities only when they are alone.However, a number of unvaccinated people wrote online to share their unpleasant experiences of being rejected from eating alone at some restaurants. “I was kicked out by an owner at a

Dec 20, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Unvaccinated people getting desperate under toughened distancing rules at restaurants

Coronavirus: Number of critical cases exceeds 1,000 again

Society

1.3 million small business owners mull protest against strengthened antivirus rules

Self-employed people chant slogans on a street in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Thursday, during a rally to call on the government to compensate their losses caused by business restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiSelf-employed people and small business owners are protesting the government's renewed strengthening of anti-coronavirus social distancing rules. Bracing for a steep decline in earnings during the peak year-end season, they say they have already suffered enough from such measures which they claim have forced them to make sacrifices without adequate compensation.Kim Dong-geun, 39, who has been running a wine bar and restaurant in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, for six years, said all group reservations were cancelled in the last week of this month, which is usually one of the busiest periods of the year, adding that he continues to receive calls from customers cancelling reservations made for other weeks.“The most frequent reason for cancellation is because one of their groups was unvaccinated. They asked me to refund the deposit I rec

Dec 17, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

1.3 million small business owners mull protest against strengthened antivirus rules

New COVID-19 cases above 7,400 for 3rd day ahead of tough virus curbs

Law & Crime

Notorious child rapist attacked at home

Cho Doo-soon / Korea Times fileBy Bahk Eun-jiNotorious child rapist Cho Doo-soon, 69, was attacked at his home by a vigilante, police said, Friday. The injury was not serious.According to police, the assailant in his 20s allegedly tried to enter Cho's home in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, at around 8:50 p.m., Thursday, pretending to be a police officer and asking him to open the door.The man then allegedly grabbed a blunt object that was apparently in the house and used it to hit Cho in the head. A neighbor posted on his Facebook that the assailant had used a hammer in the attack.Cho's wife rushed to a police precinct about 20 meters away from the house and reported the assault. Police took the assailant into custody and are investigating him on charges of inflicting injury.Cho was taken to the hospital for treatment, and his injury was not serious, according to the police.Cho was released from prison in December last year after serving 12 years for kidnapping and raping an eight-year-old girl. The brutal assault ruptured her intestine that led to permanent physical damage.After his rele

Dec 17, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Global Community

Employees with multicultural backgrounds suffer from poor working conditions: survey

An employee organizes products at a convenience store in Seoul in this May 27 photo. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiA large proportion of young adults and children with multicultural backgrounds and work experience here have suffered from unfair treatment, such as salaries that are lower than minimum wage and verbal abuse from employers, a survey showed Thursday.The Migrant Youth Foundation conducted the survey for one year since September of last year, interviewing 4,078 individuals aged between nine and 24 with multicultural backgrounds, including those born to families consisting of one parent of Korean nationality and another parent of foreign nationality, either here or abroad; and those whose parents are North Korean defectors and were born in North Korea, South Korea or a third country.Of them, 212 had experience working part-time or full-time jobs. The foundation separately conducted 786 interviews with Korean nationals without multicultural backgrounds for comparison.According to the survey conducted at the request of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, 25 percent of those born

Dec 16, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Employees with multicultural backgrounds suffer from poor working conditions: survey

Society

Seoul City uses AI tech to prevent suicide attempts on Han River bridges

Monitors at the integrated surveillance camera control center of the Ttukseom Water Rescue Brigade display footage of bridges across the Han River in Seoul, in this provided photo. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan GovernmentBy Bahk Eun-jiKorea bears the disgrace of having one of the world's highest suicide rates, topping the ranking among OECD member nations with 23.5 out of 100,000 people killing themselves in 2020. The central and local governments have taken various suicide prevention measures, and the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters has recently come up with a system using artificial intelligence (AI) technology along Han River bridges, where about 500 suicide attempts are made every year.The AI-based technology, developed in cooperation with the Seoul Institute of Technology (SIT) since April 2020, has undergone deep learning of patterns of behavior of people attempting suicide by jumping off the bridges, such as wandering on an area of a bridge for a period of minutes, as well as other data, including information on rescue teams' dispatch history, surveillance c

Dec 16, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Bahk Eun-ji

Read more

Rights watchdog to recommend gov't collect statistics on sexual minorities

60th anniversary of female journalists' group

Human rights commission investigates assault on Mongolian teen

Korea sees rise in paternal leave, but still has long way to go

Umbrella union opposes ex-FM's bid for ILO leadership

Unvaccinated people getting desperate under toughened distancing rules at restaurants

1.3 million small business owners mull protest against strengthened antivirus rules

Notorious child rapist attacked at home

Employees with multicultural backgrounds suffer from poor working conditions: survey

Seoul City uses AI tech to prevent suicide attempts on Han River bridges

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