Black smoke comes from a fire on a construction site of an 18-story building in Busan, Sunday. More than 100 firefighters and 55 firefighting vehicles, including one helicopter, were dispatched to put out the fire. No casualties was reported, according to the rescue authorities. / Yonhap
CEO of Hankook Mirae Technology Yang Jin-ho leaves Suwon Nambu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province on Nov. 16, after the police turned him over to prosecution. Yang faces various charges including violation of the Information Communications Network Act and the Sexual Violence Act. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunPolice said Thursday they will begin a 100-day intensive crackdown on voyeur video distribution networks early next year to eradicate illegally taken and distributed obscene online content.The intensive control has gathered momentum after the police confirmed that Yang Jin-ho, the CEO of Hankook Mirae Technology who was arrested for abusing employees, has been operating a million-dollar cartel of obscene materials from production to distribution mainly through file-sharing websites.The 100-day crackdown comes only about a month after another special crackdown on online sex crimes that began in August. During the previous crackdown, police nabbed 53 operators of 40 online storage websites, along with 350 heavy uploaders of illegal content such as voyeur videos and revenge porn.However,
A woman stands on the street in front of Seoul Midong Elementary School in central Seoul, Thursday, with a scarf wrapped around her neck and face in the biting cold. The temperature in Seoul is expected to drop further to minus 13 degrees Celsius on Friday, and the cold wave is expected to continue throughout the weekend. / Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon
Protestors urge inspection of soil pollution in the U.S. military base in Yongsan, Seoul, in last year August. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunSamples of groundwater near the U.S. military base in central Seoul were found to have excessive levels of cancer-causing benzene, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said, Friday.The city government recently conducted an inspection of 62 monitoring wells near U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Yongsan and found 27 out of them were heavily contaminated with the toxic substance, well above the normal groundwater purity standards.In particular, 16 samples from 41 observation wells around Noksapyeong Station on Line 6 revealed levels of benzene 1,170 times higher than the government-set safety limit. Plus, oil was also found in the water. Benzene is a harmful substance that can cause leukemia or hematologic malignancy and it negatively affect human generative functions. The World Health Organization classifies the substance as a class-one carcinogen. Monitoring wells situated alongside Camp Kim, a military facility located west of Yongsan Garrison, were no exception
By Kim Jae-heunChung Jin-taekKorea University has appointed Chung Jin-taek, a mechanical engineering professor, as its new president.It is the first time the school has picked its head from the college of engineering.On Thursday, the school held a board meeting, where directors unanimously selected Chung as its 20th president, based on his interview and other evaluations.The appointment came one week after the commission of recommendation finalized three candidates for the job. They were emeritus professor Cho Kwang-sik, business school dean Lee Doo-hee and Chung.Chung's four-year term is scheduled to begin on March 1, 2019.“It is my great honor that I have become the first president from an engineering college in the 133-year history of the school. At the same time, I feel a big sense of responsibility with this job,” Chung said.“I will try my best to make Korea University a school that can change the world by fostering creative talented students.”Chung graduated from Korea University's mechanical engineering school in 1983 and earned a Master's degree at the
Rep. Shim Jae-cheol speaks to the press upon his arrival at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, Thursday. /YohnapBy Kim Jae-heunThe prosecution summoned Rep. Shim Jae-cheol of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, Thursday, to question him over an allegation that he and his aides leaked budget-related government data without authorization.The questioning comes three months after the controversy emerged and the Ministry of Economy and Finance filed a complaint against Shim's three aides for violating the Information Communications Network Act and Electronic Government Act on Sept. 17. It was the first time the ministry has filed a complaint against an incumbent lawmaker.“The national budget is precious tax money paid by the people. I've been ordered by the people and been given a right by the people to monitor the government, and revealed their wrongful use of the budget,” Shim said upon his arrival at the Seoul Central District Court. “However, the government and the ruling party are trying to muzzle me by falsely accusing me of divulging state secrets.&rd
Former chief flight attendant Park Chang-jin speaks to the press at Gangseo Police Station in Seoul prior to former Executive Vice President Heather Cho’s indictment in early May. / Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoonBy Kim Jae-heunThe Seoul Western District Court ordered Korean Air, Wednesday, to pay former chief flight attendant Park Chang-jin 20 million won ($17,779) in compensation for his suffering from the so-called “nut rage” incident. However, the court dismissed his claim for compensation from the carrier's former Executive Vice President Heather Cho, the elder daughter of the conglomerate's owner.Park filed the suit after Cho forced him off an Incheon-bound plane as it was taxiing for takeoff at JFK International Airport in New York in 2014 as she was angry with the way a junior flight attendant served her macadamia nuts. He also claimed the company forced him to give a false testimony during the investigation and demoted him after the incident.The court recognized the company's responsibility for the coercion of false testimony, ordering Korean Air to pay c
The image above is unrelated to the article story. / Courtesy of gettyimagesbankBy Kim Jae-heunA 31-year-old female office worker surnamed Kim has been working at one of the country's top electronics companies for six years and is still perplexed at how her company treats men and women differently.“I've seen many senior female staff leave the company. So far, I only met one female executive and she is unmarried,” Kim told The Korea Times.“The company prefers male workers to female ones because women go on maternity leave after having a child. Executives think it creates a vacuum at work. Also, the company wants men in high positions because women are often slighted when they meet executives from other companies. This is absolute nonsense in the 21st century,” Kim said.This situation is still very common here and pushes the level of Korean women's participation in the economy and politics to below world averages. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2018 released by the World Economy Forum (WEF), Tuesday, Korea ranked 115 among 149 countries on gender equa
Landscape view of Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangwon Province. / Courtesy of Gangwon ProvinceBy Kim Jae-heunThe Gangwon Provincial Government's decision to hold an event to mark the first anniversary of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in Gangneung is irking residents of the host city. The nation's first Winter Games took place last February in the rugged, mountainous county of PyeongChang in the eastern part of the country, but all ice events were hosted in Gangneung, the nearby coastal city.“As more than 10,000 domestic and foreign guests are expected to attend the event, the Gangneung Ice Arena is the preferred place for many reasons such as accommodation,” a local government official said. The three-day anniversary event is scheduled to take place from Feb. 8 to 10.In the wake of the decision, PyeongChang immediately protested, holding a rally in front of the local government office in Chuncheon, Friday, participated in by 2,000. “While there was a lot of support from the central government, Gangwon Province and many cities and counties to successfully host the Winte