The Korea Times

Campaign launched to promote equal treatment for multicultural families

A poster for the Respect for Multicultural Families and All Ethnic Groups in Korea campaign / Courtesy of Sunfull FoundationBy Jun Ji-hyeThe National Assembly Sunfull Committee, together with the Sunfull Foundation, will hold a ceremony at the National Assembly next Monday to launch a campaign promoting equal treatment for multicultural families and ethnic groups living in Korea. Called Respect for Multicultural Families and All Ethnic Groups in Korea, the campaign is also aimed at informing the public of the roles people of different ethnic backgrounds play in Korea's economy and culture.In addition to National Assembly members, ambassadors from 24 countries and deputy ambassadors from 14 countries will participate in the launch ceremony to discuss challenges facing multicultural families and foreign nationals here and also ways to resolve social conflicts.“We will push to ease regulations such as improving employment conditions so that foreign students can get a job in Korea more easily after graduation,” said Rep. Hong Seok-joon from the ruling People Power Party who i

Mar 22, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Campaign launched to promote equal treatment for multicultural families

Health

Childcare centers, academies returning to pre-pandemic normality

Children without masks play at a childcare center in Gwangju, Jan. 30, as the government lifted most mandatory indoor mask-wearing rules. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeChildcare centers and private tutoring academies are getting closer to a return to pre-pandemic normality, as most COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted in Korea including the mask mandate on public transportation amid an overall downtrend in infections. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Tuesday, COVID-19 guidelines for childcare centers were eased starting Monday, with the temperature check requirement abolished.Before the eased guidelines were applied, childcare centers had been required to check the temperature of teachers, infants and toddlers more than twice a day. The eased guidelines call for temperature checks to be carried out when a childcare center has any confirmed cases. Childcare centers had also been advised to install partition boards at canteens. This has been changed and is now up to each center, with the guideline of “safe distance” at canteens abolished. The mask guideline for teach

Mar 21, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Childcare centers, academies returning to pre-pandemic normality

Health

Commuters still wear masks despite end of mask mandate on public transportation

People wearing face masks get on a bus at a stop in Seoul, Monday, on the first day of the lifting of the mask mandate for public transportation. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeMost people kept wearing their face masks on buses and the subway, Monday, although the mask mandate for public transportation came to an end starting at midnight. Coincidentally, the worst levels of ultrafine dust affected the country, also Monday, offering people yet another reason to remain masked up. Health authorities lifted one of the last-remaining COVID-19 restrictions amid a COVID-19 downtrend, two years and five months after wearing a mask on public transportation (buses, subways, taxies and airplanes) became mandatory in October 2020 at the height of the pandemicA young woman without a mask is seen standing up next to an old woman wearing a mask on a bus in Seoul, Monday, the first day of the lifting of the mask mandate on public transportation. YonhapOf the 12 commuters who were waiting for buses at a stop near Namseong Station in Seoul's Dongjak District in the morning, nine were wearing masks. One man, who w

Mar 20, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Commuters still wear masks despite end of mask mandate on public transportation

Society

Public officials reluctant to dine with coworkers

gettyimagesbankBy Jun Ji-hyePublic officials of all ages appear reluctant to engage in team lunches, according to a research report published by the Korea Institute of Public Administration, Sunday. The Institute surveyed 1,021 public officials of various ages from May to June last year.It found both the MZ Generation and older generations showed negative responses to the question of whether having lunch with co-workers is necessary.The MZ Generation is a term referring to Millennials and Generation Z.There was a slight difference in their degree of reluctance though. Responses of the MZ Generation stood at 2.23 points on a 5-point scale, while those of the older generations were tallied at 2.70 points. Among the MZ Generation, the younger Generation Z appeared to be more reluctant than Millennials about team lunches with 1.95 points and 2.30 points, respectively. The institute categorized those born in 1981 or earlier as belonging to older generations, and those born in 1982 or later as the MZ Generation. Those born between 1982 and 1994 were categorized as Millennials, while those

Mar 20, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Public officials reluctant to dine with coworkers

Society

Koreans wish to work less than 40 hours per week: survey

gettyimagesbankGovernment likely to adjust cap on weekly working hours below 60By Jun Ji-hyeWhile the government has been pushing to extend a mandatory 52-hour cap on the country's 40-hour basic workweek, a recent survey showed that people actually wish to work less than 40 hours per week. The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) unveiled the results of its survey on work-life balance, Sunday, after interviewing 22,000 people aged between 19 and 59 from Sept. 20 to Oct. 7 last year.The results showed that people wished to work 36.7 hours a week on average: regular employees wished to work 37.63 hours a week, while temporary and daily employed workers wished to work 32.36 hours a week. The younger they were, the less time they wanted to spend working. Those aged between 19 and 29 wanted 34.92 hours, while those in their 30s wanted 36.32 hours. On the other hand, those in their 40s and 50s wanted 37.11 hours and 37.91 hours, respectively. While the average daily break time, including meals, was tallied at 64.45 minutes, 40.1 percent of the respondents said their break

Mar 19, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Koreans wish to work less than 40 hours per week: survey

Society

Revelations from Chun Doo-hwan's grandson cause stir

Woo-won calls grandfather 'mass murderer,' family members 'criminals' By Jun Ji-hyeThe recent revelations made by the late former authoritarian leader Chun Doo-hwan's grandson are causing a stir as he said he and his family members have enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle thanks to huge slush funds. This captured image from Chun Woo-won's Instagram shows former President Chun Doo-hwan lying down with two grandsons. Woo-won, the grandson of the former dictator, has recently made a series of revelations about his family members. Captured from Instagram The former dictator died at age 90 of chronic ailments in November 2021, having not paid back the bulk of the forfeiture related to his treason and bribery convictions. Attention is drawn to whether the grandson's revelations could lead state prosecutors to collect 92.5 billion won ($70.5 million) of the still-unrecovered money illegally attained by Chun.Since Monday, the grandson ― Chun Woo-won ― has been making a series

Mar 16, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Revelations from Chun Doo-hwan's grandson cause stir

Global Community

Promising boxer from Ukraine dreams of representing Korea

Anatolii Yem, right, a teenage boxer from Ukraine who moved to Korea last year after Russia began its invasion of his home country, holds hands with Gimhae Mayor Hong Tae-yong at Gimhae City Hall, March 3. Courtesy of Gimhae CityBy Jun Ji-hyeGimhae City in South Gyeongsang Province is pushing for special naturalization of a teenage boxer from Ukraine who has moved to Korea after Russia began its invasion of his home country last year. Anatolii Yem entered Korea in March last year ― a month after the outbreak of the war ― to live with his parents who had already moved to Korea for work.Yem's ethnically Korean Ukrainian father and Ukrainian mother came to Korea in 2020 and 2021, respectively, with working visas, and settled in the southeastern city.Yem was an experienced junior boxer in Ukraine, having won medals at several international events, including a silver medal at EUBC European Schoolboys and Schoolgirls Boxing Championships in 2019.Fortunately, he could resume training at a boxing gym in Gimhae, but as a Ukrainian national, he can neither join a team nor participate in tourna

Mar 16, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Promising boxer from Ukraine dreams of representing Korea

Health

Korea to lift mask mandate on public transportation starting Monday

Commuters wearing masks wait for buses at a stop in Seoul, Wednesday. The mask mandate on public transportation will be lifted starting Monday, according to the government.By Jun Ji-hyeThe government has decided to lift the mask mandate on public transportation, including buses, subways and airplanes, starting Monday as the COVID-19 situation continues to stabilize, health authorities said Wednesday.The mask mandate was enforced in Korea starting in October 2020 when the pandemic raged.During a government meeting on COVID-19 responses, Vice Interior Minister Han Chang-seob said the decision was made in consideration of the COVID-19 infection numbers, which have continued decreasing even after the government lifted most of the mandatory indoor mask-wearing rules on Jan. 30.“The daily average number of virus cases has decreased by 38 percent even after mask-wearing requirements were adjusted on Jan. 30, while the number of new seriously ill patients has fallen by 55 percent,” Han said. “Plus, mutant virus variants have not been discovered in recent weeks. The virus si

Mar 15, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Korea to lift mask mandate on public transportation starting Monday

Society

President orders review of workweek reform amid labor backlash

President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during a luncheon meeting with CEOs of companies, which contributed to job creation, at Cheong Wa Dae, the former presidential compound, Tuesday. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyePresident Yoon Suk Yeol ordered government officials, Tuesday, to review a proposed reform to the country's maximum weekly working hours system, which, if implemented, will see an increase to the current 52-hour workweek. The order comes amid growing controversies over the government's plans, announced by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on March 6. The proposed changes will enable companies to increase the maximum weekly work hours to 69 hours during weeks with heavy workloads, and allow workers to take longer vacations later on.Such measures were proposed as employers had complained of what they claim was a lack of flexibility in working hours and difficulties in meeting deadlines.However, laborers as well as several experts claimed that employees will be forced to work longer hours, while longer vacations can barely be guaranteed, as stated in the government's revision.“The gove

Mar 14, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

President orders review of workweek reform amid labor backlash

Society

Gov't move to reform workweek system faces labor resistance

gettyimagesbankBy Jun Ji-hyeThe government's move to increase the maximum weekly work hours to 69 from the current 52 is facing a backlash from workers, who claim that the envisioned measures will only benefit employers and force employees to work longer hours. The government's plan to reform the country's workweek system, announced on March 6, has been billed as offering flexibility beyond the mandatory 52-hour cap on the workweek, introduced by the previous Moon Jae-in administration, by extending the maximum weekly work hours to 69 during weeks with heavy workloads. The government added that workers will be granted longer vacations, instead.The Ministry of Employment and Labor has used the so-called “MZ generation,” a term referring to Millennials and Generation Z, as a shield against any possible controversy over the plans, saying the younger generation prefers flexibility in work and life.Also, the vice labor minister said on March 9 that “a large majority of people” wanted to reform the system.Contrary to these expectations, the government's announcement

Mar 13, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Jun Ji-hye

Read more

Campaign launched to promote equal treatment for multicultural families

Childcare centers, academies returning to pre-pandemic normality

Commuters still wear masks despite end of mask mandate on public transportation

Public officials reluctant to dine with coworkers

Koreans wish to work less than 40 hours per week: survey

Revelations from Chun Doo-hwan's grandson cause stir

Promising boxer from Ukraine dreams of representing Korea

Korea to lift mask mandate on public transportation starting Monday

President orders review of workweek reform amid labor backlash

Gov't move to reform workweek system faces labor resistance

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