my timesThe Korea Times

South Korea

PoliticsDefenseGlobal CommunityEnvironment & AnimalsLaw & CrimeHealthSocietyEducationOthers
  • Politics

    Justice minister nominee hits back over lobbying allegations

    Justice minister nominee Kim Seung-won said Tuesday, that if he is appointed, he will prevent information about an investigation by the police or prosecution from being “used politically.” His pledge is an apparent counterattack against independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon’s disclosure of probe materials about Kim’s alleged illegal lobbying activities. The justice minister nominee said Han, a former prosecutor, should disclose how he obtained the investigation materials. "If I am given the opportunity to serve as minister, I will correct [the practice of] the political use of investigative information," Kim said in his opening remarks at his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly. Kim, also a two-term lawmaker, was suspected of using his influence to lobby for the approval of a pharmaceutical company's COVID-19 clinical drug trial in October 2021, although prosecutors later suspended the indictment following an investigation. Han brought back the allegation after Kim's nomination was announced. Kim and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) then claimed that Han obtained con

    2 MIN READBy Yi Whan-woo
    Justice minister nominee hits back over lobbying allegations
  • South Korea

    Seoul city bus union to go on strike Wednesday after wage talks fail

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Seoul city bus union to go on strike Wednesday after wage talks fail
  • South Korea

    Consecutive presidential terms? Don't even dream about it

    4 MIN READBy Hankookilbo
    Consecutive presidential terms? Don't even dream about it
  • Defense

    Defense chiefs of Korea, Japan agree on defense cooperation based on 'mutual understanding'

    1 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Defense chiefs of Korea, Japan agree on defense cooperation based on 'mutual understanding'
  • South Korea

    Seoul's city bus union sets 9 pm Tuesday deadline for strike

    2 MIN READBy Yonhap
    Seoul's city bus union sets 9 pm Tuesday deadline for strike
Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Read more

Global Community

Campaign helps correct distorted descriptions of Africa in Korean textbooks

The Korean government has taken corrective action in response to a campaign by a nongovernmental organization to correct distorted information about Africa in domestic textbooks, the organization said Wednesday. The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK) said that the Ministry of Education has taken steps to reduce descriptions of poverty and hunger in Africa and increase content related to the African population, technological advancement and exchanges with Korea in eight elementary school social studies textbooks that obtained government authorization in September. The revised textbooks have reduced content related to the "world hunger map" and negative images of Africa, such as poverty, hunger and refugees, have also been alleviated, VANK said. Instead, attention is focused on Africa's growth potential driven by population growth and technological advancements in construction and other fields, it noted. In addition, content related to the exchanges between Korea and Africa has been expanded to include cooperation in smartphone production resources and trade relations on top of exist

Dec 17, 2025By Yonhap
Campaign helps correct distorted descriptions of Africa in Korean textbooks
Society

President Lee’s remarks on discredited history book sparks controversy

A book widely dismissed by mainstream historians, "Hwandan Gogi" claims that an ancient Korean state known as Hwanguk ruled much of Asia around 9,000 years ago, with some adherents even asserting links to Sumer, one of the world’s earliest civilizations. Published in 1979 by pseudo-historian Lee Yu-rip, who claimed to have based it on a 1911 text by a religious figure, the book has been rejected by scholars due to a lack of evidence and unclear origins. The long-dismissed book resurfaced amid controversy after President Lee Jae Myung mentioned it publicly, sparking criticism over the appropriateness of referencing pseudo-history in official discourse. During last week’s education ministry's annual policy briefing, Lee asked Park Ji-hang, president of the Northeast Asian History Foundation, whether the foundation had shown interest in derogatory terms used against followers of Hwandan Gogi. “There seems to be a difference in perspectives over how history should be viewed and from what standpoint,” Lee said, after Park responded that professional scholars’ theories are far more p

Dec 17, 2025By Park Ung
President Lee’s remarks on discredited history book sparks controversy
Politics

Special counsel demands 4-year prison term for opposition lawmaker over funds from Unification Church

A special counsel team on Wednesday demanded a four-year prison term for opposition lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong on charges of accepting illegal political funds from the Unification Church. Kweon of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is accused of receiving 100 million won ($67,570) from a former church official in 2022 in exchange for his help in gaining policy favors for the church following the presidential election of then PPP candidate Yoon Suk Yeol later that year. The former church official allegedly promised to also mobilize the votes of church members in support of Yoon. "As a prominent member of the National Assembly, the defendant, more than others, had a responsibility to work to defend constitutional values and protect the rights and interests of the people, but he damaged constitutional values and betrayed the people's trust by conspiring with a certain religious group to receive 100 million won in political funds," Park Sang-jin, a member of special counsel Min Joong-ki's team, said at the trial at the Seoul Central District Court. Park further accused the lawmaker

Dec 17, 2025By Yonhap
Special counsel demands 4-year prison term for opposition lawmaker over funds from Unification Church
Law & Crime

Father of golf legend Pak Se-ri receives suspended sentence over document forgery

The father of the Korean golf legend Pak Se-ri received a suspended jail term Wednesday for an illegal attempt to borrow the name of his daughter's foundation to build an international golf school. The Daejeon District Court in the central city of Daejeon handed down a 10-month sentence, suspended for two years, on Pak Joon-chul, on a number of charges, including forging a private document. The senior Pak was convicted of forging a document and a company seal to set up an international golf school under the name of the Seri Pak Hope Foundation, and of acting as the chairman of the foundation while pursuing the project between June 2021 and July 2023, when Pak Se-ri was the person in charge of the foundation as its director. The daughter took her father's case to police in September 2023, and police referred it to the prosecution for possible indictment early in 2024. The father claimed that he was trying to work on behalf of his daughter and he had received tacit approval from the foundation to go ahead with the school project. However, the court ruled that the senior Pak still had no leg

Dec 17, 2025By Yonhap
Father of golf legend Pak Se-ri receives suspended sentence over document forgery
Politics

Bill imposing stricter penalties on companies for major data breaches passes parliamentary committee

A parliamentary committee on Wednesday passed a bill that allows the government to impose a fine of up to 10 percent of a company's total sales for major personal data leaks. The revision to the Personal Information Protection Act comes after e-commerce giant Coupang reported a massive data breach last month that affected nearly two-thirds of the nation's population, the latest in a series of leaks of personal information at major companies. Under the bill, the ceiling on fines for large-scale personal data breaches will be raised to 10 percent of a company's total revenue, up from the current 3 percent. The penalty will be applied to cases involving repeated violations due to serious negligence or intentional misconduct within three years, data leaks affecting more than 10 million people and those caused by failure to comply with corrective orders. Coupang is expected to avoid heavier fines for the latest incident as the bill will not be applied retroactively to past cases. The bill was approved during a plenary meeting of the National Assembly's national policy committee.

Dec 17, 2025By Yonhap
Bill imposing stricter penalties on companies for major data breaches passes parliamentary committee
South Korea

Lee scolds state-run oil firm over lack of research for offshore fuel project

President Lee Jae Myung scolded top executives Wednesday at the Korea National Oil Corp. (KNOC) for pushing ahead with a project to develop potential oil and gas reserves off the nation's southeastern coast without conducting a proper economic feasibility study. Lee questioned acting KNOC chief executive Choi Moon-gyu about whether the state-run company had calculated the cost of deep-sea drilling for potential oil and gas reserves in the East Sea, which had been pushed under the previous administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol. KNOC carried out the first round of exploratory drilling at one of the project sites between December and February, but the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources said the results failed to demonstrate the project's economic viability. "In case of gas exploration projects in the East Sea, if production costs are high, there would not be much profitability," Lee said during the briefing in the central administrative city of Sejong. When Choi replied that the company had not calculated development costs because of several variables, Lee pushed back, say

Dec 17, 2025By Yonhap
Lee scolds state-run oil firm over lack of research for offshore fuel project
Defense

Korea to use Saemangeum wetland for anti-drone equipment testing

Korea plans to test anti-drone equipment at the Saemangeum wetland in the country's southwestern region, officials said Wednesday, as the country seeks to sharpen response capabilities against rising drone threats. Under an agreement jointly signed by the science ministry, the arms procurement agency and the Saemangeum Development and Investment Agency, the government plans to conduct the tests at the reclaimed land in North Jeolla Province. The move enables relevant ministries to safely test anti-drone technologies that involve the use of electromagnetic shielding, without breaching the safety and telecommunications rights of the public, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration said. The Saemangeum wetland was created under a state project aimed at developing a total of a 409-square-kilometer reclaimed area by 2050, equivalent to around two-thirds of the capital city of Seoul.

Dec 17, 2025By Yonhap
Korea to use Saemangeum wetland for anti-drone equipment testing
Society

Elite professional licenses no longer guarantee jobs in Korea

Even Korea’s most prestigious humanities-track professional licenses — lawyer, certified public accountant and tax accountant — are no longer a safe path to employment, as oversupply and rapid advances in artificial intelligence squeeze entry-level hiring. Kim, 29, who began preparing for the CPA exam in his fourth year of university, finally passed last year after four years of study. But more than a year later, he is still unemployed. To work as a licensed accountant in Korea, candidates must complete at least one year of practical training at an accounting firm or similar institution. Kim said he applied to more than 30 firms and was rejected by all of them. “Hundreds of people apply for positions that take just one or two trainees,” Kim said. “Getting hired as a trainee accountant feels much harder than passing the exam itself.” As job prospects for humanities graduates continue to deteriorate, even those who pass what are often called the “big three” humanities professional exams — law, accounting and tax — are finding themselves at a career dead end. Industry

Dec 17, 2025By Hankookilbo
Elite professional licenses no longer guarantee jobs in Korea
Society

Parental leave reaches record high in 2024 on increased childbirths, support measures

The number of Korean workers taking parental leave reached a record high in 2024, data showed Wednesday, largely due to a rise in the number of births last year and the effects of government policies promoting parental leave. A total of 206,226 workers took time off from work in order to care for their children last year, up from 198,218 recorded a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The ministry noted that the increase was partly due to a rise in births and the impact of parental leave policies. In 2024, the number of babies born increased for the first time in nine years to reach 238,300, up 3.6 percent from a record low of 230,000 in 2023. Under Korean law, parents of children aged 8 years or younger, or those in the second grade of elementary school or below, are eligible for up to one year of maternity or paternity leave. To address the nation's prolonged ultralow birth rate, the government provides financial assistance to employment insurance subscribers who take parental leave. Though still dominantly taken by women, the ministry also highlighte

Dec 17, 2025By Yonhap
Parental leave reaches record high in 2024 on increased childbirths, support measures
Law & Crime

Police transfer case on alleged bias in special counsel's investigation to anti-graft agency

Police on Wednesday transferred a case over allegations of bias in a special counsel team's investigation to the anti-corruption agency, an investigation team said. The case against special counsel Min Joong-ki investigating corruption allegations surrounding former first lady Kim Keon Hee was sent to the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, the police team said in a notice to reporters. The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) earlier filed a complaint against Min and his team for allegedly conducting a biased probe targeting its members despite securing a statement that the Unification Church also provided money to members of the now-ruling Democratic Party. The special counsel team has investigated bribery allegations involving the church, the former first lady and the PPP affiliated with former President Yoon Suk Yeol, Kim's husband. The case's transfer came after police investigators raided Min's office for the second day Tuesday to seize records in connection to the allegations. A former Unification Church official testified at court earlier this month tha

Dec 17, 2025By Yonhap
Police transfer case on alleged bias in special counsel's investigation to anti-graft agency
previous page
474475476477478
next page

Most Read in South Korea