Today on The Korea Times Podcast: The president promises to resolve the lingering tax issue and Seoul rebukes North Korea's calls to end sanctions. Plus a lawsuit is filed against the Constitutional Court over the disbandment of the UPP and comments from the front lines of suicide prevention in Seoul.
President Park Geun-hye has vowed to seek ways of resolving public outcry over changes to the tax codes used when people file their annual tax statements.
Critics and opposition lawmakers, as well as some members within the ruling Saenuri Party, have argued that the government used trickery to introduce tax hikes to cover a budget necessary to implement President Park’s welfare pledges made during the 2012 presidential election.
The government said it will not comply with preconditions North Korea has presented for the resumption of inter-Korean talks. The conditions include suspending joint military exercises by Seoul and Washington, and lifting the so-called May 24 economic sanctions.
Two people who claim they were falsely cited as pro-North Korean activists in a recent ruling by the Constitutional Court that ordered a leftist political party to be disbanded have filed a defamation suit against the court’s judges.
Despite being a major international player in areas such as high technology and popular culture, South Korea continues to be haunted by having the highest suicide rate among OECD countries. Last year, data showed that 29.1 people per 100,000 took their own lives ― more than triple the OECD average.
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