Today on The Korea Times Podcast: The United States urges North Korea to take concrete steps to improve its human rights record and late-paying employers face stiffer fines. Plus baby-boomers increasingly seek part-time employment and research into family difficulties.
The United States urged North Korea on Wednesday to take steps to improve its human rights record in accordance with recommendations in a landmark U.N. report on the situation. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.N. Commission of Inquiry report reflects the international community's "consensus view that the human rights situation in North Korea is among the world's worst.”
Employers who delay paying their workers face hefty new penalties. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Tuesday that employers must now pay twice the worker's wage if it is delayed more than four months. Previously, the penalty was only 50 percent of the owed payment.
Those born between 1955 and 1963 are commonly referred to as baby-boomers, and they’re increasingly seeking part-time jobs after retiring. According to part-time job portal Alba Heaven Wednesday, the number of job seekers in their 50s increased sevenfold to from data collected in 2010.
Children and parents who live apart, on average, meet 16 times a year and call each other 37 times, a new Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs welfare report. Low-income and higher-income households were surveyed separately, and results showed the former had fewer exchanges than the latter.
Respondents cited ‘'illness'' as the top reason for conflict between family members. Next were ‘'financial troubles'', ‘’unemployment’', ‘'children's education'' and ‘'children's marriage’'.
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