Author: GIKorea

This is an interesting way to discourage foreigners from being a drain on public services:

A bill recently submitted to the Seoul Metropolitan Council to apply “reciprocity” to welfare and support programs for foreign residents has sparked controversy over potential discrimination.

Thirty-three council members from the conservative People Power Party submitted the proposal on Oct. 20, calling on the city government to “review reciprocity when implementing financial, education, housing and transportation support policies for foreigners.”

If passed, the ordinance would only allow foreign residents to receive city-funded benefits if their home countries offer comparable support to Koreans living there.

The draft further stipulates that foreign residents could be excluded from support programs if Korean nationals face discriminatory treatment or receive unequal benefits in the resident’s home country.

The proposal includes exceptions. Refugees requiring humanitarian protection, foreign nationals covered under bilateral or international agreements, as well as business owners and “skilled workers” would remain eligible for support regardless of reciprocity. The proposal did not say how skilled workers would be defined.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Hopefully rescuers can find these workers soon who are trapped underneath this collapsed tower:

A boiler tower collapsed at a thermal power plant in the southeastern city of Ulsan on Thursday, trapping seven workers, with a rescue and search operation under way, authorities said. 

The collapse was reported at the Ulsan branch of Korea East-West Power Co., a state-run utility company, shortly after 2 p.m. (…………)

“We are making efforts to pull out the trapped individuals who have been found, and are considering lifting or dismantling the collapsed structure to quickly locate the remaining people,” a firefighting official said.

Rescuers, meanwhile, have installed searchlights after sunset, allowing them to continue operations through the night. 

The collapsed tower was 60 meters tall and reportedly in the process of being dismantled using explosives. The trapped people are all presumed to be employees of a subcontractor.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The question I have with this law is what other subjects does it include in addition to English education?:

A legislative bill aimed at restricting English education for young children is gaining traction, as both liberal and conservative education authorities unite to address growing worries over excessive academic pressure heaped upon preschoolers.

According to the office of Rep. Kang Kyung-sook of the minor liberal Rebuilding Korea Party, who is leading the legislative effort, passage of the bill appears likely amid rising support from superintendents of education offices across the country.

“We are viewing the possibility of passing this bill positively,” an aide to Kang told The Korea Times. “At first, we received a huge number of protest calls, but now, not so much … We are actively working to build consensus among education superintendents, as we continue to push for it.”

Under the bill, all cram school programs in English and other school subjects would be completely prohibited for children under 36 months. For older children not yet enrolled in school, instruction is restricted to no more than 40 minutes per day.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

This case has been going through the legal process for many years, but it looks like it could end soon with jail sentence:s:

This combination of file photos shows (from L to R) former National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won, former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon and former Defense Minister Suh Wook. (Yonhap)

 Prosecutors on Wednesday sought a four-year prison term for former National Security Adviser Suh Hoon and a two-year term for former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Park Jie-won over the alleged cover-up of the 2020 killing of a South Korean fisheries official at North Korea’s hands.

The sentencing requests were made during the final court hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, wrapping up a trial that began some three years ago with the indictments of five officials of former President Moon Jae-in’s administration, including Suh Hoon and former Defense Minister Suh Wook.

The fisheries official, Lee Dae-jun, was fatally shot by North Korean soldiers near the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea on Sept. 22, 2020, a day after going missing while on duty on board a fishery inspection vessel. His body was burned by the North.

The Moon administration announced Lee sought to defect to the North in what prosecutors believe was an attempt to prevent the incident from hampering inter-Korean relations.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The question becomes will people believe the testimony from someone was an incentive to lie since he is cooperating with the prosecution?:

Han Dong-hoon, the former leader of the People Power Party, said Monday evening he was “grief-stricken and devastated” by courtroom testimony that former President Yoon Suk Yeol wanted him shot and killed.

The remark was part of testimony by former Army Special Warfare Commander Kwak Jong-keun, who told the court that Yoon instructed him on Oct. 1, 2024, to arrest Han and other political figures, saying, “I’ll have him shot to death if I have to.”

Han had been a longtime colleague and confidant to Yoon. He joined then-President Yoon’s Cabinet in May 2022 as justice minister, before later taking over as leader of the then-ruling party in December 2023.

Kwak testified Monday in Yoon’s criminal trial for charges of insurrection and power abuse, related to his imposition of martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. Yoon has denied issuing any such orders.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but Kwak claims the martial law order was issued on October 1st. If that this the case how was the martial law order executed so poorly with over two months to plan for it?