SUWON, Sept. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — More than six decades after they were arrested and branded as traitors, two former university students have won damages from the South Korean government for their wrongful detention during mass protests against the 1964 South Korea–Japan normalization talks. The Suwon District Court ruled Sunday that the state must compensate [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — A South Korean court has canceled the government’s plan to build a new airport on the ecologically sensitive Saemangeum tidal flats, a ruling hailed by environmental groups as a rare legal victory for conservation. The Seoul Administrative Court on Thursday sided with a coalition of 1,308 citizen plaintiffs who [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team on Thursday requested an arrest warrant for a senior construction company executive over his alleged role in a stock price manipulation scheme possibly involving former first lady Kim Keon Hee. The investigation team filed for the warrant for Lee Ki-hoon, vice chairman of Sambu [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — In a precedent-setting ruling, South Korea’s Supreme Court said Thursday that pharmacists may seek the cancellation of a rival pharmacy’s license if it opens directly next to a medical clinic in violation of pharmacy law. The decision overturned a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit brought by pharmacists in [...]
BUSAN, Sept. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — On a spring evening in 1964, an 18-year-old farm girl fought back against a man who tried to assault her in a desolate field near her home. She was small, he was strong, and escape seemed impossible. Desperate, she did the only thing she could: when he forced a [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea is poised to legalize tattooing by non-medical practitioners for the first time in more than three decades, after a legislative committee approved a bill that would formally recognize tattoo artists as licensed professionals. The Legislation and Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly passed the so-called Tattooist Act on [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — Platform and special employment workers in South Korea, long excluded from basic labor protections, earn far below the legal minimum wage and face chronic job insecurity, according to a new government-backed study that is fueling calls for urgent reform. A report by the Korea Labor Institute estimated that about [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — A decades-long tax dispute over royalties paid by South Korean companies to U.S. patent holders is heading into a critical new phase, as the nation’s Supreme Court considers whether to alter its long-standing stance that has largely exempted American firms from local taxation. At issue is whether royalties paid [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — In a landmark ruling, South Korea’s Supreme Court has upheld the authority of domestic courts to punish foreign corporations under so-called “dual liability” provisions, affirming that overseas companies can face criminal penalties if their employees commit trade secret violations within Korea. The decision came in a case involving Everlight, a [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s judiciary is bracing for what many judges describe as the most sweeping attempt at judicial reform in decades, as the Supreme Court moves to gather the views of court leaders nationwide ahead of legislation being advanced by the ruling Democratic Party. The Supreme Court announced that it will [...]