SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – Chanel Korea has been fined for requesting names and contact numbers from waiting customers and their companions. The Personal Information Protection Commission announced on Thursday that it had decided to impose a fine of 3.6 million won on Chanel Korea for violating the Personal Information Protection Act during its 19th [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – The Seoul High Court on Thursday overturned a lower court’s rejection of a damages suit filed by victims of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery and ordered Japan to pay 200 million won (US$153,863) in compensation to each of the 16 victims. The victims, often euphemistically called “comfort women,” filed the [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – The National Human Right Commission on Thursday recommended mega coffee chain Starbucks provide sign language services or install kiosks at its drive-through stores to ensure equal access for the hearing-impaired and customers with language challenges. The recommendation was in response to a petition filed by hearing-impaired customers and others [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Korea Bizwire) –Three draft-eligible Russians, who have been stranded at Incheon International Airport for over one year unable to get asylum approval from the South Korean government, deserve humanitarian assistance from local authorities, the state human rights watchdog said Monday. The three Russian men have been living in the airport’s departure waiting [...]
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s top envoy at the United Nations on Wednesday criticized China’s reported repatriation of North Korean refugees last week as a “grave” human rights incident and called on the international community to raise voices for their protection. Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook made the remarks as human rights advocacy groups [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – The National Assembly on Friday passed a new bill aimed at expanding the public disclosure of personal data of violent crime offenders amid heightened public concern over heinous crimes. Nicknamed the “mug shot disclosure bill,” the legislation will allow police to disclose portrait photos of suspects in violent crimes [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – Police have launched a probe into the suicide death of an elementary school teacher in Uijeongbu, just north of Seoul, for possible harassment by parents, nearly two years after his school reported the death merely as a fall, officials said Sunday. The Uijeongbu Police Station has recently opened a [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Korea Bizwire) –Police will push for a blanket ban on assemblies and demonstrations from midnight to 6 a.m. to minimize public inconvenience from large-scale illegal gatherings, the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) said Thursday. The KNPA said it will push to stipulate the “midnight-to-6 a.m. gathering ban” in the Law on [...]
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — A U.S. diplomat expressed concerns Tuesday over North Korean detainees in China who are at the risk of torture if repatriated, calling on Beijing to comply with the international principle of non-refoulement. Jung Pak, deputy special representative for North Korea, made the remarks during a forum on the human [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – All elementary schools in Seoul will be installed with telephone recorders to record calls from parents, while a chatbot will be introduced across elementary to high schools to deal with parental complaints on behalf of teachers, the Seoul education chief said Tuesday. The plan, announced by Cho Hee-yeon, superintendent [...]