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Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Korea Herald
Migrant soldier claims racism in the barracks
Report reveals over half of officers unaware that it is forbidden to call out soldiers based on race, external appearance A conscripted soldier of the South Korean Army says he was the victim of racially charged bullying, leading to an official military police investigation, according to local media reports on Monday. The 22-year-old soldier jumped from the second floor of his barracks in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on April 23. While receiving treatment at the military hospital, he made the complaint to his superiors. Born to a Chinese father and a mother who defected from North Korea, the soldier was born in China, where he lived for some time before moving to Korea. He enlisted last year after obtaining South Korean citizenship. According to him, other soldiers in the troop would call him derogatory names or say that he was a "fake Korean." According to what he wrote in his journal in December, reported by local broadcaster MBC, he suffered from constant nightmares, had trouble breathing and was under constant pressure from his superiors. He also wrote that he was denied medicine that he requested. The Army, in its initial report of the incident, did not specify any potential reasons behind the soldier's decision to jump from the window, but a report written three months later said he was "having trouble adjusting because of his difficulty communicating in Korean." As the number of multicultural families in Korea increases, more Korean citizens with diverse ethnic backgrounds are completing their mandatory military service. A 2024 report by the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses showed that 1 percent of all South Korean troops had non-Korean ethnicities in 2022. This figure is projected to reach 5 percent by 2030. A 2009 revision of the Military Service Act had deleted a clause that exempted "mixed-race individuals with distinguishable external features" from mandatory military service. Though intended to abolish discrimination based on race, there are still complications stemming from a lack of consideration toward soldiers with diverse ethnic backgrounds. The aforementioned KIDA report conducted a survey on 3,600 people in the South Korean military, revealing that 15 percent of the officers were unaware that there were soldiers of various backgrounds in the military. Additionally, over half of the officers were unaware that it is forbidden to call out soldiers' distinctive features based on their race and external appearance.
Korea Herald
21-07-2025
- General
- Korea Herald
Learn traditional iron-making at NRICH's summer camp
Some 40 participants will get a chance to learn about Korea's traditional iron-making through hands-on experiences, lessons The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and the Korea Cultural Heritage Association are jointly recruiting participants for a special iron-making camp to be held next month. Applications for the three-day camp, slated for Aug. 20-22 at the Jungwon National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, will be open from Monday through July 31. The camp is open to anyone interested in iron-making, regardless of nationality. While the program will be conducted in Korean, NRICH will provide English-language versions of the presentations to help non-Korean speakers better understand the content, an official at the institution told The Korea Herald. The program is free of charge. A total of 40 participants will be selected, and the final list will be announced on Aug. 4 via NRICH's official website. The iron-making camp is an educational program where participants can learn about Korea's traditional iron-making through hands-on experiences, while also exploring discoveries from archaeological excavations and experimental research in the field. The two institutions have jointly hosted the program every year since August 2021. Day two will feature a deep dive into iron-making sites from the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392), an exploration of traditional pig iron production techniques and a visit to Korea's first Iron Museum in Eumseong. On the final day, participants will attend a lesson on how ancient iron-making techniques are being revived today.
Korea Herald
01-07-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
Toss sees 30% surge in foreign users in H1
Viva Republica, operator of mobile financial platform Toss, said its cumulative number of foreign users reached 460,000 as of the first half of this year, a 30 percent increase from 360,000 in the same period last year. The platform's foreign users now comprise only those residing in Korea, with Toss customers spanning 178 nationalities, including from the US, China and Vietnam. Vietnamese users recorded the highest growth rate among foreign user groups, surging 85 percent year-on-year, driven largely by positive word-of-mouth within Vietnamese expatriate communities. The company attributed the overall growth to initiatives aimed at improving accessibility for non-Korean users, such as more user-friendly identity verification processes, expanded English-language services and broader access to key financial features. Toss now offers foreign users the same widely available services to Korean users, including money transfers, check cards, MyData, Toss Pay, hospital bill reimbursements and app-based reward features. Following five months of beta testing that began in January, the company officially rolled out full English language support covering over 100 services across its app. 'We plan to expand multilingual support further in the third quarter to strengthen its position as a foreign financial platform,' said a Toss official.
Korea Herald
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
State affairs committee mulls lowering age for getting dual-citizenship
Self-reliance in space tech, maritime sovereignty protection, criminal justice system overhaul among policy agenda items South Korea may lower the minimum age for receiving dual citizenship for non-Korean citizens, the state affairs planning committee said Tuesday. The state affairs planning committee was briefed by the Overseas Koreans Agency the same day, where discussions covered ways to allow double citizenship to noncitizens younger than the current age limit of 65, according to the committee's spokesperson, Rep. Jo Seoung-lae. In a briefing by the Korea Aerospace Administration, the state affairs planning committee said the goal of increasing self-reliance in space technologies came up as one of the main policy items. "The key is to boost domestic satellite and projection production capabilities," Jo said. The state affairs planning committee also plans to widely promote the use of eco-friendly materials in the aerospace industry. Under President Lee Jae Myung, the national space advisory committee, for space-related research and development initiatives, will also be expanded into the national aerospace advisory committee. The Overseas Koreans Agency and the Korea Aerospace Administration are new government bodies that launched in 2023 and 2024, respectively, under the last Yoon Suk Yeol administration. The state affairs planning committee, after a briefing by the Coast Guard, said policies for protecting sea sovereignty, including the introduction of maritime domain awareness, were reviewed. The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, which was set up as part of former Democratic Party of Korea President Moon Jae-in's initiative to downsize the prosecution service, would get expanded powers, the state affairs committee said. Shortly after President Lee took office, the ruling Democratic Party proposed a set of bills seeking to abolish the prosecution service and create new investigative bodies that will be overseen by the executive branch. How the authorities will be distributed among the CIO and the new investigative bodies was still being discussed, the state affairs planning committee said. The state affairs planning committee receives briefings from ministries and government agencies daily to come up with a roadmap for how the Lee Jae Myung administration will run the country for the next five years. The committee, which kicked off June 16, will operate for 60 days, with a possible extension of 20 days.
Korea Herald
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
More than 800 foreign minors held at detention centers in last 5 years: data
Children detained alongside their non-Korean parents facing residency issues are left isolated, cut off from access to education and medical services A total of 886 foreign minors were kept in South Korea's state-run immigration detention facilities between the beginning of 2020 and May 23 this year, a lawmaker revealed Monday, citing data from the Ministry of Justice. According to data obtained by Rep. Han Chang-min of the Social Democratic Party of Korea, most minors held in South Korea's immigration detention centers, located in Hwaseong, Cheongju, and Yeosu, are confined alongside parents who either lacked legal residency or were under deportation orders. While South Korea does not issue deportation orders to minors, children are permitted to remain in detention if a detained parent wants their child to stay with them. South Korean law does not prohibit the detention of children in immigration facilities. There were as many as 13 cases in which foreign minors were kept in custody for over 100 days. In 2020, a 1-year-old child spent 141 days in detention, while an 18-year-old was held for 631 days in detention last year. Korean law defines those under the age of 19 as minors. The immigration office can extend the detention every three months, but the total period cannot exceed nine months, according to the revised Immigration Control Act, passed by the National Assembly earier March. However, if the individual is seeking asylum or involved in legal proceedings, the period may be prolonged to as long as 20 months. 'Detaining migrant children is a clear violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and should be regarded as a serious human rights concern by both the Korean public and the international community," Han said in a press release. The convention, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989, aims to protect the rights of all children and ensure their well-being, including their rights to survival, development, and protection from abuse. It has been ratified by 196 countries as of last year. South Korea joined the convention in 1991. The lawmaker also voiced concerns over the poor conditions faced by migrant children in detention, saying they are 'held in cramped spaces alongside adults, without access to educational programs, or even basic child care services critical to their development.' In April 2023, a Mongolian man residing in South Korea without legal status was arrested during a police crackdown and held at the Hwaseong Foreigners' Detention Center for about 18 days along with his 3-year-old son, who reportedly needed regular hospital visits due to a congenital medical condition, according to local news reports. Han urged immigration authorities to comply with their own regulations regarding the detention of migrant children. Under the Justice Ministry's rules on the protection of foreign nationals in detention, if a foreign national under the age of 18 is held for more than one month, appropriate education may be provided based on the individual's age and abilities, and the facility may also outsource educational programs. 'More than three decades have passed since the country became a party to the international child rights convention, yet the government's mindset remains outdated and regressive,' Rep. Han said. 'I will continue working to revise the Immigration Control Act and the Child Welfare Act to fully prohibit the detention of foreign minors and ensure that migrant children have access to essential services, including counseling, foster care, and medical or institutional support.'
