Recently compiled data finds the South Korea is a more racially intolerant nation in comparison to its neighboring countries, Japan and China, which runs contrary to the profile of prosperous nations.

According to a report in the Washington Post, two Swedish economists set out to determine whether or not economic freedom correlated with racial prejudice. But in order to somehow quantify such abstract data, the duo sought the help of the World Values Survey, ”which has been measuring global attitudes and opinions for decades.”

A study carried out by World Values asked participants from 80 different countries to identify from a list various types of people they would not want as neighbors. Some respondents selected “people of a different race,” and the more frequently citizens of a country responded as such, the country was viewed as less racially tolerant. Continue Reading »

Yoon Chang-jung

The sexual assault scandal surrounding the South Korean president’s former spokesman took on a new twist after the father of the victim made a statement to reporters on Thursday.

The father of the 21-year-old female intern assigned to help Yoon Chang-jung, the recently fired spokesman for South Korean leader Park Geun-hye, said that Yoon did more than just grope his daughter.

“My daughter wouldn’t have called the police for just being touched on the butt,” he told Yonhap News. “The case is being investigated by the police. I’m sure there were surveillance cameras. We’ll have to wait until the investigation is complete.”

Asked if he and his daughter are considering filing a lawsuit against Yoon, he said, “We’ll decide once the investigation is over.” Continue Reading »

The woman who accused actor Park Si-hoo of raping her last February has decided to drop the charges against him, prompting speculation from both the Korean media and fans.

Prosecutors said the accuser canceled her claim against Park on May 9 and Park, in turn, dropped his libel civil suit he had filed against the woman, her friend and his former talent agency.

He has not dropped his lawsuit against the friend, referred to as “B” in media reports and his former agency. In the suit, Park claims that his agency encouraged the rape case to go forward in retaliation for his leaving the company. Continue Reading »

Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul

An increasing number of Christians in South Korea are staying away from attending church every week due to power struggles, financial embezzlement and other corrupt practices in organized religion, a new study indicated.

South Korea’s Center for the Study of Ministry and Society published a report recently to analyze the motive of “Canaan Christians,” a buzzword to describe those who claim to be Christians but do not affiliate themselves to a church or religious institution. The report includes a survey involving 315 “Canaan Christians,” 18 of whom were interviewed extensively to provide further insight.

“I saw people at churches fight and embezzle money for power,” a Mr. Park, 45, told the Chosun Ilbo. “I didn’t want to be a part of that, but I’m still a Christian.”

According to the report, 52.3 percent of the participants have not attended church for at least 10 years, even though 43.2 percent said they used to attend church regularly for a span of at least five to 15 years.

While about one-third of those surveyed said they stopped attending church because they felt repulsed by the rigid religious lifestyle of the churchgoers, more than half said they hope to attend church again in the future. Continue Reading »

South Korean President Park Geun-hye issued a public apology on Monday over former spokesman Yoon Chang-jung’s sexual assault scandal which overshadowed her successful visit to the United States last week.

A sexual assault charge was filed against Yoon last Tuesday, as he was accused of grabbing the buttocks of a young female intern assigned to help him during his stay in Washington, D.C. He was sacked on Thursday.

Yoon, 56, was also allegedly naked when the woman came to his hotel room. Continue Reading »

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