All posts tagged "labor"

  • A man walks through a salt farm on Sinui Island, south of Seoul, South Korea. Life as a salt-farm slave was so bad Kim Jong-seok sometimes fantasized about killing the owner who beat him daily. Freedom, he says, has been worse. In the year since police emancipated the severely mentally disabled man from the farm where he had worked for eight years, Kim has lived in a grim homeless shelter, preyed upon and robbed by other residents. He has no friends, no job training prospects or counseling, and feels confined and deeply bored. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
    S. Koreans sue government over salt farm slavery

    SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Eight men who had been held as slaves at South Korean salt farms for several years took the government to court on Friday for alleged negligence and police inaction they say largely...

    • Posted November 13, 2015
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  • U.N.'s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in North Korea Marzuki Darusman of Indonesia speaks during a press conference to discuss wages that North Korean laborers are receiving in Siberia. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
    N. Koreans in Siberia earn US$200-3,000 per year: report

    SEOUL (Yonhap) — North Korean workers in the eastern Siberian region earn a mere US$200-3,000 a year on average, often exposed to a delay in payment due partly to corruption among managers, a report showed Wednesday. It...

    • Posted November 4, 2015
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  • South Korean office employees work night hours in this file photo. (Korea Times file)
    S. Korea ranked No. 2 in working hours among OECD countries

    By Brian Han It’s no secret that South Korea’s working culture demands a lot of time from employees. A recent report reflects this trend after listing the country as the second highest in average working hours among...

    • Posted November 3, 2015
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  • Farmers work in a rice field, Wednesday, June 24, 2015 in South Hwanghae, North Korea. North Korea may be facing a poor harvest and possible food shortages due to unusually light rainfall in some parts of the country so far this year. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
    Tens of thousands of N. Koreans forced into labor abroad: UN

    UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. investigator says tens of thousands of North Koreans are being sent to work abroad in conditions that amount to forced labor to circumvent U.N. sanctions and earn foreign currency for the...

    • Posted October 29, 2015
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  • A protester rallies in front of the Korea Employers Federation building in Seoul on June 22, 2015, demanding the federation withdraw its decision to freeze the minimum wage for next year. The minimum wage for this year was set at 5,580 won per hour, a 7.1 percent rise from 2014. (Yonhap)
    S. Korea raises minimum wage to 6,030 won (US$5.31) to boost economy

    South Korea’s minimum wage was set at 6,030 won (US$5.31) per hour for next year, up 8.1 percent from 5,580 won (US$4.93) for this year, said Kim Sang-bum, an official handling the issue at the Minimum Wage Council....

    • Posted July 9, 2015
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  • North Korean Soldiers are silhouetted against the rising sun as they work on the new building structure of the Sunan International Airport, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014 in Pyongyang, North Korea. The new airport, which is now in its final stages, is the latest of North Korea's "speed campaigns", mass mobilisations of labor shock brigades aimed at finishing top-priority projects in record time. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
    N. Korea seen to be examining its workers in foreign nations

    SEOUL, July 7 (Yonhap) — North Korea is believed to be examining its workers employed abroad this month, a Unification Ministry official said Tuesday, amid reports that mid-ranking North Korean officials are seeking asylum. North Korea is...

    • Posted July 7, 2015
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  • rows of cargo containers. Fun fact: the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports handle about 40 percent of cargo for the entire country. (Courtesy of Dirk Dallas via Flickr/Creative Commons)
    Class-action lawsuit filed against Korean American trucking companies

    By The Korea Times Los Angeles staff Three truck drivers, including one Korean American man, are suing six different Los Angeles-based trucking companies, including three operated by Korean Americans, for allegedly violating labor laws. The lawsuit alleges that...

    • Posted May 26, 2015
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