So Far in 2019 written by 10305 Kim Seo-yeong, 10714 Park Chae Lim, 20121 Jung Kyumin, and 20217 Yoo Hee-Ju

January: #ME TOO

The ME TOO movement in Korea began in January 2018 when prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun exposed the sexual harassment inside the prosecution. Since then, related issues seemed to be subsiding, but on January 8^th, 2019, the sports community has also joined the ME TOO movement. Short track speed skater Shim Suk-hee said she has been continuously assaulted and raped by coach since 2014, when she was a sophomore in high school. Since then, the victims' revelations have continued to be released from various athletic fields, including judo and archery.

 

February: #Galaxy Fold 5G

Samsung Electronics released its foldable Smartphone called Galaxy Fold 5G in South Korea on the 6^th for the first time. After starting in South Korea, Galaxy Fold is planned for release as 4G LTE or 5G in Britain, France, Germany, Singapore, and the U.S. The Galaxy Fold 5G comes with the 7.3-inch Infinity Flex display, the largest among Galaxy smartphones. Folds provide powerful portability that makes it easy to use with one hand.

 

March: #No Apology

 

The trial of former president Chun Doo-hwan was held at the Gwangju District Court on March 11^th. Former president Chun only appeared at the court when he was about to be arrested.

 

At the heart of the trial is the event of the shooting of a helicopter on May 18^th, 1980. The Gwangju citizens wanted was an explanation to why they had been repressed and an apology. But former president Chun denied the fact of the clear evidence and results that were presented at the trial.

 

April: #Abolition of Abortion Charges

 

The Constitutional Court made a final decision on April 11^th about clauses 269 and 270 of the Criminal Law, the 66-year-old crime of abortion. The ruling was decided that these clauses violated the Constitution.

 

The National Assembly is required to revise the abortion-related law by Dec. 31^st, 2020, after which the revised law will be implemented. The opinion that abortion is still an infringement of the right to self-determination of pregnant women and the opinion that the importance of human dignity and the life of the fetus should be emphasized are in dispute.

 

May: #Red Tap Water Incident
 

The red tap water incident in Incheon has been going on since May 30th, 2019. The incident spread to Yeongjong Island and Ganghwa County as well as the western part of Incheon.

 

This incident was caused by the water pollution from Paldang Lake. The aftermath has been known to have been the biggest water crisis in South Korea since the 1991 pollution of the Phenol in Nakdong River. Recently, there were reports of red tap water being discharged from Michuhol-gu.

 

June: #Shorter Workweek Effects

 

President Moon Jae-in reduced the original legal working hours from 68 hours to 52 hours, 16 hours less than before.

 

And even if employees and workers agree, they can't work beyond normal working hours since overtime pay no longer exists. Some people like that the efficiency of work and the reduction in working hour. And like the fact that they can have more time to enjoy leisure. While, the industry like courier service and factory, who do not like that accelerated work, are not responding well. Because they cannot get enough pay.

 

July: #Minimum Wage

 

The minimum wage, which will be applied in 2020, has been set at 8,590 won per hour. This 2.9 percent up from this year. With the third-lowest increase rate ever, business community argued that it was a disappointing but inevitable choice. They expressed regret since it didn't reach the amount that small and medium-sized companies and small business owners, who are struggling with the current economic situation and the minimum wage hike being sharply raised in the past two years, expected.

 

August: #White List Removable

 

Yeo Un-taek and three other victims of forced labor filed a compensation suit against Nippon Steel in 2005 in a South Korean court and were ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on Oct. 30, 2018. Such damage compensation rulings have been the cause of Japan's export regulations, which went into effect in July 2019, and have been excluded from the comprehensive export license of three items to South Korea. This led to a boycott of Japan and Korea being excluded from the whitelist.

 

The economic war between Korea and Japan is escalating into an all-out war as the Japanese government pushed ahead with the exclusion of Korea from the "white list". According to Japanese media, the Japanese government held a cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for a revision approval to the Export Trade Management Ordinance, which excluded Korea from the "white list".

 

If you would like to read more White List Exclusion Effects