Police raided the office of Korea's major construction workers union on Friday, accusing them of staging an illegal protest last month, amid the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's ongoing crackdown on labor unions. According to police, investigators from the Seoul Namdaemun Police Station were dispatched to the office of the Korean Construction Workers Union, known as the more militant of the nation's two largest labor unions, in Yeongdeungpo-gu, southern Seoul, to carry out an earl

The South Korean government announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement with a coalition of doctors' groups to increase the number of medical students. The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korean Medical Association, the country's largest coalition of doctors' groups, with 130,000 members, met on Thursday to discuss expanding the number of students admitted to medical schools and addressing the shortage of doctors. According to the agreement, the number of medical

The proportion of female executives at South Korea’s major companies came to 7 percent in the first quarter of 2023 following last year’s implementation of a related law, a corporate tracker said. The number of female executives at 349 out of the country’s top 500 firms by sales reached 997 at end-March, accounting for 6.8 percent of the total 14,718, according to the Leaders Index. The proportion was up 0.5 percentage point from a year earlier and 1.7 times the tally for the f

S. Korea to adopt world’s 1st digital textbook and AI tutoring for public education system to reduce heavy reliance on private sector, says education minister

Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency brought in a total of 82 people for smuggling, selling and taking the drug yaba. Police also found methamphetamine, cannabis and ecstasy. Yaba is a combination of methamphetamine and caffeine that originates in Thailand. All 82 of the suspects are Thai nationals. Out of 82 suspects, one is accused of smuggling, 33 are accused of distributing, and 48 are accused of purchasing the drug from January last year to May this year around Seosan, South Chungcheong Provi

Of 3,000 victims, over half are in their 20s or 30s

The Justice Ministry said Thursday foreign nationals involved in even minor drug offenses will be subject to deportation and a permanent entry ban, in addition to criminal punishment. The warning came as the government readies for a nationwide crackdown on illegal aliens for 50 days from June 12 through July 31. The ministries of justice; employment and labor; land, infrastructure and transport; the National Police Agency; and the Korea Coast Guard will take part in the joint inspection. “

South Korea's capital city, Seoul, was named the world’s ninth most expensive city for expatriates in terms of living expenses, an international survey showed. According to a global consulting firm ECA International in March this year, the cost of living in Seoul was the ninth-highest, up one notch from a year earlier. Tokyo was next, down five notches on-year. The survey compared the costs of living in 207 cities with high numbers of foreign national residents across 120 countrie

Seoul Metro, the public corporation that operates the subway system in Seoul, is putting the names of 30 subway stations up for sale. The upcoming auction will involve 18 subway stations, the naming contracts of which have expired, along with 12 additional stations in downtown and commercial hub areas. They include Gangnam Station on Line 2, one of the busiest stations, as well as Seongsu and Sinsa Stations, in hip Seongsu-dong and Sinsa-dong, respectively. The new names will be displayed in bra

Over 10 people were injured on Thursday when an escalator at Sunae Station on the Bundang Line suddenly began operating in reverse. The incident was reported to the South Korean Fire Service at around 8:20 a.m., with multiple injuries caused by the malfunctioning escalator at Exit No. 2 of the station. According to the fire department, three individ­uals who sustained serious injuries were hospitalized, while 11 others who suffered minor injuries were sent home after receiving medical treatm

Green Korea United, a local environmental group, staged a protest in front of the Embassy of Japan in Seoul on Wednesday, condemning Japan's plan to discharge approximately 1.32 million tonnes of wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean. The activists displayed a water purifier attached to a mock barrel of contaminated Fukushima wastewater, provided by Jeski Social Campaign, a research group that creates public service campaigns. They criticized the

South Korea is envisioning a plan to scrap the limit of 20 English characters on driver's licenses, the government said Wednesday. The character limit -- imposed on driver's licenses and disability certificates -- has often discouraged holders from having their full name displayed. The eased rule will accommodate names with up to 37 characters on the identification cards and certificates, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety. Under current rules here, foreigners who earned a license

A middle school student has been arrested for throwing firecrackers at a police patrol division in Daegu on Wednesday. According to Daegu Gangbuk Police Station, the student is accused of throwing a set of firecrackers at a police outpost located in Buk-gu, a district located in northwestern Daegu, at 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday. He ran away right after but was caught by the police within 10 minutes. No one was injured due to the firecrackers, but parts of the sidewalk near the patrol division were da

Anyang Manan Police Station said Wednesday it had arrested a man in his 30s for murdering his father, after he threw away his diary. The man is suspected of stabbing his father several times while he was sleeping, at around 8:54 p.m. on Tuesday. After he committed the crime, he called the police and said that he had “killed his father.” The man said that he had committed the crime due to a sudden rush of anger. The police plan to seek a warrant for his further detention after further

The annual Seoul Queer Culture Festival parade this year, which had struggled to secure a venue due to the city's refusal of its request to use Seoul Plaza, will be held on July 1 starting in Euljiro 2-ga, Seoul, the organizing committee said Wednesday. The organizing committee expects more than 50,000 people to participate in the parade alone and 150,000 in all festival events. The parade starts from Euljiro but the route will include Seoul Plaza, they said. “The meaning of the Pride