Most Popular
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Hyundai Motor eyes 80,000 jobs, W68tr investment at home by 2026
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Korea enters full election mode
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Dialogue hopes fade as doctors pick hard-liner as new head
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Coupang pledges W3tr to expand Rocket Delivery nationwide by 2027
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[Election Battlefield] Political novice to face off star politician in ‘swing district’
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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[Kim Seong-kon] The April 2024 election will decide our future
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[Herald Interview] Son Suk-ku chooses to be swayed by others in navigating life
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Govt. says nationwide doctors' strike unlikely despite growing grievances
A nationwide strike by doctors is unlikely to be realized, the health ministry said Thursday, though trainee doctors and medical school students have moved to take collective action against medical school enrollment quota hikes. Doctors have warned of a massive strike and other responses in opposition to the government's decision announced last week to add 2,000 to the country's medical school enrollment quota next year, marking a sharp rise from the current 3,058 seats. "The poss
Feb. 15, 2024
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[Contribution] Looking back on 35 years of ties on the occasion of Serbia's National Day
By Nemanja Grbic, Serbian ambassador to Korea As the Embassy of Serbia in Seoul proudly celebrates its National Day together with the small Serbian community living here, as well as our Korean friends, it is an opportunity to once again recall the close and decadeslong friendly relations that so happily exist between our two countries and two peoples. Statehood Day or National Day is celebrated every Feb. 15 in Serbia to commemorate the outbreak of the First Serbian Uprising in 1804, which e
Feb. 15, 2024
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Ministry downplays risk of doctors’ strike despite growing calls for action
While medical circles have shown signs of momentum for collective action across the country, the Health Ministry on Thursday downplayed the possibility of them walking out of school campuses and jobs, saying it judges the likelihood of a full-scale joint action as “very low.” Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Park Min-soo said during Thursday’s press briefing that the ministry has seen no movements at this point, adding that reports that junior doctors have submitted t
Feb. 15, 2024
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1 in 6 elementary schools in Seoul to have under 40 students per grade: study
Amid a sharp decline in the school-age population due to a rapidly dropping birth rate, 1 out of 6 elementary schools in Seoul will have fewer than 40 students per grade level, government research suggested Thursday. The number of "small-scale schools" that have fewer than 240 students will increase by 101 in 2028, an almost 50 percent increase from this year with 69 schools, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's prediction on arrangements of schools from 2024
Feb. 15, 2024
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Farewell to Seoul's oldest elephant passing at age of 59
The oldest female elephant in South Korea passed away Tuesday at a zoo in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, at the age of 59, zoo officials said Thursday. The female elephant, named Sakura, had suffered from deteriorating health since November last year, primarily caused by ascites and subcutaneous edema. Born in February 1965 in Thailand, she was in her 90s in human years. Sakura spent her early years as a circus performer at a Japanese amusement park, Takarazuka Family Land, from when she was 7 m
Feb. 15, 2024
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1 out of 5 job-seekers in S. Korea aged 60 and above
With South Korea rapidly closing in on the "super-aged society" threshold, 20.1 percent of all job-seeking posts uploaded on the state-run job search website last year were by people aged 60 and above. According to the Ministry of Labor, a total of 4.77 million people sought to find new jobs through the state-run Worknet, out of which 959,602 were posted by senior citizens. The figure was higher than for any other age group except the 29 and below group, who uploaded 1.15 million posts
Feb. 15, 2024
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Embattled soccer association set to hold meeting
Faced with controversy over a scuffle involving two of its best players and growing demand for the head coach's resignation, the Korea Football Association will hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the future of the South Korean men's national team. The main agenda of the meeting, slated for 11 a.m., will likely be Jurgen Klinsmann, who has been subject to criticism from the public, the media and even politicians after the national team's disappointing semifinals exit at the Asian Cup 2023. The
Feb. 15, 2024
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Govt. to expand telemedicine services if trainee doctors go ahead with strike
The health ministry said Thursday that it will fully expand telemedicine services and mobilize assistant nurses if a major association of trainee doctors pushes ahead with a nationwide strike in protest of a plan to boost the number of medical students. Tension between doctors and the government has grown over last week's decision to add 2,000 to the country's medical school enrollment quota next year, a sharp rise from the current 3,058 seats. Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo
Feb. 15, 2024
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Scandal-ridden ex-fiance of Olympic fencing medalist gets 12-yr prison sentence
A Seoul court sentenced the scandal-ridden former fiance of Olympic fencing medalist Nam Hyun-hee to 12 years in prison on Wednesday on fraud and forgery charges. The 28-year-old former fiance, Jeon Cheong-jo, was charged with swindling a total of about 3 billion won ($2.25 million) from 27 people under the pretext of investment between 2022 and 2023. Jeon presented herself to the victims as a secret heir to the high-end Paradise Hotel chain, enticing them with false investment opportunities tha
Feb. 14, 2024
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Man found dead after setting fire to British woman's face
A man in his 20s who set fire to the face of a female exchange student in December was found dead, closing the police investigation into the case, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on Wednesday. The suspect had sprayed volatile material into the face of a British woman and ignited it with a cigarette lighter on Dec. 15 near the dormitory building of a university in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. His whereabouts were unknown after fleeing the scene of the crime, until his body was found on th
Feb. 14, 2024
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Over half of population resides in Seoul metropolitan area: data
More than half of South Korea’s total population was found to reside in the capital city of Seoul and surrounding metropolitan cities, according to official data released by the government on Wednesday. As of December 2023, the registered populations in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province recorded up to 26.1 million residents, which made up 50.7 percent of the country's total population. Out of the 26.1 million, 9.39 million were registered in Seoul, 3 million were registered in Inch
Feb. 14, 2024
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Seoul to help more women to freeze eggs
The Seoul Metropolitan Government will double the number of subsidies it provides women to cryopreserve their eggs, said the city government on Wednesday, as part of the city government’s measure to tackle falling birth rates in the capital city. In September 2023, the city government proposed to provide up to 2 million won ($1,496) to 300 women between the ages of 20 and 49 who have resided in Seoul for more than six months. Starting in 2024, the Seoul Metropolitan Government will provide
Feb. 14, 2024
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Teenagers souring on marriage: survey
Teenagers in South Korea are becoming less keen to get married, while more than half believe that having children out of wedlock is acceptable, a study suggested Wednesday. According to the National Youth Policy Institute's recent research on teenagers' values conducted among some 7,718 students from elementary school to high school last year, 29.5 percent agreed that "marriage is a must." This is less than half the percentage 11 years ago, compared to 2012, when 73.2 percent
Feb. 14, 2024
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Man calls police 399 times 'because he was lonely'
South Korean police on Wednesday said they were investigating a man in his fifties for obstruction of public duties after he prank-called the police hundreds of times "just because he was lonely." The suspect was taken in by police after he called the 112 emergency service twice for no reason at around 12:55 p.m. on Tuesday. The man was drunk at the time, and told the officers who arrived on the scene the first time that he called "just because." Thirty minutes later he calle
Feb. 14, 2024
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Hwasun, county of dolmen colony in South Jeolla Province, aims to become younger
Famous for the Hwasun Dolmen Remains, the world's only dolmen colony registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Hwasun County in South Jeolla Province is now setting its sights on the future, according to Gu Bog-gyu, the county’s governor, pointing to the city's 10,000 won ($7.50) apartments. “Outside the capital region, many rural areas face a serious population decline problem, and Hwasun was no exception. However, by offering 10,000 won apartments to younger generations
Feb. 14, 2024
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Plant construction workers oppose foreign labor
Hundreds of plant construction workers held a rally Wednesday to urge the government not to allow plant construction companies to hire foreign workers. The Korean Plant Construction Workers’ Union, under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, staged rallies across the country, including in Seoul, Yeosu in South Jeolla Province and Ulsan. “Many Koreans are facing difficulties finding jobs at plant construction sites as construction business continues to stagnate. We condemn the Yoo
Feb. 14, 2024
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Med students mull strike over student quota expansion
With doctors groups still mulling a strike, incumbent medical students are also mulling collective action in protest of the government’s announcement last week of an increase in the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 from the current 3,058. The Korea Association of Medical Colleges, a group of current medical students, held an all-night online meeting earlier in the day, attended by representatives of each university’s medical school, to discuss submitting for leave of absence,
Feb. 14, 2024
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Shaman scams victim to pay for 'Lotto numbers from beyond'
South Korean court recently handed down a four-year jail term to a shaman who had swindled money from someone by pretending to speak to the victim's deceased mother. The 66-year-old defendant surnamed Jang claimed to the victim in April 2019 to have heard from the victim's late mother, who supposedly revealed the five winning numbers of the weekly South Korean Lotto. Jang said to the victim that an offering would be necessary to know the last number, and received 276 million won ($206,
Feb. 14, 2024
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Impeached ex-president's supporters lose bid for compensation
The appellate division of the Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday ruled against supporters of former President Park Geun-hye, denying their request for compensation for their psychological pain due to what they claim was the "unjust impeachment of Park." The plaintiffs, including a former reporter of the local Monthly Chosun magazine, filed a civic lawsuit against the state and eight justices of the Constitutional Court at the time of Park's impeachment in March 2013. The Co
Feb. 14, 2024
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Nurses support med school quota hike
The Korean Nursing Association on Wednesday pledged its support for the government plan to boost the enrollment quota at medical schools, in light of the doctors threatening a strike in protest of the plan. The Korean Nursing Association held a press conference in front of the National Assembly in Seoul at which they expressed full support of the medical school overhaul and called for the normalization of the country's medical field. "Currently the people's lives are threatened du
Feb. 14, 2024