A wild boar rampaged through a residential area in Busan and was captured 16 hours after the initial sighting, according to the Busan Wildlife Conservation Commission.On Wednesday at 3:59 a.m., Busan police received a call about a boar running on a street in the Dangni-dong area of Busan and heading toward the underground parking garage of an apartment complex.  (Busan Police Station)The animal is reported to have run around the first and the second floors of the parking garage, causing severe d

Social Affairs Jan. 24, 2019

A man who worked at eight pharmacies over a four-month period with a fake pharmacist license has been arrested for violating pharmaceutical laws and fabricating official documents, according to police Monday.The 31-year-old is reported to have worked as a short-term pharmacist dispensing medicine at eight pharmacies located in Ulsan, Busan and South Gyeongsang Province from August to November last year.  (Yonhap)The offender reportedly pretended to be pharmacist with knowledge he gleaned from wo

Social Affairs Jan. 22, 2019

The pipeline rupture on Dec. 4, 2018 that killed one person turned out to be the result of weak welding when the pipeline was first installed in 1991, according to police Tuesday.“We have received results from the National Forensic Service that say the underground pipe burst due to weak welding done 27 years ago when it was first installed. Bearing water pressure for many years, it seems a piece of welding fell off,” said an official from Ilsan Dongbu Police, adding that police are tracking down

Social Affairs Jan. 22, 2019

Total Lotto sales in Korea last year of 3.9 trillion won ($3.45 billion) set a 15-year record, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on Tuesday.As one ticket costs 1,000 won, the sales volume last year from January to December equals some 3.9 billion games. The year’s sales topped 3.8 billion won in 2003 and sales volume of 3.7 billion games in 2017.  (MBC)The 2018 records translate into each person in South Korea buying 76.8 games, spending 76,800 won on average.Half of last year’s s

Social Affairs Jan. 22, 2019

The inappropriate handling of Saturday’s knife incident at Dangsan Station in Seoul was the result of the limitations of text message-based police reports, the police said Monday. According to the police, the system limits the length of a text message to 40 characters, causing longer messages to be cut off so police cannot read them in full.“The officers sent to the scene did not receive the details about the man and the incident so inevitably had to search for the person who made the report, wh

Social Affairs Jan. 21, 2019

Only 1 in 9 university students graduating this year have been hired as regular workers, a survey conducted by the job searching portal site, Job Korea showed Monday. According to Job Korea, among some 1,112 students surveyed, only 11 percent answered that they have been hired for regular positions -- meaning full-time work with with permanent contracts. Another 10 had found work on irregular contracts, while the remaining 79 percent said that they have yet to find employment.  (Job Korea)Compar

Social Affairs Jan. 21, 2019

Animal abusers will soon face up to three years in prison, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Friday.As the number of animal owners increased to some 10 million in 2017, the ministry said, animal abuse and homeless animal populations have gone up too. The number of homeless animals stood at 102,000 in 2017, as compared with 20,000 fewer in 2015.The ministry had previously broadened the definition of animal abuse to include selling stray animals, capturing animals

Social Affairs Jan. 18, 2019

The story of a teenager who was refused entry at a jjimjilbang after 10 p.m. even with written parental consent has sparked discussion on the internet.The teen tweeted that the incident took place on Dec. 31 last year. By the Korean age system, the teen would turn 19 years old at midnight, one year short of the age that would not require parental consent. The teen is presumed to actually be 17 years old.  The inside of an unrelated jjimjilbang is seen in this file photo. (Yonhap)According to the

Social Affairs Jan. 18, 2019

French photographer and artist JR will unveil a new project at the Louvre Museum in Paris in the last week of March.In Seoul for his first solo photo exhibition at Galerie Perrotin in downtown Seoul, JR told The Korea Herald on Thursday that the upcoming project, which will be much larger in scale than his previous project at the Louvre, will be completed in collaboration with visitors to the site. The artist and the visitors will be painting in the Louvre’s plaza to create one gigantic black-an

Arts & Design Jan. 17, 2019

Over 70 percent of South Korean mothers who had just delivered their babies used a postnatal care center for about two weeks, on average paying 2.21 million won ($1,970), a survey shows.The Ministry of Health and Welfare conducted a survey of some 2,911 new mothers who delivered a baby in 2017. According to the poll released Thursday in which multiple responses were allowed, 75.1 percent of respondents said they used a postnatal care center. Some 70 percent responded they went home while 19.8 pe

Social Affairs Jan. 17, 2019

Executives and representatives of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives, known as Suhyup, in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, are suspected of having paid for sex in the Philippines.According to Suhyup in Goheung on Tuesday, some 41 executives and representatives of the company went on a four-day training session in Manila last year in April. Suspicions about some members having engaged in the solicitation of prostitution during the training period rose among the staff some months lat

Social Affairs Jan. 16, 2019

A man in his 20s who sought to pay for sexual services from an underage girl was reportedly locked up and attacked by seven teenagers over two days.The seven teenagers were arrested on charges of extorting money from the man who attempted to buy sex from a 14-year-old girl, according to Gwangju Bukbu police Tuesday.  (Yonhap)The teenagers are reported to have contacted the man, 28, via a chatting app two weeks prior, whereupon they asked him to meet in a motel room. The man met the teenager on S

Social Affairs Jan. 16, 2019

Jackson of K-pop act GOT7 performed his song “Fendiman” at the end of the Fendi’s fashion show held Monday during Milan Fashion Week.A video released on Naver’s V Live showed the scene in front of the venue before the show. An overwhelming number of fans had gathered to see the rapper, calling out his name. At the end of Fendi’s show, Jackson appeared at the balcony on the backdrop of the runway singing the song “Fendiman” in English. The 26-year-old became the first artist to sing at a Fendi fa

Performance Jan. 15, 2019

The night of the 2019 Korea Musical Awards shone bright with musical stars on the red carpet. With many musicals staged last year, a diverse group of stars nominated for awards attended the event held Monday. (Photo By Kim Hye-soo/The Korea Herald)Musical couple Kim So-hyun and Sohn Joon-ho stepped on the red carpet in a fairytale-like dress and tuxedo respectively. Kim wore a peach bell-shaped dress, looking like an empress -- just like the character Elisabeth she currently plays in the musical

Performance Jan. 15, 2019

Director Lee Chang-dong’s film “Burning” was named the best foreign language film of 2018 by the France Club Media Cine on Wednesday.According to CGV Arthouse and the association on Friday, the Korean film took home the Best 2018 Foreign Language Film award among prominent nominees including “First Man,” “Shoplifters,” “The Guilty,” “Isle of Dogs” and “Phantom Thread.” (Pine House Film)Earlier, “Burning” participated in the 71th Cannes Film Festival as the only Korean film officially invited to

Film Jan. 11, 2019