Golf club's 'no Japanese car' policy sparks controversy

A South Korean golf club has caused controversy online for its policy of restricting services for those driving Japanese cars. The club, located in North Jeolla Province, prohibits parking of Japan-made cars at the club's parking lot, according to a notice posted on an online community on Nov. 11. Staff at the club will not load and unload golf clubs for those arriving in Japanese cars, it added. Toyota, Lexus, Infiniti, Subaru and Isuzu cars are among those listed as banned in the notice.

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2023

Hunter kills man, mistaking victim for boar

A man in his 30s has been shot dead by a hunter who reportedly mistook the victim for a boar, police in Okcheon North Chungcheong Province, confirmed Sunday. The case is the latest gun-related accident to occur in South Korea, despite the country's strict gun control laws. According to Okcheon Police, a 60-year-old suspect is under investigation for fatally shooting a man who was catching crayfish in a nearby stream. The suspect, a registered hunter, claims to have mistaken the victim for a

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2023

Concerns linger as cause of e-government outage remains unclear

The computer network used by local government offices across South Korea, together with the platform used by residents to interact with the government and issue government documents are back running after a four-day outage, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety on Monday. However, local tech experts raised concerns over the risk of another error potentially affecting e-government networks and services, pointing out that the cause of the failure over the weekend remains unclear. Kim My

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2023

Choosing children over career: Fatherhood changing in modern Korea

A 37-year-old executive at a tech startup in Seoul surnamed Choi made what seemed a bold decision after welcoming the birth of his first child two years ago: he took three months of paternity leave. At first, he was worried about the looks he would get at the office, not to mention missing out on a promotion and pay raise, as well as being perceived as being less committed to work than his peers. But Choi’s choice came with multiple benefits. “I had plenty of time to bond with my son

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2023

S. Korea warns N. Korea over satellite launch

South Korea said it would take action against North Korea for launching what it claims to be a spy satellite, potentially within the next week, in the starkest warning yet over what the South believes is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions banning missile tests. At a briefing Monday, Kang Ho-pil, chief director of operations at the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, urged the North to immediately stop preparations for another launch after two previous failures this year. “The

North KoreaNov. 20, 2023

From pandemic preparedness to AI, experts to offer glimpse into future of bio industry

The World Bio Summit 2023 will gather experts to address a wide range of topics on the future of the bio industry, from pandemic preparedness to applications of artificial intelligence, organizers said Sunday. “In the presence of global leaders from governments, the scientific community, the private sector, and international organizations related to vaccine and biologics, the two-day Summit will explore what we have achieved for enabling a pandemic preparedness and response ecosystem and s

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2023

World Bio Summit promotes global business cooperations

The 2023 World Bio Summit will operate a “Global Business Lounge,” in addition to its main sessions, to promote exchanges between international organizations and vaccine, pharmaceutical and bio companies so that they can improve their competitive edge by establishing networks. According to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, it will operate the “Global Business Lounge” from Nov. 20-21 as part of the 2023 World Bio Summit. In the lounge, all summit attendees,

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2023

World Bio Summit to explore new ways to fight potential pandemic

The 2023 World Bio Summit, jointly hosted by the South Korean government and the World Health Organization, kicks off Monday for a two-day run in Seoul to explore ways to strengthen capacity to handle another potential pandemic. Taking place at the Conrad Seoul Hotel, over 200 health policymakers, bio and medical experts as well as business representatives from around the world are to participate in the summit in its second year, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Under the theme o

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2023

Super Junior's Kyuhyun injured in knife attack

Kyuhyun of boy band Super Junior has been injured after attempting to restrain a woman wielding a knife in the backstage of a musical. According to his agency Antenna on Monday, Kyuhyun was wounded while trying to stop a woman in her 30s who broke into the dressing room of “Ben-Hur” in Magok-dong, Gangseo-gu, western Seoul, and wielded a weapon against the actors at 6 p.m. on Sunday. Police reportedly arrested the woman on charges of special intimidation. Police believe that Kyuhyun

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2023

Child kills man with stone, sparking debate over legal immunity of children

A 70-something man was killed Friday by a stone thrown by an elementary school student, touching off a dispute across the country over the South Korean legal clause that bans punishing those under the age of 14. According to Nowon Police Station in Seoul, the victim was walking in an apartment complex with his wife around 4:30 p.m. when a stone thrown from about 10 stories above struck him. Rescue workers were dispatched to the scene, but the victim died on the spot. A subsequent police investig

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2023

Yoon heads to UK for state visit, eyes deeper security relations

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday began a four-day state visit to the United Kingdom, invited by King Charles III, to mark the 140th anniversary of relations between the two countries this year. During the visit, Yoon is poised to strengthen bilateral security and economic ties with the UK in the face of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. He will meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during the four-day trip, according to the presidential office on Sunday. "Korea will serve as a nonpermanen

PoliticsNov. 20, 2023

[Bills in Focus] Worksite emergency alarms, stricter construction supervision

Proposed bill: Partial Amendment to the Customs Act Proposed by Rep. Jin Sun-mee (Democratic Party of Korea) ● The alarming increase in the degree of brokerage fees paid by duty-free shop operators to promote the sales of their bonded goods has caused concern over the profitability and competitiveness of the duty-free industry. This amendment limits such brokerage fees to a level set by presidential decree, but within 30 percent of the total sales, and grants the Korea Customs Service Commission

PoliticsNov. 20, 2023

Yoon says China would not benefit from trilateral cooperation with Russia, N. Korea

President Yoon Suk Yeol has said that China would not benefit from trilateral cooperation with North Korea and Russia because the three countries have "divergent interests." Yoon made the remarks in an interview with The Telegraph, a British daily, published Sunday local time ahead of his state visit to London, stressing that China has an important role in "promoting freedom, peace and prosperity in East Asia." "China is likely to take into consideration that pursuing tr

PoliticsNov. 20, 2023

S. Korea warns N. Korea to 'immediately stop' preparations for military spy satellite launch

The South Korean military warned North Korea on Monday to "immediately stop" preparations for another military spy satellite launch, vowing to take "necessary measures" if it presses ahead with the launch. Kang Ho-pil, chief director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the warning, a day after South Korea's defense chief said Pyongyang may make another satellite launch attempt as early as "this week or so." "(We) sternly warn North Korea to im

North KoreaNov. 20, 2023

[Graphic News] Number of non-wage workers edges up in 2023

The number of non-wage workers, such as the self-employed, in South Korea rose 0.56 percent on-year in 2023, data showed. There were 6.72 million non-salaried workers as of August, up by 38,000 from the same period in 2022, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. The number accounts for 23.4 percent of all employed people in the country, down 0.1 percentage point over the cited period. Of the total non-wage workers, one-man operations, which do not hire workers, inched up 0.8 percent

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2023

Ex-PPP leader Lee vows to form new party ‘if Yoon doesn’t change’

Lee Jun-seok, an estranged former leader of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), said Sunday that he will set up a new party to push for political reform if President Yoon Suk Yeol does not change his way of doing politics by the end of this year. Lee made the pledge during a meeting with the public, saying Yoon has not sought any changes even after the party lost to the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) in the crucial by-election for chief of Seoul's Gangseo Ward last month. "I cl

PoliticsNov. 19, 2023

Arrest warrant sought for man over murder of stepmother

Police said Sunday they have sought an arrest warrant for a man in his 40s on charges of murdering his stepmother and discarding her body in a reed field near his father's home. The man allegedly strangled his stepmother, identified only by her surname Lee, who was in her 70s, to death at her home in Seoul during an altercation on Oct. 19 after he demanded that she give him money she earned from part-time work. Two days later, the day laborer buried his stepmother's body in a reed fiel

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2023

South Korea’s digital reputation dented by government network outage

South Korea, which boasts of being a world leader in digital government strategy and services, underwent a system failure of an unprecedented scale lasting nearly two days until Saturday. The outage forced the government operate manually while civil services were paused. The Ministry of Interior and Safety, which oversees the e-government systems, said Sunday that the operations should be able to get back to normal on Monday. The ministry added that “glitch in the network” was believ

PoliticsNov. 19, 2023

Georgia envoy highlights investment opportunities, 8,000-year wine history at GBF

The Georgian Ambassador to Korea, Tarash Papaskua, talked about the country's potential as an emerging market and its rich 8,000-year-old wine culture at a forum hosted by The Korea Herald on Wednesday. Speaking at the fourth edition of the Global Biz Forum, Papaskua urged Korean CEOs in attendance to explore his country's potential as the shortest and most reliable East-West transportation route and efficient logistics. Highlighting Georgia's economic landscape, Papaskua undersco

Foreign AffairsNov. 19, 2023

Priciest elite private high school costs over W30m a year

The average annual cost of sending a child to what is called an autonomous private high school in South Korea amounted to 8.62 million won ($6,649) last year, data released by an opposition lawmaker on Sunday showed. The total expenses including tuition, admission fees, room and board and after-school program fees for the most expensive autonomous private high school came to over 30 million won per student, Rep. Lee Eun-joo of the Justice Party said, citing data she received from the Ministry of

Social AffairsNov. 19, 2023