Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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[Music in drama] An ode to childhood trauma
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'The Roundup: Punishment' becomes fastest 2024 film to top 2 mln admissions
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Man gets suspended jail term for assaulting disabled spouse
A 69-year-old man who assaulted his disabled wife and threatened her with a wooden stick was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for three years, a local court said Monday. The defendant surnamed Choi has been charged with physical abuse against a disabled person and "special threat," which Article 284 of the Criminal Act defines as imposing a threat with a weapon and can be punished by up to seven years in prison or a 10 million won ($7,500) fine. Investigators found that Choi
Jan. 23, 2024
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S. Korea mandates permit for 'aggressive' dogs
South Korea recently implemented a system mandating owners or would-be owners of particularly aggressive dogs to have their pet ownership permitted by their regional government, as part of the measure to prevent accidents involving pets. The two-part measure for "maenggyeons," or aggressive dogs, will be effective starting in April 27. Those wishing to own any of five breeds of dogs categorized as "aggressive" by the ordinance of the Animal Protection Act must receive a permi
Jan. 23, 2024
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Nearly 140,000 register as organ donors in 2023, up 18% on-year
Nearly 140,000 South Koreans expressed their intention to donate their body parts and organs after death last year, up 18 percent from the previous year, according to government data released Tuesday. Data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare showed that new registrations for the donations of organs, tissue and eyes reached 139,090 in 2023. New donor registrations recorded 115,517 in 2020, 158,940 in 2021 and 117,584 in 2022. In South Korea, the procurement of organs and tissues is restrict
Jan. 23, 2024
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Cold wave halts airplanes, freezes water meters
With a heavy snow advisory in effect centered on the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces, frozen water meters, canceled flights and restricted ship operations have been reported across the country. No human lives have been lost due to the cold wave and snowfall, but there were damages to facilities across the country as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. There were 58 cases of damage related to water facilities, including water me
Jan. 23, 2024
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Free condoms at Youth Olympics spark protest
The Gangwon 2024 Organizing Committee’s decision to make 3,000 condoms freely available to some 1,800 athletes aged between 13 and 18 participating in this year’s Youth Olympics has sparked debate, with some arguing that it encourages teenagers to have sex, while others say it is an effective part of safe sex education. The committee said Tuesday that it had distributed 2,500 condoms to the Gangneung-Wonju National University athletes village, while the remaining 500 were sent to the
Jan. 23, 2024
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Police, media raided for possible leaks involving Lee Sun-kyun case
South Korean police on Tuesday raided the Incheon police agency over allegations of leaks related to the drug investigation into actor Lee Sun-kyun, whose death in December sparked criticism of how the case was handled. A media outlet that revealed detailed information about the Lee case also being investigated, reports said, with the focus on whether the police had given them the information. Investigators from the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency on Monday procured evidence from the Inc
Jan. 23, 2024
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227 shops damaged in fire at traditional market
A fire that broke out late Monday at a traditional market in South Chungcheong Province left 227 shops damaged with no casualty reported, South Korean fire authorities said Tuesday. Officials believe the flames broke out at around 11:08 p.m. in the seafood section of a market in Seocheon-gun, a town on the western coast of the peninsula which is some 165 kilometers south of Seoul. It took some 361 firemen a little over two hours to extinguish the fire that triggered a level 2 emergency response
Jan. 23, 2024
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Seoul doubles personnel to protect vulnerable amid cold
In response to the severe cold, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has doubled its personnel to protect the safety of vulnerable groups, its officials said Tuesday. Since the cold wave warning was issued at 9 p.m. Sunday, a total of 124 city workers, up from the usual 50, have been dispatched to carry out emergency response and relief tasks, with a particular focus on people without homes, who are highly susceptible to harsh weather conditions. The daily low in Seoul plunged to minus 14 degrees
Jan. 23, 2024
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Reality check: How diverse is Korea really? Age and politics (2)
Across cultures and political systems, a common trait is that those in decision-making roles, particularly in politics and state governance, are often older than the average voter. This observation holds true in the context of South Korea’s unicameral parliament and central government, where the decision-making process is predominantly controlled by people in their 50s and 60s. Before delving into age representations in the parliament and government, here's a quick overview of Korea
Jan. 23, 2024
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2 police officers indicted over deadly Itaewon crowd crush
Prosecutors have indicted two police officers over the bungled response to the deadly 2022 crowd crush in the district of Itaewon, officials said Monday. The indictment of the two officers who were overseeing patrol duties at a precinct station in Itaewon came a year and three months after the crowd crush on Oct. 29, 2022, which killed 159 people on a Halloween weekend in the district's entertainment neighborhood. The Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office has charged them with professio
Jan. 22, 2024
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[Campus Now] Seoul vs. the rest: University pyramid crumbling at the bottom
“I would rather give up another year of my youth studying and trying again if I don’t make it ‘in-Seoul.'” Kim Tae-yoo, is set to graduate high school in just a month, but he says he would rather endure another year of studying if he is not accepted to a Seoul university. Koreans divide the country's 335 colleges in two: those "in-Seoul," and the rest. “Going to university outside of Seoul has never been an option. Even if the schools in other pr
Jan. 22, 2024
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Asking about applicant's disability during hiring process discriminatory: Supreme Court
South Korea's Supreme Court on Monday confirmed a lower court ruling that asking person with a disability if that disability made them "extra sleepy" is an act of discrimination. In a recently-confirmed ruling, the Supreme Court stated that the plaintiff had been discriminated against by the Hwaseong city government by being asked if his mental disability, or the medication he takes because of it, makes him particularly prone to sleepiness. The plaintiff applied in 2020 for a grad
Jan. 22, 2024
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Every baby in 2024 comes with W29.6m cash support
With the South Korean government's drive to combat the low birth rate, financial incentives for childbearing and rearing have expanded this year. For a baby born in 2024, a single child can benefit from a total of 29.6 million won ($22,100) in cash support over the course of eight years from the moment of birth, according to the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy. The cash aid, dubbed "First Encounter Vouchers," provides a lump sum of 2 million won to th
Jan. 22, 2024
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Buoyed by high citizen support, Yongin mayor eyes next level
Lee Sang-il was elected mayor of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, in July 2022, and has demonstrated several achievements that earned him the nickname, “President of Yongin,” according to observers and insiders. While South Korea is divided into central and local governments, Lee excelled across all categories in terms of his authority, personal connections and performance results, insiders said, quoting Lee's office. Korea designates cities with a population of 1 million or more as s
Jan. 22, 2024
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[Herald Interview] Yongin aims to become special city of semiconductors
Out of the many policies the city of Yongin announced last year, the news about the city’s semiconductor cluster being selected as a specialized complex by the government was selected as Yongin’s top news report of 2023 among citizens, city government officials and reporters based in the city. In a survey conducted by Yongin Special City, 12,140 survey respondents chose the top five best news reports about the city’s policies out of 26 reports that were selected previously by t
Jan. 22, 2024
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Barefoot hero helps save 95 in apartment fire: report
A 23-year-old South Korean man alerted his neighbors in an apartment fire in Seoul last week, helping all 95 residents to escape to safety, local media reported Monday. On Thursday a fire broke out on the 14th floor of an apartment building in Banghwa-dong of Gangseo-gu, western Seoul, at 6:30 a.m., with no casualties except four minor cases of smoke inhalation. A report from local daily Dong-A Ilbo revealed that this was thanks to heroic efforts by a resident named Woo Il-yeong. According to th
Jan. 22, 2024
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After couple's fight led to deadly highway accident, boyfriend cleared of charges
A Gwangju court acquitted a 30-year-old South Korean man for the death of his girlfriend, who had tried to cross a highway while drunk after their argument, officials said Monday. Gwangju District Court recently ruled the defendant not guilty of death by negligence charges, regarding the November 2022 death of his girlfriend. The victim and the defendant had gotten into an argument, which included a physical altercation, on the side of the Honam Expressway connecting South Jeolla and South Chung
Jan. 22, 2024
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Which item is lost the most among train users?
Train users are most prone to forgetting their bags on trains or at train stations, data showed on Monday. According to state-run railway operator Korea Railroad Corp., the total number of lost items found on trains and at train stations nationwide reached 247,225 last year, marking an on-year increase of 51.9 percent. The translates to an average of 677 lost belongings daily. Breaking down the list of lost property, bags topped the list, accounting for about 15 percent of the total, followed by
Jan. 22, 2024
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Drunk woman jumps on metro track, hit by train
South Korean police said Monday that a woman in her 20s was hit by a metro train, breaking her leg, after jumping onto the tracks at Hannam Station in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The woman, who was reportedly drunk at the time, climbed over a fence erected around the station and ran toward the platform at around 11:50 p.m., in what officials presume was an attempt to catch the Gyeongui–Jungang Line train. She was hit by the arriving train and fractured her leg, so was taken to a nearby hospital for
Jan. 22, 2024
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[Graphic News] 2023 warmest year of all time for S. Korea
The year 2023 was the warmest year of all time for South Korea, as global warming heated up the Korean Peninsula to reach an average temperature of 13.7 degrees Celsius last year, the state weather agency said. It marks the highest annual mean temperature since 1973, the year considered the starting point for weather records in South Korea when the country’s meteorological networks were significantly beefed up, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. Last year’s tempera
Jan. 22, 2024