South Korea's electricity consumption reached a record monthly high last month, as the country was gripped by a sweltering heat wave, the power operator said Tuesday. The country's average maximum power consumption came to 82,007 megawatts (MW) in July, up 1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Power Exchange (KPX). It marked the highest level since the government began compiling...

A police bureau came officially into being at the interior ministry Tuesday, marking the first time in 31 years for the ministry to have an organization overseeing the law enforcement agency. The bureau's establishment came after some front-line police officers protested strongly against the envisioned organization that they claim would put police under political influence and compromise their p...

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases sharply rose to over 110,000 on Tuesday as a highly infectious omicron variant has fueled a surge of new infections. The country added 111,789 new COVID-19 infections, including 568 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 19,932,439, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Daily cases tend to increase through the mid-week before fallin...

Opposition from the education community and parents against the Ministry of Education’s elementary school entry age reorganization plan is intensifying. On Friday, at the meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol, Education Minister Park Soon-ae reported the plan to gradually lower the enrollment age at elementary schools to 5 years old starting as early as 2025. The plan was never mentioned in Yoon’...

Lee Soo-jung, criminal psychology professor at Kyonggi University, pointed out the lack of clarity in the language. “The law needs to define things more clearly. Only when the scope of ‘crime which has been committed in a cruel way’ is properly determined will the judgment not be swung by the arbitrary standards of the police committee,” she said. Seung Jae-hyun, a researcher at the Korean Inst...

South Korea’s Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong said on Sunday evening that the country could consider implementing ride-sharing services like Uber to fight off the country’s dire nighttime taxi shortage. During a speech posted to his personal YouTube channel, Won said the government would first try other measures to relieve the taxi shortage and, if unsolved, may introduce car- and ride-sharing ...

Around a fortnight ago, emergency operators in North Chungcheong Province received a call from a driver who suffered second-degree burns while driving. The cause of the accident? Trying to enjoy a bowl of hot noodles while driving on the freeway, for some reason. What seems to be a random act of foolishness is actually linked to the leading cause of traffic accidents and deaths in South Korea: f...

Opposition is growing among teachers and parents alike to the government's plan to move up the elementary school starting age by one year to 5 starting as early as 2025. Reporting this year's key policy plans to President Yoon Suk-yeol last week, the education ministry said it will soon begin discussions on the plan to lower the school starting age from the current 6 to 5 and implement it in 202...

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 50,000 on Monday on fewer virus tests during the weekend, but the number of seriously ill patients reached a two-month high amid a virus resurgence fueled by a highly contagious omicron subvariant. The country added 44,689 new COVID-19 infections, including 436 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 19,820,739, the Korea Disease Control and Prev...

Four corpses, presumably North Korean flood victims, found in July

A proposal to allow all children to enter elementary school one year earlier at 5 years old, starting as early as 2025, has been met with support and criticism from the education sector. On Friday, Education Minister Park Soon-ae directly reported the reform of the school system, which would require amending the country’s education law, to President Yoon Suk-yeol at the presidential office in Yo...

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 80,000 for the first time in about a week, but the number of seriously ill patients hit a two-month high amid a virus wave driven by a highly contagious omicron subvariant, according to the nation's health authorities Sunday. The country added 73,589 new COVID-19 infections, including 341 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 19,776,050, the Ko...

Anyone can quickly lower their stress through breathing and muscle relaxation. First, sit on a comfortable chair. A chair that has a back and can support a head is good. Close your eyes, relax your whole body and put your arms down. Breathe using your belly slowly. Breathe in with your lower stomach, and when you exhale, slowly drain air through your nose as if the air is escaping from the rubber...

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 90,000 for the third straight day Saturday but were steeply up from a week ago, amid a spike in omicron subvariant infections. The country added 82,002 new COVID-19 infections, including 397 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 19,702,461, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Saturday's tally is slightly down from th...