Rising obesity in S. Korea comes amid doubts over BMI's reliability

A concerning trend in South Korea's public health profile emerged in recent data released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, a research arm of the Health Ministry. According to the report, made public Oct. 18, 32.5 percent of Korean adults were classified as either overweight or obese with Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or above in 2022, increasing by a third from a decade before when the figure stood at 24.5 percent. Although nearly 1 in 3 South Koreans are now classified as

Nov. 18, 2023

Gov't administrative network down for 2nd day; recovery efforts under way

The government's online civil service portal temporarily resumed operations Saturday after experiencing a major outage, officials said, although disruptions to the government's administrative computer network persist. The Saeol administrative network used by public workers went down on Friday morning, followed by a suspension of the online portal, Government 24. The outage caused an unprecedented halt to all services of issuing government certificates and civil documents. On Saturday,

Nov. 18, 2023

Seoul to expand monthly transit pass to cover Incheon

People traveling from Incheon to Seoul by bus will be able to use an unlimited monthly transit pass from next year, Seoul City said Friday. It is an expansion to a 65,000 won ($50) pass that gives commuters unlimited access on all public transport within Seoul, and bus rides that depart from Seoul to other metropolitan areas. The announcement came as Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok signed a "Seoul-Incheon Transportation Business Agreement" at Seoul City Hall and

Nov. 17, 2023

Team carries out Korea's first successful uterus transplant

Samsung Medical Center has carried out the first successful uterus transplantation in South Korea. During the surgery in January this year, the multidisciplinary team were able to transfer the uterus to a 35-year-old woman with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser Syndrome. MRKH is a rare disorder, which affects about 1 in 5,000 females at birth, characterized by an underdeveloped or absent uterus. A uterus transplant gives women without functioning wombs -- such as those with MRKH -- the opportunity

Nov. 17, 2023

Resale tickets for League of Legends World Championship go up to 3 million won

The 2023 League of Legends World Championship tickets for the final round are being sold on online resale platforms for more than 10 times their face value. The annual championship, held annually since 2011, brings together the top teams from leagues worldwide to determine the best team of the year, making it the largest global esports event. The final round of the 2023 League of Legends World Championship will take place on Nov. 19 at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, featuring Korea's T1, led by

Nov. 17, 2023

First snow of winter falls in Seoul

The first snow of the season fell in many regions, including Seoul, Friday. The Korea Meteorological Administration explained that the first snowfall in Seoul, at 11:20 a.m., was observed earlier than usual. Friday's measured precipitation in Seoul was not immediately available as of 3 p.m., but the KMA predicted about 1 centimeter of snowfall in the Greater Seoul area until Saturday. The weather agency officially announces the first snow in Seoul when an observer at the Seoul Meteorologica

Nov. 17, 2023

Seoul to push through bill to ban dog meat consumption

The South Korean government and the ruling People Power Party on Friday agreed to introduce, before the end of this year, a special act to end dog meat consumption in Korea by 2027. In a special consultative meeting at the National Assembly, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and ruling party officials agreed to push for the passage of an anti-dog meat bill banning breeding and slaughter of dogs, as well as dog meat delivery and sales. Under the legislation, farms, butcheries, distribution compani

Nov. 17, 2023

Network error grinds government network to halt, restoration still in progress

Local governments across the country have suspended issuing government certificates and civil documents due to a failure in the administrative computer network, followed by a series of suspensions of the Government 24 online service, causing massive inconveniences. The Interior Ministry said it was working to restore the system. An indefinite suspension of all services was announced on the Government website at 1:55 p.m., with the explanation that the system was malfunctioning. The Government 24

Nov. 17, 2023

Suneung difficulty rekindles 'killer question' controversy

A majority of Suneung test takers viewed this year’s College Scholastic Ability Test or Suneung as being difficult overall, rekindling doubts that the government was able to tackle "killer questions." A poll on 2,764 students conducted by the Educational Broadcasting System showed Friday that a combined 85.9 percent found this year's Suneung either "extremely difficult" or "moderately difficult." This came after test takers who took the state-administered

Nov. 17, 2023

Police decline to detain rape suspect 'because he is old'

A recent media report showed that local police did not arrest an 80-something man suspected of rape and left him unsupervised, citing that he was very old and is not a flight risk. The suspect, whose identity was withheld by authorities, is accused of attacking a woman in her 80s at her apartment in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, on June 2. The victim's son saw the attack and overpowered the suspect, turning him over to police who were called to the scene. Despite apprehending the susp

Nov. 17, 2023

Nightmare before Christmas: 'rape announcement' issued at Seoul billboard

A local department store's event to celebrate Christmas through its digital billboard has gone horribly wrong, as it ended up with an anonymous threat to "rape all Korean women" being flashed on the digital screen in central Seoul. According to local police, the message saying "I'm going to rape all Korean women" appeared around 10 p.m. Tuesday on a giant screen on the exterior of Lotte Department Store in Myeong-dong, Seoul. The department store had been holding a

Nov. 17, 2023

Confirmed cases of lumpy skin disease hit 100

Confirmed cases of lumpy skin disease hit 100 as health authorities expect the cattle disease to peak later this month, officials said Friday. The country has reported 101 confirmed cases nationwide, including three new infections from the previous day, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Last week, South Korea completed the inoculation of all 4.05 million cattle in the country. Authorities, however, anticipate additional infections for the time being, considering t

Nov. 17, 2023

S. Korea to return remains of 25 Chinese troops killed in Korean War

The remains of 25 Chinese troops killed in the 1950-53 Korean War will be sent to their home country next week, the defense ministry said Friday, marking the tenth repatriation of its kind. A ceremony for the handover of the remains will take place at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, next Thursday, jointly organized by the ministry and China's veterans affairs ministry. South Korea has so far returned 913 sets of remains of Chinese troops killed during the war since the tw

Nov. 17, 2023

Megacity Seoul could 'counter rural extinction': Seoul mayor

Regarding the recent megacity plan involving expanding Seoul's administrative boundaries to include several neighboring cities in Gyeonggi Province, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said during a regular Seoul Metropolitan Council meeting on Thursday that it could counter rural extinction. In response to ruling People Power Party Rep. Lee Jong-bae’s question, "Can megacities can be seen as a global trend?" Oh answered that it is “time to mobilize all possible measures to counter

Nov. 16, 2023

[From the Scene] Half a million take Suneung as nation holds its breath

Hundreds of students showed up at Dongsung High School in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, Thursday, carrying backpacks and clutching study materials for last-minute cramming before sitting for South Korea’s college entrance exam, known as the Suneung. Some busied themselves taking pictures with classmates. Others waited nervously. A student hugged his parents before entering the school gate, saying, “You guys believe in me, right? I can do this.” The parents shed tears of relief and

Nov. 16, 2023

Everland grounds panda Fubao for trying to escape

Everland's popular panda, Fubao, has been banned from going out after trying to escape. It was reported that giant panda Fubao has recently attempted to escape twice from her outdoor enclosure at Everland, South Korea’s largest theme park, located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Following the attempts, the panda was confined inside for the time being. The latest case occurred on Monday. Fubao went outside and climbed over a transparent fence, according to the theme park. Then she knocke

Nov. 16, 2023

Jail term confirmed for president's mother-in-law

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed the 1-year prison sentence given to President Yoon Suk Yeol's mother-in-law, and rejected her application for bail. Yoon's mother-in-law, Choi Eun-soon, 76, was detained in July on charges of forging a financial document to purchase real estate in the Dochon-dong neighborhood of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province in 2013. Choi also falsified bank balance records on four separate occasions to indicate that she had 34.9 billion won ($26.7 million) in depo

Nov. 16, 2023

Yearly national college entrance exam kicks off nationwide

About half a million students sat the college entrance exam across the country Thursday, South Korea's most important annual academic event during which airplane takeoffs and landings will be temporarily banned for noise control. A total of 504,588 high school seniors, graduates and others signed up to take this year's state-administered College Scholastic Ability Test, a nine-hour, five-session exam that began at 1,279 test sites nationwide. For the first time since the onset of the C

Nov. 16, 2023

Bereaved family protests police's case closure on teacher's death

The bereaved family of a 23-year-old elementary school teacher who took her own life in July on Wednesday protested the police's decision to close the investigation into the case, holding a press conference with foreign media in Seoul. The press conference was in response to the police's announcement on Tuesday saying they found no evidence of any crime and wrapped up the monthslong probe. The family said the closure was "too hasty" and that there were other factors and poten

Nov. 15, 2023

High school dropout vlogs become more popular

Forget beauty vloggers and celebrity content -- vlogs made by high school dropouts are becoming increasingly popular among teen viewers on YouTube. Aside from sharing daily life updates after dropping out of school, these teenage YouTubers also create videos where they inform their parents about the decision to drop out, submit withdrawal letters and celebrate a last-day-of-school party with their classmates. “I decided to vlog about my dropout experiences because I wanted people to have a

Nov. 15, 2023