Just the sight of a makeshift diving platform standing 27 meters tall beside a round pool of water is enough to give viewers goose bumps. Imagine athletes performing a death-defying plunge, doing somersaults and twists before hitting the water feet first. Two gold medals are up for grabs in Gwangju -- one for men and the other for women. Gary Hunt of the UK and Steven LoBue of the US are tapp...

Around 8 o’ clock on a recent Sunday morning, more than 30 people waited in line outside a building in eastern Seoul. At the end of the line stood a sign reading “You will not be able to buy from here on.” Just before 9 a.m., a man came out, opened the door and started clearing the street where people stood in line, as they rushed into a small shop. Inside, there’re no tables, just a stack full ...

Part of a building under construction near Sinsa Station in Seoul collapsed Thursday afternoon, crumbling on to cars parked nearby. According to Seoul Seocho Fire Station, the exterior wall of a five-story building undergoing demolition suddenly crumbled around 2 p.m. that day. Two people were injured as the concrete wreckage fell on to several cars parked nearby. They have been transported to a...

Baskin Robbins is at the center of heated debate concerning its latest promotional video, which features an 11-year-old model. As the ad came under fire, the ice cream chain took it down from the internet and apologized Saturday. In contrast, other users argued that such claims of sexualization resulted from oversensitivity. One online comment said the widely distributed screen captures of the ...

Taebaek, Gangwon Province, is considering calling off the festival themed on the hit TV drama series “Descendants of the Sun” after Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo, who met through the drama announced their divorce Thursday. The city, where the TV drama series was filmed, is mulling canceling its “Couple Festival,” a two-day event slated for July 27. After the TV drama, aired in 2016, garnered g...

A private university received a warning from the nation’s human rights body over a mandatory survey that included highly personal questions. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said Thursday that the University of Suwon, located south of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, violated students’ rights by requiring them to fill out the detailed questionnaire before they could check their exam scor...

YouTube on Thursday announced two big changes to its browsing features, giving users more control over video recommendations. Users will soon have a “Don’t recommend channel” button, for content that is not relevant to their interests. Videos from rejected content creators will still be discoverable on the platform, but they will not come up on the recommended list or on the YouTube homepage. T...

Two of Jeju Island’s most famous tourist spots and natural heritage sites, Seongsan Ilchulbong and Manjanggul, will begin charging higher entrance fees starting next month. The Jeju World Natural Heritage Center said Sunday that general admission to Seongsan Ilchulbong, a volcanic peak formed by hydrovolcanic eruptions, will be increased from 2,000 won ($1.73) to 5,000 won. Tickets to Manjanggu...

With just 16 videos, one YouTuber gained 1.8 million subscribers and 20 million views in less than 12 days. Those are stats one might expect from K-pop stars, who often get millions of subscribers right away. But this channel belongs to 52-year-old food specialist and restaurant entrepreneur Paik Jong-won. Paik is the founder and CEO of Theborn Korea, Korea’s biggest food franchise, which opera...

A man in his 40s stands accused of living as a blind person for eight years and fraudulently receiving government money after a neighbor apparently saw him driving a car. The Busan Yeonje Police Station said Thursday that it had arrested the man, whose identity was not revealed, without physical detention on suspicion of violating the Act on Pensions for Persons with Disabilities. The man is su...

The number of Chinese people visiting North Korea has seen a huge surge recently, especially since Chinese President Xi Jinping announced Tuesday his first official visit to Pyongyang. Several images and videos of Chinese tourists taken in North Korea were revealed through social media Thursday, coinciding with Xi’s arrival. By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)

Star YouTubers, including popular soccer commentator Gamst, sparked public outrage over sexual remarks during a livestream. Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday that three star YouTubers with more than 1 million subscribers found themselves in hot water after sharing sexual comments regarding female YouTubers during a live show they streamed online earlier the same day. The comments, deemed to...

The case of four teenagers beating a classmate to death has been transferred to prosecutors, police said Wednesday. Gwangju Bukbu Police Station said the four men in their late teens were sent to the prosecution this morning with charges of murder regarding the death of their 18-year-old roommate. On June 9, the four teenagers took turns in hitting and kicking the victim for about two hours. Th...

The ruling party and a minor party said Monday they will hold respective meetings to decide whether to submit a request to open an extra session for June to put an idle parliament back on track. The move is aimed at pressing the main opposition Liberty Korea Party to join a push to end a two-month parliamentary impasse as rival parties have so far failed to reach a deal to normalize the operatio...

In the world of menswear, mesh, seersucker and linen have long been traditional summer fabrics. But the latest trends show innovative, new cooling fabrics and technologies at the forefront of men’s fashion, from performance wear all the way to formal business attire. With the summer heat swooshing in earlier than expected, outdoor brand K2 is seeing an early pickup in sales of its Ossak line of ...