A South Korean lawmaker on Friday criticized a government-funded research and development institution under the Ministry of Education for distorting explanations of Korean history and culture on its official website, demanding immediate correction. A report released by Rep. Chung Kyung-hee of the ruling party, who is also a member of the National Assembly’s education committee, showed that the Academy of Korean Studies has been labeling kimchi as “pao cai” -- a pickled vegetabl

Social Affairs Oct. 13, 2023

South Korean singer-songwriter Nam Tae-hyun appeared as a witness at a parliamentary audit of the Health Ministry at the National Assembly on Thursday, calling for increased government efforts to help individuals recover from drug dependence and eradicate such illicit substances. Nam, who was indicted on charges of allegedly purchasing and administering methamphetamine with an acquaintance last year, stressed the importance of rehab programs that provide a path to a drug-free state to help in th

Social Affairs Oct. 12, 2023

Sejong University in Seoul ranked eighth among South Korean universities in the Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2024 for a third consecutive year, the college announced Wednesday. The university was ranked in the Nos. 251-300 bracket in the publication's ranking of 1,904 schools in 108 countries, also for the third year running. In the 2020 ranking, Sejong University sat between Nos. 401 and 500, climbing to Nos. 301-350 the following year. Ranking by the number of

Social Affairs Oct. 11, 2023

South Korea’s Ministry of Education on Tuesday unveiled plans for the 2028 school year college admissions to make the state-administered college entrance exam more equitable and change the high school grading system. The latest measures, will affect current eighth graders, giving students and parents time to prepare. The ministry is mandated to notify the public of major changes to the country’s education system four years in advance. As part of its efforts to reform the college entr

Social Affairs Oct. 10, 2023

The National Assembly on Friday passed a bill allowing women to give birth anonymously at hospitals as part of its efforts to reduce the number of children denied registration at birth. But concerns are growing over the anonymous birth system, which will be introduced in July next year, with some suggesting that it might lead to more mothers giving up their children, especially when it comes to children born with a disability. Observers also say that the Protected Birth Bill still falls short of

Social Affairs Oct. 8, 2023

The South Korean Foreign Ministry said Sunday that no Korean injuries or deaths have been reported so far from the fighting in Israel that erupted Saturday. There are currently 570 Korean residents in Israel -- 290 in Jerusalem, Israel’s capital, 210 in central areas including Tel Aviv and 70 in other regions. There are also thought to be some 360 Korean tourists in the country, according to the ministry. The ministry advised Korean residents and travelers to evacuate to a third country if

Foreign Affairs Oct. 8, 2023

South Korea woke up to the coldest autumn morning this year so far on Thursday due to cold air moving in from the north, with some areas seeing the mercury drop below zero, the national weather agency said. The morning low in Seoul came to 10.2 degrees Celsius, down four degrees from the previous day’s 14.2 C, while the figure for Incheon, just 27 kilometers west of Seoul, plunged to 12.4 C as of Thursday at 8 a.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. The rapid temperatur

Social Affairs Oct. 5, 2023

Some of South Korea’s biggest private education academies and star lecturers are under police investigation for allegedly purchasing state-administered college entrance exam, or Suneung, questions from teachers who participated in making them. The list of those being investigated includes the so-called big three hagwon, or private education institution firms -- Megastudy, Sidae Injae and Daesung Hagwon -- as well as Hyun Woo-jin, a star math instructor at Megastudy, according to local repo

Social Affairs Oct. 4, 2023

Drug prevention education has long been thought of as a criminal issue in South Korea, but an increase in teenage drug offenders has led to wider calls for enhanced drug education. As concerns grow over adolescents’ shallow awareness of drugs due to a lack of education, politicians on both sides of the aisle are also demanding more thorough drug abuse prevention. In November last year, Rep. Lee Tae-kyu of the ruling People Power Party proposed a bill that would make drug prevention program

Social Affairs Oct. 2, 2023

Regular walking can reduce and prevent symptoms of depression in middle-aged people, a study showed Wednesday. According to the latest edition of the Frontiers in Psychiatry, which publishes peer-reviewed research on psychiatry, a collaborative research team of Yonsei University’s College of Medicine, the Department of Psychiatry at Ajou University and Soon Chun Hyang University Bucheon Hospital found that middle-aged people who engaged in walking every week felt better emotionally and wer

Social Affairs Sept. 27, 2023

Parents have been banned from using recording devices or other means to record lessons without the teacher’s permission, according to a new teachers’ manual distributed by the Ministry of Education on Wednesday. The move aims to prevent parents from installing sound recording apps on their child’s phone to eavesdrop on classrooms, as some parents have reportedly confronted and verbally attacked teachers in the past based on such audio recordings, according to the ministry. Unde

Social Affairs Sept. 27, 2023

Drug-related crimes have increased in South Korea’s military according to data that shows a consistent rise in the number of cases inside the barracks in recent years. According to a local news report on Friday, a sergeant first class in the Army was caught purchasing birth control pills containing methamphetamine in March 2019 but was handed a suspended prosecution disposition from the military prosecutor’s office. In April, six soldiers stationed in a division in Yeoncheon, Gyeongg

Defense Sept. 25, 2023

In response to the growing international demand for learning the Korean language, the South Korean Education Ministry took a proactive step in 2021 by creating a government-managed Korean language education curriculum. Prior to the central government's involvement, the selection and distribution of language courses and textbooks were primarily handled by local Korean language education centers. This led to concerns about the lack of structured content that could cater to the diverse languag

Social Affairs Sept. 24, 2023

More than 1,800 breaches of the country’s Youth Protection Act were found during a nationwide government inspection of downtown areas to examine whether operations met requirements. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Friday it had detected 1,802 violations of the act, and that it had asked the local governments responsible to investigate 65 of those cases and issued corrective orders for the rest. The inspection was conducted from July 17 until Aug. 18 at places such as beache

Social Affairs Sept. 22, 2023

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Wednesday that it has distributed some 70,530 electronic devices for 7th-grade students across middle schools in Seoul to help prepare students for the AI digital textbooks that will go into use starting in 2025. The devices will also provide diverse learning resources and interactive education content for students. The Education Office will also install charging stations at each school to keep students’ devices powered up and ready for use,

Social Affairs Sept. 20, 2023