Articles by Son Ji-hyoung
Son Ji-hyoung
consnow@heraldcorp.com-
Another Korean man convicted of unauthorized visit to Ukraine
A 27-year-old South Korean man was convicted of an unauthorized visit to war-torn Ukraine, amid a series of convictions handed down here to Korean nationals with apparent intentions to fight with Ukraine against Russia, according to a local court on Friday. The man, whose identity remains undisclosed, was given a 3 million won ($2,314) fine for flying from Korea to Poland in March 2022, crossing the border to Ukraine a few days later and staying there for six months. The man "intended to
Social Affairs June 9, 2023
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W459.9b house rental fraud busted
South Korea has so far busted a total of nearly 1,000 housing rental fraud cases that left about 3,000 victims nationwide suffering from 459.9 billion won ($352.2 million) in damages, the national law enforcement said Thursday, disclosing the preliminary results of an ongoing investigation. This means the victims -- over half of which are either in their 20s or 30s -- have lost what in most cases constituted their life savings due to scammers disguised as landlords in false jeonse contracts. The
Social Affairs June 8, 2023
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Korea to ease 20-character limit on driver's licenses
South Korea is envisioning a plan to scrap the limit of 20 English characters on driver's licenses, the government said Wednesday. The character limit -- imposed on driver's licenses and disability certificates -- has often discouraged holders from having their full name displayed. The eased rule will accommodate names with up to 37 characters on the identification cards and certificates, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety. Under current rules here, foreigners who earned a license
Social Affairs June 7, 2023
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Hydrogen to power all Incheon Airport buses by 2030
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Wednesday plans to have all 450 shuttle buses running between Incheon Airport and Seoul powered by clean energy by 2030. Currently, all 450 airport buses are diesel-powered. Airport shuttle buses run about 550 kilometers a day on average -- shuttling from the airport to a final destination twice a day -- double that of city buses, meaning the amount of carbon they emit is 30 times more than that of sedans, according to Seoul city. In Seoul city's
Social Affairs June 7, 2023
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Head of opposition party reform resigns over pro-North remarks
Lee Rae-kyung, the honorary chair of the progressive grassroots advocacy group The Tomorrow, offered to resign from his role to lead the reform of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, about 10 hours after his nomination Monday. Lee's decision comes following controversy in political circles over past pro-North Korea remarks, which surfaced immediately after the news of his nomination. "I regret that a private opinion ... has become the subject of a political witch-hunt,"
Politics June 5, 2023
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Cabinet approves bill to remove sunset clause for death sentence
The South Korean government on Monday approved a bill to remove the sunset clause for the death penalty in a bid to prevent inmates on death row from avoiding execution after 30 years in prison. The revision, once enacted, will be applied retroactively, the government added. Before being signed into law, the revision bill, which was proposed by the Ministry of Justice, will require parliamentary approval after passing through the Cabinet. South Korean law requires a government-proposed bi
Social Affairs June 5, 2023
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Man sentenced to 10 years for abandonment death of intellectually disabled brother
South Korea's Supreme Court has recently sentenced a 46-year-old man to 10 years of imprisonment for subjecting his intellectually disabled younger brother to alcohol and drug influence and abandoning him near a stream, leading to his death by drowning. According to the top court on Monday, it upheld the commuted sentence for the man, who had earlier been sentenced to a 30-year imprisonment by a district court. The man, surnamed Lee, offered his younger brother, then 38, whisky and sleepi
Social Affairs June 5, 2023
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YouTuber's unauthorized disclosure of suspect's identity stirs controversy
A YouTuber's unauthorized disclosure of the identity of a suspect who was earlier convicted of attempting to murder a stranger, is stirring up a number of controversies, including over whether the right to privacy of a person convicted of a crime outweighs the public's right to know. The YouTuber, who has some 729,000 subscribers and goes by the name Caracula Detective, revealed on Friday the identity of a man who in May 2022 kicked a woman in the head, knocked her down and dragged her
Social Affairs June 4, 2023
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Busan murder suspect told police she was being manipulated
The suspect in the murder of a university student in Busan told police that she was being manipulated by a stranger during her first interrogation, according to a news report on Sunday. Suspect Jung Yoo-jung said she "was told by a stranger to steal the identity of a woman they had murdered," while refusing to admit to the murder, broadcaster JTBC reported, quoting the notes from the police interrogation on May 27. But police concluded that her statement was false after examination of
Social Affairs June 4, 2023
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Half of prestigious high school students come from districts where quarter of Seoulites live
Nearly half of students attending prestigious high schools came from five districts in Seoul which are believed to have a higher fervor for education compared to the city's other 20 districts, data showed Sunday. Of the total 7,895 students who in 2022 advanced to prestigious high schools -- science high schools, foreign language high schools, international high schools and autonomous private high schools -- 3,671, or 46.5 percent, were those who graduated from middle schools in five distri
Social Affairs June 4, 2023
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Tritium found beyond safe limits in treated Fukushima wastewater
A type of radioactive isotope in the over 1.3 million tons of wastewater being collected at the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant and planned for discharge by as early as this summer has been found at levels beyond those earlier suggested to be safe by the Japanese government, a wastewater safety review report by the International Atomic Energy Agency showed Thursday. The finding has raised the need to ensure the treated wastewater is diluted before it is discharged, so that the wastewater
Foreign Affairs June 1, 2023
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Seoul mayor says evacuation alert 'not issued in error'
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said the warning alarm sent out by the city government early Wednesday morning telling people to evacuate to the nearest shelter following North Korea's launch of a projectile was "not an error," amid the intensifying blame game between the central government and the municipality with the former criticizing the latter for overreacting and throwing its residents into chaos. In an emergency press conference, Oh admitted that Seoul had "overreacted" to the
Social Affairs May 31, 2023
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How seriously should you take emergency mobile alerts?
The emergency mobile alert that woke up many Seoul residents early on Wednesday is classified as a "warning alarm," one of three types meant to help South Koreans brace for attacks. As the country is still technically at war with North Korea, the civil defense system involves two other types of alarms: the "air raid alarm" and the "chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) alarm." An air raid alarm is sent to urge people to evacuate to the nearest underground shel
Social Affairs May 31, 2023
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How to find the nearest underground shelter in Seoul
A rare warning alert asking Seoul residents to "prepare to evacuate to the nearest underground shelter" on Wednesday left many confused as the text message didn't elaborate on where exactly they should go. "Underground shelter" became one of the most-searched-for words online shortly after the warning alarm rang for North Korea's launch of a projectile that it claimed to be a military reconnaissance satellite at 6:32 a.m. According to the Ministry of Interior and Sa
Social Affairs May 31, 2023
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Evacuation alert error scares Seoul
The South Korean government said Wednesday a disaster alert it issued in Seoul at around 6:30 a.m. was issued in error after North Korea attempted to launch a space satellite. According to an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea, the North Korea's projectile "flew over the Yellow Sea, and (its trajectory) had nothing to do with the Seoul and the neighboring areas." This came as the Seoul Metropolitan Government issued a disaster alert calling for evacuation of Seou
Social Affairs May 31, 2023
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