Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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S. Korea calls on Japan to confront history amid Yasukuni Shrine visit
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Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
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Hybe and Min Hee-jin, CEO of Hybe sublabel Ador, lock horns
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[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
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Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
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Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency
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S. Korea to push for DNA tests on descendants of separated families
The unification ministry said Tuesday it will push to conduct DNA tests on descendants of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War in a bid to use their gene information for potential family reunions with their relatives in North Korea. The move comes as more aging separated family members in South Korea have died without having a chance to meet with their long-lost relatives in North Korea amid strained inter-Korean ties. A plan to conduct DNA tests on children and grandchildren of separate
Dec. 26, 2023
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Actor Lee Sun-kyun requests lie detector test over drug suspicions
Actor Lee Sun-kyun of the Oscar-winning "Parasite" requested a lie detector test Tuesday for his ongoing drug investigation, claiming innocence, sources said. Through his lawyer, Lee submitted a polygraph test request to the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency in Incheon, about 30 kilometers west of Seoul, the legal sources said. Lee has gone through three rounds of police questioning on suspicions of using marijuana and other illegal drugs at the home of a hostess working at a high-end
Dec. 26, 2023
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Police hunting down mastermind behind defacing of Seoul palace walls
Police are hunting down the mastermind who commissioned a teen to spray paint 44-meter-long graffiti on the walls of a historic palace in central Seoul earlier this month, officials said Tuesday. A 17-year-old, only identified by his surname Im, was arrested last week after spray painting the phrase "free movie" in Korean on both sides of the western gate to Gyeongbok Palace and palace walls near the National Palace Museum of Korea on Dec. 16. Investigators have since found that Im was
Dec. 26, 2023
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Apartment fire on Christmas could be due to ‘negligence’: police
A fire that broke out in an apartment building in Dobong-gu, northern Seoul that left two people dead and injured 30 others Monday was likely caused by human negligence, the police and fire authorities said Tuesday. A police official on-site said that it seems “unlikely that the fire was ignited due to electrical factors” after a joint on-site investigation. “It seems unlikely that the fire was caused by a short circuit or malfunctioning electrical equipment. Based on the evide
Dec. 26, 2023
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Underage drinkers turning themselves in becomes issue in S. Korea
Earlier this month, online communities across South Korea were abuzz with a story of a group of high school students who fled from a local eatery without paying. On the back of a bill, they wrote "I'm sorry but you didn't check our IDs. If we report you, you'll get shut down. We'll just go. We'll come back later after we're adults." Legal minors reporting themselves after consuming alcohol, or threatening to do so, is quickly becoming a social issue. South
Dec. 26, 2023
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A closer look into Korea’s suicide statistics
It is no longer news that South Korea has a high suicide rate. With 25.2 deaths per 100,000 people in 2022, the country topped the 38-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in terms of suicide rates. This rate is more than double that of the OECD average of around 10-11 deaths per 100,000. But under the headline numbers, when, where and how do most suicide attempts occur here? A recently released set of data encompassing crucial information from first response records t
Dec. 26, 2023
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Ministry inspected 2% of 2,600+ sexual abuse cases in public sectors
Over 2,600 cases of sexual violence and harassment were reported in public organizations nationwide over the past two years, with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family responding to just over 50 cases for on-site inspection, the ministry's data showed Tuesday. Some 18,000 government offices, institutions and schools recorded 2,620 cases of sexual abuse from July 2021 until June this year, according to data provided by the ministry to Rep. Yangyi Won-young of the main opposition Democ
Dec. 26, 2023
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From 2024, Seoul to use drones to monitor traffic
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on Tuesday that it will monitor traffic conditions in real time using drones starting in 2024. Using drone footage of traffic taken 200 meters above the ground, an artificial intelligence algorithm will analyze the footage to find patterns and predict future traffic conditions. To create a traffic management system that utilizes drones and AI, the Seoul Metropolitan Government conducted several tests in September and October. The city government tested
Dec. 26, 2023
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Man loses appeal for draft dodging, despite claiming to be gay
A Suwon district court recently handed down a jail term to a man in his 20s for evading his military duties. The man had reportedly vowed to to fulfill his duties when first accused but later claimed to be a conscientious objector based on his sexuality, according to local media reports, Tuesday. The defendant was sentenced to one year and six months behind bars by the appellate division of the Suwon court, which upheld an earlier ruling that punished him for violating the Military Service A
Dec. 26, 2023
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Govt. pays out most for whistleblowers in 2023
The state anti-corruption agency on Tuesday announced that it recorded the highest ever amount in rewards provided to those who reported corrupt officials or companies in 2023. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said it disbursed some 4.243 billion won ($3.273 million) as rewards to whistleblowers whose reports led directly to recovery or increase in public institution revenue in 2023, marking a 40 percent increase from the previous year. This annual figure represents the highest am
Dec. 26, 2023
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Fire at apartment building in northern Seoul kills 2, injures 29 people
A fire broke out at an apartment building in northern Seoul, leaving two people dead and injuring 29 others, firefighters said Monday. The blaze occurred at the third floor of the 23-story apartment building in Seoul's Dobong district at around 4:57 a.m., according to fire services. Two men in their 30s and a woman in her 70s were found in a state of cardiac arrest and sent to a hospital. The two men were pronounced dead, but the woman is known to have regained consciousness. The other 28 p
Dec. 25, 2023
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Seoul welcomes white Christmas for the first time in 8 years
A canopy of white covered the capital city of Seoul on Christmas morning, making it a white Christmas for the first time since 2015. In Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, while there were several pedestrians hurrying to get indoors to escape the snow, there were also some taking photos of the winter scenery. “It really feels like Christmas today,” said 25-year-old Baek Ji-yoon. “Christmas is one of my favorite holidays of the year because of its general atmosphere, but the sn
Dec. 25, 2023
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Not just pay, SME workers lag behind in benefits, too
The welfare benefits offered to employees at small to medium companies were around one-third of those provided by major corporations last year, amid widening gaps between the two groups, government data showed Monday. Smaller companies with less than 300 employees provided nonstatutory welfare benefits, also called fringe benefits, averaging 136,900 won ($105) per month as of the end of last year, according to data compiled in a report called "Corporate Labor Cost Survey for the 2022 Fiscal
Dec. 25, 2023
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[Herald Interview] Young leaders of Korea, Indonesia ask: How can we help each other?
In South Korea, concern over a looming demographic crisis is escalating, as the rapid aging of the population is feared to sap the vitality of what was once a dynamic society. From an Indonesian perspective, the country has something to offer: its abundant young workforce. Young leaders of Korea and Indonesia who are part of the nonprofit and nongovernmental organization Junior Chamber International have been exploring such opportunities. “If Korean companies have problems in hiring new,
Dec. 25, 2023
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Christmas tragedy: Father dies after 4th floor jump with child to escape fire
A father in his 30s died Monday after jumping from the fourth floor of a high-rise apartment building in Seoul carrying his young child, in a desperate attempt to flee from a fire on Christmas Day. He was one of two fatalities from the fire, which broke out at the apartment building in Banghak-dong, in Seoul's Dobong district. As of Monday afternoon, 30 suffered injuries. According to local news reports, the 30-something-year-old victim, wife and two children aged 7 months and 2 years, were
Dec. 25, 2023
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More strollers sold for furry companions than infants
In perhaps yet another sign of the country's declining number of births, South Korea’s largest online marketplace reported Monday that sales of pet strollers exceeded those of baby strollers for the first time this year. According to Gmarket, of the total strollers sold on the platform during the first three quarters of this year, those for pet animals accounted for 57 percent, while those for babies constituted the remaining 43 percent. This situation marks a notable change from pr
Dec. 25, 2023
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Fire at apartment building in northern Seoul kills 2, injures 29 people
A fire broke out at an apartment building in northern Seoul, leaving two people dead and injuring 29 people, firefighters said Monday. The blaze occurred at the third floor of the 27-story apartment building in Seoul's Dobong district at around 4:57 a.m., according to fire services. Two men in their 30s and a woman in her 70s were found in a state of cardiac arrest and sent to a hospital, and two of them were pronounced dead. About 222 firefighters battled the fire and extinguished it abo
Dec. 25, 2023
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80% of foreign workers in S. Korea have jobs at small firms
The number of foreign nationals having jobs in South Korea reached an all-time high of nearly 1 million this year, and nearly 80 percent of them were affiliated with companies with fewer than 50 workers, data showed Sunday. The number of foreigners aged 15 and older residing in the country came to 1.43 million as of May, and 923,000 of them had jobs here, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Both figures marked about a 10 percent on-year increase to hit a record high, the data sho
Dec. 24, 2023
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[Herald Interview] Why Korean teachers are speaking out in English on school reality?
Not long after a 23-year-old elementary school teacher’s death in July laid bare the truth of waning respect for educators, a group of 30 elementary and middle school teachers came together to shed light on the realities of teaching in South Korea. In late August, they formed the group “K-Teachers,” an abbreviation for Korean teachers, to create and upload English-language content on educational issues in Korea on Instagram and YouTube. There, they speak their minds on what nee
Dec. 24, 2023
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Hero rescue dog retires after a career of saving 9 lives
Gyeonggi Province fire authorities said Friday that veteran rescue dog A-rong is retiring after a six-year stint, and is seeking a new family. A-rong, a male Labrador retriever weighing 32 kilograms, was born in 2014 and participated in 312 rescue operations and aided the rescue of nine individuals, according to the Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters. A member of the Gyeonggi-do Northern Special Response Unit since December of 2017, he has had special training for rescue operations in the m
Dec. 24, 2023