The government on Tuesday launched a committee to address the adoption of the World Health Organization-classified gaming disorder into Korea’s own disease code. The joint government-private sector committee is convened by the Prime Minister’s Office for Government Policy Coordination following a failed consensus between health and gaming circles, and its formation comes after nearly two-month-l...

A van carrying 16 passengers crashed Monday morning in Gangwon Province, leading to deaths and injuries of all those aboard. Upon investigation, police found the van’s driver, a 61-year-old surnamed Kang, had a criminal record involving another fatal car wreck. According to police, Kang was charged with a similar van crash 10 years ago. In January 2009, the van she was driving hit an excavator i...

Six Thai nationals were aboard the van that crashed Monday morning in Gangwon Province, that resulted in the deaths or injuries of all of the passengers, police said Tuesday. A Hyundai van carrying 16 passengers -- seven Koreans, nine foreign nationals -- crashed into a guardrail on a road in northeastern coastal area in Samcheok City at 7:33 a.m. Monday, killing four. Of the four fatalities, t...

Thirty-seven restaurants specializing in malatang, a type of Chinese street food, failed health inspections in June, the Food and Drug Safety Ministry said Monday. The ministry conducted health inspections at 63 malatang restaurants from June 3 to July 5 and found 37 to be in violation of the food sanitation law. By Kim Arin ( arin@heraldcorp.com )

South Korea’s former Ambassador to Ethiopia Kim Mun-hwan, 55, was sentenced to jail on Monday for raping an employee of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs agency. The Supreme Court on Monday confirmed the appellate court’s one-year sentence for the ex-ambassador for abusing his authority. Kim was indicted in August 2017 on charges of raping a staff member of the Korea International Cooperation Agenc...

Song Hye-kyo and Song Joong-ki’s divorce was finalized at a Seoul court Monday. The two settled their divorce at a closed-door hearing held at 10 a.m. Monday at Seoul Family Court. The hearing lasted for about 20 minutes, a court official said. Their divorce was granted 26 days after the petition was filed June 26. Both cited irreconcilable differences as the reason. Korean law allows a marria...

Four people died and 12 were injured in a van crash Monday morning in Gangwon Province. A Hyundai van flipped over at 7:33 a.m. Monday on a road in the northeastern coastal area of Gagok-myeon in Samcheok, according to Gangwon Fire Headquarters. Fire authorities and police said the Hyundai Grace van carrying 16 passengers crashed into a guardrail and tipped over to the roadside. Of the 16 passe...

Typhoon Danas, which battered the southern provinces over the weekend, left one dead, one injured and nine displaced, authorities said Sunday. In latest reported fatality, a man, 62, was found dead after he was reported missing in a swollen stream in Geochang, South Gyeongsang Province. A rescue team comprising some 80 fire fighters and police officials searched the area after report was at file...

An internal audit has found failings in the police investigation of a woman’s alleged murder of her ex-husband in May on Jeju Island, the National Police Agency said Sunday. Police said internal auditors filed a report with the investigation bureau listing inadequacies in the investigation of the murder of a 36-year-old Jeju man surnamed Kang. His former wife Koh Yu-jeong is accused in his murde...

Chopsticks and spoons digging into the same dish are not an uncommon sight at Korean dining tables. Bowls of rice are served individually, but “banchan,” or side dishes, and “jjigae,” or stew, are often served communally, meant to be shared. Sharing stew from the same pot is not considered good table manners here, but many forego the ladle and small bowls that come with the stew, dipping thei...

Using National Health Insurance information that is not your own to receive medical care will be met with heftier punishment starting October. The National Health Insurance Service said Thursday using another person’s personal information to receive medical services could lead to a maximum penalty of two years in jail or a fine of 20 million won ($16,975) from Oct. 24. This is double the current...

A counseling clinic for migrant women is slated to open Friday in Incheon, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said Wednesday. The clinic will provide legal, medical and psychological counseling services to migrant women who are victims of domestic violence and sex crimes and other crimes, according to the ministry. The services will be provided in Korean as well as the native language o...

Prosecutors demanded a two-year jail term for two police officers accused of taking bribes from a club in Gangnam, Seoul, in exchange for covering up illegalities in the club’s operations. At a hearing Wednesday at Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors requested two years in jail for a lieutenant surnamed Yeom and sergeant surnamed Kim, saying the two had abused their authority in committing...

Former legislator Chung Doo-un was found dead Wednesday afternoon at a mountain in Hongeun-dong, a neighborhood in Seoul’s western district of Seodaemun, according to police. Seoul Emergency Operations Center said Chung’s wife called police at around 4 p.m. after finding a note he had left behind. Police located him 30 minutes into their search at the mountain near an apartment where he used to ...

From Wednesday, prospective employers cannot ask job seekers for information unrelated to the positions they are being hired for. The Employment Ministry said Tuesday that a revised hiring law prohibits employers from collecting information irrelevant to job performance and engaging in behavior that may hurt fairness in employment practices. Asking about a job applicant’s weight, height, place ...