The Seoul Metropolitan Government is looking for participants for a two-month program to uncover hidden art in the city’s nooks and corners. Residents of Seoul, regardless of their nationality, are eligible to apply for the “Arts on Seoul’s Streets Found by Citizens” project, which will run from April through June. Participants of last year’s “Arts on Seoul’s streets Found by Citizens” project ...

Deaths related to the use of toxic humidifier sterilizers date back to at least 1995, seven years before the first government-acknowledged damage case, an environmental group claimed Monday. According to the Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health, it discovered two deaths of users of the toxic products in 1995 after reviewing 5,432 damage claims made to the government from 2011 to Feb...

A single portion of rice burgers contains almost half or more of a whole day’s sodium intake, sending a health warning to students and busy office workers who frequently enjoy such food at economical prices. It consists of rice molded into the shape of buns with meat and other stuffing in between. According to a survey conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Consumers Korea, some 50 ...

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Thursday denounced President Park Geun-hye’s supporters who had installed tents without approval in front of the Seoul City Hall to stage protests against the impeachment of the embattled leader, adding he may order the forced removal of the tents. “Seoul Plaza, where pro-Park civic groups installed some 40 tents illegally without the city government’s approval, is a...

For those who work in the medical field, the white knee-length coat is a symbol, not only for their authority as professionals but also for the strict hygiene standards they have to abide by. These garments prevent doctor-patient contamination, offer some storage space for items such as pens and small medical instruments, and also allow easy recognition by colleagues and patients. They also unde...

The Seongnam City Government has begun the process to remove butchery facilities from South Korea’s largest dog meat market, two months after it decided to ban the slaughter of dogs and display of live dogs in cages there. Empty cages are lined up to be removed from dog meat shops at Moran Market in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. (Kim Da-sol/The Korea Herald) Kim Yong-buk, a member of the...

Sung Jong-tae, 35, a heavy smoker for the past 15 years, has tried almost everything there is to quit smoking, but his efforts have been in vain. “I am well aware, more than anybody else, of the detrimental effects of smoking, having a 3-year-old daughter at home. But still, nothing can physically help me stop smoking,” Sung told The Korea Herald. Even the recently introduced disturbing graphic...

Despite Seoul City’s efforts to curb illegal subway rides by charging a fine of 30 times the original fare, such rides are still on the rise, subway operators said Friday. According to Seoul Metro and Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit, which respectively operate Subway Lines No. 1-4 and 5-9, more than 42,814 passengers were caught illegally hopping on trains last year, paying almost 1.7 billion w...

Despite Seoul City’s efforts to curb illegal subway rides by charging a fine of 30 times the original fare, such rides are still on the rise, subway operators said Friday. According to Seoul Metro and Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit, which respectively operate Subway Lines No. 1-4 and 5-9, more than 42,814 passengers illegally hopped on trains last year, paying almost 1.7 billion won ($1.5 mill...

South Korea saw a record-low number of marriages last year, reflecting the widespread trend of people getting married later in life, government statistics showed Thursday. According to Statistics Korea, the number of new marriages sat at 281,800 in 2016, down almost 7 percent from the previous year. (Yonhap) This was the first time the number fell below the 300,000-mark since the institute beg...

Wearing seatbelts was what prevented causalities from occurring in Wednesday’s bus crash on a highway in Danyang, North Chungcheong Province, keeping passengers inside the bus from falling out of the vehicle after the crash, police said Thursday. Police investigating the accident said most of the passengers had been wearing their seatbelts, and therefore avoided fatal injuries. Police are inves...

Another foot-and-mouth infection was confirmed Sunday at a cattle farm in Boeun, the epicenter of the latest outbreak. That raised confirmed cases in South Korea to five and the number of cows culled to nearly 1,100 in five days since the first case was reported last week. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Sunday, six cows at a farm in Boeun, North Chungcheong P...

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Sunday that it would install malodor reduction devices in 10 more places in the capital to prevent bad smells wafting from waste pipes. The city government said it was part of Seoul’s efforts to reduce the number of civil complaints about bad smells by 30 percent by 2018. In June last year, the city government vowed to inject 170 million won ($153,561) to ...

South Korea said Friday that it will reinvestigate the safety of breast implant products, after a woman who received breast augmentation claimed to have found in her breast milk what appears to be silicone gel. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug safety, the woman who received breast enlargement surgery in 2011 had the implant removed after she found that her breastmilk contained a thick,...

ANDONG, North Gyeongsang Province -- Many say South Korea is a republic of convenience stores, describing the country’s some 30,000 24-hour retailers as being ubiquitous in almost every corner of Korean towns. Yet few realize that this country of 50 million has over 60,000 playgrounds for children, twice the number of convenience stores. Despite being in abundant supply, Korean playgrounds have...