Legal limitations Korea currently has an Animal Protection Act that bans cruelty against animals. Cruelty is specified as inflicting unnecessary and avoidable physical and psychological distress, or neglect that exposes animals to hunger and illness. But there is no article or clause that dictates what should happen during filming with animals, meaning what is defined as “unnecessary and avoidab...

A recently-released contemporary folk song became the subject of bitter dispute on Monday for supposedly mocking presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol’s wife and “King of Pop” Michael Jackson. In his latest single “A Woman That Looks Like Michael Jackson,” released Friday, Ahn Chi-hwan sings of an unspecified woman who has changed her name and looks several times, berating the person for her gree...

Korean men who grew up in the 1980s or 90s would likely remember the first time they were taken to the barber shop, a transformative moment of entering the realm of men instead of tagging along with their mothers to join other women at the hair salon. Hair salons are for women, and barber shops are for men. This was the mainstream view back then. But these places are no longer defined as such, a...

Last Saturday, uncle of YouTuber and online streamer Cho Jang-mi revealed that his niece had taken her own life due to rumors and malicious internet comments. The revelation has since sparked nationwide furor over cyberbullying and a relatively novel phenomenon of “cyberwreckers,” referring to YouTubers who make commentary videos of contentious issues using compiled footage and photos. A partic...

“Excessive” use of artificial lights on trees during nighttime could harm trees and affect their growth, the National Institute of Forest Science said Wednesday, recommending LED decorations to be turned on for no more than six hours daily. In a study, the state-run institute installed LED lights on three types of trees -- pine, king cherry and ginkgo -- and observed if it had effects on their n...

The rapid spread of COVID-19 has demand for at-home test kits rising at an alarming rate, with major convenience store chain CU temporarily ceasing distribution to franchises. According to local reports Monday, CU stores across the country have been unable to order new stock of at-home kits since Friday. This is believed to be due to a spike in sales during the Lunar New Year holiday last week, ...

Late last month, the Ministry of Environment announced that all bear farming will be outlawed in Korea as of Jan. 1, 2026, and the currently farmed bears will be relocated to shelters for protection by 2025. The decision follows decades of controversy on the practice, which started in 1981 due to high demand for the bear bile used in traditional medicine. “The declaration to cease bear breeding...

A local environmental group is calling for justice after three roadside trees were allegedly killed by poisoning in Seoul last July near a new drive-through outlet of Starbucks. The Korea Federation for Environmental Movements’ Seoul Branch on Thursday held a press conference at the site, decrying the state prosecution’s decision not to press charges against the person who admitted to having mis...

Just after midnight on Tuesday, YouTuber Song Ji-ah -- better known for her channel name FreeZia -- posted a public apology for the recent controversy surrounding her wearing fake designer label clothes and accessories in her videos and on TV. It was after nearly a fortnight of criticism, which on the surface seems like a disproportionate amount of fuss over something far from being important. S...

Between various scandals, the leaking of private conversations and talks of possible unified candidacies, support for the three major candidates in Korea’s ongoing presidential race has fluctuated unpredictably throughout. But there are those who believe that hints lie in the faces of the three – the ruling party’s Lee Jae-myung, and opposition parties’ Yoon Suk-yeol and Ahn Cheol-soo -- and one...

An underwater volcanic eruption in the South Pacific which triggered massive waves reaching as far as Japan and the West Coast of the US has left Koreans wondering one thing: Is the Korean Peninsula safe? Experts say the possibility of the country’s coastal region being wiped out by a tsunami is relatively low, due to its geographic location. The Korean Peninsula is shielded by Japan on the eas...

Of Seoul’s 25 districts, Gangnam-gu has the largest economy, with its total output being nearly 22 times the size of the smallest, Gangbuk-gu, data showed Thursday. According to the Seoul metropolitan government, Gangnam-gu’s gross regional domestic product in 2019 stood at 71.85 trillion won ($6 billion), followed by Jung-gu’s 53.8 trillion, Yeongdeungpo-gu’s 36.1 trillion and Seocho-gu’s 35....

Safety inspections took place at major construction sites across South Korea on Wednesday, as the search continued for workers missing in Tuesday‘s collapse of a Gwangju apartment building that was under construction. The Gwangju Metropolitan Government earlier in the day ordered the temporary shutdown on all construction sites in the city run by Hyundai Development Co., the company involved in ...

Last week, the talk of the town was Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung’s pledge to have hair loss treatments covered by public health care insurance, prompting both cheers from supporters and criticism of populism. What stood out in particular was the enthusiastic response from young voters, despite hair loss known to be more prevalent among the older generation. In f...

Korea on Sunday was blanketed by dangerous levels of ultrafine dust expected to persist until at least Monday, which prompted the government to issue emergency reduction measures for the first time this year. According to the Metropolitan Air Quality Management Office under the Ministry of Environment, the ultrafine dust density levels in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and South Chuncheong Province we...