Funerals for the victims of Thursday‘s Bucheon hotel fire were held on Sunday, but the controversy surrounding the tragedy has intensified while authorities have been searching to identify the circumstances that led to seven deaths and a dozen other injuries. Amid the ongoing efforts to determine the exact cause of the fire, a debate about the inflatable rescue mattress used by firefighters erupted, as two of the seven people died attempting to jump onto it. Soon after the blaze broke out,

Social Affairs Aug. 25, 2024

Suga of BTS not showing up for his first round of police questioning Thursday reignited debates over whether high-profile figures are unfairly targeted by being made to face the media on the photo line when they are under investigation. The star of the mega-hit K-pop group faces accusations of driving an electric scooter under the influence earlier this month. Reports initially indicated that he would appear for questioning at Yongsan Police Station for the first time on Thursday, drawing dozens

Social Affairs Aug. 22, 2024

South Korea's health system, which for years worked to shield the nation from the deadly threat of COVID-19, finds itself under renewed pressure from a virus resurgence amid the prolonged standoff between medical professionals and the government, putting its capacity to the test. The virus is likely to peak later this month at a time when the country's health care has for six months been stretched beyond its capacity, after intern and resident doctors resigned en masse in mid-February

Social Affairs Aug. 21, 2024

Starting Wednesday, South Korean health authorities will classify mpox as an infectious disease subject to border screening and require passengers flying from eight African nations with mpox symptoms to report to officials, health authorities here said Tuesday afternoon. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the decision comes after the World Health Organization declared mpox a "public health emergency of international concern" last week. Under the strengthened surveilla

Social Affairs Aug. 20, 2024

Women with depression between the ages of 40 and 60 are twice as likely to develop young-onset dementia, largely driven by declining estrogen levels and female sex hormones as they experience menopause, a recent study showed Tuesday. Young-onset dementia is when a person develops any form of dementia before the age of 65. The likelihood of developing dementia at an early stage was 2.5 to 2.7 times higher for women in their middle adulthood diagnosed with depression when compared to their peers w

Social Affairs Aug. 20, 2024

A 30-something graduate student at KAIST, South Korea's top science-specialized university, was recently arrested by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office for distributing and using drugs within a social fraternity he created in 2021 which included members from 13 other elite universities. Three other university students were also apprehended, and two others were indicted without physical detention for breaching the Narcotics Control Act. Eight other students who took drugs b

Social Affairs Aug. 19, 2024

COVID-19 cases have been trending upward since the summer wave arrived in South Korea, with more people admitted to hospitals for treatment compared to previous weeks and health authorities seeing an increase in COVID-19 levels in wastewater. Despite growing concerns about COVID-19's summer spread, health care experts and authorities said Monday that an increase in virus cases should not be a cause for fear. Instead, they noted that taking precautions could minimize the potential spread of

Social Affairs Aug. 19, 2024

South Korea is seeing a pronounced rise in the levels of COVID-19 in wastewater as the number of confirmed cases continues to swell throughout this month and is expected to peak in late August, health authorities said Sunday. The surge in wastewater virus concentrations -- one of the key gauges to track and estimate community spread -- has more than quadrupled from late April to early August. Amid the ongoing summer COVID-19 wave, the average concentration of the virus at local sewage plants s

Social Affairs Aug. 18, 2024

The recent surge in COVID-19 infections is stoking concerns of hidden, unchecked community spread, intensified by reduced data collection from Korean government agencies and a decline in testing rates. Health authorities are reporting a steady rise in cases since the beginning of July as part of a summertime wave that is expected to peak later this month. That peak would coincide with the end of the vacation season and the return of students to schools. The number of patients hospitalized with

Social Affairs Aug. 15, 2024

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has been recognized at the Manhae Grand Prize Ceremony for his role in fostering peace and stability in the African nation following the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the Rwanda Embassy in Seoul said Wednesday. The president received the Peace Award at the 28th Manhae Grand Prize Ceremony on Monday for his contributions to the African nation's post-genocide recovery, as well as his efforts in promoting forgiveness, reconciliation and nation-building over ret

Diplomatic Circuit Aug. 14, 2024

The Health Ministry said Tuesday that medical service fees for complex but essential surgeries, often undervalued despite their high skill and resource demands, will be raised possibly starting early next year. This initiative seeks to correct the long-standing pay disparities in a country where compensation for cosmetic procedures at private clinics is often higher than critical, lifesaving surgeries. The discussion took place during the medical reform committee meeting earlier in the day, whic

Social Affairs Aug. 13, 2024

Concerns about a resurgence of COVID-19 are again gripping South Korea, as the country has been witnessing an alarming increase in patients. The uptrend is likely to continue throughout the end of this month, health authorities here said Monday. Just as many are taking summer breaks, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has seen a stark rise in recent weeks, with those admitted to 220 hospitals nationwide for the virus standing at 861 in the first week of August -- the highest numbe

Social Affairs Aug. 12, 2024

Despite the government's offer of an olive branch to end the monthslong medical standoff, only 2.7 percent of medical students were in attendance, as others carried on protesting the drastic hike in medical school admissions, government data showed Sunday. With no signs of the government and medical community backing down from the gridlock that has persisted since February, attendance figures remain alarmingly low. Out of 19,345 students enrolled at 40 medical schools nationwide, only 495 w

Social Affairs Aug. 4, 2024

The Health Ministry on Thursday said it would have hospitals roll out additional recruitment notices later this month for striking trainees protesting the drastic hike in medical school quotas as South Korea's health care is once again left in a void. Only 104 junior doctors -- 13 interns and 91 residents -- had applied as 126 local training hospitals sought to recruit 7,645 candidates -- 2,525 interns and 5,120 residents -- from July 22 until Wednesday afternoon, according to the Health Mi

Social Affairs Aug. 1, 2024

About two-thirds of young job seekers in South Korea said they had obtained beauty care to land a job, with many of them believing that physical appearance plays a key role in increasing their chances of being employed, a survey showed Monday. Local job platform Catch revealed the results of a survey it conducted with 1,455 young job seekers belonging to Generation Z -- adults born after the mid-1990s. According to the survey, some 66 percent of the respondents said they received care for their

Social Affairs July 30, 2024