Articles by Park Jun-hee
Park Jun-hee
junheee@heraldcorp.com-
Man gets 35 years in jail for killing man in fire after losing game
A man in his 60s who was convicted of setting his neighbor on fire, eventually killing him, after losing a game has been handed a 35-year prison term, the district court in Gwangju said Friday. The Gwangju District Court convicted the man on charges of murder and breaching the Special Act on Prevention of Insurance Fraud. The man, whose identity has been withheld, was accused of killing the victim -- also in his 60s -- after the two had been playing the traditional Korean game yutnori for money
Social Affairs Nov. 24, 2023
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Drug users turning to illicitly imported tests to avoid getting caught: ministry
Illicit sales of drug test kits from overseas are on the rise via social media, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Friday. They are being marketed to potential drug users looking to evade testing by police, the ministry said. The test kits, which are equivalent to the rapid tests used by police here, produce results within a few minutes, allowing drug users to take measures to prevent getting a positive result in later police testing. To alter results of the typically more reli
Social Affairs Nov. 24, 2023
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School hires robots as cafeteria chefs
The chicken is in the deep fryer, vegetable fried rice is being cooked in a pan and beef stew is being heated up in a stock pot as lunchtime approaches at Soonggok Middle School in Seongbuk-gu, northern Seoul. But the meal preparation for some 660 students is all done at the hands of cooking robots. The middle school is the first in the country to adopt cooking robots designed to perform culinary tasks, such as stir-frying, boiling and frying ingredients. It is part of a trial starting the secon
Social Affairs Nov. 23, 2023
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Teacher under fire for classroom lingerie photos of former students
A teacher on a fixed-term contract at a middle school in Seoul has come under fire for using school property to take photos of scantily clad former students for his social media account, as well as selling them as photo books. The teacher, whose identity has been withheld, has been running the social media account since 2017, where he uploaded some 1,600 photographs of women posing suggestively for nearly 87,000 followers, his now-closed Instagram account showed. Apart from running and posting s
Social Affairs Nov. 23, 2023
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Suneung might not see perfect scorer for first time in 13 years
Controversy over the difficulty of the Suneung, South Korea’s college entrance exam, is likely to persist as this year’s exam has so far not seen a perfect score in tentative grading, giving an inkling that the test might not see a single perfect scorer for the first time in 13 years. While test-takers are to receive notice of their scores on Dec. 8, none of the high school senior students who took the test received full marks after tentative grading of their answers, according to th
Social Affairs Nov. 21, 2023
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Choosing children over career: Fatherhood changing in modern Korea
A 37-year-old executive at a tech startup in Seoul surnamed Choi made what seemed a bold decision after welcoming the birth of his first child two years ago: he took three months of paternity leave. At first, he was worried about the looks he would get at the office, not to mention missing out on a promotion and pay raise, as well as being perceived as being less committed to work than his peers. But Choi’s choice came with multiple benefits. “I had plenty of time to bond with my son
Social Affairs Nov. 20, 2023
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Will Suneung without ‘killer questions’ reduce reliance on private education?
Half a million took the Suneung, South Korea’s national college entrance exam, on Thursday, as this year’s test saw the scrapping of the so-called highly difficult “killer questions” for the first time. All eyes are on whether the new test format will reduce reliance on private education, as a slew of test takers assessed this year’s Suneung to be more difficult, despite the absence of such questions. In the run up to the test, many examinees expected the difficulty
Social Affairs Nov. 19, 2023
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[From the Scene] Half a million take Suneung as nation holds its breath
Hundreds of students showed up at Dongsung High School in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, Thursday, carrying backpacks and clutching study materials for last-minute cramming before sitting for South Korea’s college entrance exam, known as the Suneung. Some busied themselves taking pictures with classmates. Others waited nervously. A student hugged his parents before entering the school gate, saying, “You guys believe in me, right? I can do this.” The parents shed tears of relief and
Social Affairs Nov. 16, 2023
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Bereaved family protests police's case closure on teacher's death
The bereaved family of a 23-year-old elementary school teacher who took her own life in July on Wednesday protested the police's decision to close the investigation into the case, holding a press conference with foreign media in Seoul. The press conference was in response to the police's announcement on Tuesday saying they found no evidence of any crime and wrapped up the monthslong probe. The family said the closure was "too hasty" and that there were other factors and poten
Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2023
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Why Suneung is always on a Thursday
The Suneung, South Korea’s national college entrance exam, has been administered on a Thursday every year since 2006. The nationwide test, regarded as the most important exam Koreans take in their lifetimes, is held on the same weekday every year to secure the test distribution process, according to officials. Transporting the examination papers to 84 cities, counties, and districts across the country takes three days. This process involves not only the travel time but also a cross-checkin
Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2023
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Patients in Korea have lowest chance of asking doctors questions
Park, 61, had a long list of questions he wanted to ask about his health and what he should do to recover after being diagnosed with heart failure, a chronic condition in which the heart muscle doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. His doctor, however, was busy staring at the computer screen to prescribe him medication and set up his next appointment. “I was barely even allowed to speak or ask questions (about my condition or the causes of it) during the consultation, before the d
Social Affairs Nov. 14, 2023
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Stalking crimes could lead to up to 5 years in prison custody
Amid growing calls for stronger punishment for stalking, the Supreme Court’s Sentencing Committee on Monday said it had decided to recommend a maximum prison term of five years, depending on the gravity of the offense. The decision comes after the commission, affiliated with the Supreme Court of Korea and consisting of 13 commissioners, held its 128th meeting on Friday to review sentencing guidelines for stalking. For what it calls a general stalking crime with mitigating factors, the Sent
Social Affairs Nov. 13, 2023
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Leadership vacuum looms at S. Korea’s 2 top courts
South Korea’s two top courts are facing a leadership vacuum following Constitutional Court President Yoo Nam-seok’s retirement on Friday, while the position of chief justice has remained vacant for 47 days. President Yoon Suk Yeol named Lee Jong-seok as the nominee for the president of the Constitutional Court of South Korea last month and a parliamentary confirmation hearing for Lee is set to take place on Monday. Lee is currently one of nine justices in the Constitutional Court. Si
Social Affairs Nov. 10, 2023
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Vietnam’s Bac Ninh province woos Korean firms’ bold investments
A group of delegations from Vietnam held a conference in Seoul on Thursday to promote the Vietnamese province of Bac Ninh to rise as an industrial zone, calling for active investments from South Korean companies. The event -- co-hosted by the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the province’s provincial people’s committee and sponsored by Viglacera, the country’s leading building materials manufacturer and industrial parks operator -- sought to introduce the area&r
Diplomatic Circuit Nov. 10, 2023
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Opposition party passes contentious labor, broadcasting bills
The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Thursday afternoon passed a contentious pro-labor bill and three broadcasting bills during a plenary session at the National Assembly, a move that comes after the ruling People Power Party announced that it would withdraw threats of a filibuster. The partial amendments to all three broadcasting bills and the pro-labor “yellow envelope bill” were unilaterally passed, with all participating members voting in favor. Members of the ruling
Politics Nov. 9, 2023
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