Two people are in critical condition as of Friday morning after a rampage in a shopping mall in Bundang, a wealthy neighborhood in southern Gyeonggi Province in the suburbs of Seoul, fire authorities revealed Friday. As of 6 a.m. Friday, two out of a total of 14 injured at the scene are at the risk of brain death, according to authorities. Among the injured, five were hit by the assailant's car driving onto the sidewalk near a shopping mall. The assailant then got out of his car and went in

Social Affairs Aug. 4, 2023

A 49-year-old high school teacher was stabbed near a staff room of a school in Daedeok-gu, Daejeon by a person who infiltrated the school, according to the fire department on Friday. According to a witness, the suspect waited for the teacher to return outside the staff room for about an hour during a break. The suspect then followed the teacher on the way to the bathroom, and stabbed the teacher in the face, the left side of the chest and arm. The teacher remains unconscious and is in critical c

Social Affairs Aug. 4, 2023

The story of a runaway US soldier to North Korea caught international attention last month, as he crossed the border a day after he was escorted to a South Korean airport to return to the US. On July 17, Pvt. Travis King, 23, was on his way to Texas to face expulsion from the military after he had been jailed for nearly two months in South Korea for assault. He was supposed to take a commercial flight from Incheon Airport to Fort Bliss in Dallas, Texas, but he walked out of the duty-free zone be

Social Affairs Aug. 3, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the Education Ministry on Tuesday to establish new school guidelines to protect teachers' rights from as early as the fall semester this year. He stressed that failing to address unruly behavior among children in classrooms is akin to giving way to violators of the law in the name of human rights. "Failing to discipline children who have refused to follow rules (in a classroom) for the sake of children's rights is no different than failing to punish criminals

Politics Aug. 1, 2023

US private equity firm Lone Star has appealed against an arbitration decision made by an international tribunal that sentenced the South Korean government to pay Lone Star $216.02 million in damages over the sale of a commercial bank decades ago, the Justice Ministry said on Monday. The government was notified of the appeal from the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes on Saturday, Korea Standard Time. Seoul said it would "thoroughly review" Lone

Social Affairs July 31, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol is looking to go on a weeklong vacation at a presidential vacation home in early August, according to the presidential office on Monday. Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee are to go to the presidential retreat of Cheonghaedae in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, from Wednesday to Aug. 8. This, however, would not mean they will stay out of touch, leaving open possibilities for them to make public appearances during the vacation, through events like visiting remote areas of S

Politics July 31, 2023

Over 30,000 teachers and supporters rallied in downtown Seoul on Saturday, calling for the revision of South Korea's child abuse law, which they argue allows parents to unjustly accuse teachers of misconduct without a thorough investigation. The protesters say the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes permits parents to accuse teachers of child abuse and report them to law enforcement without thoroughly investigating the situation or providing opportunities fo

Social Affairs July 30, 2023

Fuming with rage and shedding tears were bereaved family members of victims in the deadly Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon last year, following the Constitutional Court's verdict Tuesday that cleared Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min of legal accountability for the incident. An unidentified man's yelling sparked an outcry from the bereaved family members, who flocked to the crowded street in front of the court as they were attempting to speak to the press. Tuesday marked 270 da

Social Affairs July 27, 2023

SEJONG -- Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Wednesday South Korea will overhaul its disaster response strategies to cope with climate change more effectively. On Wednesday, Han told reporters he plans to discuss comprehensive reforms to the current disaster response system with government officials and lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party on Friday. He did not detail what specific measures would be introduced to deal with the effects of climate change. Hans office will take charge of a ne

Social Affairs July 26, 2023

South Korea's Constitutional Court on Tuesday dismissed a motion to impeach Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min in a unanimous 9-0 ruling, clearing Lee of his liability for a crowd crush in Seoul’s Itaewon district that killed 159 in October last year. In their verdict, court justices cleared Lee of charges in the motion, which claimed Lee neglected his duty of taking preventative measures, and violated the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety by failing to es

Social Affairs July 25, 2023

The South Korean central government and prosecution are scrambling to hold local authorities accountable for the inadequate disaster response over the recent underpass flooding that killed over a dozen people in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province on July 15. In a statement Monday, the Office for Government Policy Coordination accused officials from the provincial government and the National Agency for Administrative City Construction of a "grave dereliction of duty" and asked the pro

Social Affairs July 24, 2023

A man who went on a deadly stabbing rampage that killed one person and injured three in Seoul said Sunday he committed the crime because "life was hard." "I committed the crime because life was hard for me," he said on his way to the Seoul Central District Court. "I was in a bad situation for a long period of time. I did extremely wrong things. I am a useless human being. I'm sorry." Later in the afternoon, the court said in a statement that it issued an arre

Social Affairs July 23, 2023

President Yoon Suk Yeol is poised to attend a trilateral summit with his US counterpart Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the United States in August, according to Yoon's office on Thursday. "A meeting between leaders of South Korea, the US and Japan is to take place in the US," the presidential office said in a statement. Earlier on Thursday, a media report from Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun revealed that the trilateral meeting is expected to be held on Aug. 1

Social Affairs July 20, 2023

A blame game has begun over the deadly tunnel flood that took 14 lives in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, with criticism growing over the lack of a timely response, and authorities passing the buck. An association of civic groups in North Chungcheong Province on Wednesday accused multiple local authorities of failing to prevent a "serious civic accident" under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, where those responsible might face at least a year in prison or a fine of up to 1 b

Social Affairs July 19, 2023

South Korea's Justice Ministry said Tuesday it has filed an lawsuit in England to block a June ruling in an international arbitration court that ordered Seoul to pay $107.8 million in damages and legal costs to US hedge fund giant Elliott Investment Management. The Justice Ministry claimed that the National Pension Service, a public pension scheme that was at odds with Elliott over the controversial merger in 2015 of two key Samsung Group affiliates -- Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries -

Social Affairs July 18, 2023