Articles by Yoon Min-sik
Yoon Min-sik
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com-
Teachers' union hits back against complaints over school trip to watch hit film '12.12: The Day'
A teachers’ union on Wednesday criticized a right-leaning civic group for making complaints against a Seoul high school principal for organizing an outing to watch "12.12: The Day," a film about military dictator Chun Doo-hwan's rise to power through the 1979 coup. The civic group, called the Freedom Korea National Defense Corps, has accused the principal of abusing his authority, which is stipulated via Article 123 of the Criminal Act, according to the Korean Teachers and E
Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2023
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2 students wrongly rejected from university due to error
Gyeongsang National University said Thursday that a computer error during its admissions process resulted in two students being rejected despite having the necessary credentials for acceptance. The university belatedly notified the two students that they have actually been accepted. According to school officials, its college of pharmacology announced last week the three students who were accepted through its early admissions process. But the computer did not take into account the college entranc
Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2023
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S. Korea nabs 1,183 gang members, most of them 'MZ gangsters'
South Korean police on Wednesday said it has apprehended 1,183 members of organized crime rings across the country, detaining 189 of them on arrest warrants, the majority of whom are younger than 30 and focus more on non-traditional gang activities. The arrests were made after a special crackdown by the National Police Agency during the second half of this year, conducted between Aug. 7 and Dec. 16. The government had apprehended 1,589 gang members after a four-month investigation took place dur
Social Affairs Dec. 20, 2023
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Police apprehend Gyeongbokgung vandals
South Korean police on Tuesday said they arrested two teenagers suspected to have recently vandalized the walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. According to Jongno Police Station, the 17-year-old male suspect was taken in by officers at around 7:08 p.m. near his home in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The other suspect, a 16-year-old girl, was also apprehended at her home which was nearby. The pair is accused of spray-painting promotional messages of an illegal video-downloading w
Social Affairs Dec. 19, 2023
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More people smoking, drinking, in poorer health in post-COVID era
The number of South Koreans smoking or drinking has risen in the era following the years since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a state-issued report showed Tuesday. The annual report, conducted on 230,000 adults across the country by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), indicated deteriorating health indexes across the board, as obesity and depression were also on the rise in recent years. South Korea's smoking rate had been on a downward trend since reaching 26.7 perc
Social Affairs Dec. 19, 2023
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Kyrgyz boy gets facial reconstruction in Korea
An 8-year-old boy from Kyrgyzstan, whose face had been scarred from severe burns, has made full recovery from the facial reconstruction surgery he received at the Asan Medical Center, the hospital said Tuesday. The AMC staff said the boy, named Alinur, has received nasal reconstruction surgeries and operations to remove his scars, and is set to head back home. The medical costs were fully covered by the hospital and the Asan Foundation, headed by Chung Mong-joon. According to the AMC, Alinur sus
People Dec. 19, 2023
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'Silent as the grave' gets new meaning in Korean theaters
Most people can agree that it is ideal for audience members to make as little noise as possible during plays or musicals. But South Korean theater fans have been divided over the widespread policy that takes it to another level: the so-called "siche-gwangeuk," which refer to the practice of watching while being "still as a corpse." Last week, a controversy broke out when a reporter wrote a critical article on a production of the musical "Lee Jin: The Woman of Light.&qu
Performance Dec. 19, 2023
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Teen murder suspect called emergency services to check penalties for murder
A South Korean teen murder suspect called emergency medical services immediately after her crime and asked what sort of punishment she would get, testimonies revealed at her trial on Monday. The 18-year-old female suspect is accused of murdering her classmate after an argument on July 12 at the victim's home in Daejeon, and is being tried by the Daejeon District Court. After the classmate's death, the suspect called the 119 emergency number to report it and asked, "Is it true that
Social Affairs Dec. 19, 2023
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Escaped bear shot to death, animal rights groups urge law revision
South Korean authorities recently shot an escaped bear in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, sparking calls from animal rights groups for the parliament to pass a pending law that bans bear farming. According to the Dangjin Fire Station on Tuesday, officials received reports that a bear escaped from a bear farm in Seokpo-ri, Dangjin, at around 7 p.m. on Sunday. Officials located the animal after two hours of searching and shot the animal dead, upon the request of the farm owner who voiced safe
Social Affairs Dec. 19, 2023
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Workplace bullying over office dinners persists: study
A civic group said Monday that it has received 48 complaints this year on abuse related to "hoesik," Korean work dinners that often accompany rounds of drinking. Gabjil 119, a group seeking to raise awareness of workplace bullying in South Korea, shared details of the hoesik-related complaints, most of which were superiors forcing subordinates to participate by threatening to give low performance reviews if they were absent. The group said it verified the identities of those who submit
Social Affairs Dec. 18, 2023
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'Women are useless': professor investigated for misogyny, extortion
The Cultural Heritage Administration on Monday launched an investigation of a male professor here over a string of allegations including misogynistic comments and extortion. Local media outlets reported that a professor at Korea National University of Cultural Heritage has been accused of insulting students, extorting money from them and making them run personal errands. Educational institutions here are conventionally under the supervision of the Education Ministry, but this particular institut
Politics Dec. 18, 2023
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'I have a ticket!' Man hanging on departing KTX train goes viral
A video of a man hanging on a KTX train as it began departing from a station has gone viral online in South Korea. In the video, reportedly recorded just before 4 p.m. Friday at Gwangmyeong Station in Gyeonggi Province, a person appearing to be a man of foreign nationality hanging on the outside of a train leaving for Mokpo, which had just started moving, between two cars. A female station official ran alongside the man, shouting, "Get off! Get off!" in Korean. But the man continued to
Social Affairs Dec. 18, 2023
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Incheon hotel fire injures 54, including 8 foreigners
A fire broke out at a hotel in Incheon Sunday night, causing injury to 54 people including eight foreigners, the local fire department said Monday. The fire appears to have originated from the parking tower in the 18-story building, said officials of the Incheon Gongdan Fire Station, whose jurisdiction includes parts of Namdong-gu and Yeonsu-gu in the southern part of the city. The facility was set ablaze around 9 p.m. and 54 people suffered varying levels of injury including smoke inhalation an
Social Affairs Dec. 18, 2023
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Only 1 of 4 women in 20s want to get married: report
Just over a quarter of South Korea's 20-something women said marriage is something one should do in 2022, as young people's inclination to tie the knot continues to fall dramatically here, a report found Friday. Statistics Korea conducted a study on South Korean society, based on a variety of survey data, and found that only 27.5 percent of women in their 20s have a positive view toward marriage. Positive views on marriage among these young women were the lowest out of all age groups,
Social Affairs Dec. 16, 2023
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Sports and politics, not the most ideal mix in public's eyes
South Korean soccer hero Park Ji-sung recently denied speculations that he would join the ruling People Power Party, saying that he would "appreciate it if such propositions did not take place in the future." "I never even imagined becoming a politician, and I don't even feel the slightest need to imagine such a thing. ... I was shocked that such speculation even exists," the former Manchester United midfielder said Thursday. He was responding to a media report last mont
More Sports Dec. 15, 2023
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