The Korea Meteorological Administration will upgrade the weather radar network to enhance its forecast accuracy by 70 percent, the state weather agency announced Thursday. In a press conference to mark a two-year-anniversary of the inauguration of Ken Crawford, vice administrator of KMA, the No. 2 of the agency said futuristic services will be implemented to provide accurate and comprehensive in...

The Indonesian education ministry and its South Korean counterpart agreed to cooperate in the establishment of a technologically advanced classroom, said the education ministry here on Thursday. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia’s Ministry of National Education to run a classroom that utilizes information and communications tech...

Petition filed to recall Seoul mayor for pushing ahead with vote on free school meals With six days left before Seoul’s first-ever referendum on free school lunches, opponents of the vote have taken legal measures against Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon. The Aug. 24 plebiscite on free school meal program will determine how many students will receive free school lunches. Oh and other conservatives advoc...

The number of students in the school system decreased between 2010 and 2011, highlighting the government’s futile efforts to tackle the low birthrate here, said the education ministry on Wednesday. According to data by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korean Educational Development Institute, the number of students in kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school has ...

Cho Nam-ho, chairman of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., was in Korea for two weeks in July when calls were mounting for him to settle months-long labor strife at his firm, contrary to previous claims by his company. According to Cho’s immigration data submitted to the National Assembly ahead of a hearing Thursday, the tycoon left for the Philippines on June 17 and returned here on Ju...

North Korean government, administrative, military and related industry officials receive priority in food rations, according to media sources in the country, as a U.N. aid agency claims ordinary citizens are given less than a third of the recommended nutritional diet. North Koreans were only given 200 grams of daily rations in July, according to the World Food Programme, as quoted by Voice of Am...

The U.S. Education and Testing Services has made the biggest change in its GRE general test in 60 years. Officials of the Korean branch of ETS said that the agency has advanced the test technologically with emphasis on real-world applications. The GRE general test is the most widely adopted test for graduate admission, with 230 countries acknowledging its results. The good news for Korean stud...

As early as 2014, the one-year internship program for medical school graduates will be scrapped and replaced with strengthened residency training, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday. A ministry committee for medical reform found the internship system ineffective and time-consuming for students who have already spent more than six years preparing to become doctors. Currently, medi...

Labor Ministry calls on firm to give better protection to workers from hazards Samsung Electronics Co. has been asked by local authorities to take costly measures to better protect its workers, after a series of leukemia-related deaths in its semiconductor manufacturing lines. The Labor Ministry said Wednesday that it has requested the world’s top maker of computer memory chips to take steps, i...

An East African intergovernmental organization has signed an agreement with the mayor of Seoul aimed at increasing mutual cooperation in e-government technology and other areas of interest. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Wednesday, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon signed a memorandum of understanding with East African Community Secretary General Richard Sezibera. The EAC, which consist...

A man accidently killed his soldier friend on vacation with an umbrella after having an argument with a passerby, Busan Geumjeong Police Station announced. The man, only known by the surname Kim, was with his naval serviceman friend near a convenience store at Busan on Sunday. The two got involved with an argument with a passerby named Park for an unknown reason. When the quarrel became tense, ...

A class action lawsuit seeking compensation for privacy violations by U.S. electronics maker Apple Inc. will be filed on Wednesday with a regional court in South Korea, a law firm dealing with the litigation said. A total of 27,612 Korean users of Apple's iPhone joined a class action suit last month demanding compensation for the smartphone's user location tracking functions that they claimed vi...