Teachers to hold nationwide protest despite warning

Teachers across the country are set to hold a de facto protest Monday to commemorate a 23-year-old teacher who took her own life in July, despite the government’s warnings of disciplinary actions. About 70,000 teachers are expected to participate in the “Sept. 4 Rally,” according to an online community of teachers, to demand better rights for teachers in the classroom. In contrast, the government has announced that 30 schools nationwide -- with Seoul having the highest number a

Sept. 3, 2023

KIS taps seasoned educator as new school director

Korea International School in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, said Sunday that it had tapped Cameron Fox, a seasoned educator with nearly 30 years of experience, as the school’s new director. According to the announcement, Fox will play a big role in pushing for better outstanding academic excellence of students and co-curricular programs that support high levels of student learning. “The KIS community will remain open and nimble to respond and adapt to the needs and growth of our school

Sept. 3, 2023

Yoon invites Korean atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima for Chuseok

President Yoon Suk Yeol has extended an invitation to a group of Korean victims of the 1945 atomic bombing in Hiroshima during the upcoming Chuseok holiday, a presidential official said Saturday. "President Yoon has invited Korean atomic bomb victims to South Korea for the Chuseok holiday," the official told Yonhap News Agency. This year's Chuseok fall harvest holiday will take place from Sep. 28 to Oct. 1. During his visit to Hiroshima for a Group of Seven summit in May, Yoon met

Sept. 2, 2023

UN rapporteur for North Korean human rights to visit Seoul next week

UN special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights will visit South Korea next week to meet Seoul officials as well as defectors from the reclusive regime, the foreign ministry said Friday. Elizabeth Salmon is expected to arrive here Monday for a nine-day stay to meet foreign, unification and justice officials, along with North Korean defectors, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is also scheduled to hold a press conference in Seoul on Sept. 12. The rapporteur will submit

Sept. 1, 2023

Military court denies arrest warrant for ex-Marine investigator over alleged insubordination

A military court on Friday rejected an arrest warrant request for the Marine Corps' former top investigator over allegations he disobeyed orders from his superiors over an internal probe he led into the death of a young Marine in July. The military prosecution on Wednesday filed for the pretrial warrant to detain Col. Park Jung-hun on charges of insubordination and defamation of his superior after he handed over the probe findings to the civilian police last month despite Defense Minister

Sept. 1, 2023

Mergeplus ordered to compensate victims over Mergepoint app refund chaos

Seoul Central District Court ruled on Friday that Mergeplus, the operator behind the problematic discount app, Mergepoint, must pay roughly 225 million won ($170,000) to 148 victims who had purchased unusable virtual coupons. The decision comes after a collective civil lawsuit identified the app's role in causing widespread refund chaos. The court found Kwon Nam-hee, CEO of Mergeplus Corporation, and its affiliated companies responsible for the incident but absolved six online shopping si

Sept. 1, 2023

Heat-related illnesses tripled this summer in Seoul

Seoul City has seen a threefold increase on-year in the number of serious heat-related illnesses this summer, authorities said Friday. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Management Headquarters, a total of 158 cases were reported through 911 emergency calls between May 15 and Aug. 31. This year's figure is approximately three times larger than the 50 cases recorded last year. Of those patients, 104 were diagnosed with heat exhaustion, followed by 24 cases of heat stroke

Sept. 1, 2023

Russia's nuclear waste dump in 1993 had no significant impact on East Sea: presidential office

After Russia dumped radioactive waste in the East Sea in 1993, South Korea continued to measure radioactivity at about 50 different points in its waters, but "no significant changes have been reported as of yet," a senior aide to President Yoon Suk Yeol said earlier this week. Lee Kwan-sup, senior presidential secretary for policy planning, made the statement on Wednesday at the National Assembly, saying that filing a complaint with an international organization against the Japanese go

Sept. 1, 2023

Officer arrested on suspicion of taking bribes from drug offender

A probation officer was arrested on suspicion of ignoring a drug offender's repeated offenses in exchange for bribes, the Ministry of Justice announced Friday. The ministry pledged to intensify the oversight of drug offenders and relevant personnel to prevent such incidents in the future. Seongnam Jungwon Police Station in Gyeonggi Province said Thursday that it had arrested a probation officer in his 50s who is suspected of taking 5 million won ($3,789) in return for overlooking drug use b

Sept. 1, 2023

Surveillance cameras in operating rooms to be mandatory from this month

Hospitals will be required to install cameras in operating rooms and to video-record surgical procedures upon the request of patients or guardians from later this month, despite adamant opposition from doctors. The Ministry of Government Legislation announced Friday that the amended Medical Service Act, which requires the installation of surveillance cameras in hospital operating rooms, will take effect on Sept. 25. The revised regulation mandates hospitals to install the cameras in any room whe

Sept. 1, 2023

Logistics added to industries eligible for E-9 visas

South Korea approved Friday plans to allow logistics companies here to sponsor E-9 visas for foreign workers amid what it called a "chronic labor shortage." Currently, employers in manufacturing, construction and farming can recruit worker from 16 countries in Southeast Asia and Central Asia to work on E-9 visas. But the plan, confirmed Friday at the Foreign Workers Policy Committee at the Government Complex Seoul, will open the doors for logistics companies and airport subcontractors

Sept. 1, 2023

Govt. to test-run foreign maid service to address labor shortage

A total of 100 foreigners will be employed for housekeeping jobs as early as later this year as part of a government pilot project to address a dwindling number of locals willing to work as maids despite rising demand, officials said Friday. The project, scheduled to be introduced in Seoul as early as December, aims to tackle the shortage of local individuals willing to work as maids and to support women in continuing their careers, according to the Office for Government Policy Coordination unde

Sept. 1, 2023

Korean netizens abuzz over 'no-kids zone' airline

Recent news of a Turkish airline adopting a child-free zone in its airplanes has sparked a conversation in South Korea, a country the airline doesn't even fly to. Korea is a country that continuously smashes the world’s record for the lowest birth rate, and the no-kids policy has become a topic of national debate. According to reports, Corendon Airline will start offering "adults-only" seats from November, reserving some of its seats for passengers aged 16 or up on its rout

Aug. 31, 2023

Colleges to have stricter record checks on school bullying

In light of mounting concerns over school bullying, students with disciplinary records for bullying will face stricter scrutiny during the college admissions process in South Korea. Starting in 2026, colleges will be required to consider applicants' school bullying records during admissions, the Korea Council for University Education, the country’s leading body for college admissions, announced on Wednesday. Under the new policy, every applicant will undergo mandatory checks of bullyi

Aug. 31, 2023

Number of children of multicultural backgrounds continues to rise in Korea: ministry

The number of children enrolled in various levels of formal education -- from kindergarten through high school -- has dropped by nearly 100,000, data showed Wednesday. Though the total number of children in Korea keeps declining, the number of children specifically from multicultural families continues to rise, accounting for 3.5 percent of all elementary, middle and high school students this year. According to the results of the 2023 Basic Education Statistics released by the Ministry of Educat

Aug. 31, 2023

Man gets life sentence for murdering girlfriend who reported dating violence to police

  A 33-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment Thursday for brutally stabbing his girlfriend in retaliation for reporting dating violence to police. He was also ordered to take 40 hours of sex offender therapy. He is subject to 30 years of monitoring by the police via electronic shackles, and is under a restraining order that bans him from any contact with the victim's bereaved family should he get released on parole. Judges at the Seoul Southern District Court said that the murder

Aug. 31, 2023

50 kids died of child abuse in 2022, mostly by parents

Fifty children died of child abuse last year in Korea, most of it committed by their parents, government data showed Thursday. By cause of death, 17 of them died of physical abuse, 14 of them were murdered right before their parents committed suicide, and five of them were the victims of infanticide, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. By age group, 56 percent of children who were killed last year were under 3. A total of 27,971 child abuse cases were confirmed last

Aug. 31, 2023

Family urges education office to acknowledge teacher’s death as work-related

The bereaved family of a 23-year-old elementary school teacher who reportedly died by suicide in July filed a claim to the Seoul Gangnam Seocho District Office of Education on Thursday to have her death recognized as work-related, claiming that she died due to an excessive workload and complaints from parents. The late teacher, who was a first grade teacher at an elementary school in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, struggled with a large workload and a student who had allegedly misbehaved in class, a

Aug. 31, 2023

Korea to have 6-day Chuseok holiday with Oct. 2 as extra day off

South Korea will have a six-day Chuseok holiday this year, as the government plans to designate Oct. 2 as a one-off temporary holiday in a move aimed at shoring up domestic economy. President Yoon Suk Yeol confirmed the plan on Thursday at the 19th Emergency Meeting on Economic Affairs for Examining Economic Promotion Strategies held in his office in Seoul. If the plan proceeds as planned, all Korean citizens will be eligible to enjoy a six-day break spanning from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3. The Chuseok

Aug. 31, 2023

Teens from Asian countries invited to apply for study abroad programs at North Gyeongsang high schools

In a bid to tackle a dwindling youth population, South Korea’s southeastern province of North Gyeongsang is trying a new strategy: inviting Asian teens to enroll at its high schools as a means to cultivate potential future residents. North Gyeongsang Province is currently in the process of selecting 72 teens from six different countries in Asia for admissions to schools within the province for the upcoming school year thatstarts in March 2024. Eligible countries are Vietnam, Thailand, Ind

Aug. 31, 2023