2 killed in boiler pipe explosion in Suncheon

A fodder plant in the southwestern city of Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, exploded Sunday, killing two, including a foreign worker. According to the Suncheon Fire Department, the explosion occurred at 3:19 p.m., killing two welders. One of the victims is a 50-year-old Thai national. Following the accident, eight rescue and emergency vehicles were dispatched to the scene, while the National Institute of Forensic Science is now conducting an on-site investigation. Police and fire authorities hav

Oct. 22, 2023

Concerns grow over rise of fall webworm

Concerns are growing about the growing presence of fall webworms, which are not harmful to humans but can damage trees, spotted more frequently across the country this month. Several social media users have also expressed their complaints about the fall webworms especially at Han River parks. One user on X -- formerly known as Twitter -- wrote, “If you’re visiting Han River, make sure to bring a tent or bug spray. These caterpillars have taken over the park.” Seoul Facilities C

Oct. 22, 2023

From ‘Parasite’ actor to chaebol scion, drug use back in spotlight

Lee Sun-kyun, known for his role in Oscar-winning movie “Parasite,” could be summoned for questioning sometime this week, reports said Sunday, citing police, as part of an expanding investigation into suspected drug use involving the actor and seven others. According to the reports, police are also considering a warrant to take a hair sample from the 48-year-old for drug testing in case he refuses to comply. The police probe is still at an internal stage, a precursor to a formal

Oct. 22, 2023

Four killed after fishing boat capsizes in S. Korea

Four people were killed and the remaining 14 crew members on board suffered minor injuries as their fishing boat capsized off South Korea's southwestern coast, coast guard officials said Sunday. The incident took place at 5:57 a.m. on Sunday as the boat overturned in seas off the west coast town of Buan, 204 kilometers south of Seoul, after colliding with a tugboat, officials said. The four people were found unconscious when they were rescued and the remaining 14 people who were also saved

Oct. 22, 2023

S. Korea's malaria cases reach highest level in 12 yrs

The number of malaria cases has been rising sharply in South Korea this year, reaching the highest level in 12 years, health authorities said Sunday. A total of 719 cases of the mosquito-borne disease were confirmed from January to the second week of October, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. It is the first time that the annual malaria cases have topped the 700 level in a single year since 2011, when the country reported 826 patients. Out of the total cases for this

Oct. 22, 2023

Year after deadly crowd crush, victims, families yet to leave it behind

A year after the deadly crowd crush in Seoul's Itaewon district that claimed 159 lives, survivors and bereaved families still seek the truth behind the bungled disaster response and a proper closure to their loss. The crowd crush, the deadliest ever in South Korea, took place in the nightlife district of Itaewon on Oct. 29, 2022, a Saturday night when about 100,000 people flocked to the area for Halloween celebrations. Victims were crushed to death in a narrow 3.2-meter-wide downhill alley, wher

Oct. 22, 2023

[Photo News] Mt. Seorak welcomes first snow of the season

The first snow of the season fell on a portion of Mount Seorak in Gangwon Province Saturday, according to the Gangwon Regional Meteorological Administration. Flakes began falling at around 7 a.m. around Jungcheong Shelter, some 1,676 meters above sea level, the authorities said. It added that the temperature had plummeted to minus 5.6 C in the early morning.

Oct. 21, 2023

New study sheds light on S. Korea's high stomach cancer rate

Stomach cancer is especially common among Koreans, with data from the National Cancer Center of Korea identifying it as the most common type of cancer in the country from 1999 to 2018. Although Korea reports a lower overall cancer incidence rate compared to the US and UK, its rate of stomach cancer is nearly 10 times higher. Looking to find potential reasons why, a new study led by Dr. Choi Kui-son of the National Cancer Center of Korea has found a lack of exercise to be the most common risk fac

Oct. 21, 2023

S. Korea reports additional cases of lumpy skin disease in cattle

South Korea confirmed additional cases of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cattle at three local farms on Saturday. The report comes one day after the country confirmed its first-ever case of LSD at a farm in Seosan, located some 98 kilometers southwest of Seoul. The second LSD case was confirmed at a farm in Pyeongtaek, located 60 kilometers south of Seoul, where samples were taken from a milk cow showing symptoms of LSD on Friday. Another case was confirmed at a cattle farm in Dangjin, just north o

Oct. 21, 2023

2 dead, 1 in cardiac arrest in bus-van crash inside tunnel in central region

BOEUN -- A tourist bus crashed with a van inside an expressway tunnel Saturday, leaving two people dead and another in cardiac arrest, officials said. The 15-seat van was traveling inside Suriti Tunnel along the Dangjin–Yeongdeok Expressway in Boeun, 135 kilometers southeast of Seoul, when the tourist bus rear-ended it at 8:55 a.m., police officials said. The accident left two of the van's 11 passengers dead and another in cardiac arrest. The injured person was sent to a hospital for

Oct. 21, 2023

S. Korea issues 'serious' alert following first outbreak of lumpy skin disease

South Korea issued a "serious" warning Friday after confirming the first-ever case of lumpy skin disease (LSD) in cows raised at a local farm, the agriculture ministry said. The owner of the cattle farm in the western city of Seosan detected four cows showing symptoms of the disease Thursday and in-depth checkups by the authorities confirmed their infection, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The disaster response headquarters held an emergency meeting wi

Oct. 21, 2023

Debt-related dispute ends in fatal stabbing in Ansan

The police have taken custody of a man who killed one person and injured another in a knife attack Wednesday. According to the police station in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, the suspect, a man in his 50s, confessed that he attacked the victims when they reprimanded him for not repaying his debts and told him to “stop borrowing money from people around him”. The initial altercation took place at a nearby billiard room. Subsequent CCTV footage captured the victims arriving at a bus stop i

Oct. 20, 2023

Nearly 6 in 10 Koreans associate blood type with personality

Almost 6 in 10 Koreans believe in the correlation of blood types -- A, B, O or AB -- and personalities, a survey showed Friday. In a Gallup Korea poll of 1,501 adults aged 19 and over, approximately 57 percent of respondents support the concept of the blood type personality theory, a pseudoscientific notion suggesting that blood types can predict one's personality and temperament. In terms of preferences for a certain blood type, 49 percent of the respondents favored type O blood, follo

Oct. 20, 2023

Civic group, Muslim association hold rally supporting Palestine

Protestors calling for the freedom of Palestine held rally in Seoul, Friday, urging Israel to stop bombing the Gaza strip and free the region. Progressive civic group Workers’ Solidarity and local Muslim group Kore de Islam denounced the Israeli attack on Gaza Strip. About 700 Civic group members, Palestinians and other supporters gathered around Itaewon Mosque and marched to Itaewon Station, chanting slogans "No to ground invasion," "Stop Israel bombing of Gaza," and &

Oct. 20, 2023

Top court widens spectrum of stalking

The South Korea Supreme Court has recently ruled that a stalker's actions that seemingly did not irritate the victim but were repeated should be considered as harassment if they came along with an instance of stalking. The ruling widened the spectrum of stalking by criminalizing the endangerment of stalking for the first time in Korea's judicial history. In the a September ruling, judgment of which was disclosed Friday, the Supreme Court handed down a 10-month prison sentence to a man on charges

Oct. 20, 2023

Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam win AKC pitching contest

An offline pitching contest for Southeast Asian startups, organized by the ASEAN-Korea Center to bolster early-stage startups in the region, came to an end Friday. Startups from Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Vietnam were recognized as winners. Thirty startups from a variety of sectors including artificial intelligence, e-commerce platforms, fintech, education and tourism were nominated by the 10 embassies from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Korea and the ASEAN Coordinating Commi

Oct. 20, 2023

Relaxing ‘bulmeong’ fireplace video prompts emergency calls

A fad of watching fireplace videos to relax has sparked a fire scare in Seoul, prompting 119 emergency calls from apartment residents and evacuation just after midnight. At around 12:03 a.m. on Thursday, Seoul Yeongdeungpo Fire Department received a call that a fire seemed to have broken out at an apartment in Dangsan-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The building was evacuated, but when the 61 firefighters dispatched to the scene arrived at the supposed site of the blaze, they found a video of a ca

Oct. 20, 2023

UNDP, Korean police to assist world with war against tech-facilitated gender-based violence

The Korean National Police Agency has agreed to work with the United Nations Development Program to address technology-facilitated gender-based violence, the UNDP said Thursday. The two signed the agreement during a bilateral meeting in Seoul, held at the margins of the International Police Summit 2023 hosted by the KNPA. Under the agreement, Korean police will share their experiences and expertise in addressing such crimes, according to the UNDP. The agreement aims to create a global policy env

Oct. 20, 2023

Crowd control measures planned for Halloween events

The government will focus its efforts on crowd control during the upcoming Halloween weekend, working together with local governments, police and fire departments and dispatching situation managers to densely populated areas, the Ministry of Interior and Safety said Thursday. The Ministry of Interior and Safety held a joint meeting the same day with officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Police Agency, the National Fire Agency and 17 district governments including Yongsa

Oct. 19, 2023

Bedbugs invade Daegu dorm

Panic spread across Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea, following the discovery of bedbugs in a student dormitory, prompting evacuation and extensive disinfection procedures. The issue first came to light in mid-September when a student reported being bitten by bedbugs. The student, residing in the university's newly renovated dormitory, claimed to have suffered severe symptoms requiring medical treatment including high fever and itchiness. The initial complaint, shared on an anonymo

Oct. 19, 2023