Patriots Ministry vows to intervene in Gwangju's plan to honor China's military anthem composer

Minister of Patriots Park Min-shik asked the Gwangju city government Wednesday to suspend its plan to build a park in memory of a Korean Chinese composer who fought against the South during the Korean War. Park said the ministry would issue a correction order to stop Gwangju authorities commemorating Zheng Lucheng if the city government fails to abide by its recommendation. Zheng, more commonly known as Jeong Yul-seong in South Korea, not only composed the anthem of the Chinese People's Lib

Oct. 11, 2023

Suicide caused more deaths than COVID-19 during pandemic

Some 40,000 people took their own lives over the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the suicide rate increasing among the younger generation, data showed Wednesday. A total of 39,453 people died from suicide from 2020 to 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Rep. Baek Jong-hean of the ruling People Power Party said in a release. The release highlighted that the number of deaths by suicide was higher than the 3

Oct. 11, 2023

[Busan Is Ready] Busan Expo strives to present climate change solutions

Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city and largest port city, which is competing to host the 2030 World Expo, is seeking innovative eco-friendly solutions against climate change. With the theme of the potential 2030 Busan World Expo set to be "Sustainable living with nature," the central government and Busan Metropolitan Government have expressed the ambition for a plastic-free, eco-friendly event. The venue of the 2030 Busan World Expo will be composed of eco-friendly elements

Oct. 11, 2023

192 S. Koreans return home from Israel after Hamas attack

A total of 192 South Korean nationals returned home early Wednesday from Israel, where tensions are escalating amid an armed conflict between the Jewish state and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. A Korean Air plane carrying them arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at 6:08 a.m., after departing from Tel Aviv at 1:45 p.m. the previous day. It is the first flight that has brought South Koreans back home since the conflict erupted Saturday when Hamas launched a surprise att

Oct. 11, 2023

Sejong University ranks 8th among Korean peers in world university rankings for 3rd consecutive year

Sejong University in Seoul ranked eighth among South Korean universities in the Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2024 for a third consecutive year, the college announced Wednesday. The university was ranked in the Nos. 251-300 bracket in the publication's ranking of 1,904 schools in 108 countries, also for the third year running. In the 2020 ranking, Sejong University sat between Nos. 401 and 500, climbing to Nos. 301-350 the following year. Ranking by the number of

Oct. 11, 2023

Multinational criminal ring arrested for smuggling meth in bulk into South Korea

Police said Tuesday they have arrested 26 suspected members of a multinational criminal organization and accomplices in connection with large-scale drug smuggling into South Korea. Among them, 13 suspects, including Malaysians, Chinese and South Korean nationals, were referred to prosecutors with detention, according to Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul. They plan to refer another member of the ring after further investigation. Police and prosecutors have detained 16 of the 19 ring members id

Oct. 10, 2023

Suneung reform plans unveiled for 2028 school year

South Korea’s Ministry of Education on Tuesday unveiled plans for the 2028 school year college admissions to make the state-administered college entrance exam more equitable and change the high school grading system. The latest measures, will affect current eighth graders, giving students and parents time to prepare. The ministry is mandated to notify the public of major changes to the country’s education system four years in advance. As part of its efforts to reform the college entr

Oct. 10, 2023

Prejudiced phrases in Korean textbook remain uncorrected for 3 years: lawmaker

Phrases that may be perceived as discriminatory towards women and the elderly found in a Korean language textbook published by the Korea Foundation -- a non-profit public diplomacy organization run under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs -- have remained unedited for three years, despite earlier criticism. According to a parliamentary audit report submitted to Rep. Kim Sang-hee of the Democratic Party of Korea on Tuesday, the Korea Foundation is still working on correcting the expressions written

Oct. 10, 2023

Human rights commission urges Korea to abolish death penalty

South Korea’s human rights commission on Tuesday called for the Korean government to abolish the death penalty now that the Ministry of Justice has also raised the possibility of introducing life imprisonment without parole. Song Doo-hwan, chair of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, urged the Korean people and the government to formally repeal capital punishment, in a statement issued on Tuesday to mark the 21st annual World Day Against the Death Penalty. Korea is already among

Oct. 10, 2023

[Busan is Ready] Korean leaders circle the globe 409 times for Expo bid

With only 48 days left before the vote to determine the venue for the 2030 World Expo, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo embarked on another last-minute trip to Europe last week to bolster South Korea's bid. According to his office, government and business leaders have traveled a total of 16,408,822 kilometers as of September -- equivalent to circling the globe 409 times -- in their efforts to promote the Busan Expo. The total number is the sum of the distance traveled by President

Oct. 10, 2023

Patient’s companion disrupts ER after doctors prioritize cardiac arrest

A hospital in Gangwon Province has reported to authorities to pursue criminal charges against a patient's companion, alleging she was the cause of a disruption at the emergency room when doctors treated a cardiac arrest patient at a higher priority. According to local reports, the hospital accused a woman of unspecified identity of disrupting emergency room duties for over an hour by shouting profanities and insults at the medical staff. She complained that the patient she had brought in --

Oct. 10, 2023

4 in 10 foreigners end up overstaying their Korean language visas

Four in 10 foreigners who initially came to South Korea on a visa mostly granted to Korean language program students ended up becoming illegal immigrants, data showed Tuesday. According to data sourced from the Ministry of Justice and released by Rep. Cho Jung-hun of the Transition Korea party, out of a total of 64,904 foreign nationals who entered Korea on the D-4 General Trainee visa, approximately 40 percent (25,898 individuals) eventually became illegal immigrants, as of June this year. Th

Oct. 10, 2023

Less than 1 in 4 suspects of stalking crimes sentenced to jail terms

Less than one in four suspects indicted for alleged stalking crimes have been sentenced to prison terms, whereas the number of suspended sentences and acquittals increased, data showed Tuesday. Of the 959 people indicted for violating the Stalking Punishment Act last year, only 22.73 percent, or 218 suspects, received a prison sentence in the first trial, according to Supreme Court data released by Rep. Park Yong-jin of the main opposition Democratic Party. Of the total, 312 suspects, or 32.53 p

Oct. 10, 2023

[Graphic News] Heat-related deaths quadruple on-year in 2023

The number of heat-related deaths nearly quadrupled on-year in 2023 as South Korea was struck by heat wave conditions, the disease control agency said. A total of 32 people were presumed to have died of heat-related illnesses this year as of Sept. 29, versus 9 last year, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. This year’s figure is the highest since 2018, when the country reported 48 heat-related deaths. South Korea began compiling such data in 2011. The country was g

Oct. 10, 2023

High schooler arrested over alleged serial assaults against 3 teenage girls

A male high school student was arrested Monday for allegedly attacking three teenage girls purportedly with the intent of sexually assaulting them. The Suwon District Court issued an arrest warrant against the 16-year-old male suspect, whose identity was withheld, on charges of robbery, assault and attempted rape. He is suspected of choking and attacking a teenage girl after breaking into a women's restroom at a shopping center in the city of Hwaseong, south of Seoul, on Thursday. The sus

Oct. 9, 2023

Seoul to use AI to enhance public safety on subways

Seoul on Monday unveiled its plans for developing an artificial intelligence-based system to monitor and track unusual behavior among subway passengers, including instances of violence, with the goal of completing the system by the end of the year. The announcement from Seoul Metro and the Seoul Digital Foundation comes in the wake of a series of incidents that have heightened public concern about safety on the subway, including a stabbing incident on Line No. 2 in August that saw two passengers

Oct. 9, 2023

Number of unmarried women freezing eggs surges

The number of unmarried women opting to freeze their eggs for future use has skyrocketed over the past seven years, as the median age for first marriages has continued to rise, data released Monday showed. The number of egg-freezing procedures for unmarried women has witnessed a huge increase in recent years, according to data from CHA Medical Group, a health care provider with a network of major medical facilities across the country. In 2022, there were 1,004 such procedures at CHA, a significa

Oct. 9, 2023

[Housing Talk] Contractual considerations for 'rebarless' apartment units

On Aug. 2, the ruling People Power Party and the government jointly issued a decision to grant aspiring homeowners who intend to occupy apartment units constructed without sufficient reinforcing bars, commonly referred to as “rebarless” apartment units, to cancel their contracts. From a legal point of view, it is crucial to clarify that this decision has a specific scope, which applies only to contracts for the purchase of dwellings built by state-run entities such as Korea Land and

Oct. 9, 2023

S. Korea finishes 3rd with 42 gold medals at Hangzhou Asian Games

South Korea finished third with 42 gold medals at the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games, which wraps up its 16-day competition on Sunday. After finishing all of its medal competitions, South Korea won a total of 190 medals -- 42 golds, 59 silvers, 89 bronzes -- placing third on the official medal standings, which is counted by the number of gold medals. Host China topped the medal chart with 201 golds, 111 silvers and 71 bronzes, followed by Japan which raked up 52 gold medals, 67 silvers and 69 bronzes

Oct. 8, 2023

Questions remain after passage of anonymous birth bill

The National Assembly on Friday passed a bill allowing women to give birth anonymously at hospitals as part of its efforts to reduce the number of children denied registration at birth. But concerns are growing over the anonymous birth system, which will be introduced in July next year, with some suggesting that it might lead to more mothers giving up their children, especially when it comes to children born with a disability. Observers also say that the Protected Birth Bill still falls short of

Oct. 8, 2023