UN Public Service Forum to be held in Incheon next month

South Korea will host the UN Public Service Forum next month to discuss ways to transform and innovate the public sector, focusing on digital transformation and artificial intelligence, the Ministry of Interior and Safety said Sunday. This year’s UN Public Service Forum will be held for three days at Songdo, Incheon, from June 24 to 26. It will be jointly organized by the Interior Ministry and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The UN Public Service Forum is an annual intern

May 26, 2024

Govt. to set up support plans for medical schools to prepare for quota hike

The government plans to introduce measures to support medical schools as they prepare for an increased number of freshmen starting next year, medical sources said Sunday, amid concerns that the hike could compromise the quality of education. The government plans to announce comprehensive measures to assist universities based on their specific needs within the first half of the year, according to the sources. Last week, the Korean Council for University Education, an association of university pre

May 26, 2024

[Weekender] 'Blood doesn't make family, love does'

When Jeon Sung-shin, 45, was looking to expand her family without going through childbirth again, she met her then 50-day-old daughter at an orphan care center 11 years ago. Jeon fell in love with her at first sight and knew adoption would be a beautiful way to build her family. Growing up with the family, Jeon's youngest daughter is now in the sixth grade and is a promising tennis player. But Jeon said rearing her hadn't always been easy, mainly because adoption still carries so much

May 25, 2024

70% of part-timers positive toward robots at businesses

A recent survey suggested that majority of part-time workers in South Korea are positive about using AI, robot and other machines at work. Part-time job-search website Alba Cheonguk said Thursday that it had conducted a survey on 771 part-timers that showed that 71 percent of the respondents had a positive view of adopting recent technology such as food-serving robots, kiosks at their place of work. The percentage was particularly high among those working in shops that already used such technolo

May 25, 2024

Test finds kids' accessories from AliExpress, Shein to be tainted with toxic chemicals

Chinese e-commerce giants AliExpress and Shein have been found to sell children's accessories tainted with high levels of toxic metals, exceeding permitted levels, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Thursday. According to chemical safety tests conducted by the Korea Conformity Laboratories on seven children's products sold on AliExpress and Shein, two accessories -- a children's watch listed on Shein and a children's necklace from AliExpress -- contained hazardous

May 25, 2024

Arrest warrant issued for embattled popera star Kim Ho-joong

A Seoul court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for embattled popera star Kim Ho-joong on charges of ramming into a taxi while driving under the influence and fleeing the scene. Kim's arrest comes two days after prosecutors applied for an arrest warrant on charges of crashing into a stationary taxi in the opposite lane in Seoul's southern district of Gangnam on the night of May 9 while driving drunk. He then allegedly left the scene without taking post-accident measures. The Seoul Cen

May 24, 2024

Income, education level increased for arranged international marriage: report

Shifting trends have emerged in international marriages arranged by brokers, reflecting a rise in the educational background and income of individuals seeking foreign spouses through marriage agencies. According to the report released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on marriage agencies in 2023, over 50 percent of Korean users held a bachelor's degree, a 20.8 percentage point increase from a survey conducted in 2014. The education level for foreign partners also increased, wit

May 24, 2024

Singer Kim Ho-joong awaits court decision on arrest warrant for DUI, hit-and-run

Singer Kim Ho-joong, who is accused of committing a hit-and-run accident while driving under the influence, appeared at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, for a court hearing to determine whether to issue his arrest warrant, Friday. Kim arrived at the Seoul Central District Court at around 11 a.m. after the court rejected his request to postpone the hearing on Thursday due to a scheduled concert at the KSPO Dome in Seoul Olympic Park. The show's organizer, Dumir, confirme

May 24, 2024

Korea signs off on new med school quotas

South Korea took a step toward realizing its plan to increase the number medical school places for 2025 Friday, with the approval of university plans to boost admissions. The Korean Council for University Education held a university admissions committee meeting Friday to review the revised plans of each university on how much they will raise their medical school enrollment quotas for the 2025 academic year. Specific details are yet to be revealed, but plans submitted by each university have been

May 24, 2024

6 out of 10 Koreans don’t plan to have babies

Six out of 10 Koreans do not have plans to have babies, data showed on Friday, as the nation has had the lowest fertility rates for years. According to a survey conducted by research firm PMI on 1,800 Koreans between the ages of 20 and 50, 63.4 percent of the respondents said they do not have plans to have babies. The 1,800 respondents, however, include 530 parents who already have children. The biggest reason for not planning to have babies was economic instability (25.2 percent). This was foll

May 24, 2024

Landmark ruling allows annulment of marriage after divorce -- here's what it changes

In a landmark ruling Thursday, the Supreme Court said that marriage can be nullified after divorce under "special circumstances," allowing separated couples to be freed from potential legal complications and obligations entailing matrimony. The Article 815 of the Civil Act states that a marriage is void if the two parties did not both consent, or if it occurs between certain close relatives. But a precedent set in 1984 by South Korea's highest court has made it impossible to annul

May 24, 2024

Chonnam international student found dead

The international student who was caught Wednesday riding a bicycle without wearing clothes in public has been found dead, according to local media reports on Friday. The body of the deceased, only identified as a 23-year-old student of Chonnam National University, was found near a dormitory building of the Gwangju-based university at around 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, news outlets reported, citing police officials. The student had been under investigation for public indecency after biking while na

May 24, 2024

Tax-payers shouldering most of burden for pension childbirth credit programs

In a bid to battle the low fertility rate in South Korea, there are ongoing talks to expand the benefits for childbirth by adjusting the childbirth credit system, which reduces the mandated subscription period of National Pension plans for those who have given birth. There have been demands for changes to the current system in which the government pays for only 30 percent of the increased budget from the various credit systems, with the remaining 70 percent coming out of the National Pension fun

May 24, 2024

Restoring vandalized Gyeongbokgung wall cost W150m

Undoing the damage caused by the recent defacement of the Gyeongbokgung walls has cost 150 million won ($109,000), the government body in charge of preservation of cultural heritage in South Korea said Thursday. The Korea Heritage Service, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, revealed the provisional figures on reversing the damage inflicted by the two cases of vandalism in December of last year. Two teens wrote graffiti on the historic walls on Dec. 16, and a man in his 20s did so

May 24, 2024

Subway operator's mix-up forces all passengers to get out at wrong stop

A Seoul Metro operator recently made all passengers exit the train at the wrong station, mistaking it for its final destination, Seoul Metro said Friday. The operator of subway train No. 6221 of Line No.6 stopped at the Sangwolgok Station at around 6:23 p.m. on Wednesday and notified all passengers to vacate the train, according to the main operator of the greater Seoul's transit system. The passengers were told the train was not bound for Sinnae Station in Jungrang-gu, the last station on

May 24, 2024

Passengers discover bus driver drunk

A Busan bus driver was recently caught working while under the influence of alcohol, local police said Friday. Passengers of the bus that was operating in Busanjin-gu, Busan suspected that the driver was drunk, based on the strong smell of alcohol, and reported it to the police, according to the Busanjin Police Station. Officers who arrived on the scene stopped the vehicle and tested the driver, who showed blood alcohol content that was high enough to have his driver's license revoked. The

May 24, 2024

Govt. to reduce tariffs on fresh food imports to curb inflation

The finance ministry on Friday warned of uncertainties regarding inflation and vowed preemptive steps by extending tariff quota reduction on imports of agricultural products and boosting government reserves. "Prices of farm produce and petroleum products have fallen recently, but uncertainties remain high over the geopolitical situation in the Middle East and weather conditions in summer," First Vice Finance Minister Kim Byoung-hwan said during an economy-related vice ministers' m

May 24, 2024

Police arrest mastermind behind last year's palace vandalism

Police said Thursday they have arrested a suspect who allegedly commissioned teenagers to paint graffiti on the walls of a historic palace in central Seoul to advertise an illegal streaming website. The 30-something suspect, who was arrested the previous day, faces charges for violating the Cultural Heritage Protection Act, as well as other charges including the distribution of obscene materials, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. The arrest comes about five months after the susp

May 23, 2024

Court rejects popera star Kim's request to delay arrest warrant hearing

A Seoul court on Thursday rejected a request by embattled popera star Kim Ho-joong to postpone an arrest warrant application hearing on his reckless driving charges. The previous day, prosecutors applied for an arrest warrant for Kim on charges of ramming into a stationary taxi in the opposite lane with his vehicle late on the night of May 9 in Seoul's southern Gangnam district while driving drunk. He then allegedly left the scene without taking post-accident measures. The Seoul Central Dis

May 23, 2024

Summer this year forecast to be hotter

Summer in South Korea this year is expected to be hotter than usual, with similar or more heavy rainfall than the average, the Korea Meteorological Administration said on Thursday. "Amid seeing the frequent occurrences of abnormal weather worldwide, such as heat waves exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in Southeast Asia and floods in the United Arab Emirates, Korea is also forecast to have hotter temperatures (this summer) than in the last 30 years’ average, with the possibility of more rai

May 23, 2024