What are robot chefs cooking up for Korea’s struggling school kitchens?

At a middle school in Daejeon on April 7, a special lunch menu, including rice with seaweed soup and a slice of cake, was served to celebrate the birthdays of students born that month. But students were left disappointed when they looked down at their lunch trays -- the seaweed soup had no seaweed. “I didn’t mind too much because there were other side dishes. Still, it felt odd not having seaweed soup in the birthday lunch. You know, it’s kind of a tradition in Korea,” said the seventh grader, w

May 24, 2025

Chinese name for ancient Korean kingdom at Japanese museum draws backlash

Japan’s Osaka Museum of History has come under fire for using a Chinese-style term for the ancient Korean kingdom of Balhae. According to civic activist Seo Kyoung-duk on Friday, the Japanese museum labeled Balhae and its capital, Sanggyeong, as “Bohai” and “Shangjing,” respectively, in its exhibits featuring photographs of historical sites in key neighboring regions around ancient Osaka. These English terms are often used by China to argue that Balhae was a regional regime founded by the Mohe p

May 23, 2025

Watch: Bong Joon-ho reacts to Son Heung-min's legendary moment in Tottenham’s Europa League victory

When Tottenham Hotspur, captained by South Korea’s Son Heung-min, faced Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League final, it was the early hours of Thursday morning in South Korea. Among the many fans who stayed up to watch the match was none other than Bong Joon-ho, the director of “Parasite.” The Oscar-winning director joined a live broadcast of the game as a guest commentator, ditching his director’s chair for a spot on the popular YouTube channel “Dalsune Live,” alongside football analyst P

May 22, 2025

For 1st time in 18 years, women absent in S. Korea's presidential race

Half of South Korea's voters are women, but on the ballot to elect a new president, all the candidates are men for the first time in nearly two decades. The absence of female contenders marks the first all-male ballot since the 2007 election, when all 12 candidates were men, according to the official website of the National Election Commission’s Cyber Election History Museum. Female representation peaked in the 2012 election, when former President Park Geun-hye — then the leader of Saenuri Party

May 20, 2025

Where is Huh Kyung-young, the eccentric serial presidential candidate who once vowed to levitate?

Huh Kyung-young, a wacky politician who ran for South Korean presidency three times with outlandish pledges like giving 100 million won ($71,467) to every citizen, is back in the news, not as a candidate running for the June 3 election but as a criminal suspect. The 77-year-old, who holds the official title of honorary leader of the National Revolutionary Party, has been behind bars since Saturday after the Uijeongbu District Court issued a warrant for his detention on charges of fraud, violatio

May 19, 2025

Top destination for Jeju tangerines? Russia, again

Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russia was the largest buyer of tangerines grown on South Korea's Jeju Island last year, accounting for over half of total exports, the Korea Citrus Export Corporation said Sunday. Of the 3,347 metric tons of homegrown citrus exported last year by 46 farms and export companies registered with the KCEC, 1,775 tons, or 53 percent, were shipped to Russia, according to data from the KCEC. After Russia, the largest buyers were Canada with 558 tons and the United St

May 18, 2025

Man in his 20s found dead on street in Hongdae, Seoul

A 29-year-old man from Bangladesh was found dead on a street in Hongdae, a nightlife hotspot in northeastern Seoul, last weekend, police said Friday. The Bangladeshi national reportedly collapsed while dancing at a club in the Hongdae area and was later found lying unconscious on a nearby street at around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Mapo Police Station. Police and paramedics arrived at the scene after receiving a report that a foreign national had suddenly lost consciousness at a club,

May 9, 2025

Students, professors urge Sookmyung Women's University to take action on Kim Keon Hee’s plagiarism

Students and professors at Sookmyung Women’s University on Thursday called on the school to take action by revoking the master’s degree of Kim Keon Hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, after her thesis was found to have been plagiarized. “It’s been more than three months since Kim’s thesis was confirmed to be plagiarized, but the university still hasn’t revoked her degree or taken any action, and we haven’t been told why it’s taking so long,” said Hwang Da-kyung from Seolhwa, a student g

May 8, 2025

Student jailed for campus arson spree

A man in his 20s has been sentenced to prison for starting a series of fires on a university campus in Ulsan, a local court said Tuesday. The Ulsan District Court handed down an 18-month prison sentence for starting fires at least five locations on and off campus in February, including areas near a dormitory, a path beside a university building, and grassy areas outside the school. At the time of the arson, he was enrolled at the university as an exchange student. The investigation found that th

May 6, 2025

In South Korea, you can shop, dine and even see a doctor underground. But risks may lurk beneath

Beneath Express Bus Terminal Station, a major transfer hub for Seoul Subway Lines 3, 7 and 9, a massive labyrinth of underground shops unfolds, rivaling the scale of a department store. Known as GOTO Mall, this 880-meter-long underground shopping center, which begins at Exit 8-1, houses around 630 stores and is recognized as one of Seoul’s three largest underground malls, alongside those at Gangnam and Jamsil Stations. The underground mall offers a wide selection of goods, from clothing and shoe

May 4, 2025