Farewell to South Korea’s only .400 hitter

Baek In-chun, the only man to bat .400 in a South Korean professional baseball season, was laid to rest on Monday. As player-manager of the MBC Blue Dragons, now the LG Twins, Baek batted .412 in the Korea Baseball Organization’s inaugural 1982 season. In 2014, the Korea Pro Baseball Players Alumni Association established an annual award in his name honoring the country’s top high school or college hitter. (Photos: Yonhap)

2026-08-17 10:33:31:00

In Korea, celebrity real estate is a story of its own

Celebrities build their careers in the public eye, but in South Korea, the public's interest in their lives often extends well beyond their work — and increasingly into their homes. When a celebrity buys or sells a property, entertainment reports routinely detail where it is, how much it cost, what type of home it is, whether the celebrity borrowed money to buy it and how much they may have gained from the transaction. The more expensive or luxurious the property, the greater the attention. That

2026-08-15 16:00:00:00

Paichai High School ends season with first-round loss after controversial cheering

Paichai High School’s baseball team exited the national high school baseball tournament with a first-round defeat Wednesday, ending a season that put the school at the center of a national controversy over a cheer mocking the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising. Paichai lost 8-5 to Incheon High School in the opening round of the 54th Bonghwang Flag National High School Baseball Tournament at Mokdong Baseball Stadium in Seoul on Wednesday. It was the season’s final national tournament. The teams t

2026-08-13 13:11:50:00

Top court acquits woman who brandished knife at uncle she accused of sexual abuse

The Supreme Court ruled that a woman who brandished a knife at an uncle during a violent confrontation should not be punished because it was done in self-defense. The top court overturned a lower court's ruling that found the 39-year-old guilty of aggravated intimidation and sent the case back to Incheon District Court, legal sources said Wednesday. The incident occurred in January 2023, after the woman told family members that her 76-year-old uncle had sexually abused her when she was a child.

2026-08-12 12:59:05:00

Onion mesh bags become a surprising pet trend in Korea

Photos of dogs wearing mesh onion bags over their heads have drawn attention online, showing pet owners’ unconventional attempt to protect their animals from ticks during walks. On Tuesday, an owner posted a photo on Threads of their dog on a walk with a green mesh bag covering its head. “Don’t throw away your onion nets,” the owner wrote, explaining that they had placed the packaging covering over the dog’s head because it frequently pokes its face into the grass. The owner said they came up wi

2026-08-11 13:48:31:00

Boy dies 3 days after telling police his grandmother beat him

An 11-year-old boy who died after being taken from a church in Cheonan to a hospital had filed an abuse report just three days earlier, raising questions over whether authorities did enough to protect him. A restaurant employee took the boy to a police station on Aug. 2, where he reportedly said his maternal grandmother had beaten him. Police and city officials inspected the church and considered placing him in protective care, but concluded that an immediate transfer would be difficult given hi

2026-08-10 20:14:52:00

Korean, US researchers develop oral nanomedicine for cancer treatment

Researchers from Sungkyunkwan University and the University of Michigan have developed an oral nanomedicine that uses a gut bacterial metabolite to enhance the immune system’s ability to fight cancer. Sungkyunkwan University said Monday that a team led by medical school professor Cho Young-seok, who specializes in Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, collaborated with professor James J. Moon’s team at the University of Michigan and other researchers on the microbiome-based treatment. The rese

2026-08-10 20:11:38:00

Elementary school teacher gets suspended prison term for molesting students

An elementary school teacher was handed a suspended prison term on Monday for molesting two female students during class. The Cheonan branch of the Daejeon District Court sentenced the 48-year-old teacher to 2 1/2 years in prison, suspended for four years, for indecently assaulting students under the age of 13. The court also ordered him to complete 40 hours of treatment for sex offenders and barred him from working at institutions serving children, teenagers or people with disabilities for thre

2026-08-10 19:56:11:00

Ha-young denies allegations of great-grandfather’s pro-Japanese ties

Actor Ha-young on Monday denied claims that her great-grandfather was a pro-Japanese collaborator during Japan's colonial rule of Korea. After allegations surfaced online that her great-grandfather, Ahn Sang-ho, had engaged in pro-Japanese activities, her agency dismissed the claims as "groundless." Ahn was a pioneer of modern medicine in Korea, becoming the first Korean to obtain a Japanese medical license and open one of Seoul’s earliest Western-style clinics, The controversy arose after Ha ap

2026-08-10 19:33:42:00

Twice’s Jeongyeon leaves JYP after 11 years, joins Varo Entertainment

Jeongyeon of Twice on Monday announced her departure from JYP Entertainment after 11 years, but will continue her activities with the group. In a handwritten note uploaded to her Instagram, she said her members' support and Twice's fans, known as Once, gave her the courage to take the next step. "I am leaving JYP, which I have spent much of my life in since my teenage years. I am deeply grateful to my fellow members and Once in ways I can't fully express, as well as to everyone at JYP who helped

2026-08-10 19:15:27:00