Koreans 51.7% content with living, least satisfied with wealth

South Koreans on average gave 52.7 points out of 100 in a recent survey on satisfaction with their lives, a report showed Monday, with their wealth the aspect they were least content with. Lotte Members, an affiliate of the Lotte Group in charge of customer management, conducted a survey of 5,000 adults to assess how satisfied they were with their lives. The respondents in their 20s and 30s gave an overall score of 53.8, those in their 40s and 50s gave 51.2 points, while the respondents in their

Feb. 10, 2025

Far-right pastor's missionaries urged followers to 'carry out his orders' before court attack

A missionary with connections to a pastor accused of instigating the Jan. 19 attack on a Seoul court had urged other supporters of the church head to "carry out his orders" four days prior to the assault, a local broadcaster reported Monday. Yun, a special missionary of controversial pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon's Sarang Jeil Church, posted a video message that claimed "something enormous will happen if we cooperate with Pastor Jeon." "We must work together and carry out Jeon's orders in our respectiv

Feb. 10, 2025

Kimchi: Korean or Chinese? NIS cautions DeepSeek users about asking it 'sensitive questions'

South Korea's intelligence agency on Sunday announced that its examination of Chinese artificial intelligence large language model Deepseek-R1 has revealed various issues, such as the potential invasion of privacy and giving different answers to questions depending on the language of the user. According to the National Intelligence Service's assessment, the groundbreaking open-source LLM was found to be storing all user input and data with advertisers without limits, with no clear restrictions o

Feb. 10, 2025

13 airplane fires caused by batteries 2020 to 2024: data

Government data showed Sunday that Korean airlines had suffered 13 airplane fires between 2020 and 2024 caused by batteries for electronic devices, as related safety concerns gain renewed attention in the wake of an aircraft fire last month. There were 13 cases caused directly by batteries carried onboard by passengers — one in 2020, none in 2021 and 2022, six in 2023 and six last year — according to Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport data provided to Rep. Lee Yeon-hee of the main op

Feb. 9, 2025

Over half of pet-owners unaware of infection risks from their pets: survey

More than half of pet owners in Korea are unaware that humans can contract parasites directly from pets, a recent survey led by a government agency showed Sunday. Some 51.5 percent of the 604 respondents answered that they did not know a parasite inside a pet could transfer to a human, according to an October survey conducted by research firm Embrain Consulting and commissioned by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Toxoplasma gondii and toxocara canis, parasites that commonly infec

Feb. 9, 2025

150 students at all-female university take time off in protest of coed transition plans

At least 150 students at Dongduk Women's University have taken a time off education to protest the school's plans to transition into a coeducation school. Local broadcaster JBTC reported Sunday that 56 students have decided to take a semester off this year, with 89 more planning to take two semesters off. One student was quoted as saying that since the university is run by a private foundation, she believed not paying the tuition would be the most effective way to reduce the school's main source

Feb. 9, 2025

Fishing boat sinks off southern coast, 3 dead, 6 missing

A fishing boat crewed by 14 people sank off the southern coastal city of Yeosu, some 320 kilometers south of Seoul, in the early hours of Sunday, leaving at least three dead. The Yeosu branch of the Korea Coast Guard is currently searching for six crew members of the 239-ton trawler Seogyeong who remain unaccounted for. The search is focused within a five-kilometer radius of where the boat is believed to have sunk, 17 kilometers east of Habaekdo Island. Officials found seven crew members shortly

Feb. 9, 2025

7 out of 10 Korean workers plan to get a new job this year: survey

About 70 percent of surveyed South Korean workers said they plan to change jobs this year, an online job recruitment platform reported Thursday. The survey of 1,467 employees by Saramin found that those with assistant manager-level posts were most likely to seek a job change, as 76.2 percent of them said they plan to move to a new company, followed by 71.4 percent of those with general manager titles and 70.4 percent of those in manager posts. Respondents with executive-level jobs were least lik

Feb. 8, 2025

Constitutional Court should be 'smashed' if it upholds Yoon's impeachment: human rights commissioner

Kim Yong-won, the controversy-ridden standing commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, said Wednesday that the Constitutional Court should be destroyed if it confirms the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol. "If the Constitutional Court impeaches the president against the will of the people, who have sovereignty, the people must smash the court to pieces and complete destroy it without a trace," Kim wrote on Facebook page Wednesday night. Suspended from presidential duti

Feb. 6, 2025

Insurrection trials begin for Yoon Suk Yeol's alleged accomplices

The criminal trials began Thursday for high-ranking officials and former military commanders suspected of playing a part in the alleged insurrection under President Yoon Suk Yeol. The Seoul Central District Court held the first preparatory hearings in the trials of Choi Ji-ho, the commissioner general of the National Police Agency, and Kim Bong-shik, the former chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, at 10 a.m. The two are being investigated for insurrection and abuse of power in relation

Feb. 6, 2025