Disability rights activist acquitted after court finds police dispersal order unlawful

An appellate court has acquitted a disability rights activist who pushed and injured a police officer during a demonstration, ruling that the activist acted in lawful self-defense because the police dispersal order was unlawful, according to legal circles Sunday. The activist, affiliated with disability rights group Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, had been charged with injuring a police officer while resisting their attempt to remove a disabled protester from a roadway during a ral

2026-08-23 14:32:23:00

Jeju officer arrested on discovery of 2nd closed missing person case

A police officer accused of prematurely closing missing persons cases has been placed under emergency arrest, after investigators discovered a second disappearance case that he allegedly closed last month. The Jeju Provincial Police Agency said the officer was arrested at around 3:29 p.m. Saturday on charges including dereliction of duty, falsification of public electromagnetic records and obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means. According to the police, the officer had prematurely cl

2026-08-23 14:03:22:00

KAIST president targets 30% int'l student share by 2030

DAEJEON — KAIST President Bae Choong-sik, who took office last week, wants to double the share of international students by 2030, but says the real test of the university's global push will be whether incoming students and researchers produce meaningful work with their Korean peers. "The current proportion of international students sits at about 10 to 15 percent," Bae said in an exclusive interview with The Korea Herald. "So the 30 percent goal is a challenging one." Still, Bae said the target i

2026-08-17 12:53:43:00

Who will care for Korea's elderly? Foreign workers enter troubled market

South Korea’s rapidly aging population has created an issue that is at once demographic and deeply personal: Who will care for the growing number of older people? The arithmetic appears daunting. Korea is projected to face a shortfall of roughly 116,000 eldercare workers by 2028, according to government data. The Health Ministry estimates the country will need 990,000 additional caregivers by 2043. Yet beneath that headline shortage lies a contradiction. Nearly 2.3 million people have obtained c

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

Chungnam National, Kongju National universities to merge under CNU name

Chungnam National University and Kongju National University have agreed on the name of their planned merger and will operate headquarters in both Daejeon and Gongju, the two schools said Friday. The decision was approved Thursday at the third meeting of the universities’ joint integration committee, following discussions through a preparatory committee and working-level subcommittees. Under the agreement, the merged university will retain the name Chungnam National University, while its legal ad

2026-08-14 16:10:02:00

Korea’s last boknal before dog meat ban reflects fading tradition

Friday marks Korea’s final boknal — one of the three traditionally hottest days of summer — before a nationwide ban on the dog meat industry takes effect in February 2027. For generations, Koreans have eaten restorative foods such as samgyetang, or ginseng chicken soup, and boshintang, a soup made with dog meat, on boknal. But ahead of the ban, the latter is rapidly disappearing from the summer ritual. Hwang, 70, has run his boshintang restaurant for more than 30 years. He told local daily Seoul

2026-08-14 15:13:24:00

More Korean schools set to go 'phone-free'

South Korean schools education authorities are set to expand the pilot programs limiting smart device use even during breaks from the second semester, in a bid to reduce cyberbullying and other student issues related to electronic devices. The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education plans to designate 300 schools as “phone-free schools” by the end of this year, according to education officials Thursday. The participating schools will prohibit smartphone use unrelated to educational activities wh

2026-08-14 13:36:37:00

Tmoney launches tagless payments across Seoul Subway Line 9

South Korean transportation payment operator Tmoney said Friday it had officially launched its tagless payment service across all 25 stations on the first section of Seoul Subway Line 9, from Gaehwa to Sinnonhyeon. The system allows passengers to enter and exit stations without tapping a transportation card or smartphone against a fare gate. Users who activate the tagless function on the Android-based Mobile Tmoney app can simply walk through designated gates, with rides automatically detected t

2026-08-14 11:21:39:00

Kyungpook National University rolls out AI degree with Samsung job track

Kyungpook National University said Thursday it would launch a new employment-linked contract major with Samsung Electronics to train specialists in mobile engineering and advanced artificial intelligence technologies. The university will reorganize its existing undergraduate Mobile Engineering program into a combined bachelor's-master's track called Mobile AI Engineering and begin recruiting students for the 2027 academic year. The program will admit a total of 20 students. Housed under KNU's Sc

2026-08-13 17:56:25:00

Yoon & Yang hires Spencer Park to strengthen cross-border practice

South Korean law firm Yoon & Yang said Tuesday it has appointed Spencer G. Park, a California-qualified lawyer with nearly three decades of experience in cross-border transactions and global investment, as a senior foreign attorney in its Corporate Advisory Group. Park will advise Korean and multinational companies, financial institutions and investors on overseas mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and international real estate transactions, the firm said. Before joining Yoon &

2026-08-12 11:24:40:00