Gangnam-gu, a Seoul district famous for its luxury fashion, affluent neighborhoods, and Psy's "Gangnam Style," is now aiming to become a testbed for the robotics industry. The ward office said a robot cluster will be built in Suseo, in the southeastern part of the district, to provide testing grounds and nurture related industries. The robot testing grounds, known as Robot Plus Test Field, will span over 1,350 square meters and is set to open in July, according to the office. &ldq

Social Affairs July 3, 2024

Bouquets of white chrysanthemums were laid next to Exit No. 7 of Seoul's City Hall Station on Tuesday, the rainy morning after a car crash that resulted in nine deaths in the area. Though most of the crime scene had been cleared, remnants of the accident lingered in the morning. A temporary fence enclosed the destroyed guardrails from Monday’s car crash, and police officials remained stationed at the site. Pedestrians passing by paused to look at the flowers, with some laying down t

Social Affairs July 2, 2024

Following heavy rain nationwide over the weekend, the Korea Meteorological Administration stated Monday that rainy weather would continue on Tuesday and Wednesday, with some regions more heavily hit than others. Starting Tuesday morning, the Greater Seoul area -- Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province -- will see some 30 to 80 millimeters of rain, with heavily hit regions seeing up to 120 mm of rain. Other areas, including Gangwon Province and the South and North Chungcheong provinces will also se

Social Affairs July 1, 2024

On top of a grass field at Yeouido Park near Yeouido, western Seoul sits a large white balloon, with the city’s slogan “Seoul My Soul” written on it. However, this isn’t just any balloon. Also known as “Seouldal” -- “dal” meaning moon in Korean -- it is a tethered helium balloon ride that the Seoul Metropolitan Government hopes will become a new nightlife attraction offering views of the cityscape from high in the air. Seouldal is ready to take peo

Social Affairs June 28, 2024

Information regarding how to extinguish fires involving water-reactive chemicals was found to be either incorrect or missing in the information guide of the National Institute of Chemical Safety, a government institution under the Ministry of Environment, according to local media reports. Controversy surrounding the institution’s information guide was raised following a fire that engulfed a lithium battery manufacturing factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Fire officials had tro

Social Affairs June 27, 2024

SONGDO, Incheon -- The Seoul Metropolitan Government won a UN Public Service Award for its comprehensive policies combatting digital sex crimes at the UN Public Service Forum held in Songdo, Incheon, Wednesday. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, along with Interior Minister Lee Sang-min and UN Under Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Li Junhua and 1,000 representatives from 100 different countries, attended Wednesday’s event. The UN Public Service Awards, first launched in 2003, are gi

Social Affairs June 26, 2024

HWASEONG, Gyeonggi Province -- The deadly fire that engulfed Aricell, a lithium battery manufacturing factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, was finally out by 8:48 a.m., Tuesday, 22 hours after the fire was first reported to authorities. Although the fire was out, the smell of smoke still lingered in the air as fire officials, police officials and forensic services prepared their gear to conduct a joint forensic investigation. Tuesday’s joint forensic investigation began close to noon af

Social Affairs June 25, 2024

HWASEONG/SEOUL -- The deadly fire that killed at least 23 people at a lithium battery factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, may have been worsened by deficiencies in prevention measures and unsafe working environments, with a report that a fire had broke out two days before the Monday outbreak. While the exact cause of the fire will be determined through further forensics, experts believe that the lack of a proper evacuation route may have worsened the fire's effects. The proximity of the

Social Affairs June 25, 2024

Following scorching heat waves nationwide and record-breaking heavy rain on Jeju Island over the last few weeks, South Korea's residents are grappling with "climate anxiety," as many have found themselves concerned about the increasingly unpredictable extreme weather. Climate anxiety -- related to "climate depression" -- is a term used to describe feeling distressed due to worries about climate change and its impacts on the Earth and human existence. “I always thou

Social Affairs June 24, 2024

Spam text messages promoting stock investments, loans and shopping deals have surged rapidly in South Korea during the first half of this year, prompting a police investigation to determine the cause of the spike. Between January and May 2024, around 170 million spam text messages were reported and detected by the Korea Communications Commission, according to data provided by Korea Communications Commission and released by Rep. Hwang Jung-a of the Democratic Party of Korea on Sunday. Additionall

Social Affairs June 23, 2024

It’s official: South Korea is experiencing its hottest June ever, and by a significant margin. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Sunday, regions across the country recorded an average of 2.4 heat wave days from June 1 to 20, which is four times the average from 1991 to 2020. The previous record was set in 2018, when there were 1.5 heat wave days. A heat wave day, as defined by the KMA, is when daytime temperatures soar above 33 degrees Celsius. This year’s first

Social Affairs June 23, 2024

Lee Won-young, a 26-year-old graduate school student, has recently added a new routine to her busy life -- taking care of a potted plant that she called “Chris.” Chris sits by Lee’s desk in her room. Lee’s routine every Monday is to water her potted plant to make sure it survives another week. Throughout the rest of the week, Lee spends time moving her plant in different locations around the house to make sure it gets enough sunlight and putting it under an LED light to b

Social Affairs June 22, 2024

Hot temperatures from Wednesday continued into Thursday, and are expected to continue into the weekend, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Thursday. Heat wave advisory warnings that had been issued in 92 regions across South Korea consinued through Thursday. Four cities in Gyeonggi Province -- Gapyeong, Goyang, Yongin and Anseong -- raised their heat warning level to the second-highest level in the four-tier system. While the first-level heat wave alert is issued when th

Social Affairs June 20, 2024

Wednesday was expected to record the hottest day in June since weather records started to be kept in many cities nationwide. As of 3 p.m., Wednesday, the heat had broken several daytime temperature records across the country, including in Seoul, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province saw daytime temperatures reaching as high as 37.7 C, recording the highest June temperature in the city since 2010. Gwangju's daytime temperatures reached

Social Affairs June 19, 2024

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will invest 650 billion won ($471 million) over the next five years to help universities train students with the skills needed for the next generation of industries, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said in a press briefing Tuesday. “With a goal to make Seoul one of the top five global cities (in the Global Cities Index), the city government aims to boost the city’s global competitiveness by boosting the competitiveness of universities in Seoul, by helping to

Social Affairs June 18, 2024