The manager of a K-pop boy band was dismissed on suspicion of installing a hidden camera in a theater dressing room, the band’s label WM Entertainment announced Wednesday. The camera was reportedly spotted by an actor who was starring in the musical “Next to Normal,” in a dressing room located on the sixth floor of the Kwanglim Art Center in southern Seoul on April 9. The actor immediately reported the camera to the police. According to local media reports, the dismissed employ

Social Affairs April 17, 2024

South Korea’s local flower festivals this year have so far fallen short of expectations as cherry blossoms did not reach their peak in time. Jinhae Gunhangje in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, saw a decline of about 1.2 million in the number of visitors this year, a Changwon official said to local media. While 4.2 million visited the most well-known cherry blossom festival in South Korea last year, the city tallied the number of visitors at 3 million during the 10 days of the festival

Social Affairs April 6, 2024

A runaway ostrich caught Tuesday in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, is thought to have escaped from its enclosure due to loneliness, according to the owner of the farm where the ostrich was housed. Scenes of the male ostrich, named Tadori, running around busy roads were reminiscent of Sero the zebra, who escaped from a Seoul zoo in March 2023. Tadori has been alone in his enclosure since his mate Tasuni died last month. The pair had been kept at a nature experience farm in Seongnam since July 2020

Social Affairs March 27, 2024

A worker at Sudokwon Landfill Site was heralded by Incheon Seobu Police Station on Wednesday for reporting bundles of banknotes found at the landfill in Incheon, aiding police in finding the owner of the money. Park Jae-geun found 29 million won ($21,700) at the landfill on Feb. 1 while burying waste, according to local media. Park is an employee of a subcontractor of Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corp., the landfill’s operator, and has worked in the field for more than 30 years. Some

Social Affairs March 23, 2024

A group of students and parents from Seoul on Wednesday filed lawsuits in a bid to stop the government's move to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota. The group consisting of 17 people, including high school seniors, their parents and med school students in Seoul, filed an administrative lawsuit against Education Minister Lee Ju-ho and Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyoo-hong, in which they said the government measures are illegal, according to local media reports. The grou

Social Affairs March 20, 2024

For the first time in its 75-year history, South Korea's Miss Chunhyang beauty pageant will see foreign nationals compete. This year’s beauty pageant is accepting applicants from five countries -- China, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Canada -- the Chunhyang Festival Organizing Committee told The Korea Herald on Wednesday. Named after the heroine of the Korean folk tale Chunhyangjeon, the Miss Chunhyang beauty pageant has taken place in the story's setting of Namwon, North Jeolla

Social Affairs March 13, 2024

The Methodist Church of Korea finalized its decision to expel a pastor who blessed LGBTQ+ participants at the 2019 Incheon Queer Culture Festival in Incheon. The church’s tribunal on Monday confirmed the disfellowship of Rev. Lee Dong-hwan (43) at the Korean Methodist Church Building in central Seoul. The annual conference of Methodist churches in Gyeonggi Province made the decision on Dec. 19, citing Lee broke the internal rule that bans “supporting or agreeing with homosexuality.&r

Social Affairs March 5, 2024

The number of reported deaths of mountain goats soared by more than 18 times a year with heavy snows hindering their feeding activities. The South Korean Cultural Heritage Administration, responsible for the maintenance of natural heritages, collected 277 death reports of mountain goats across South Korea from November to February, showing a big jump from the 15 deaths reported for the comparable period last year, CHA said Tuesday. Mountain goats are an endangered species in Korea and are protec

Social Affairs March 5, 2024

A rescue team is receiving praise after footage of them saving a premature baby went viral. The Gijang Fire Station in Gijang-gun, Busan, heralded five members of the Jeonggwan 119 Safety Center for successfully rescuing a premature baby on Friday. In the footage, the rescuers can be seen calling the baby, "Bboong-bboong," the nickname her parents gave her before birth, and gently encouraging her to keep her eyes open as they try to keep her conscious on the way to the hospital. The

Social Affairs March 5, 2024

A Jeonju city government development project for Jeonju Stream has raised criticism from local civic and environmental groups, with complaints over the cutting down of a grove of hundreds of beloved willow trees that have been a vital part of the stream's famous scenery near Namcheon Bridge. Some 30 members of environmental groups and civil organizations based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, held a protest in front of Jeonju City Hall Monday, urging the city to "publicly apologize fo

Social Affairs March 4, 2024

Parents will now be legally able to find out the sex of their unborn children before 32 weeks of pregnancy in South Korea. The South Korean Constitutional Court on Wednesday found the restriction on revealing the sex of fetuses unconstitutional, nullifying the related law provision immediately. The South Korean Medical Act Article 20 (2) stipulates doctors who reveal an immature fetus’ sex to anyone, including the mother, would have their license suspended face up to two years of impriso

Social Affairs Feb. 29, 2024

Two South Sudanese students of Catholic priest Lee Tae-seok, who is known for the documentary “Don’t Cry for Me Sudan," have become medical specialists in Korea. Thomas Taban Akot (40) and John Mayen Ruben (38) passed the national certification test to be a surgeon and a physician respectively on Tuesday, Fr. John Lee Memorial Foundation told the Korea Herald. It has been 12 years since they enrolled in the medical school of Inje University in Busan, after graduating Don Bosco S

Social Affairs Feb. 24, 2024

A man in his 20s who set fire to the face of a female exchange student in December was found dead, closing the police investigation into the case, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on Wednesday. The suspect had sprayed volatile material into the face of a British woman and ignited it with a cigarette lighter on Dec. 15 near the dormitory building of a university in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. His whereabouts were unknown after fleeing the scene of the crime, until his body was found on th

Social Affairs Feb. 14, 2024

The new quote "Seoul's biggest blessing is you" is seen on the signboard on the front side of the Seoul Metropolitan Library building in central Seoul. Seoul Metropolitan Government put up the quote in celebration of Seollal, Korea’s traditional New Year's day, which falls on Saturday, the city announced Monday. The city government has displayed quotes collected from citizens since 2013 on the signboard hung at the former Seoul City Hall main building.

Social Affairs Feb. 5, 2024

Seoul Metropolitan Government recently unveiled the new design for its mascot Haechi, the character's first design change since its designation as the capital city’s official symbol in 2009. The new design of Haechi, whose design is based on the mythical haetae from Korean folklore, has a pink body with blue-green stripes. Seoul City Hall said it took the colors from Korea’s traditional colorwork for wooden buildings, known as “dancheong,” The colors replace the prev

Social Affairs Feb. 4, 2024