Chun Woo-won, former President Chun Doo-hwan's grandson, on Friday, said he had recovered from losing consciousness and vowed not to use drugs again. The 27-year-old who lives in New York wrote an update on his Instagram account about what had happened to him since he abruptly stopped live-streaming on March 16, when local police pulled him out of his apartment after he began using drugs while live-streaming and showed signs of hallucinating. Chun was moved to a hospital via ambulance. The

Social Affairs March 24, 2023

Four former Hana Bank officials have been found guilty by the Supreme Court for manipulating recruitment results in favor of graduates from certain schools and those recommended by high-ranking bank officials or financial authorities. They were also accused of discriminating female applicants from 2013 to 2016, local media reported Friday. Song, a former head of the bank’s human resources department, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, and a 2 million won ($1,550)

Social Affairs March 24, 2023

Footage of pedestrians who came together in the spur of the moment to rescue a driver from a flipped car earned praise online Thursday. Ulsan Metropolitan Police on Thursday shared a video of an accident on its YouTube channel, showing some ten passersby gathering around a sport utility vehicle that tipped onto its side at a junction in Ulsan on Tuesday morning. As some people begin to push the vehicle back up, other passersby and drivers dashed to pitch in. Only around 80 seconds after the car

Social Affairs March 23, 2023

Suspicions of cult leader Jeong Myeong-seok abusing lawyer visits have risen, with records showing that he had visits from his legal representative on average of 1.7 times a day during his detention since October, a lawmaker revealed Wednesday. According to Rep. Park Bum-gye of the main opposition Democratic Party, Jeong had met lawyers 265 times during his current detention as of March 3. He was detained on Oct. 4 on suspicion of sexually assaulting his follower in the South Korean religious gr

Social Affairs March 22, 2023

A former South Korean rugby national team member who starred in Netflix’s sports entertainment show “Physical: 100” has been indicted on charges of rape and physical assault against his girlfriend. He allegedly committed the assault while threatening her with a knife. Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said on Wednesday that it had indicted the athlete the previous day. The suspect has been in police custody since he was apprehended on Feb. 23. A knife, believed to

Social Affairs March 22, 2023

Colourful flowers adorning Seoul’s old palaces are just around corner as spring has officially arrived in Seoul in the middle of March. The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center of Cultural Heritage Administration on Tuesday announced that the spring blossoms in the royal palaces will peak from late March to early April, forecasting blossoms of cherry, apricot, plum and weeping cherry to kick off the season on Thursday. The palace authority chose three places for best flowers in Seoul’s Jos

Travel March 21, 2023

Police are investigating drug allegations stirred up after a series of disclosures by a grandson of the late former President Chun Doo-hwan, Chun Woo-won, through social media, as well as his own drug suspicions. The National Police Agency on Monday said it had partially verified claims made by Chun Woo-won, and that preparations were underway to open a formal investigation. Police acquired a warrant for search and confiscation of Instagram for a closer look into the accused. Chun Woo-won posted

Social Affairs March 21, 2023

Park Kyeong-seok, the leader of the disability rights group that has been staging rush-hour subway protests, was taken into custody on Friday after refusing to turn up for police questioning 18 times. The police took the chief of Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination into custody at 11:50 a.m. outside the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in central Seoul during his press conference. Park held the press conference from inside a cage, with chains around his body, and called out to the polic

Social Affairs March 17, 2023

A vision of the future where humanity has settled into a digital world of the metaverse was presented at the Global Business Forum on Wednesday, at the Ambassador Seoul hotel. At the forum, Philippines Ambassador to South Korea Maria Theresa B. Dizon-De Vega stressed the Philippines’ efforts to prosper in Industry 4.0, which includes virtual and augmented reality, in her welcome remarks. “It is important to embrace the unprecedented convergence of biological, physical and digital wor

People March 17, 2023

Spring has arrived across Korea in the middle of March, with flowers blooming in the warmer provinces along the southern and eastern coasts. Apricot and cornelian cherry flowers bloom the fastest among spring flowers, indicating the end of winter. Here are photos of colorful spring views with those flowers, taken this week across South Korea.

Travel March 15, 2023

Two middle school students were on Wednesday indicted for assault and sexual abuse of another middle school student in an incident that they livestreamed. Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday indicted a 16-year-old and a 15-year old, both of whom were in the ninth grade. The 16-year old boy, who is thought to have played the lead role in the incident, has been detained by authorities. The victim was reportedly sexually abused, with the suspects forcing him to undress and then sp

Social Affairs March 15, 2023

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung on Sunday pointed to those practicing "black magic" as being responsible for the desecretion of his parents' grave site in Bonghwa-gun, North Gyeongsang Province. “According to (an expert’s) observation, it is a ritual of black magic to dig holes on all sides of a grave and bury evil objects in them. The practice is meant to block the energy of the grave and curse the descendants in order to annihilate them

Politics March 13, 2023

Prosecutors are seeking one year of imprisonment for a 24-year-old man accused of smashing an unacquainted man’s face with a rock in Jeju City on Jan. 31. The man was caught on security footage hitting the victim with a rock and then fleeing the scene. The victim was watching a street performance at the time. The victim and the assailant appeared to not be connected in any way. Police found that the suspect had been drinking before the assault and battery scene. The victim, in his 20s, suf

Social Affairs March 10, 2023

“The mesmerizing moment of turning a wheel and the soft feeling of the clay led me to seek a career here,” said Kim You-jin, a student studying pottery at the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage. “There wasn't anything special in how I decided on my major, it was just like any other college student,” she added. “It might be destiny that ties me with pottery,” Kim’s schoolmate Ki Jung chimed in, saying majoring in pottery was a natural cho

weekender March 10, 2023

The peak season for cherry blossoms is forecast to reach Seoul in the third week of April after starting in the southernmost province of Jeju on April 1. According to the Korean Forest Service, Mulhyanggi Arboretum and Mount Suri, 20-40 kilometers south from Seoul, will see the peak on April. 11, while the Korea National Arboretum in northern Gyeonggi Province will reach the peak on April 18. The forest authority issued the cherry blossom forecast on March 3, indicating the dates when more than

Travel March 9, 2023