The police caught 12 suspects, five men in their 20s, and two males and five females in their teens, for allegedly extorting 220 million won ($165,000) from men they lured into sexual contact with minors. Ansan Sangrok Police Station apprehended the suspects on April 23 for extorting money from 11 men they baited into drinking and having sexual contact with female minors. The victims of the extortion claim that they did not know they were minors, Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said on T

Social Affairs May 3, 2023

In three days, hundreds of residents raised 10.7 million won ($8,000) to pay for the hospital bills for a beloved Gwangju street cat that was injured in a hit-and-run. The fundraising campaign was launched on April 26 through Instagram for Jullyang-i, the unofficial mascot for Seoyoung University in Gwangju, after it was left critically injured after being hit by a bus a day before. About 700 people participated in the campaign that ran from April 26 to 28, according to a post on Monday on the c

Social Affairs May 3, 2023

An unidentified wild animal was spotted on Mount Palgong, Daegu, causing a widespread online debate about its identity, despite the local environmental authority's announcement that it was a badger. A photo taken by a hiker on a trail at 6 a.m. on April 24 in Daegu shows a wild animal with dark fur, four legs, small ears and a long snout. The hiker reported the animal as a bear cub, because the black fur covering its whole body made it look like a bear, the Palgongsan Natural Park Managemen

Social Affairs May 2, 2023

A historic "Baduk" or Go battle between two siblings, Lee Se-dol, 17, and Lee Sang-hun, 25, which took place in 2000 will be sold as Non-Fungible Tokens by the Kyrgyzstan-based virtual assets producer C-cash. The South Korean retail and finance company TGS Group, operator of C-cash, announced on Monday that it successfully converted the Go match manual into NFTs and planned to sell the virtual asset from May 10. C-cash’s NFT game manual introduces interactive NFT functions and al

People April 25, 2023

“I am working on ‘eopgyeongdae.' Buddhist myths say that every person faces this mirror after death, before they are brought to the King of Hell,” said Kwon Da-eun, a student at the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage majoring in traditional arts and crafts. “When a deceased person confesses the wrongdoings committed during his or her life, the mirror shows how the person lived. This story is what inspired me to carve the eopgyeongdae,” she added. Wo

Culture April 22, 2023

Portraits of 12 Korean and American heroes who fought during the Korean War (1950-1953) will be on public display Thursday in New York's Times Square, marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean Armistice Agreement. Samsung and LG will play a video dedicated to the Korean War veterans, made by the South Korea Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, starting from 12 a.m. on Monday. The video contains the portraits of 12 heroes including General Douglas MacArthur, who led the successful Ope

Defense April 20, 2023

A dolphin with a severely damaged beak and fin was spotted on Monday off the southwestern shore of Jeju Island, raising concerns over dolphin tourism. Photos of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin and its herd taken by local media show that large parts of its beak and fin have been severed. The injuries appear quite recent, with what appears to be blood still visible around the affected areas. Jeju-based dolphin advocacy groups have argued that fishing boats and ferries severely harm dolphins by

Social Affairs April 19, 2023

The bereaved family of one of the victims of the Daejeon school zone drunk driving accident called for the heaviest punishment for the suspect, as well as for other drunk drivers, after the funeral held Tuesday. “There should never be another child sacrificed like Seung-ah again,” victim Bae Seung-ah's older brother said in an interview with local media after the nine-year-old girl's funeral in Daejeon. He insisted that far stricter punishments must be given to those who en

Social Affairs April 11, 2023

Police are seeking a suspect believed to have cut the brake lines of at least six motorbikes in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. Police received six reports beginning April 5 that brake lines had been intentionally cut in the Sugok-dong and Bunpyeong-dong neighborhoods, Cheongju Sangdang Police Station told local media on Monday. Someone claiming to be one of the victims posted purported security camera footage of the crime in an online community on Saturday, asking for help finding the sus

Social Affairs April 11, 2023

The story of a local taxi driver is going viral on the internet for saving a passenger from attempting to take his own life. Lee Ho-yeon, a 29-year-old taxi driver, successfully dissuaded a man standing on the railing of Tangeum Bridge from jumping after leaving his taxi on the night of March 26 in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province. Lee felt some foreboding that the man might attempt suicide considering his condition and requested destination. Dashboard footage provided by Seonjae Taxi, Lee&rs

Social Affairs April 10, 2023

“The geomungo was a ‘hip’ instrument and the most popular among noblemen 500 to 600 years ago. And such appreciation is returning today,” said Shin Ji-hee, a 29-year-old player of the geomungo, a six-string instrument with the widest pitch among Korea’s traditional string instruments -- of three octaves. The origin of the instrument dates back to around 1,500 years ago during the period in which three kingdoms reigned on the Korean Peninsula: the Goguryeo, Baekje an

weekender April 8, 2023

Every day, there have been an average of 13 reports of vomit being found in Seoul's subway stations and trains since 2020, with alcohol consumption being the primary cause, data showed Thursday. According to Seoul Metro on Thursday, 13,928 vomit-related complaints have been submitted to the company since 2020. According to the survey, the complaints were the most frequent on Fridays, followed by Saturdays, accounting for 18.8 percent and 16.2 percent of the total, respectively. When it come

Social Affairs April 7, 2023

A legal fight that stretched over six years seeking damages for school bullying was thwarted as the plaintiff’s lawyer failed to attend three hearings, the victim’s bereaved family said Wednesday. The plaintiff, Lee Gi-cheol, said the lawsuit seeking damages from education officials, authorities and suspected bullies’ parents ended unfavorably on Nov. 24 due to her lawyer Kwon Kyeong-ae’s repeated absences, via her Facebook account. The South Korean Civil Procedure Act st

Social Affairs April 6, 2023

An English listening comprehension test taking place in middle schools halted helicopters deployed to fight forest fires in Hampyeong and Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, on Tuesday morning. The Jeonnam Fire Service Headquarters stopped helicopter operations from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30, including the 20 minutes when the radio-based listening comprehension test was carried out simultaneously in 29 schools in nearby areas affected by the forest fires. The forest fires started separately on Monday in

Social Affairs April 5, 2023

A man is in critical condition after he set himself on fire at Gwanghwamun Plaza in central Seoul, on Tuesday evening, according to authorities. The man, reportedly in his 50s, was taken to a hospital. He appears to have tried to burn himself to death in front of the statue of King Sejong, according to reports. The fire spread to a container but was extinguished minutes later by a person who first witnessed the scene, Jongno Fire Station told local media. The police are still investigating the i

Social Affairs April 5, 2023