When food delivery platforms first emerged, they were hailed as an innovative new business that would bring convenience to our everyday lives. With just a few taps, foodies were able to enjoy a wide range of dishes delivered right to their doorsteps. Small restaurants could reach a much wider pool of customers. People got jobs as delivery riders. Delivery startups were the darlings of the capital market, receiving huge investments. But after a decade of living with Baedal Minjok, Yogi

Consumer Aug. 22, 2022

Jeju, South Korea's southernmost island, is pushing to adopt an e-travel authorization system for foreigners from visa-free nations starting next month, officials said Friday. The plan to introduce the Korea Electronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA) came after dozens of Thai tourists who recently entered Jeju broke away from tour groups, or were forced back home over suspected overstay attempts. The K-ETA is an online electronic travel authorization that foreign visitors from visa-free natio

Social Affairs Aug. 19, 2022

Hundreds of beer bottles flooded a street in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, after falling off a truck that had made a sharp turn on Aug. 12. A group of passersby came to the rescue, cleaning up the mess in about 30 minutes. If this sounds familiar to you, you‘re not alone. A video showing a very similar incident in the same city went viral in late June. Surveillance camera footage showed how, in the June incident, good Samaritans turned up one by one and did what needed to be done. Afte

Social Affairs Aug. 19, 2022

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed.    Mountain hiking is one of the most popular hobbies among Korean people, partly because mountains are accessible from anywhere in the country. 　 South Korea is home to thousands of mountains, known for their rugged slopes, leafy forests and scenic beauty. In fact, over 60 percent of Korea’s land is situated 700 meters above sea level, in other words, covered by m

Hashtag Korea Aug. 17, 2022

In just a few years, wet wipes have become a daily necessity that many can’t live without. They are used for everything from baby’s bottoms to floor spills, potentially virus-contaminated door handles and facial makeup. They are convenient, hygienic and cheap. But this handy invention doesn’t come cost-free. The wipes, or at least most of the ones sold in Korea now, are not biodegradable. Made of plastic fibers, it could take more than 100 years for them to decompose or

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2022

Heavy rainfall is expected to continue throughout Friday in Seoul and across other already-battered cities in the country, the Korea Meteorological Administration said Tuesday. The state-run agency’s warning put local authorities on alert for the possibility of additional damages after torrential downpour sparked flash floods and landslides overnight Monday, resulting in at least eight deaths. Seoul saw the largest amount of precipitation in a day since weather record-keeping began in 1

Social Affairs Aug. 9, 2022

Three people were found dead in a flooded semi-basement apartment in Seoul on Tuesday, after the heaviest rainfall in 80 years wreak havoc on many parts of the city.  According to local police, a 47-year-old woman, her older sister and 13-year-old daughter were trapped in the submerged home in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, western Seoul and likely died by drowning.  The police recovered their bodies around 11:30 p.m. on Monday. They had received a report of flooding in the house from

Social Affairs Aug. 9, 2022

Water bottles usually bear the recycling symbol of three arrows in a Mobius strip. This symbol reminds us to dispose of our trash correctly in a recycling bin. And most Koreans follow the rules of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle sorting and disposal. But these used bottles don’t get used repeatedly in a recycling loop, as suggested by the symbol. If recycled, they are given life just one more time as some end-of-life products and then thrown away. Or they end up in landfills, e

Social Affairs Aug. 4, 2022

The following is part of Seoul Subway Stories — a newly launched Korea Herald series exploring subway stations and their surrounding areas across the city. – Ed. It’s 10 minutes’ walk from the station, but your nose already knows: The air smells like a meat market. Majang Station on Seoul Subway Line No. 5 is known for its market, where nearly 60 percent of all meat and meat by-products distributed in Seoul are handled. For locals, this is also the place to go to g

Hashtag Korea Aug. 1, 2022

  For Sung Hyun-jeong, 32, lighting an incense stick in her room has become an evening ritual. “After having a hard day at work, I want to have me-time. The fragrant smoke that fills up my room helps relaxation and energetic flow,” said the real estate agent who has been carrying out the routine for more than five months. Incense burning has been practiced for centuries. Historians tell us that it was broadly spread on the Korean Peninsula, from the 8th to the 14th centurie

Culture July 27, 2022

More than half of foreigners who came to Korea last year as seasonal farm workers had left their workplaces in violation of contracts, according to a media report Tuesday. Of 559 people who entered the country as seasonal workers last year, 56 percent, or 316, have disappeared without any notice, a KBS report said. The public broadcaster said that nearly 100 of the foreign workers who arrived here in the first six months of this year to work in rural villages in Gangwon Province had disapp

Social Affairs July 26, 2022

With rapper Jay Park’s recently-launched Won Soju becoming a phenomenal hit, soju is getting a premium makeover.  For long, the vodka-like liquor has been loved for its accessibility (a bottle costs just about $1) and versatility (think of the boilermaker known as somaek or all the other variations). But these latest renditions are far more special, aiming to create a new subgenre of soju.  Questions remain about whether the premium versions will be more than a passing fad, w

Food July 26, 2022

Cable channel ENA’s hit legal drama series “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” offers a glimpse of what it might be like to work with a person who has autism spectrum disorder. The main character is an autistic genius named Woo Young-woo (played by Park Eun-bin), who, after graduating from a top law school with honors thanks to her photographic memory, embarked on a career as an attorney at a big law firm. The series follows the rookie lawyer as she tackles one case after another

Social Affairs July 20, 2022

State prosecutors put on hold the police’s push to put down a dog which attacked and severely injured an 8-year-old boy in a case that sparked public outcry over the weekend, local reports said Sunday. They cited a lack of evidence to prove the dog was dangerous. According to reports, the disposal process of the mixed breed dog, which mauled the neck and arms of an elementary school student at an apartment complex in Ulsan on July 11, has been suspended following the prosecution’

Social Affairs July 17, 2022

In a corner of Sinsa-dong in Seoul’s Gangnam district, there’s a nearly two-decade-old record store dedicated to classical music. With a collection of more than 200,000 CDs and vinyl records as well as some 3,000 books on the world’s greatest musicians and music history, the shop – Pungwoldang – is not an ordinary shop. It is a salon, school and publishing house for classical music aficionados and musicians. But above all, owner Park Jong-ho, 62, wants it to be

People July 16, 2022