Nathan Taverniti, a 24-year-old from Australia, lost two friends to the tragic crowd crush on Oct. 29. He had come to Seoul with the friends to celebrate Halloween after hearing about how popular the day is in the city’s hip district of Itaewon through TikToks and the popular Korean TV series “Itaewon Class.” What began as a fun night unfolded unexpectedly. Caught in a crowd, he was hit by a wave of pressure that led people to fall on top of each other and block an entire alley

Social Affairs Nov. 9, 2022

Over a year after an online travel permit system called the Korea Electronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA) for nationals of over 100 visa-waiver countries came into effect, international travelers’ experiences with the new system have been mixed, highlighting the need for consistency and transparency in the K-ETA’s application approval process. The system was meant to speed up the entry process for travelers upon arrival here, while saving those who would be denied entry unnecessary t

Social Affairs Nov. 8, 2022

As South Korea searches for answers to why 156 people died in an Itaewon alley on Oct. 29, a sensitive question is lingering in the minds of some politicians – particularly those on the right. "Could this turn into a political debacle like Sewol?" The sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014 resulted in the death of 304 people, most of them high school students. When it happened, the Park Geun-hye administration faced a massive public outcry over its slow and botched response to the di

Politics Nov. 3, 2022

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed. Find the answer at the bottom of this page. Leeds is the name of an English city. But in Korea, the term “Leeds era” has taken on a life of its own. It is a popular term that has stood the test of time and inspired the name of a TV show as well as a commercial. It is also often used in everyday conversations as well as making an appearance in headlines for entertainment

Hashtag Korea Nov. 2, 2022

In the aftermath of the deadly Itaewon crowd crush on Saturday, social media quickly filled with videos and posts, some purportedly from eyewitnesses. But unsubstantiated claims also emerged and spread. The joint investigation by police and the National Forensic Service has begun into the cause of the incident. Here is what we know so far. Was it a stampede or a crowd crush? The tragic incident has been described as a “stampede,” “crowd crush” or “crowd surge&rdqu

Social Affairs Nov. 1, 2022

South Koreans are searching for answers after 154 lives perished Saturday in what was meant to be a fun Halloween night out in Itaewon. As the authorities, the media and the public scramble to figure out what went wrong, here are some of the factors that may have been behind the deadly crowd surge in Seoul’s busy nightlife district. 1. Halloween: an event without an organizing body Halloween, though originated in the West, is a popular celebration among young people in South Korea. Kno

Social Affairs Oct. 31, 2022

Rev. Lee Dong-hwan’s fight to reverse the decision by the Korean Methodist Church to suspend him for two years for blessing LGBT people in 2019 came to an end last week. The church upheld its earlier decision on the grounds that Lee’s action violated the teachings of the church. “It is disappointing to be honest, not because of personal reasons but because it sets a precedent within the Methodist Church,” Lee told The Korea Herald. “I’m afraid that this decisi

Social Affairs Oct. 28, 2022

International Korean Studies scholars gathered on Thursday for two-day discussion on the opportunities and challenges posed by the “once-unimaginable” global popularity of Korean culture, at a forum held in-person for the first time since the pandemic. The 11th biannual World Congress of Korean Studies kicked off at the Academy of Korea Studies headquarters in Seongnam, south of Seoul, with some 120 scholars in attendance, the host Academy of Korean Studies said. Concurrently held on

Social Affairs Oct. 20, 2022

Popular South Korean messaging app KakaoTalk lost some 2 million users following an outage which began Saturday and lasted hours, industry tracker data showed. The number of KakaoTalk users was estimated at 39.05 million on Sunday, down 2.07 million from Friday when the figure stood at 41.12 million, according to an analysis by industry tracker WiseApp on Monday. But as the country’s most popular messaging app suffered a loss of users in the wake of the app's longest outage to date si

Technology Oct. 18, 2022

Iranian sport climber Elnaz Rekabi, who competed in a climbing championship in Seoul on Sunday without wearing a hijab, has flown back to Iran, the Iranian Embassy in Seoul said Tuesday. “Ms. Elnaz Rekabi, who has participated in the final round of the Asian Climbing Competitions in Seoul, departed from Seoul to Iran in the early morning of October 18, 2022, along with the other members of the Team,” the embassy said in a statement. “The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Politics Oct. 18, 2022

Tech giant Kakao has said most of its services have been restored following an extended outage that began Saturday. But as the country suffered a digital blackout for many hours, the dominance of its "super app" has been called into question. Launched in 2010 as a messaging app, KakaoTalk grew in popularity exponentially over the years and branched out to other areas such as shopping and banking. Kakao also launched in-house apps that work in connection with KakaoTalk, such as ride-hai

Social Affairs Oct. 17, 2022

South Korean airlines are considering ways to extend the maximum working hours for crew on board to avoid layovers for long-haul flights such as the New York-Incheon route. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, two of South Korea’s largest full-service carriers, said the move comes after Russia's airspace was shut down after its invasion of Ukraine, prompting Korean airlines to take a detour for safety. “We are looking to lift the cap on the maximum flying hours for pilots with discus

Politics Oct. 16, 2022

Over the past year, the Korean currency has lost nearly 20 percent of its value against the dollar. A dollar is equal to about 1,429 won, according to the currency’s closing rate on Wednesday. But a year ago, you needed 19 percent less of the Korean currency, or 1,196.5 won, to buy a dollar. The won’s depreciation, driven largely by the dollar’s gains worldwide, has sent the exchange rate into a territory trodden only during major financial crises. A won-dollar rate above 1,400

Social Affairs Oct. 15, 2022

Blind, a workplace community app, has been a source of some of the biggest company news stories and viral social media posts globally. They range from the Korean Air “nut rage” incident and the 2017 sexual harassment allegations at Uber to the controversy at US food delivery platform DoorDash over an initiative that requires all employees to make one food delivery every month, to name a few. One of the latest corporate news stories to come out of the anonymous user-based platform for

Companies Oct. 11, 2022

Behind doors closed to the press, the Korean Methodist Church’s court heard an appeals case brought by one pastor to reverse the church's decision to suspend him from his duty for two years at its headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. His sin? Blessing gay people at the Incheon Queer Culture Festival in 2019. “From September 2019 until now, (my action) has been reviewed for three years and we are now finally waiting for the ruling. What I wanted to do from the very beginning was to

Social Affairs Oct. 7, 2022