A priest of the Anglican Church of Korea has been deposed from the ordained ministry hours after he wished President Yoon Suk-yeol’s plane to crash on Facebook. Daejeon Diocese of the Anglican Church of Korea said Monday that the Rev. Kim Gyu-don had been removed from his duties, as his comments “are not ones that a priest can do.” In a Facebook posting earlier on Monday, the penalized priest said the entire Korean population should wish for the crash, saying such effort will &

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2022

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) -- President Joe Biden objected to China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions” toward Taiwan and raised human rights concerns about Beijing’s conduct in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong during his first in-person meeting on Monday with President Xi Jinping, the White House said. In a news conference following the meeting, Biden reiterated U.S. support for its longstanding “One China” policy. He also said that despite China&rsq

World News Nov. 14, 2022

Firefighters deployed to the scene of the Oct. 29 Itaewon tragedy on Wednesday cried foul over the police’s ongoing investigation on their response, claiming that the government is placing the blame on the ones who worked the hardest. During Wednesday’s meeting with opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, held on National Firefighters’ Day, members of the Yongsan Fire Station claimed that their chief, Choi Seong-beom, who was booked by police for negligence, was the first among those

Social Affairs Nov. 9, 2022

Radio communication exchanged between emergency rescue officers responding to the Oct. 29 Itaewon disaster was released Tuesday, revealing the chaotic situation that took place that tragic night. Rep. Lee Sung-man of the main opposition Democratic Party released the transcripts of the recordings he received from the Seoul Emergency Operations Center. It shows communication among the rescue officers sent after the initial citizen’s report to the 119 emergency center on 10:15 p.m., which is

Social Affairs Nov. 8, 2022

Actor Ryan Reynolds described his experience of appearing in the Korean TV show “The King of Masked Singer” back in 2018 as “being in actual hell,” during a recent interview. Reynolds appeared on NBC's Today show on Monday to promote his upcoming movie “Spirited” with Will Ferrell and Octavia Spencer, during which he talked about why he appeared on the Korean show. "Masked Singer," which is still airing on South Korea's MBC TV, has masked c

Television Nov. 8, 2022

Tech sector employment took a hit this week, with Twitter firing roughly half of its employees last week and Meta Platforms, operator of Facebook and Instagram, reportedly planning widespread layoffs. About a quarter of the 30 employees at the Twitter Korea have received notifications that they will be laid off, Donga Ilbo and others reported, while Facebook Korea said they not been alerted of any related measures as of Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal on Sunday reported that the parent compan

Industry Nov. 8, 2022

On Saturday, an estimated 20,000 people gathered on the streets of Jung-gu, Seoul near City Hall Station and Gwanghwamun Station in memory of the Itaewon tragedy that claimed 156 lives. The participants protested the lack of safety measures and promptness in response from authorities the day of the tragedy. The tribute, however, sparked a mixed reaction as some -- particularly the factions supporting President Yoon Seuk-yeol -- raised suspicion that the protest was politically charged to bring d

Hashtag Korea Nov. 6, 2022

In the aftermath of the Sewol ferry sinking which killed 304 people, the government allocated a total of 1.5 trillion won ($1.06 billion) to set up a new emergency communication system. That system was officially launched last year. However, it barely worked as designed when 156 lives, most of them young people, died in a crowd crush during Halloween festivities in Itaewon on Oct. 29. From a lack of appropriate safety measures before the disaster to the authorities’ botched response afterw

Social Affairs Nov. 4, 2022

Angered by South Korean soccer star Son Heung-min’s injury and its potential impact on the national team’s chances at the upcoming World Cup, some Korean fans have been bombarding the Instagram page of a player involved in Son’s injury with hate comments. As of Friday afternoon, there are over 5,900 comments on the most recent post of Chancel Mbemba, a defender of Olympique de Marseille, far more than for any other post on his page. Many of them -- written in Korean -- contain

Soccer Nov. 4, 2022

A string of safety measures being rolled out by the government shows how much of an impact the loss of 156 lives in last week’s Itaewon tragedy have had on Korean society. Prime Minister Han Duk-soo on Thursday said there will be a pan-government safety inspection on events where over 10,000 people are expected to partake, requesting regional government bodies to revamp their respective safety manuals. This was a reaction to the lack of safety measures and efforts by authorities to maintai

Social Affairs Nov. 3, 2022

While the entire nation has been fixated on the Halloween tragedy in Seoul over the weekend, families of two miners believed to be trapped at a mine in Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Province, have been praying for their safe return for nearly 10 days. Thursday marks the ninth day since the zinc mine collapsed on Oct. 26. The two, aged 62 and 56, are thought to be in a vertical shaft some 170 meters underground. It is unclear whether they are alive. The rescue team had a minor breakthrough early

Social Affairs Nov. 3, 2022

  On the night of the Itaewon disaster on Saturday, 11 emergency calls were made to police that directly mentioned that people were being hurt or crushed, but the police were only dispatched to the scene a total of four times, police records show. While the police revealed the transcripts of those 11 calls, it was found later that a total of 79 emergency calls were made from the Itaewon area from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The exact content of those calls has not yet been identified. Of the 11 emerg

Social Affairs Nov. 2, 2022

The tragedy that left at least 156 people dead in central Seoul occurred when thousands of Halloween revelers jammed into a narrow alley fell over in masses, piling up on top of each other around 10:15 p.m. on Saturday. On that fateful night, a total of 11 emergency calls had been made to local police warning explicitly of deadly crowding in Itaewon, police records show. The following are translated excerpts from the desperate calls made to the police as early as nearly four hours before the dis

Social Affairs Nov. 2, 2022

Prime Minister Han Duk-soo on Wednesday issued an apology for a joke he made during the previous day’s press conference related to the Itaewon tragedy. “No matter what the circumstances are, I apologize for making the people uncomfortable,” he said in a message that he relayed to reporters through the Prime Minister’s Office. During Tuesday’s foreign media briefing, Han became the subject of controversy for what was perceived by some as “light-hearted behavior

Social Affairs Nov. 2, 2022

The family of a Japanese teenager who died during the Saturday crowd crush in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, arrived in South Korea on Monday and identified the victim's body. Accompanied by officials from the Foreign Ministry, the family arrived at the funeral hall of the Seongnam Central Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province on Monday afternoon. They began the procedure of transporting the victim’s body back to Japan. Officials at the hospital said the family wished to carry out the

Social Affairs Oct. 31, 2022