Articles by Yoon Min-sik
Yoon Min-sik
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com-
Hero rescue dog retires after a career of saving 9 lives
Gyeonggi Province fire authorities said Friday that veteran rescue dog A-rong is retiring after a six-year stint, and is seeking a new family. A-rong, a male Labrador retriever weighing 32 kilograms, was born in 2014 and participated in 312 rescue operations and aided the rescue of nine individuals, according to the Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters. A member of the Gyeonggi-do Northern Special Response Unit since December of 2017, he has had special training for rescue operations in the m
Social Affairs Dec. 24, 2023
-
Regional governments roll out measures to boost birth rate
With the country's record-low birth rate expected to fall even further next year, regional governments across the country have been implementing policies to motivate South Korean families to have more children. A December report by Statistics Korea projected that the country's total fertility rate -- the number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime -- will be 0.68 in 2024 and 0.65 in 2025. South Korea already recorded the lowest figure in the world with 0.78 in 2022,
Social Affairs Dec. 24, 2023
-
Korail reinstates staffer fired for looking up BTS RM's info
A Korea Railroad Corp. employee who was fired for looking up personal information related to BTS' RM has recently been reinstated, a report obtained by a lawmaker showed Friday. The National Labor Relations Commission last Thursday ordered the state-run railway operator to give back the female staffer's job, along with reimbursement for wages that the staff would have made if she had not been fired in April, according to the Democratic Party of Korea's Rep. Kim Doo-kwan, who got a
Social Affairs Dec. 22, 2023
-
Buying a home in Seoul costs a decade's salary, and then some
A Seoul resident would have to not spend a single dime of their income for 15.2 years to buy a home in South Korea's capital, a state-issued report showed Friday. The Price Income Ratio for Seoul for 2022 was 15.2, according to the latest report by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The yearly PIR increased from 14.1 in 2021, and has been on the upward trend since marking 9.6 in 2018. The PRI refers to the median home price of a certain region divided by the median yearly h
Social Affairs Dec. 22, 2023
-
Bus runs over passengers at Suwon Station, kills 1, injures 17
A bus ran over passengers at Suwon Station in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday, killing one and injuring at least 11. The incident occurred at around 1:27 p.m., when the bus rammed into passengers who were crossing the street to the transfer center on the upper level of the station, subsequently moving to the sidewalk where it hit more people. The site of the accident draws high foot traffic, including to adjacent shopping centers. A woman in her 70s was killed, despite being carried to a h
Social Affairs Dec. 22, 2023
-
Main street in Seocho-gu becomes utility pole-free zone
The district office of Seocho-gu in southern Seoul has removed all utility poles across Gangnamdaero, officials said Friday. Gangnamdaero is a 7.2-kilometer, 10-lane main road connecting the northern and southern part of the district, and is among the busiest roads in South Korea. It is adjacent to the commercial district of the affluent Gangnam region, along with Gangnam Station and Yangjae Station, among the most populated subway stations here. The district office said it just completed the th
Social Affairs Dec. 22, 2023
-
IU seeks compensation for plagiarism accusation
Singer-actor IU recently launched a civil lawsuit seeking compensation from an individual who raised plagiarism allegations against her, as local media outlets on Thursday reported that South Korean police have submitted the information related to the individual to court. The 31-year-old singer has been engaged in a legal battle seeking compensation for what her representatives claimed was defamation via groundless acts of slander. After investigators cleared her of plagiarism allegations in Sep
K-pop Dec. 21, 2023
-
Court clears man accused of leaving his children on the street
A man who left his three children on the streets temporarily to look for their mother has been cleared of child abandonment charges, after the court decided that he did not intend to actually leave his children. "(The defendant) left his children on the streets so they could meet their mother. It does not appear that his actions were to an extent detrimental to the children's mental health," the appellate division of the Gwangju District Court said in its ruling Wednesday. The 44-
Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2023
-
Daily commute in greater Seoul takes 83 minutes: report
An average worker living in Seoul and its surrounding regions spends an average of 83.2 minutes a day going back and forth from home to work, a state report showed Thursday. The Statistics Korea announced a report on commute time for workers across the country, specifically for who use the mobile services of SK Telecom, one of the country's top three mobile carriers. The agency compared data it had of workers' home addresses and jobs with data compiled by SK's mobile tracking syst
Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2023
-
Police arrest doctor accused of giving drugs to 'Parasite' actor
A South Korean doctor accused of providing narcotics to actor Lee Sun-kyun, currently under investigation for drug use, has been arrested by police late Wednesday. Incheon District Court issued an arrest warrant for the 42-year-old suspect, on request of the drug unit of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency, saying that there is a risk that he may flee or destroy evidence. The unnamed suspect, a plastic surgeon at a hospital in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, is believed to have provided drugs to
Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2023
-
Teachers' union hits back against complaints over school trip to watch hit film '12.12: The Day'
A teachers’ union on Wednesday criticized a right-leaning civic group for making complaints against a Seoul high school principal for organizing an outing to watch "12.12: The Day," a film about military dictator Chun Doo-hwan's rise to power through the 1979 coup. The civic group, called the Freedom Korea National Defense Corps, has accused the principal of abusing his authority, which is stipulated via Article 123 of the Criminal Act, according to the Korean Teachers and E
Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2023
-
2 students wrongly rejected from university due to error
Gyeongsang National University said Thursday that a computer error during its admissions process resulted in two students being rejected despite having the necessary credentials for acceptance. The university belatedly notified the two students that they have actually been accepted. According to school officials, its college of pharmacology announced last week the three students who were accepted through its early admissions process. But the computer did not take into account the college entranc
Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2023
-
S. Korea nabs 1,183 gang members, most of them 'MZ gangsters'
South Korean police on Wednesday said it has apprehended 1,183 members of organized crime rings across the country, detaining 189 of them on arrest warrants, the majority of whom are younger than 30 and focus more on non-traditional gang activities. The arrests were made after a special crackdown by the National Police Agency during the second half of this year, conducted between Aug. 7 and Dec. 16. The government had apprehended 1,589 gang members after a four-month investigation took place dur
Social Affairs Dec. 20, 2023
-
Police apprehend Gyeongbokgung vandals
South Korean police on Tuesday said they arrested two teenagers suspected to have recently vandalized the walls of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. According to Jongno Police Station, the 17-year-old male suspect was taken in by officers at around 7:08 p.m. near his home in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The other suspect, a 16-year-old girl, was also apprehended at her home which was nearby. The pair is accused of spray-painting promotional messages of an illegal video-downloading w
Social Affairs Dec. 19, 2023
-
More people smoking, drinking, in poorer health in post-COVID era
The number of South Koreans smoking or drinking has risen in the era following the years since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a state-issued report showed Tuesday. The annual report, conducted on 230,000 adults across the country by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), indicated deteriorating health indexes across the board, as obesity and depression were also on the rise in recent years. South Korea's smoking rate had been on a downward trend since reaching 26.7 perc
Social Affairs Dec. 19, 2023
Most Popular
-
1
[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
-
2
Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
-
3
S. Korea calls on Japan to confront history amid Yasukuni Shrine visit
-
4
Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
-
5
Hybe and Min Hee-jin, CEO of Hybe sublabel Ador, lock horns
-
6
[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
-
7
[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
-
8
Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
-
9
Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
-
10
Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency