An overwhelming majority of those who fall victim to "romance scams," in which a scammer manipulates the victim by abusing his or her affection and trust, in South Korea are women or under 40, a recent study by scholars at Seoul-based Korea University showed. An analysis of crime reports filed to the National Police Agency between January and June of last year showed that 71.4 percent of victims in a total 280 crimes categorized as romance scams were female, according to the “Cur

An appeals court on Monday upheld an eight-year prison term for a smuggler who attempted to bring chocolate-covered methamphetamine pills into South Korea. The Gwangju High Court dismissed the appeal filed by the smuggler, a Thai national whose identity has been withheld, convicting for breaching the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. The gender of the convicted was not known. The customs office at Incheon International Airport discovered the 10,123 pills of yaba -- a mix of me

As South Korea’s fertility rates are waning, the number of women giving birth in their 40s has starkly increased over the last decade, data showed Monday. According to data received by Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the total number of birth cases declined from 424,717 in 2013 to 244,580 in 2022, down 180,137 births in 10 years. In the same period, however, the country saw a rise in the number of women giving birth in their 40

DAEGU-- A local court issued a warrant Sunday to arrest a passenger who opened an emergency exit door on board an Asiana Airlines flight right before landing in the southeastern city of Daegu last week. The 33-year-old man, only identified by his surname Lee, was detained by police Friday on suspicions of opening the door 213 meters above ground just minutes before landing at Daegu International Airport in Daegu, 237 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The Daegu District Court granted the request f

The sales workforce at South Korea's retail stores continued to decline in the past four years on increased online transactions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Sunday. The number of newly hired salespeople at offline outlets fell 13 percent, or 393,000, to 2.64 million in April this year from 3.03 million in the same month of 2019, data from Statistics Korea showed. The April tally is down 0.7 percent from the same month of last year, the data said. Subjected workforce

Police filed an arrest warrant request for a male passenger in his 30s who opened the emergency exit door on a plane before landing on Sunday. The man is accused of opening an emergency exit door on an Asiana Airlines flight from Jeju Island to Daegu on Friday. He has been detained by police. He told officials he wanted to get off the plane quickly because he felt suffocated. On Sunday, Asiana Airlines decided it will ban the sales of a seat on the emergency exit aisle of aircraft model A321-200

Accidental falls while attempting to shake dust off bedding through a window or balcony claim lives almost every year in Korea

A passenger who opened a door of an Asiana Airlines plane just before landing at an airport earlier this week has told police that he opened the door as he felt suffocated and wanted to get off the aircraft quickly, police officials said Saturday. On Friday, police detained the 30-something man on suspicions of pulling the door lever after the plane's door suddenly opened about 213 meters above ground right before it landed at Daegu International Airport in Daegu, 237 kilometers southeast o

South Korea's crackdown on protests it sees as unlawful is materializing amid escalating tensions between the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration and local labor unions voicing disapproval of Yoon's union-busting drive. On Thursday, the police detained three demonstrators at around 8:50 p.m. in front of the Supreme Court of Korea in Seocho-gu, Seoul, for staging a protest without providing proper notification. It was Seoul's first crackdown on protesters since the COVID-19 outbreak. About

A man in his 20s was apprehended by police on Thursday on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend. Police, currently investigating the homicide case, stated that the individual is suspected of killing his girlfriend at a condo in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. The suspect, who attempted to flee, is reported to have called the fire service two hours after the murder is thought to have taken place. It's reported that he told the fire station, "I had a fight with a friend but (the friend) just s

A man posing as a banker living in Mexico scammed a woman in Gyeonggi Province out of 50 million won ($37,700) in an online romance scam, local media reported Friday. The woman, in her 40s, befriended the man on social media and had opened up to him, the report said, quoting the Korean Embassy in Mexico. After gaining her trust, the man told her he was pick-pocketed in Mexico and was about to be kicked out of his hotel because he had no money. He asked for 50 million won to pay for hotel expense

Drug crimes are rising in Gangwon Province, with those allegedly committed by teenagers and foreign nationals each showing marked increases. According to data released by Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office, cases of drug crimes involving teenagers in the province amounted to 103 last year, up from 27 in 2018, in the province with a population of over 1.5 million. As for the number of foreign nationals, the figure came to 85 in 2022, up from nine in 2018. Thai nationals accounted for the

After Typhoon Mawar battered Guam on Wednesday night into early Thursday morning, about 3,200 Korean tourists have been left stranded on the island suffering a series of power outages and water shortages. Local authorities began restoring facilities after the typhoon left Friday, but airport facilities are expected to take several days to resume operations, which will prolong the damage to stranded tourists. Most of the tourists are reported to be staying at their hotels. Guam authorities said o

Four out of 10 South Koreans aged 10-29 have spent money on goods related to celebrities such as music albums or character dolls featuring K-pop stars, a survey showed Friday. According to the survey of 1,142 adolescents, teens and young adults conducted by Hyungji Elite, a school uniform brand, from May 8-19, 40 percent of the respondents said they have purchased celebrity-related products before, followed by 25 percent who said they have bought goods related to movies including animated films.

BKL, one of the five largest law firms by revenue in South Korea, held a roundtable with Vietnam’s Ambassador to South Korea Nguyen Vu Tung in Seoul on Friday, as the two countries seek to expand business ties. “For the last years our ties have grown strong and they will so in the years to come,” the envoy said, referring to a summit last year in Seoul between President Yoon Suk Yeol and his Vietnamese counterpart. There the two leaders upgraded their 30-year-old relations to t