Most Popular
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Qoo10 liquidity crisis sparks massive complaints, fears of wider damage
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Yoon urges municipalities to embrace foreigners
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What is happening at Hybe?
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Korea unveils tax reform bill to spur economy
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S. Korea to consent to Japan's Sado mines gaining World Heritage status: official
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Actor’s excessive airport security sparks probe into human rights violations
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Crowded public transport, long commutes top stressors for Seoul, Gyeonggi workers: survey
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Man who let his father die due to financial difficulties to be released on parole
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Actor Yoo Ah-in accused of sexual attack
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S. Korea, China shifting from tensions to cooperation: Seoul
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City of Miryang apologizes for 2004 gang rape case
Government officials and community leaders in the southeastern city of Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, jointly issued a public apology Tuesday for an infamous gang rape case that occurred two decades ago, saying it was "all of our responsibility." "We all share the responsibility to make a better community, yet we (the people of Miryang) have not apologized or reflected on this tragedy, just because it is not directly related to our family or friends," said Mayor An Bye
June 25, 2024
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Probe into Hwaseong fire begins
HWASEONG/SEOUL -- The deadly fire that killed at least 23 people at a lithium battery factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, may have been worsened by deficiencies in prevention measures and unsafe working environments, with a report that a fire had broke out two days before the Monday outbreak. While the exact cause of the fire will be determined through further forensics, experts believe that the lack of a proper evacuation route may have worsened the fire's effects. The proximity of the
June 25, 2024
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Controversy surrounds late transgender soldier’s placement in national cemetery
A transgender soldier, who died by suicide in 2021 following a forcible discharge from the Army, has been laid to rest at a national cemetery in Daejeon this week, but dissenting voices questioning the appropriateness of her burial there persist. The burial of Byun Hee-soo at the cemetery on Monday followed the Defense Ministry’s decision in April to recognize her death as occurring in the line of duty. The ministry said her depression was linked to her forced discharge following her gen
June 25, 2024
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6 out of 10 willing to buy hybrid or electric cars: survey
The majority of car owners in South Korea are willing to buy more eco-friendly models for their next vehicle, a survey indicated Tuesday. A local pollster Open Survey recently surveyed 1,500 car owners on what type of car they wish to buy next. Of the 675 who said they plan to buy another car, 39.7 percent said a hybrid vehicle -- powered by both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor -- would be their first choice. Another 26.7 percent who plan to buy another car said they would
June 25, 2024
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S. Korea unlikely to grant temporary K-ETA exemption to Thailand
An official from the Ministry of Justice said Tuesday that it would be “difficult” to temporarily waive travelers from Thailand from the requirement to obtain travel authorizations before entering the country. The official’s remarks follow the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s request to the Justice Ministry to temporarily exempt Thailand from the country’s electronic travel authorization system K-ETA, at least until the end of this year, as the number of Th
June 25, 2024
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Battery site fire raises alarm on chemical facility risks
Monday’s blaze at a lithium battery plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, has highlighted yet again the dangers associated with chemical processing facilities. A fire, once it breaks out, often results in significant casualties, due to the dense presence of flammable or combustible materials within a confined space. The worst chemical factory fire to date occurred in 1989 at the Lucky Chemical plant at an industrial complex in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province. The blaze, triggered by a massi
June 25, 2024
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Deadly fire ravages battery plant
A fire that broke out at a lithium battery factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, has left at least 22 workers dead, eight injured and one missing as of 6:30 p.m., according to local authorities Monday. Most of the deceased were among the 21 workers who were trapped inside and unaccounted for during the initial fire rescue efforts. The Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters confirmed the deaths of 22 people, including 19 foreign workers, following a fire that occurred at 10:31 a.m. at Aricell&
June 24, 2024
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Why firefighters struggled to put out the battery blaze
Fire accidents involving lithium batteries, like the one at Korean lithium battery manufacturer Aricell's facility, are challenging to extinguish due to the batteries’ potential for water to exacerbate the situation. Primary, or single-use, lithium batteries differ from more commonly known lithium-ion batteries in several fundamental ways. They use lithium metal or lithium compounds as the anode and are ready-charged and non-rechargeable. While they do not suffer from issues like th
June 24, 2024
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Father and son found dead in suspected murder-suicide
The South Korean police said Monday they are investigating a case in which a man and his son were found dead after the two men were heard arguing inside their home. According to the Daejeon Yuseong Police Station, the two were found stabbed and fatally injured at around 3:24 a.m. on Sunday, with the father found inside the master bedroom and the son inside the bathroom. The older victim's daughter reported the case to the police, saying her father appeared to have been murdered. The two m
June 24, 2024
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Series of conscript deaths raises concerns about military fatalities in S. Korea
A South Korean conscript was found dead Sunday at a military base in Gyeonggi Province, marking the third military death in just two months this year, raising concerns about the recurring issue of fatalities among enlisted personnel in the Korean military. According to military authorities, the deceased soldier, a private first class -- the Army's second-lowest rank for conscripts -- in his 20s was found at around 5:00 a.m. Sunday when he was supposed to be on sentry duty. He had been sta
June 24, 2024
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[Online Predators] The 'helpers' preying on runaway teens
In South Korean online communities and social networking sites, the word "helper" has taken on a troubling connotation. The term is often hashtagged alongside others such as "gachul" (runaway from home), "jatei" (high school dropouts), and "yeoja" (girls). This combination of hashtags serves as an emergency code, typically used by runaway teenage girls seeking a place to sleep and eat. But this distress signal also attracts predators looking to take advant
June 24, 2024
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Climate anxiety worsens following extreme June weather
Following scorching heat waves nationwide and record-breaking heavy rain on Jeju Island over the last few weeks, South Korea's residents are grappling with "climate anxiety," as many have found themselves concerned about the increasingly unpredictable extreme weather. Climate anxiety -- related to "climate depression" -- is a term used to describe feeling distressed due to worries about climate change and its impacts on the Earth and human existence. “I always thou
June 24, 2024
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Most international students are based in Seoul area: report
Even foreign students are stuck in Seoul-centric mode. A recent report showed that over half of them were studying in the Greater Seoul area as of last year. A total of 181,842 international students were in South Korea as of 2023, according to a report issued Monday by the government-affiliated Korean Council for University Education, more than double the 85,923 in 2023. Of those, 119,237 were studying for a university degree while 52,602 were in a non-degree programs such as language study cou
June 24, 2024
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Hwaseong factory fire leaves multiple casualties
At least 16 people have been confirmed dead in Monday's battery factory fire in Hwaseong as of 5 p.m., with the final death toll expected to rise above 20. Of the 23 people who had earlier been reported missing in the fire, 20 were confirmed to be foreign nationals. The rescue authorities commenced a search of the lithium primary battery plant, run by Aricell, after firefighters got the blaze under control at 3:10 p.m. It was over three hours after the fire first broke out on the secon
June 24, 2024
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Only 1 out of 10 victims of workplace bullying report it: survey
Most victims of workplace bullying in South Korea refrain from filing formal complaints about it to the authorities or their employers, a survey showed Monday. Gabjil 119, a civic group that assists victims of workplace abuse, conducted a survey of 1,000 employees and found that only 10.3 percent of respondents said they have filed a report against such cases. The survey allowed respondents to pick multiple responses. Of those who sought outside help, only 8.1 percent reported such cases to th
June 24, 2024
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Expectations grow for doctors, govt. to sit down for talks
Representatives of doctors and the government are expected to sit down for talks as early as this week, as both sides have hinted that they would hold negotiations to seek a breakthrough to end a monthslong standoff over the government's medical reform. The move came as Lim Hyun-taek, a hawkish head of the Korea Medical Association, has stepped back from the standoff, prompting the KMA to form a committee to cope with potential talks with the government. After holding its first meeting last
June 24, 2024
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[Graphic News] Users of translation service Naver Papago top 20m
Users of Naver Papago, the South Korean online portal operator's artificial intelligence-powered translation service, have steadily increased, topping 20 million last month on overseas demand, industry sources said. The number of Papago's monthly active users, both for app and web versions, reached 20.74 million in May, up 18 percent from a year ago, according to the sources, which cited a report by Naver Cloud Corp. Papago's MAUs first surpassed the 20 million threshold in Marc
June 24, 2024
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S. Korea faces nearly 6-month summers by 2100 if emissions not cut: report
By the end of this century, South Korea will have summers lasting nearly half the year if greenhouse gas emissions continue at current levels, according to the worst-case climate change scenario. According to the highest baseline scenario for Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP5-8.5) future climate change scenarios presented on the Korea Meteorological Administration's official webpage, Korea will experience an average of 169 summer days in the 30-year period that starts May 2081 and ends
June 23, 2024
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Denmark's Buldak ramyeon recall sparks Google search spike
The recent recall of several Buldak ramyeon products in Denmark for being too spicy has unexpectedly turned into a marketing win for the company, shown by a surge in Google searches for the products, data showed Sunday. According to Google Trends data, worldwide searches for Buldak ramyeon -- popularized over the past decade as "Korean fire noodles" on the internet -- reached a peak on June 12, following news of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration's decision to recal
June 23, 2024
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Rapid surge in spam texts prompts police probe
Spam text messages promoting stock investments, loans and shopping deals have surged rapidly in South Korea during the first half of this year, prompting a police investigation to determine the cause of the spike. Between January and May 2024, around 170 million spam text messages were reported and detected by the Korea Communications Commission, according to data provided by Korea Communications Commission and released by Rep. Hwang Jung-a of the Democratic Party of Korea on Sunday. Additionall
June 23, 2024