Megacity Seoul could 'counter rural extinction': Seoul mayor

Regarding the recent megacity plan involving expanding Seoul's administrative boundaries to include several neighboring cities in Gyeonggi Province, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said during a regular Seoul Metropolitan Council meeting on Thursday that it could counter rural extinction. In response to ruling People Power Party Rep. Lee Jong-bae’s question, "Can megacities can be seen as a global trend?" Oh answered that it is “time to mobilize all possible measures to counter

Nov. 16, 2023

[From the Scene] Half a million take Suneung as nation holds its breath

Hundreds of students showed up at Dongsung High School in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, Thursday, carrying backpacks and clutching study materials for last-minute cramming before sitting for South Korea’s college entrance exam, known as the Suneung. Some busied themselves taking pictures with classmates. Others waited nervously. A student hugged his parents before entering the school gate, saying, “You guys believe in me, right? I can do this.” The parents shed tears of relief and

Nov. 16, 2023

Everland grounds panda Fubao for trying to escape

Everland's popular panda, Fubao, has been banned from going out after trying to escape. It was reported that giant panda Fubao has recently attempted to escape twice from her outdoor enclosure at Everland, South Korea’s largest theme park, located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Following the attempts, the panda was confined inside for the time being. The latest case occurred on Monday. Fubao went outside and climbed over a transparent fence, according to the theme park. Then she knocke

Nov. 16, 2023

Jail term confirmed for president's mother-in-law

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed the 1-year prison sentence given to President Yoon Suk Yeol's mother-in-law, and rejected her application for bail. Yoon's mother-in-law, Choi Eun-soon, 76, was detained in July on charges of forging a financial document to purchase real estate in the Dochon-dong neighborhood of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province in 2013. Choi also falsified bank balance records on four separate occasions to indicate that she had 34.9 billion won ($26.7 million) in depo

Nov. 16, 2023

Yearly national college entrance exam kicks off nationwide

About half a million students sat the college entrance exam across the country Thursday, South Korea's most important annual academic event during which airplane takeoffs and landings will be temporarily banned for noise control. A total of 504,588 high school seniors, graduates and others signed up to take this year's state-administered College Scholastic Ability Test, a nine-hour, five-session exam that began at 1,279 test sites nationwide. For the first time since the onset of the C

Nov. 16, 2023

Bereaved family protests police's case closure on teacher's death

The bereaved family of a 23-year-old elementary school teacher who took her own life in July on Wednesday protested the police's decision to close the investigation into the case, holding a press conference with foreign media in Seoul. The press conference was in response to the police's announcement on Tuesday saying they found no evidence of any crime and wrapped up the monthslong probe. The family said the closure was "too hasty" and that there were other factors and poten

Nov. 15, 2023

High school dropout vlogs become more popular

Forget beauty vloggers and celebrity content -- vlogs made by high school dropouts are becoming increasingly popular among teen viewers on YouTube. Aside from sharing daily life updates after dropping out of school, these teenage YouTubers also create videos where they inform their parents about the decision to drop out, submit withdrawal letters and celebrate a last-day-of-school party with their classmates. “I decided to vlog about my dropout experiences because I wanted people to have a

Nov. 15, 2023

First-ever dedicated Suneung exam room for juvenile detainees set up

When almost half a million students nationwide take the annual college entrance exam on Thursday, a small group of young offenders housed in a juvenile detention center will also be able to take the exam in a special testing room inside the center. At Mandela Boy's School within Seoul's Nambu Correctional Institution, a dedicated exam room has been set up for the 2024 Suneung, South Korea’s college entrance exam. This special exam room is for juvenile detainees aged 15 to 17 wh

Nov. 15, 2023

Animal shelter busted for killing and burying hundreds of pets

Yeoju Police Station confirmed Tuesday the arrest of 10 individuals linked to the discovery of over 100 animal carcasses on a local property. The investigation, initiated in April after a report from South Korean animal rights group LIFE, uncovered 118 bodies — 86 dogs and 32 cats — in a state of severe malnutrition. The harrowing scene of the exhumation sparked outrage after being featured on an animal TV show in May, prompting 31,400 people to sign an online petition demanding just

Nov. 15, 2023

Why Suneung is always on a Thursday

The Suneung, South Korea’s national college entrance exam, has been administered on a Thursday every year since 2006. The nationwide test, regarded as the most important exam Koreans take in their lifetimes, is held on the same weekday every year to secure the test distribution process, according to officials. Transporting the examination papers to 84 cities, counties, and districts across the country takes three days. This process involves not only the travel time but also a cross-checkin

Nov. 15, 2023

On-year job growth accelerates in Oct.; manufacturing jobs fall for 10th month

South Korea's on-year employment grew at a faster pace for the third consecutive month in October, but jobs in the manufacturing sector fell for the 10th month in a row amid an economic slowdown, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people came to 28.76 million last month, up 346,000 from a year earlier, or 1.2 percent, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. Monthly job additions had slowed down for four months in a row to tumble below 300,000 in July but made a reboun

Nov. 15, 2023

[Graphic News] Two-thirds of Gyeonggi residents opposed to megacity proposal

Two-thirds of residents in Gyeonggi Province are opposed to the proposal to incorporate satellite cities near Seoul into the capital, a poll showed, amid the ruling party’s push for a megacity project. The survey, conducted by Realmeter from Nov. 2-5 on 3,004 Gyeonggi residents, showed that 66.3 percent oppose the idea, while 29.5 percent are in support of it. By region, opposition was highest among residents in Uiwang, south of Seoul, with 73.5 percent, followed by Paju, Yangju and Hwaseo

Nov. 15, 2023

Seoul subway to hold second strike Nov. 22

Unionized workers of Seoul Metro, the operator of Seoul subway lines No. 1-8, will stage a second strike on Nov. 22 in protest of the company's workforce downsizing plans. The Seoul Metro labor union on Tuesday announced it will hold a press conference the following morning in front of the Seoul City Hall in Jung-gu, central Seoul, and disclose the plans to its forthcoming walkout. The announcement follows the union's temporary strike held Thursday-Friday, as the workers' body fai

Nov. 14, 2023

Facing bedbug crisis, Koreans create online dashboards to track them

Weeks have passed since South Korea began grappling with a widespread bedbug outbreak. In response, its central and regional governments have scrambled to launch a four-week campaign beginning Monday, to inspect and disinfect vulnerable facilities and high-risk public spaces. Despite these measures, fear continues to ride high. People are now jumping into action, with some taking measures to map infestations so that the public can be aware of them. In a tech-savvy approach reminiscent of crowdso

Nov. 14, 2023

Probe of school teacher’s death finds no evidence of crime

An investigation into the death of an elementary school teacher that triggered months of teachers’ protests will end without further proceedings, police said Tuesday. In a briefing Tuesday, Seocho Police Chief Song Won-young told media the investigation into the suicide of a teacher at Seoul’s Seo2 Elementary School had found no evidence of criminal activities. The 24-year-old teacher died on July 18 in a storage area in the school in Seocho-dong, an affluent neighborhood in southern

Nov. 14, 2023

Seoul mayor to consider street festivities for LG Twins' victory

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated that the Seoul Metropolitan Government will consider holding street celebrations to commemorate the LG Twins’ victory during this year’s Korean Series on Monday. “As the mayor of Seoul, I am overjoyed that the LG Twins won the Korean Series, for the first time in 29 years,” said Oh in a post on his Facebook account. “The city government will actively consider organizing public celebrations at Seoul Plaza to congratulate the LG Twins.&rd

Nov. 14, 2023

Man cuts gas line, causing major gas leak, because he 'doesn't cook'

A 27-year-old man has been arrested after he cut off the gas supply hose in his office-tel residence, causing a gas leak that affected 28 units in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. According to the police, the man severed the gas hose supplying gas to his kitchen at around 2 a.m. on Friday, causing a leak that affected numerous units in the building. The police responded to the scene following reports of the smell of gas from other residents in the building, and evacuated about 20 residents. During ques

Nov. 14, 2023

Seoul offers interactive real-time translation machines in 11 languages

Seoul Metropolitan Government will install real-time, interactive translation service screens at tourist information centers for non-Korean speakers visiting the capital city. Through this translation service, tourists who visit Seoul will be able to receive assistance while speaking in a language they are comfortable with. It utilizes a translation engine that runs with artificial intelligence and voice-to-text conversion digital technology and displays the translated text on a transparent scre

Nov. 14, 2023

Patients in Korea have lowest chance of asking doctors questions

Park, 61, had a long list of questions he wanted to ask about his health and what he should do to recover after being diagnosed with heart failure, a chronic condition in which the heart muscle doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. His doctor, however, was busy staring at the computer screen to prescribe him medication and set up his next appointment. “I was barely even allowed to speak or ask questions (about my condition or the causes of it) during the consultation, before the d

Nov. 14, 2023

Helicopter parent's questions spark debate online

"When my son was in middle and high school, I used to communicate with his teachers via KakaoTalk messages. Is it any different with professors? Did I make a mistake in how I tried to help my son?" These questions form the gist of a story posted by a mother in an online forum, who tried to find her son's professor's contact information after he missed his midterm exam. The post, containing simple questions from a mother who appears to be genuinely unaware of any problems on h

Nov. 14, 2023