Cho Doo-soon, notorious for one of the most shocking crimes in South Korean history, has once again sparked public outrage and concern after his recent move to a new residence. Cho, who was released from prison in December 2020 after serving 12 years for raping an 8-year-old girl, has relocated from his previous home in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, to a nearby neighborhood. His move to a new residence, located just 2 kilometers away from his previous home, has stoked fears and controversy among nea

Social Affairs Oct. 30, 2024

After a series of recent revelations of unwanted sexual behavior within marriages surrounding South Korean celebrity couples came to light, these allegations have raised issues about the accountability of spouses in cases of marital sexual abuse. FT Island's Choi Min-hwan is at the center of a controversy after his ex-wife, Yul-hee, opened up in a 37-minute YouTube video posted on Oct. 24 that he would allegedly "fold cash in half and place it in my cleavage in front of family members&

Social Affairs Oct. 30, 2024

Roughly half of public educational institutes across South Korea have at least one convicted sex offender living within a 1-kilometer radius, data showed Wednesday. Over half of the day care centers and high schools in the country -- 59 percent and 53 percent, respectively -- have one or more sex offenders living within 1 kilometer, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family data submitted to Rep. Baek Seung-a of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Some 51 percent of ki

Social Affairs Oct. 30, 2024

The Seoul city government will spend 6.7 trillion won ($4.9 billion) from 2025 to 2026 to financially help residents raise children, city officials said Tuesday. The city government said it was expanding an existing childbirth encouragement project launched in February as part of efforts to increase the country's low birth rate. The earlier version of the project took a comprehensive approach to supporting caregivers by providing financial assistance for infertility treatments across all in

Social Affairs Oct. 29, 2024

Segway-Ninebot Continues to Commit to Environmentally Responsible Micromobility and Sustainability with Innovative Technology BEIJING, Oct. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As of October 24, 2024, Segway-Ninebot has achieved a global sales volume milestone of over 13 million eKickScooters, confirming its leadership in the global scooter market. The company's 2023 financial report revealed that its eKickScooter generated revenues of 3.78 billion yuan ($537 million USD), further solidifying its position

PR Newswire Oct. 26, 2024

For South Koreans seeking information online, all signs point to Namuwiki. The home-grown open-source encyclopedia has emerged as the country’s go-to knowledge hub, offering a more casual and community-driven alternative to Wikipedia. Boasting over 6.5 million entries that span everything from academic discourse to pop culture, it ranked as the nation's fifth most visited domain as of September, according to web analytics firm SimilarWeb. Operating through servers in Paraguay, Namuwik

Social Affairs Oct. 24, 2024

Hana Financial Group announced Wednesday that it has opened the 99th nursery of its "100 Nursery Building Project" in Dongdaemun, central Seoul. The latest facility, "Hoegi Hana Nursery," is a public child care center serving multicultural families, offering space for up to 60 infants and children under five. The five-story building includes playrooms and an outdoor playground. Since launching the initiative in 2018, Hana Financial Group has partnered with regional government

Industry Oct. 23, 2024

The South Korean prosecutors said Wednesday they recently requested a two-year prison term for a man in his 30s for giving up his baby for adoption to someone he met online. In a hearing at the Daejeon District Court, the prosecution sought a jail term and a five-year restriction on the suspect's employment at any institutes related to children. They charged the suspect with violating Article 17 of the Child Welfare Act, which prohibits abandoning or neglecting a child. Last year, the suspe

Social Affairs Oct. 23, 2024

A South Korean court has recently granted refugee status to a Ugandan woman who fled her country to escape severe domestic violence, court officials said Tuesday, showing greater acceptance of gender-based violence as grounds for granting refugee status here. The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the woman, who had filed a lawsuit against the Seoul Immigration Office to overturn a previous decision denying her refugee status, on Sept. 25. The court determined that she demonstrated a w

Social Affairs Oct. 22, 2024

A family of nine siblings received a new home in Yeongdong-gun North Chungcheong Province, thanks to support and contributions from the provincial government, organizations and businesses. North Chungcheong Province on Saturday announced the completion of a new house for the family of 11 with five sons and four daughters, and held a celebration ceremony. The family was featured in the KBS TV series “Donghaeng” in May, where their poor living conditions went on air. At the time, the

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2024

Nearly 40,000 babies were lost to miscarriages or stillbirths in the first half of this year in South Korea, government data distributed a lawmaker's report showed Monday. From January to June, there were 39,295 miscarriages and 121 stillbirths, according to the National Health Insurance Service data submitted to Rep. Baek Jong-heon of the ruling People Power Party. A miscarriage is defined as the loss of a baby before the 20th week of pregnancy, while stillbirths are defined as the loss of

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2024

President Yoon Suk Yeol urged police on Monday to step up their efforts to crack down on crimes affecting ordinary people, as well as new types of crimes emerging from advanced technologies like artificial intelligence. Yoon expressed concerns over new crimes enabled by AI, as well as illegal drugs and online gambling, during a commemorative speech marking the 79th Police Day. “To keep the public safe, the police must develop faster, become more proactive (and implement more scientific tec

Social Affairs Oct. 21, 2024

BEIJING, Oct. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Volvo EM90, a fully electric premium multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) produced by Volvo Cars, shines at the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2024 held from October 18 to 20 in Beijing as the sole officially designated car, offering a premium travel experience for guests attending the event. The EM90 is equipped with a wide array of smart features, showing its pursuit of safety, environmental protection, and quality during the inter

PR Newswire Oct. 21, 2024

Ever since the arrival of her daughter six years ago, the precious little being has become the center of Park Eun-jeong's world. It also marked the beginning of a new dynamic in her marriage: a sexless, more companionate relationship with her husband. “(After the baby was born,) we gradually drifted into a sexless relationship. I was tired from taking care of the baby and doing housework. My husband also looked exhausted when he came home. He no longer initiates it either,” Park

Hashtag Korea Oct. 20, 2024

A 63-year-old welfare worker who applied a form of corporal punishment on a 11-year-old child with A brain disorder was cleared by the Supreme Court of criminal charges, after it ruled the actions were a form of discipline and not abuse. South Korea's top court upheld a lower court ruling that said the defendant was not to be punished for child abuse. The appellate court had said while the defendant's actions could be said to be excessive, it appeared to be in the interest of the child

Social Affairs Oct. 18, 2024

In the year since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, Israeli forces have killed an estimated 41,200 Palestinians, including 16,700 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. But a recent letter in The Lancet puts the true death toll in Gaza much higher, at more than 186,000, when counting those killed as an indirect result of the conflict. Severe food shortages are certainly a contributing factor. Israel’s blockade and devastating bombing campaign have prevented the entry

Viewpoints Oct. 17, 2024

One in four South Korean senior citizens wish to use their assets for themselves and their spouses rather than passing them on to their children, according to government data on Wednesday. The 2023 survey of 10,078 senior citizens by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, Gallup Korea and the Health Ministry between Sept. 4 and Nov. 12 last year showed that 24.2 percent of the respondents chose to prioritize using their assets for their own and their spouse during their lifetime inst

Social Affairs Oct. 16, 2024

Various projects driven by the Seoul city government, such as the foreign caregiver scheme involving 100 Filipina workers and the Hangang River Bus, came under fire during a parliamentary audit on Tuesday. Mayor Oh Se-hoon also denied allegations that controversial pollster Myeong Tae-gyun was involved in a mayoral election he won in 2021. In response to questions from Rep. Cho Seung-hwan of the ruling People Power Party regarding Seoul's foreign caregiver pilot program, Oh argued the progr

Social Affairs Oct. 15, 2024