Korea to work with foreign agencies to tackle child porn

Amid the growing concerns over sex crimes against minors, South Korea's national police agency announced Monday it has established an international response platform to tackle the spread of online content on the sexual exploitation of children. Dubbed "InaRae," which stands for International Response Against Exploitation, the system allows law enforcement agencies in Korea and other member countries to mutually request the removal and blocking of child sexual exploitation content.

Social AffairsJuly 1, 2024

Seoul mayor vows action on birth rates, climate crisis

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon vowed to keep Seoul's lead in addressing the population issue and climate crises, and to implement viable solutions that even the central government could learn from. Speaking at a press conference at Seoul City Hall on Monday to mark the second anniversary of his most recent term, Oh reaffirmed his commitment to addressing challenges like climate change and South Korea's low birth rate, highlighting successful initiatives such as the Climate Companion Card, city

Social AffairsJuly 1, 2024

N. Korea fires more missiles as Kim Jong-un strategizes policies

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles Monday, with the South Korean military presuming that at least one of them could be the KN-23 short-range ballistic missile supplied to Russia for use against Ukraine on the battlefield. The missile launches notably coincided with a key party meeting, presided over by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un since Friday, where crucial domestic and foreign policies are being deliberated, around a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin's rare visit to

North KoreaJuly 1, 2024

Opposition blasts president's alleged comment Itaewon crowd crush was 'induced'

Members of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Monday continued to lambast President Yoon Suk Yeol over a claim in a high-level politician's recently published memoir that Yoon had said he "cannot rule out the possibility that this accident (the deadly Itaewon crowd crush) may have been induced and manipulated by a certain force," in December 2022. Rep. Park Hong-geun of the Democratic Party railed against Yoon's alleged comment in an interview on MBC Radio, de

PoliticsJuly 1, 2024

S. Korea to create new deputy PM post for population planning

The government will propose new legislation next month to create a deputy prime minister post dedicated to population planning, marking a major organizational shift to address the nation's aging population and low birth rate, the presidential office announced Monday. The proposed reorganization will have Education Minister Lee Ju-ho hand over his deputy prime minister role -- overseeing social affairs-related issues in education, labor and welfare -- to the newly created position of populat

PoliticsJuly 1, 2024

More med school profs to walkout indefinitely this month

More medical professors announced Monday plans to go on an indefinite walkout starting later this month to protest the government's medical school expansion plan. The emergency committee of medical professors at Korea University, who also serve as senior doctors at Korea University Asan Hospital, said they would go on strike beginning July 12, demanding that the government back off from pressuring medical students and trainee doctors and engage in dialogue. "The medical sector sought a

Social AffairsJuly 1, 2024

Presidential office to create position of political affairs minister

The office of President Yoon Suk Yeol will create the position of political affairs minister at the top office in an effort to strengthen communication with the National Assembly, Yoon's chief of staff said Monday. Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk made the remark during a parliamentary steering committee meeting amid calls for Yoon's office to make greater efforts to reach out to the opposition-controlled parliament to better take care of state affairs and move its agenda forw

PoliticsJuly 1, 2024

[Bills in Focus] Non-regular workers' rights, semiconductor growth support

Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act Proposed by Rep. Lee Yong-woo (Democratic Party of Korea), Rep. Shin Chang-sik (Rebuilding Korea Party) and Rep. Yoon Jong-o (Progressive Party) ● This amendment expands the definition of workers to guarantee the three basic labor rights for non-regular workers, such as specially employed workers and platform workers. It also prohibits employers from claiming damages for collective action against individual wo

PoliticsJuly 1, 2024

S. Korea, Vietnam host business forum to promote bilateral economic ties

South Korea's industry ministry said Monday it has hosted a business forum with Vietnam to seek new opportunities for partnerships in chips, artificial intelligence and other areas. Around 500 government and business officials from both countries attended the event, which took place during Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Seoul, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The Vietnamese prime minister started his four-day trip to South Korea the previou

Foreign AffairsJuly 1, 2024

Seoul Subway Line No. 3 operating normally after train fire near Daechi Station

A subway maintenance train caught fire on a rail track between Dogok and Daechi stations in southern Seoul in the wee hours of Monday, but the fire was put out shortly afterward without affecting train services during the morning rush hour. The blaze occurred at 3:42 a.m. from the motorcar train's battery on the southbound track of the No. 3 line, but firefighters extinguished it shortly after arriving at the scene, according to the subway operator. Seoul Metro sent out a message at 5:34 a.

Social AffairsJuly 1, 2024

[Graphic News] S. Korea's tourism rebounds as foreigners return

South Korea is enjoying a significant tourism rebound, with visitor numbers in the first four months of 2024 reaching nearly 89 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to the government’s tourism agency. From January to April, South Korea welcomed 4.866 million foreign visitors, marking an 86.9 percent increase from the same period last year. Tourists from Singapore and the United States led the recovery, surpassing pre-pandemic numbers by 54.7 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively. W

Social AffairsJuly 1, 2024

Landslides, power outages reported as heavy rain soaks S. Korea

Houses and roads were flooded Sunday as strong winds and heavy rain pounded the country, disrupting flights and passenger ships, and causing landslides and power outages in some areas, fire and provincial authorities said. Due to heavy rain that began Saturday, 18 domestic flights were canceled, and 13 domestic and international flights had been delayed at Jeju International Airport on the southern resort island of Jeju as of 10 a.m. Passenger ships connecting Incheon, west of Seoul, and nearby

Social AffairsJune 30, 2024

Crackdown on drunk driving to begin in July

Ahead of the summer vacation season, the national police agency announced that it will conduct a special crackdown on drunk driving nationwide for two months starting Monday. The Korean National Police Agency will administer breath tests every Friday, and each municipal police agency will lead the crackdown at least twice a week. Crackdowns will also be carried out on a regular basis by region, according to the police. The crackdown is aimed at highlighting the need to eradicate drunk driving, p

Social AffairsJune 30, 2024

Heavy rainfall soaks Korea as summer rainy season begins

South Korea on Sunday saw heavy rainfall across the country overnight, marking the start of the summer rain season. The government activated the first stage of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and raised the heavy rain warning level from "concern" to "caution." The rain front, dumping strong rain mainly in the southern part of the country, moved further inland Sunday, causing rain to fall in most parts of the country, including Seoul, according to

Social AffairsJune 30, 2024

Seoul eyes new measures to fight voice phishing scammers

High-ranking officials of the government and the ruling party on Sunday agreed on the need to increase efforts to bust voice phishing scammers by the end of October and to strengthen cooperation with Interpol and Chinese state security authorities to crack down on organized crime overseas. Officials in President Yoon Suk Yeol's office, his administration and the ruling People Power Party also agreed to inspect messaging service providers to look into security vulnerabilities by the end of J

PoliticsJune 30, 2024

One-third of new students at Korea’s ‘SKY’ universities are from Seoul

One-third of new students at Korea’s top three universities were found to come from high schools in the nation’s capital city, Seoul. According to Yonhap News reports citing the state-run Higher Education in Korea website on Sunday, among 13,141 entrants to Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University, 32 percent were from high schools in Seoul -- double the national average. By school, Seoul National University had the largest percentage of its students from Se

Social AffairsJune 30, 2024

Assembly strife intensifies as parties mull bills Yoon vetoed

Rival parties are expected to bicker in the coming weeks, as the opposition parties are mulling reintroducing contentious bills that President Yoon Suk Yeol had vetoed. South Korea's National Assembly is ready to float a bill calling for a special counsel probe into alleged state interference in a Marine Corps investigation into the cause of a young Marine's death during a rescue operation last summer. Rep. Park Chan-dae, acting chief of the Democratic Party of Korea, said during a ral

PoliticsJune 30, 2024

22 heat-related workplace deaths occurred in past 6 years: report

From 2018 to 2023, there had been 22 cases in which a heat-related death were officially recognized as workplace deaths, a report by a state-run agency showed Sunday. The Korea Workers Compensation and Welfare Service recently submitted statistics on industrial hazards related to diseases caused by high temperature, such as heat exhaustion. The report showed that there had been 147 of such cases in the past six years, 35 in 2018, 26 in 2019, 13 in 2020, 19 in 2021, 23 in 2022, and 31 in 2023.

Social AffairsJune 30, 2024

[ASEAN Plus Korea] Time to open new page for S. Korea-Vietnam ties: Vietnam ambassador

Over the past 30 years, the relationship between South Korea and Vietnam has undergone a significant transformation, building on a connection that dates back 800 years. Now, it is time to open a new chapter in the partnership between the two countries, Vietnam's new Ambassador to Korea Vu Ho said, highlighting Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Seoul this week. “The prime minister's visit to Korea (this week) is to review what we have learned, what we have achieved be

Foreign AffairsJune 30, 2024

Daegu stokes controversy over idolization of strongman Park

Last week, Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo alluded to details about plans to honor controversial former President Park Chung-hee in the city, saying the metropolitan government will build a 3-meter statue in the Dongdaegu Station Plaza and another 6-meter one at the Representative Library of Daegu. "I personally believe it should be smaller than statue of Adm. Yi Sun-sin in Seoul Gwanghwamun Plaza," the conservative mayor said in a press conference, referring to the 6.5-meter statue of the

Social AffairsJune 30, 2024