Govt. to offer more funds for emergency care amid protracted walkouts by doctors

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Tuesday that the government will extend its financial support for emergency care services by another month, as massive walkouts by junior doctors have disrupted health services at major hospitals for nearly three months. The government has injected 190 billion won ($140 million) per month from the national health insurance system since February to support operations at emergency rooms and increase compensation for emergency doctors. Cho told a response meeting

Social AffairsMay 7, 2024

DP to propose cash handouts as 1st bill of new National Assembly

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) plans to propose legislation providing cash handouts of 250,000 won ($184) to the entire population as its first bill of the new National Assembly set to open later this month, its new floor leader said Monday. Rep. Park Chan-dae unveiled the plan in a radio interview with local broadcaster MBC after DP leader Lee Jae-myung asked President Yoon Suk Yeol last Monday to accept his election pledge for the cash handouts as a way to help restore the people�

PoliticsMay 6, 2024

S. Korea, China in final stage of talks on FM Cho's visit to Beijing

BEIJING -- South Korea and China are in the final stage of talks to set up a visit to Beijing by Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul that will make him the first South Korean foreign minister to visit the Chinese capital in more than six years, an official said Monday. The senior official at South Korea's Embassy in Beijing made the remark to South Korean correspondents, noting that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi invited Cho to visit China when they held phone talks in February. "The two co

Foreign AffairsMay 6, 2024

Yoon to hold press conference Thursday

President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a press conference Thursday, as he seeks a breakthrough from his stagnant job approval rating and looming political attacks by the opposition parties set to continue to control the new National Assembly that kicks off next month. Yoon's spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung told reporters Monday that Yoon will hold a media conference in the morning as he marks his second anniversary in the presidential office soon. Before the conference, Yoon will lay out his policy instru

PoliticsMay 6, 2024

‘Children Lunch Set’ illustration display at expo accused of child porn

A display in an illustration fair has stirred up controversy over a possible link to child pornography, triggering a police investigation. Police were dispatched Sunday to Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, where the Illusta Fes subculture illustration fair was taking place, following a report that one of the fair’s booths had illustrations of naked children on display, according to Ilsan Seobu Police Station. The “Children Lunch Set” booth sold sexual illustration products a

Social AffairsMay 6, 2024

Democratic Party angst grows over ‘politically neutral’ Assembly speaker

National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo criticized former Democratic Party of Korea colleagues who said the parliamentary leader does not need to maintain political neutrality. In a radio interview late Sunday, Kim said that the Democratic Party “ought to be ashamed” of its criticisms that he was “not picking a side” as the party pushes for its post-Assembly election agenda. “The speaker of the Assembly remains unaffiliated with any party for a reason. The speaker, wh

PoliticsMay 6, 2024

Speaker floats dual citizenship as solution to falling births

Kim Jin-pyo, the speaker of South Korea’s National Assembly, told a meeting with overseas Koreans in Los Angeles that he would try to push laws to permit multiple citizenships, according to the speaker’s office. “Allowing people to hold multiple citizenships has gained considerable consensus in the Assembly as well as the government,” he said during a meeting with members of organizations representing Koreans in the US at the Intercontinental Hotel in LA on Saturday. He s

PoliticsMay 6, 2024

Medical feud leaves hospitals in financial crisis

As the medical void prolongs in South Korea with doctors continuing their walkout against the government’s medical school expansion plan since February, the number of major general hospitals struggling financially is on the rise. Kyung Hee University Medical Center, which operates seven hospitals including two affiliated Kyung Hee University Hospitals, is considering suspending salary payments and implementing voluntary retirement from next month due to a daily deficit of hundreds of mil

Social AffairsMay 6, 2024

Korean labor force to shrink by 10 million by 2044: report

South Korea's working-age population is projected to shrink by a quarter in the next two decades, a report read Monday, suggesting a grim outlook for Asia's fourth-largest economy, which is struggling to find a breakthrough from its historically low birth rate. The working-age population, which Seoul defines as economically active people aged between 15 and 64, will stand at some 27.17 million by 2044, down by 9.4 million from 36.57 million in 2023, according to a report from the Korea

Social AffairsMay 6, 2024

Students with history of violence will be barred from becoming teachers

High school students who have a history of school violence in high school will be barred from becoming elementary school teachers, as the government takes stronger action against school bullying. According to the college entrance plans for 2026 released by the government Monday, all 10 national universities of education have disqualified high school students with a history of violence from applying. The ban is a follow-up to the comprehensive measure for eradicating school violence announced b

Social AffairsMay 6, 2024

Financing with gender perspective pivotal for equal, just society: UN

Despite notable progress in the recognition of gender equality, women continue to face numerous socioeconomic disparities, including limited access to education, health care and economic opportunities across the world. Such discrimination leads to women suffering higher chances of danger and poverty. Combined with fewer resources and less power, women become the first victims and the last to recover, noted the UN Women Center of Excellence for Gender Equality. To put an end to the vicious cycle,

Social AffairsMay 6, 2024

Govt. asks hospitals to mitigate impact of medical professors' absence

The health ministry has asked hospitals to devise measures to minimize damage to patients from medical professors taking a collective action in support of a walkout by junior doctors protesting the increase in medical school quotas, officials said Monday. The Korean Hospital Association said the government has asked hospital chiefs to take appropriate measures for patients undergoing treatment when medical professors, who are senior doctors, resign or take a leave of absence. Medical professors

Social AffairsMay 6, 2024

Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report

The South Korean government downgraded the COVID-19 crisis level to the lowest level on May 1, but a recent report indicates that the years of the pandemic have nonetheless left a lasting mark on people here in the form of depression. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's report on depression in South Korea, 7.3 percent of the adult population experienced depression in 2023. The study was conducted on 230,000 adults across the country, and defined depression as &quo

Social AffairsMay 5, 2024

Seoul's one-to-one postnatal care helps new moms breastfeed

Seoul’s breastfeeding counselors provided assistance to over 5,000 new mothers in the city within nine months since the launch of the postnatal care program last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday. The free service involves dispatching designated postnatal assistants, totaling 43 at present, to the homes of mothers who have recently given birth to offer personalized sessions and advice. These sessions educate new mothers on proper breastfeeding and breast massage techn

Social AffairsMay 5, 2024

Veterans minister to visit France, Germany this week

Veterans Minister Kang Jung-ai will visit France and Germany this week to strengthen cooperation in veterans affairs with countries that participated in the 1950-53 Korean War, her office said Sunday. Kang departed for France earlier in the day for a seven-day trip that also includes a stop in Germany from Wednesday to Saturday, according to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. In France, she will meet Christian Cambon, a member of the French Senate, to discuss bilateral cooperation on

DefenseMay 5, 2024

Yoon invites kids to Children's Day event

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday invited hundreds of children and parents to Cheong Wa Dae, the former presidential office, to commemorate Children's Day, his office said. Yoon invited around 360 children and their families to the Children's Day event, including those from rural areas and in foster care, as well as children from multicultural families, the presidential office said. "It is always exciting to meet with children," Yoon was quoted as saying by the office. "

PoliticsMay 5, 2024

40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather

Forty flights have been canceled on the southern resort island of Jeju due to adverse weather conditions, officials said Sunday. According to officials from Jeju International Airport, 20 arrivals and 20 departures had been canceled as of noon. Strong wind warnings have been issued for the island, with an advisory for wind shear also in effect at the airport. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) asked air passengers to check their flight schedules in advance as the bad weather is expect

Social AffairsMay 5, 2024

S. Korea to participate in US-led cyber exercise this week

South Korea's Cyber Operations Command will participate in a US-led multinational cyber exercise this week to strengthen its capabilities to counter malicious cyber activities, Seoul's defense ministry said Sunday, amid growing security threats from North Korea. Nine personnel from the South's military will join the Cyber Flag exercise to be held from Sunday through Saturday (local time) in the US state of Virginia, according to the defense ministry. The online exercise is designe

Foreign AffairsMay 5, 2024

Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors

The government appears to have shelved a plan to take punitive measures against a protracted walkout by trainee doctors and have pulled back slightly from its plan to increase medical school admission quotas amid a standoff with major doctors' associations, according to officials Sunday. Still, the doctors' associations remained adamant over the issue and renewed their call for the government to revisit the medical reform from scratch, despite some signs of an internal split. During a

Social AffairsMay 5, 2024

N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel

North Korea on Sunday denounced the United States and other countries for seeking an alternative to the United Nations monitoring panel that enforced sanctions against Pyongyang, saying that such a move will be doomed to face "self-destruction." North Korean Ambassador to the UN Kim Song issued a statement condemning Seoul, Washington, Tokyo and 47 other countries for jointly calling for "objective" and "independent" analysis regarding the enforcement of anti-North

North KoreaMay 5, 2024