Korea's best hospitals skewed in central region: report

Several hospitals in South Korea made their way into a list of "best hospitals" around the world, all but one of which were located in the Greater Seoul region, drawing a contrast to several prestigious hospitals in Japan which were located in non-central areas. According to the list compiled by Newsweek, a global media organization, in partnership with Statista, 17 Korean hospitals were ranked in the top 250 hospitals worldwide. Among them, only one hospital came from outside the capi

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2024

Disgraced ex-minister meets opposition leader amid talk of alliance

Main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday met former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, who recently launched a political party of his own, exhibiting the possibility of an alliance. The meeting follows Cho’s move to launch the National Innovation Party on Sunday against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration ahead of the upcoming general election, which some critics say is an attempt to avoid jail time. The Seoul High Court in early February decided to uphold a lower court ruling to sentence the 5

PoliticsMarch 5, 2024

Busan firefighters praised for saving premature baby

A rescue team is receiving praise after footage of them saving a premature baby went viral. The Gijang Fire Station in Gijang-gun, Busan, heralded five members of the Jeonggwan 119 Safety Center for successfully rescuing a premature baby on Friday. In the footage, the rescuers can be seen calling the baby, "Bboong-bboong," the nickname her parents gave her before birth, and gently encouraging her to keep her eyes open as they try to keep her conscious on the way to the hospital. The

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2024

Yoon to expand state-backed college student aid

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday announced plans to expand state-backed scholarship programs to woo South Korea's young generation. Yoon told some 460 participants in a policy debate held in the city of Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, that the government "has the responsibility to help the talented young generation live up to their capacity." Yoon said the number of students eligible to get state-sponsored scholarships, provided by the state-run Korea Student Aid Foundation, wil

PoliticsMarch 5, 2024

Allies aim to wrap up talks on defense costs before US election

South Korea and the United States on Tuesday appointed veteran diplomats as their chief delegates for upcoming negotiations on the next defense-cost sharing agreement, clearly signaling an early initiation of the talks. The move stands out as it precedes the expiration of the current agreement by almost two years, scheduled to end in 2025, and gains significance in light of the looming US presidential election. Lee Tae-woo, a seasoned diplomat with a career at the Foreign Ministry since 1996, br

Foreign AffairsMarch 5, 2024

Med schools demand over 3,400 new student seats despite protests

South Korea’s 40 medical schools have collectively requested an increase in the annual student quota by 3,401 starting in 2025, defying doctors’ calls to resist the government’s plan to expand the quota by 2,000 a year. The figure, 1.7 times higher than the planned increase of 2,000 students, is expected to bolster the government’s quota expansion push, which has been encountering strong opposition from doctors, medical students and professors who walked out of hospitals

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2024

Ministry to consider legal action against junior doctors leading protest

The Health Ministry on Tuesday said it was considering filing criminal complaints with the police against the trainee doctors who are leading the protest against the government's plan to expand the annual medical school student quota. “We are considering filing police complaints on the trainee doctors who led the walkouts,” said Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo. “Details as to when the police complaints will be filed and who it will be filed against will be decided

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2024

Police to deploy deepfake detection system

The Korean National Police Agency said Tuesday it had developed deepfake detection software to probe crimes using the technology. Deepfakes, videos altered with AI to produce lifelike videos of things that did not happen, often depicting well-known public figures, have become a concern for authorities ahead of the upcoming general elections in April. A revision to the Public Official Election Act in December banned the use of fake content such as videos and images in election campaigns. Accordin

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2024

S. Korea sees 26% increase in reports of financial crimes

The state-run financial watchdog said Tuesday that 2023 saw 13,751 citizen reports of damages caused by financial crimes, up 26 percent from 10,913 recorded the year before. The overwhelming majority of the cases, 12,844, were related to illegal private loans, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. The figure also marked a 24.5 percent increase from 10,350 reported the year before. Others included reports related to the illegal seizure of property of the debtor, which also jumped from 1

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2024

Aging Korea needs foreign caregivers: report

South Korea should come up with various measures to attract foreign nationals to work here as care workers, as the country faces a shortage in the sector to care for its rapidly aging society, a report by the Bank of Korea argued, Tuesday. The cost of hiring a care worker at a nursing home or other facilities was estimated at 3.7 million won ($2,775) per month as of last year, according to the report titled “Measures to alleviate the care service labor shortage and cost burden” relea

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2024

[Hello India] Indian FM visits Seoul to boost ties with S. Korea

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Seoul to boost bilateral ties on Tuesday. The visit comes as part of 10th India-Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM), to be co-chaired alongside his Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul on Wednesday. According to the Indian Embassy in Seoul, the India-Korea Special Strategic Partnership spans various sectors such as trade, investments, defense, education, science and technology, and culture. India and South Korea established their diplomatic rela

Foreign AffairsMarch 5, 2024

Possible ease of ban on marriages between distant blood relatives sparks backlash

As the South Korean government mulls easing a ban on consanguineous marriages, a local authority on the country's traditional rites on Tuesday voiced its strong opposition against what they say is "an act of destroying the concept of family." The Sungkyunkwan Confucian Association, which provides guidelines for the country's traditional rituals, said it commenced one-person protests against the move outside of the government complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday.

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2024

UK Embassy launches first-ever 'Green Week' in Seoul

The UK Embassy in Seoul launched its first-ever "Green Week" event Monday, covering a range of environmental topics to enhance Korean-UK cooperation in combating the climate crisis, according to the embassy. The inaugural event, which ends Friday, comes on the heels of the Downing Street Accord signed by the leaders of South Korea and the UK last November. The agreement underscores the commitment of both countries to collaborate in accelerating the green transition and combating climat

Foreign AffairsMarch 5, 2024

'You can't catch my sports car': Police use 22 patrol cars to catch drunk driver

South Korean police on Tuesday said they were seeking charges against a driver who drunkenly called police and mocked them by saying he "won't get caught because my car is a sports car." Yuseong Police Station in Daejeon, some 140 kilometers south of Seoul, said it was had filed for charges of obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means, driving under the influence of alcohol, and driving without a license. According to officials, the suspected called the 112 emergency serv

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2024

US warship enters naval base in Jeju for replenishment purpose

A US Navy destroyer arrived at a naval base on the southern island of Jeju on Tuesday for a replenishment purpose, the South Korean Navy said. The USS Higgins Arleigh Burke-class destroyer entered the base to replenish supplies and for crewmembers' rest, a day after South Korea and the United States began their annual combined Freedom Shield exercise for an 11-day run. A South Korean Navy official said the warship's arrival is unrelated to the exercise and there are no plans for joint

DefenseMarch 5, 2024

Science ministry to invest W730.8b in software industry

The science ministry said Tuesday it will allocate 730.8 billion won ($548.7 million) this year to bolster the local software industry, with a particular focus on the software as a service sector, as part of its effort to enhance South Korea's digital innovation. Second Vice Science Minister Kang Do-hyun announced the investment plan during his first on-site meeting with software companies since his appointment last month. The ministry said the country should strengthen its competitiveness

Social AffairsMarch 5, 2024

Ex-consul general in Sydney named chief negotiator for defense cost sharing with US

A senior South Korean diplomat who previously served as the consul general in Sydney has been named to lead the negotiations with the United States on the sharing of costs for the upkeep of US troops here, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Lee Tae-woo will head the upcoming rounds of the talks on the 12th Special Measures Agreement, the ministry said, without specifying when the initial negotiations will be launched. The career diplomat has the experience and expertise in various fields of the

PoliticsMarch 5, 2024

USFK F-16 fighter jets join multinational drills in Thailand

A group of F-16 fighter jets operated by the US Forces Korea departed South Korea last month to join a multinational exercise in Thailand, the aircraft's unit has said. The unspecified number of F-16s assigned to the US 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan Air Base in Gunsan, 178 kilometers south of Seoul, left the country on Feb. 22 to take part in the annual Cobra Gold exercise, the unit recently said. The exercise led by the United States and Thailand began last Tuesday and is set to end later thi

DefenseMarch 5, 2024

UN chief appoints new resident coordinator for N. Korea

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has appointed a new UN resident coordinator for North Korea in a personnel decision confirmed by the reclusive regime, his spokesperson said Monday. Joe Colombano of Italy assumed his role on Friday, Stephane Dujarric said, in a development that raised hopes for Pyongyang to allow the entry of other personnel from key UN agencies, such as the World Health Organization and the UN Development Program. There has been no presence of international UN staff in the

Foreign AffairsMarch 5, 2024

N. Korea warns US-S. Korea to pay 'dear price' for joint military drills

North Korea on Tuesday denounced an annual joint military exercise that South Korea and the United States launched this week, warning they will pay a "dear price" for what it called their large-scale war drills. An unnamed spokesperson at the North's defense ministry issued a statement condemning the annual Freedom Shield exercise that began Monday for an 11-day run to strengthen deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. "The large-scale war drills st

North KoreaMarch 5, 2024