[Campus Now] Seoul vs. the rest: University pyramid crumbling at the bottom

“I would rather give up another year of my youth studying and trying again if I don’t make it ‘in-Seoul.'” Kim Tae-yoo, is set to graduate high school in just a month, but he says he would rather endure another year of studying if he is not accepted to a Seoul university. Koreans divide the country's 335 colleges in two: those "in-Seoul," and the rest. “Going to university outside of Seoul has never been an option. Even if the schools in other pr

Social AffairsJan. 22, 2024

Asking about applicant's disability during hiring process discriminatory: Supreme Court

South Korea's Supreme Court on Monday confirmed a lower court ruling that asking person with a disability if that disability made them "extra sleepy" is an act of discrimination. In a recently-confirmed ruling, the Supreme Court stated that the plaintiff had been discriminated against by the Hwaseong city government by being asked if his mental disability, or the medication he takes because of it, makes him particularly prone to sleepiness. The plaintiff applied in 2020 for a grad

Social AffairsJan. 22, 2024

Every baby in 2024 comes with W29.6m cash support

With the South Korean government's drive to combat the low birth rate, financial incentives for childbearing and rearing have expanded this year. For a baby born in 2024, a single child can benefit from a total of 29.6 million won ($22,100) in cash support over the course of eight years from the moment of birth, according to the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy. The cash aid, dubbed "First Encounter Vouchers," provides a lump sum of 2 million won to th

Social AffairsJan. 22, 2024

Buoyed by high citizen support, Yongin mayor eyes next level

Lee Sang-il was elected mayor of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, in July 2022, and has demonstrated several achievements that earned him the nickname, “President of Yongin,” according to observers and insiders. While South Korea is divided into central and local governments, Lee excelled across all categories in terms of his authority, personal connections and performance results, insiders said, quoting Lee's office. Korea designates cities with a population of 1 million or more as s

Social AffairsJan. 22, 2024

[Herald Interview] Yongin aims to become special city of semiconductors

Out of the many policies the city of Yongin announced last year, the news about the city’s semiconductor cluster being selected as a specialized complex by the government was selected as Yongin’s top news report of 2023 among citizens, city government officials and reporters based in the city. In a survey conducted by Yongin Special City, 12,140 survey respondents chose the top five best news reports about the city’s policies out of 26 reports that were selected previously by t

Social AffairsJan. 22, 2024

Han refuses presidential office's request to resign

People Power Party interim Chair Han Dong-hoon said Monday he had rejected the presidential office’s request that he step down from his current leadership position, in a surprising turn of events ahead of April's general election. “I’m not going to make an assessment on the matter,” Han told a group of reporters, who asked about the resignation request and the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s involvement in the ruling party’s affairs as he entered th

PoliticsJan. 22, 2024

Barefoot hero helps save 95 in apartment fire: report

A 23-year-old South Korean man alerted his neighbors in an apartment fire in Seoul last week, helping all 95 residents to escape to safety, local media reported Monday. On Thursday a fire broke out on the 14th floor of an apartment building in Banghwa-dong of Gangseo-gu, western Seoul, at 6:30 a.m., with no casualties except four minor cases of smoke inhalation. A report from local daily Dong-A Ilbo revealed that this was thanks to heroic efforts by a resident named Woo Il-yeong. According to th

Social AffairsJan. 22, 2024

After couple's fight led to deadly highway accident, boyfriend cleared of charges

A Gwangju court acquitted a 30-year-old South Korean man for the death of his girlfriend, who had tried to cross a highway while drunk after their argument, officials said Monday. Gwangju District Court recently ruled the defendant not guilty of death by negligence charges, regarding the November 2022 death of his girlfriend. The victim and the defendant had gotten into an argument, which included a physical altercation, on the side of the Honam Expressway connecting South Jeolla and South Chung

Social AffairsJan. 22, 2024

Parties recruit ex-presidents of Samsung, Hyundai Motor

The ruling People Power Party on Monday recruited Koh Dong-jin, a former president of Samsung Electronics who was considered to be the driving force behind the launch of the Galaxy range of mobile devices. On the same day, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea brought in Kong Young-woon, a former president of Hyundai Motor dedicated to the company's strategy planning and communications. Both figures, who formerly represented South Korea's largest business conglomerates, are lik

PoliticsJan. 22, 2024

Which item is lost the most among train users?

Train users are most prone to forgetting their bags on trains or at train stations, data showed on Monday. According to state-run railway operator Korea Railroad Corp., the total number of lost items found on trains and at train stations nationwide reached 247,225 last year, marking an on-year increase of 51.9 percent. The translates to an average of 677 lost belongings daily. Breaking down the list of lost property, bags topped the list, accounting for about 15 percent of the total, followed by

Social AffairsJan. 22, 2024

Survivor of torpedoed corvette takes helm of reincarnated ROKS Cheonan frigate

A Navy officer who survived North Korea's 2010 sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan took the helm of a new frigate named after the ill-fated corvette, the Navy said Monday. The FFG-826 Daegu-class frigate was named after the ROKS Cheonan, which sank in the Yellow Sea after the North Korean torpedo attack in March 2010, killing 46 sailors. Commander Park Yeon-soo, who served as the operations officer on the Cheonan, became the commanding officer of the ROKS Cheonan frigate during an i

DefenseJan. 22, 2024

Drunk woman jumps on metro track, hit by train

South Korean police said Monday that a woman in her 20s was hit by a metro train, breaking her leg, after jumping onto the tracks at Hannam Station in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The woman, who was reportedly drunk at the time, climbed over a fence erected around the station and ran toward the platform at around 11:50 p.m., in what officials presume was an attempt to catch the Gyeongui–Jungang Line train. She was hit by the arriving train and fractured her leg, so was taken to a nearby hospital for

Social AffairsJan. 22, 2024

S. Korea, US discuss bolstering cooperation in US arms maintenance

South Korea and the United States have discussed ways to expand the participation of South Korean companies in the maintenance of US military equipment in the Indo-Pacific region, the defense ministry said Monday. Lee Gap-su, head of the ministry's logistics management bureau, held a meeting with Christopher J. Lowman, US assistant secretary of defense for sustainment, on the sidelines of a Pentagon-hosted workshop on the arms industry and logistics support held in Hawaii on Thursday and Fr

Foreign AffairsJan. 22, 2024

Yoon to skip public debate amid clash between presidential office, ruling party chief

President Yoon Suk Yeol skipped a government-public debate scheduled for Monday, triggering speculation as to whether the decision was related to a clash between the presidential office and the ruling party chief. The presidential office sent a notice to reporters half an hour before the start of the debate that Yoon had no events on his public schedule for the day. The debate was the fifth in a series of sessions on people's livelihood issues and Yoon had led all previous sessions. Monday&

PoliticsJan. 22, 2024

N. Korea defends its stepped-up military measures at intl. forum

North Korea has defended its measures to bolster military capabilities as a just exercise of the sovereign right against Washington-led military confrontations at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Uganda, state media reported Monday. North Korea claimed it has recently conducted a test of an underwater nuclear attack drone, named the Haeil-5-23, in the East Sea in response to the latest joint naval drills involving South Korea, the United States and Japan. The drills came after North Korea'

North KoreaJan. 22, 2024

[Graphic News] 2023 warmest year of all time for S. Korea

The year 2023 was the warmest year of all time for South Korea, as global warming heated up the Korean Peninsula to reach an average temperature of 13.7 degrees Celsius last year, the state weather agency said. It marks the highest annual mean temperature since 1973, the year considered the starting point for weather records in South Korea when the country’s meteorological networks were significantly beefed up, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. Last year’s tempera

Social AffairsJan. 22, 2024

[Newsmaker] Government neglect of single moms sends babies abroad despite S. Korea's low birth rate

Born as Yoon-hwa in South Korea in 1974, she became Petra Zwart of the Netherlands at the age of 1. Her adoptive Dutch family provided a warm and welcoming home to both Zwart and her biological brother, who was adopted at age 5. Even so, Zwart recalls finding it difficult to fit in as a child, due to her East Asian appearance being different, "like an ugly duckling." She and her brother were among the nearly 170,000 babies that Korea has sent overseas for adoption since 1953. Despite

Social AffairsJan. 21, 2024

Korea braces for cold snap as weather agency issues warnings

South Korea is bracing for a cold snap this week, with weather forecasts predicting a sharp plunge in temperatures. A cold wave advisory will take effect in central and northern areas including Incheon, Gyeonggi Province, and parts of Gangwon Province at 9 p.m. Sunday, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. A cold wave advisory is issued when the lowest morning temperature is expected to fall below minus 12 degrees Celsius for more than two consecutive days, or when the temperatur

Social AffairsJan. 21, 2024

Seoul dismisses North Korea’s claims of undersea nuclear weapons test

The South Korean presidential office on Sunday said North Korea’s claims of having carried out a test of an underwater nuclear weapons system were probably overstated. In a primary analysis on North Korea’s announcement on Friday, an official with the presidential office in Seoul said that the purported test was “likely to be exaggerated and fabricated.” The development of an underwater nuclear-based weapons system is one of the key tasks outlined in North Korea’s f

DefenseJan. 21, 2024

Wife sentenced to 10 years in prison after killing husband for having an affair

A 58-year-old woman was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for the murder of her husband and the attempted murder of his extramarital partner. The trial was presided over by Judge Eo Jae-won in the 12th division of the Daegu District Court. The convict was found guilty of the premeditated murder of her husband (58), whom she stabbed several times as he was sitting in a massage chair at 10:45 p.m. on July 8. At 9:50 a.m. the next day, the woman stabbed her husband’s mistress (53),

Social AffairsJan. 21, 2024