Verdict upheld against disclosing names of deadbeat dads

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a guilty sentence for the operator of a website that discloses the names of uncooperative parents refusing to pay child support. The Supreme Court found Koo Bon-chang, 61, who runs the name-and-shame website Bad Fathers, guilty of naming and publicly sharing personal information, such as the name, facial picture, age, residence and workplace, of men and women accused by their former partners or spouses of refusing to pay child support. The court upheld the se

Social AffairsJan. 4, 2024

Child abuse accusations in school plunge after teachers' protests

In the months after the mistreatment of teachers and the protection of their rights became a major social issue in the wake of the suicides of several teachers here, the number of child abuse accusations filed against school staff drastically dropped from before, government data showed Thursday. According to the Ministry of Education on Thursday, there have been 150 cases in which teachers were accused of child abuse in the three months following Sept. 25. That was when the ministry mandated reg

Social AffairsJan. 4, 2024

Opposition leader recovering after Tuesday’s knife attack: surgeon

Main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was on the mend after being stabbed in the neck during his visit to Busan on Tuesday morning, a surgeon who operated on him at Seoul National University Hospital said Thursday. Lee sustained a knife wound on the left side of his neck that was about 1.4 centimeters wide and had surgery to close the wound, according to vascular surgeon Min Seung-kee, who performed the surgery. “About 60 percent of the anterior part of the internal jugular vein was c

Social AffairsJan. 4, 2024

No. of 'daily smokers' plunged over the past decade

The number of South Koreans smoking every day has dropped significantly over the past 10 years, with government statistics showing Thursday that 15.4 percent of the population aged 15 or over were daily smokers as of 2021. The joint study by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines daily smokers as people aged at least 15 years who smoke every day, and have smoked at least 100 cigarettes (five packs) throughout his or her life. The la

Social AffairsJan. 4, 2024

S. Korea, US troops hold joint firing drills near border with N. Korea

South Korea and the United States have staged a joint live-fire exercise near the border with North Korea to bolster their joint combat readiness, the Army said Thursday. South Korea's Capital Mechanized Infantry Division and the US Stryker Brigade Combat Team from the 2nd Infantry Division were mobilized for the drills, which have been under way in the border city of Pocheon, 46 kilometers northeast of Seoul, since Dec. 29. It runs through Friday. The allies' first joint training of t

DefenseJan. 4, 2024

14 injured in 2 pileups on icy bridges in Sejong

Dozens of vehicles collided in two pileups on icy bridges in the central city of Sejong early Thursday, leaving 14 people injured, police said. About 30 vehicles were involved in a pileup that happened on the 925-meter-long Geumbitnoeul Bridge at 5:24 a.m. and left five people injured, while nine were injured in another pileup on the nearby Aramchan Bridge at 6:27 a.m. All 14 sustained light injuries, police said. Officials blamed the accidents on black ice that formed on the bridges. (Yonhap)

Social AffairsJan. 4, 2024

S. Korean envoy voices worries over 'reckless' Houthi rebel attacks in Red Sea

South Korea expressed concerns Wednesday over Iranian-backed Houthi rebels' attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, as it took part in a UN Security Council meeting for the first time since it became a non-permanent member. South Korean Ambassador to the UN Hwang Joon-kook attended the meeting as Seoul chairs a UNSC sanctions committee on Yemen. The meeting came amid tensions caused by the Yemeni militants' repeated attacks in the sea, a crucial shipping lane for oil and other ca

Foreign AffairsJan. 4, 2024

Ex-Secretary Pompeo mentions N. Korea while accusing Biden of 'decay of deterrence'

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has slammed President Joe Biden for causing what he called a "decay of deterrence" as he voiced concerns over a "dangerous" security landscape marked by the authoritarian leaders of North Korea, China and Russia. During an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Pompeo, who served as the top US diplomat under then President Donald Trump from 2018-2021, took a swipe at Biden's foreign policy as Trump is seeking a second White House ter

Foreign AffairsJan. 4, 2024

US says dialogue is 'most preferred route' to achieve peninsula denuclearization amid tough NK rhetoric

The United States on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to diplomacy with North Korea, casting dialogue as the "most preferred route" to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Matthew Miller, the department's spokesperson, made the remarks as North Korea has ratcheted up tensions by hardening its rhetoric against Seoul and Washington and stressing its focus on war preparation efforts. "We would still welcome dialogue with North Korea because we think ultimatel

Foreign AffairsJan. 4, 2024

[Graphic News] A record 46% of newlyweds have no children

The number of newly married couples fell more than 6 percent to come to around 1 million in 2022, and the proportion of the couples having no children reached an all-time high, data showed. The number of newly married couples came to 1.03 million last year, down from the previous year’s 1.1 million, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The newlyweds here refer to couples who tied the knot for the first time in the five years up to November 2022. The figure has shown a downtrend fro

Social AffairsJan. 4, 2024

Arrest warrant sought for suspect in stabbing of opposition leader

  Police sought an arrest warrant Wednesday for the suspect in the stabbing attack against opposition leader Lee Jae-myung, as Lee has remained hospitalized after surgery. The suspect, identified only by his surname Kim, 67, stabbed Lee, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), in the neck while posing as an autograph-seeker Tuesday morning during Lee's visit to the southeastern city of Busan. The attack occurred after Lee toured the construction site of a new airport on B

Social AffairsJan. 3, 2024

FM nominee says to 'unwaveringly' seek gov't compensation plan for forced labor victims

The nominee for foreign minister said he will "unwaveringly" push for the government's plan to compensate Korean victims of Japan's forced labor through a foundation funded by South Korean companies, documents submitted to the National Assembly showed Wednesday. Cho Tae-yul's nomination as South Korea's new top diplomat has drawn attention as Cho has been suspected of involvement in a high-profile judicial power abuse scandal centering on former Supreme Court Ch

Foreign AffairsJan. 3, 2024

Why won't S. Koreans have kids? Costly housing, report says

The biggest factor influencing South Korea's families in deciding whether or not to have children is the cost of housing, a state research institute-issued report published Wednesday shows, in an analysis of various economic and labor factors. Researchers at the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements analyzed the country's birth rate patterns, using data from Statistics Korea, and concluded that declines have been particularly profound during housing cost spikes. They noted tha

Social AffairsJan. 3, 2024

‘Suspicious’ bloody helmet turns out to be rigged evidence at industrial accident site

South Korean prosecutors said Wednesday they recently discovered that an official of a maintenance company had placed a blood-covered safety helmet at the site of an industrial accident in a bid to hide the fact that an employee of the company had been working without proper safety gear. The suspect, a midlevel manager of the company charged with management of an apartment complex in Gyeonggi Province, had been accused of death by negligence in the incident that took place in July of 2022. The e

Social AffairsJan. 3, 2024

Opposition leader attack brings politics to standstill

The stabbing attack of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung has brought the nation’s political circles to a standstill, temporarily suspending a slew of harsh standoffs ahead of the April general elections. Tuesday’s surprise attack has apparently brought a halt to former Democratic Party of Korea leader and ex-Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon’s plans to establish a new political party. The attack took place 100 days before the upcoming April parliamentary elections, with the ruling par

PoliticsJan. 3, 2024

Lee Sun-kyun’s alleged blackmailer accused of child abuse

A local civic group on Wednesday filed a complaint of child abuse against the alleged blackmailer of late actor Lee Sun-kyun, saying that the suspect had mistreated an infant by taking the baby to court. The suspect, recently arrested for extorting 50 million ($38,000) from the world-renowned actor, was seen carrying an unidentified baby when she arrived at Incheon District Court on Dec. 28 for her warrant hearing. "While appearing in court, (the suspect) brought along a child who had no re

Social AffairsJan. 3, 2024

Yoon to replace New Year briefings with debates

President Yoon Suk Yeol will hold a series of policy debates instead of receiving New Year briefings from each ministry, ditching formalities to lay out policy items aimed at improving people's livelihood, his office said Wednesday. The key agendas for Yoon's 2024 policy planning encompass housing, jobs, small- and medium-sized enterprises, public safety, caregiving, public transit, medical reform, media policy, low birth rate and energy. To touch upon these areas, at least 10 sessions

PoliticsJan. 3, 2024

Record-low 1st grade enrollment expected amid waning fertility rates

South Korea is expecting to see record-low numbers of first graders entering elementary school this year due to knock-on effects from the country's falling birth rate. The number of children eligible for enrolling in elementary school nationwide in March was 413,056 as of December, according to the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security on Wednesday. However, only around 90 percent of eligible children are actually expected to enroll in elementary sch

Social AffairsJan. 3, 2024

[Exclusive] Daughter Ju-ae Kim Jong-un’s ‘most likely successor’: Seoul spy service

South Korea’s spy agency sees North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s only publicly known child Ju-ae as his “most likely successor,” according to its latest analysis. According to a National Intelligence Service report seen by The Korea Herald, the spy service in Seoul believes Ju-ae is most likely to succeed her father as North Korea’s leader, based on her public appearances and reception. The NIS said in the analysis that besides Ju-ae, who was born in 2013, Kim has an

PoliticsJan. 3, 2024

Hospital visits for self-harm stay high despite fall in suicides

Despite an overall decline in the number of suicides in South Korea, more than 43,000 people visited emergency rooms nationwide in 2022 for reasons related to suicide attempts and self-harm, a report showed Wednesday. Out of 7.7 million emergency room visits recorded nationwide in 2022, 43,269 were related to self-harm and suicide attempts, according to a report published by the National Medical Center and the National Emergency Medical Center. The figure represented a slight increase from 42,96

Social AffairsJan. 3, 2024