Twins, Bears to move to Olympic Stadium

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Tuesday that the Seoul Olympic Main Stadium would serve as a temporary baseball venue for the next five years as construction is set to begin on the new Jamsil Dome Stadium. The arrangement is part of a broader urban development plan unveiled in September 2023, which includes the construction of the Jamsil Sports MICE Complex in southeastern Seoul. The project will expand the city's capacity for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (M

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2024

Central Asian envoys mark travel book publication

The ambassadors of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and the Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat marked the publication of a travel book titled "Central Asia 3 Countries" on July 2. Authored by Seo Byung-yong and Go Soo-youl, the book comprehensively introduces Islamic architecture, the Silk Road and popular dishes like plov and lagman to Korean travelers. It also provides lists of must-buy items and specialized itineraries, including a travel course for women traveling a

Foreign AffairsJuly 9, 2024

[Hello India] India highlights growing defense industry

The Indian Embassy in Seoul highlighted the country’s growing defense sector at a seminar held Thursday to explore defense industry cooperation between the two countries. Indian Ambassador to South Korea Amit Kumar said there has been a steady increase in defense cooperation and such bilateral exchange will be expanded under the common goal of securing peace in the region. At the 10th ROK-India Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) in March 2024, India and Korea committed to advancing the second

Foreign AffairsJuly 9, 2024

Yoon again vetoes special probe bill over Marine's death

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday again vetoed the Democratic Party of Korea-led bill to launch a special counsel to investigate allegations that the Yoon administration, including the president himself, exerted external pressure on an internal military probe into the death of young Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun in July 2023. Yoon's veto is his 15th since his inauguration in May 2022, as he has exercised his constitutional power to block the passage of bills pushed by the opposition parties who

PoliticsJuly 9, 2024

Suicide prevention education mandated

Starting on Friday, suicide prevention education in schools, workplaces, public institutions and hospitals will be made mandatory once a year as part of the country's efforts to tackle the devastating suicide rates and increase help-seeking behaviors for those struggling, the Health Ministry said Tuesday. The strengthened suicide awareness and prevention training comes after the Cabinet on Tuesday approved a partial amendment to the Act on the Prevention of Suicide and the Creation of Cultu

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2024

Injunction to keep Korea's only Go department rejected

The Seoul High Court recently turned down an injunction filed by professors and students at South Korea's only university teaching Go, calling for the suspension of the decision to shut down the department, according to legal professionals on Tuesday. The court ruled that students planning or preparing to enroll in the major faced an unexpected situation following the department's decision to close. However, the court also pointed out that upholding the injunction to halt the closure w

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2024

Of the emergency patients being turned away by hospitals, 40% were due to doctor shortage

Of cases in which hospitals refused to take emergency patients, 41.9 percent occurred because the hospital lacked the necessary medical staff to take care of the patient, fire agency data has shown. From 2023 to June of 2024, there were 4,227 cases across the country in which a hospital refused to admit an emergency patient taken there by ambulance, according to the National Fire Agency data provided to the Rep. Kim Sun-min of the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party. Of those cases, 1,771

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2024

Pregnant woman injured in road rage attack

A man in his 50s is being investigated by local police on suspicion of deliberately driving his car into another vehicle, injuring a pregnant woman, who was a passenger in the other car at the time. According to the Hwaseong Seobu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, the driver ran his car into the side of another car Saturday. The other driver's pregnant wife and two young children, aged 3 and 4, were in the vehicle at the time. The female victim, who was 24 weeks pregnant at the time, fel

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2024

Man kills mother, who he did not believe was his biological mom

The South Korean prosecutors said Monday it has indicted a man in his 30s for killing his own mother in her sleep. The Daegu District Prosecutors' Office pressed the matricide charges against the suspect, who has intellectual disabilities. He is accused of killing the victim at 4 p.m. on June 10, while she was sleeping at a restaurant she owned in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province. The suspect told the investigators he committed the crime because of a grudge for his mother repeatedly repr

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2024

Govt. to cut trainee doctor quota unless hospitals accept resignations by next Monday

The government has notified hospitals that it will reduce next year's quota of trainee doctors unless they accept their resignations by next week, according to officials and the medical community Tuesday. The move is seen as a measure to put pressure on trainee doctors, who have left their worksites since late February in protest of the medical reform, to return to hospitals. The notice was sent to training hospitals Monday, when the government announced a decision to withdraw its plan to t

Social AffairsJuly 9, 2024

Cabinet again passes motion requesting reconsideration of bill on special probe into Marine's death

The Cabinet again passed a motion Tuesday demanding the National Assembly reconsider a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into the military's response to a Marine's death, the second time it did so in less than two months. The bill calls for the appointment of a special counsel to look into allegations the presidential office and the defense ministry inappropriately interfered in the military's investigation into the death of Cpl. Chae Su-geun, who was killed during a search mission

PoliticsJuly 9, 2024

Yoon arrives in Hawaii to begin US trip focused on security

President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in Hawaii on Monday to kick off his trip to the United States focused on bolstering South Korea's security against North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats. Yoon will stay in Honolulu for two days ahead of his visit to Washington, DC, to attend a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit Wednesday and Thursday. Upon arrival, Yoon and first lady Kim Keon Hee visited the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and laid wreaths in honor of veter

Foreign AffairsJuly 9, 2024

NATO is 'not expanding' into Indo-Pacific: US official

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is not expanding into the Indo-Pacific, but it has a "wide" opportunity for greater cooperation with South Korea and other regional partners, a senior US official said Monday. Ambassador Michael Carpenter, senior advisor for Europe at the White House National Security Council, made the remarks as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and the leaders of Japan, Australia and New Zealand have been invited to the NATO summit set to take place in Washin

Foreign AffairsJuly 9, 2024

Egypt marks 72nd National Day in Seoul

The Egyptian embassy in Seoul celebrated the country’s 72nd National Day on Friday, commemorating the 1952 Egyptian Revolution that reestablished the country as a modern republic. Celebrating the day which falls on July 23, Egyptian Ambassador to Korea Khaled Abdel Rahman emphasized the potential for synergy between Cairo and Seoul, highlighting the opportunities for collaboration across political, economic and cultural domains, promoting mutual benefits and cooperation. "Together we

Foreign AffairsJuly 8, 2024

Oman participates Seoul book fair as country in spotlight

Oman was the "Spotlight Country" at the Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF) held from June 25-30. The event coincided with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Oman and Korea. Delivering remarks at the event, Omani Ambassador Zakariya Hamed Hilal Al Saadi highlighted the publication of the book "Oman: A Long History of Friendship and Cooperation with Korea," by Lee Hee-soo. The book, written in both Korean and Arabic, underlines Oman-Korea cultural exchanges

Foreign AffairsJuly 8, 2024

S. Korea, US to hold 5th round of defense cost-sharing talks this week

South Korea and the United States will hold their fifth round of negotiations this week on sharing the costs for stationing the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea (USFK), the foreign ministry said Monday. The latest round of talks on the Special Measures Agreement will take place in Seoul from Wednesday to Friday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fourth round of talks was held in late June. The allies launched the negotiations in April, earlier than expected, amid speculation that Se

DefenseJuly 8, 2024

Seoul cancels administrative actions against protesting junior doctors

Five months after protesting junior doctors tendered their resignations en masse despite stern legal warnings from the government, the Health Ministry said Monday it would scrap all administrative actions imposed on intern and resident doctors, in a move seen as an effort to convince protesting doctors to resume their training and end disruptions to the nation's medical service. Describing the appeasement step as a "last resort" for the government to address the medical standoff a

Social AffairsJuly 8, 2024

[Herald Interview] Korea’s 1st American Korean lawmaker eyes key role in immigration policy

A loud, booming voice bellowed throughout the room in the National Assembly members’ office building in western Seoul. As he spoke with The Korea Herald, switching between fluent English and Korean, Rep. Ihn Yohan of the ruling People Power Party pointed to a Hanja idiom framed and hung on the wall of his office that translates as: “There is no place where more milk and honey flows than Suncheon.” The city of Suncheon, the largest in South Jeolla Province, holds a special place

PoliticsJuly 8, 2024

Police clears ex-division commander of negligent homicide over Marine's death

The police said on Monday they have decided to clear a former 1st Division Commander Lim Seong-geun of negligent homicide charges related to the death of a Marine conscript during a search operation in a stream following torrential rains last summer. Concluding its year-long investigation, the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency forwarded six others to the prosecution for indictment, saying that Lim was excluded because he had not been in a position to issue a direct "underwater search order

Social AffairsJuly 8, 2024

Oceans Ministry stopped mentioning Dokdo in reports to president: lawmaker

An opposition lawmaker on Monday accused the incumbent Yoon Suk Yeol administration of "giving up trying to defend Dokdo as Korean territory," given that the Oceans' Ministry's reports to the president have never mentioned the island since Yoon took office in 2022. Rep. Lim Mi-ae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said that the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries report she recently acquired shows that the Dokdo Islets are not mentioned once in the reports submitte

Social AffairsJuly 8, 2024