Will tug-of-war between doctors, government end soon?

The Korean government on Thursday broke its silence on its medical student quota expansion plan after over a week of maintaining a low profile following the ruling party's major election defeat, stoking hopes that it could possibly end the monthslong tug-of-war with the medical circle. The government announced plans to resume Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meetings involving officials from related ministries and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, as well as to brief repo

Social AffairsApril 18, 2024

Rolex thief claims to be have ‘too low an IQ’ to know better

Three South Korean men under trial for stealing an expensive watch have pleaded for leniency, with one of the defendants claiming to have too low an IQ to have had a clear idea of what he was getting himself into. Jeju District Court on Wednesday held a hearing on a 19-year-old man who stole a Rolex watch worth about 19 million won ($13,800) in Jeju city, along with his two accomplices, both aged 20. The suspects were caught while trying to sell the watch at a pawn shop in another part of the ci

Social AffairsApril 18, 2024

Man jailed for making it rain with fake money

A court recently handed down a two-year prison sentence for a South Korean man for photocopying hundreds of counterfeit banknotes and gift certificates and scattering them through the window of his apartment building. The 43-year-old suspect surnamed Jo has been found guilty on charges including counterfeiting currency, counterfeiting valuable securities and defamation by the Seoul Northern District Court. "The nature of the crime is severe, in that (the defendant) infringed upon the credib

Social AffairsApril 18, 2024

5.1 % of Korean population registered as disabled in 2023: report

More than 2.64 million South Koreans, comprising 5.1 percent of the country's total population, were registered as disabled persons in 2023, according to annual statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Thursday. Most of the disabled population were also aged 65 and above, making up more than half of the total, the ministry said in the report. The proportion of those with disabilities aged 65 and above has increased annually, with 41.4 percent in 2014, 49.9 percent in 202

Social AffairsApril 18, 2024

Board to discuss possible parole of president's mother-in-law

The Ministry of Justice is set to conduct a parole review next week, with President Yoon Suk Yeol's mother-in-law expected to be included among those up for consideration, local media outlets reported Thursday. The ministry is slated to hold a monthly session of the Probation and Parole Board next Tuesday, according to reports citing legal sources. Among the inmates undergoing the review will be Choi Eun-soon, the 77-year-old mother of first lady Kim Keon Hee. Choi has been incarcerated at

Social AffairsApril 18, 2024

Fugitive facing W3b fraud charges extradited from Kuwait after 12 years

A South Korean man has been extradited home from Kuwait this week, 12 years after he fled to the Middle Eastern nation to avoid arrest on charges of fraud amounting to some 3 billion won ($2.17 million), officials said Thursday. The suspect, 58, was brought home through Incheon International Airport on Wednesday afternoon to face charges that he defrauded the victim after fabricating a company document ordering construction materials in May 2011, according to police. After he fled to Kuwait in S

Social AffairsApril 18, 2024

S. Korea to build F-35 maintenance facility at Cheongju Air Base

South Korea will build its own maintenance facility for its F-35A stealth jets by 2027, a move that would enhance operational efficiency and reduce costs, the state arms procurement agency said Thursday. South Korea's Air Force operates a fleet of 39 F-35As at an air base in Cheongju, 112 kilometers south of Seoul, after one jet retired last year due to damage from a bird strike. In December, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration signed a letter of acceptance with the US government

DefenseApril 18, 2024

Vice FM visits Mauritius to seek support for South Korea-Africa summit

First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun has visited Mauritius as a special envoy for an upcoming summit with African nations, his office said Thursday. Kim paid a courtesy call on Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth on Wednesday and discussed cooperation in the areas of infrastructure and high-level exchanges, according to the ministry. He asked for Mauritius's support and attendance at the South Korea-Africa summit, to be held on June 4-5 in Seoul, saying the meeting will ser

Foreign AffairsApril 18, 2024

S. Korean envoy discusses upcoming Africa summit, climate change with Algerian officials

South Korea's envoy for climate met with top government officials in Algeria earlier this week and discussed an upcoming summit with African nations and other environmental issues, the foreign ministry said Thursday. Kim Hyo-eun, ambassador and deputy foreign minister on climate change, met with Lounes Magramane, the secretary general of Algeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, on Wednesday. Kim invited Algeria to the South Korea-Africa summit, set for June

Foreign AffairsApril 18, 2024

Senior trade officials from S. Korea, US discuss 3-way talks with Japan

Senior trade officials from South Korea and the United States discussed preparations for the upcoming three-way talks of industry chiefs with Japan, Seoul's industry ministry said Thursday. The discussion was made as Deputy Minister for Trade Yang Byeong-nae met with officials from the US Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative during his three-day visit to Washington this week, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Seoul and Washington also d

Foreign AffairsApril 18, 2024

S. Korean parliamentary chief calls for stronger S. Korea-US efforts to address NK threats

South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo stressed the need Wednesday to beef up joint deterrence efforts by Seoul and Washington to address evolving North Korean military capabilities, which he said pose a "direct" threat to the continental United States. Kim made the remarks during a forum hosted by the Institute for Korean Studies at George Washington University, urging Pyongyang to cease its nuclear threats and return to the "path of denuclearization." &quo

North KoreaApril 18, 2024

[Graphic News] More Koreans say they plan long-distance trips this year

Long-distance travel will be more active this year than before, and many will leave for North America or Europe. A local online tourist agency, yeogi.com, surveyed its 233 mobile app users in March, and 62.2 percent of respondents said they are planning long-distance travel to destinations including the US, Canada, France and the UK. These results show a change from recent preferences for short trips to countries nearby such as Japan and Vietnam. North America was named the most preferred dest

Social AffairsApril 18, 2024

K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room

The manager of a K-pop boy band was dismissed on suspicion of installing a hidden camera in a theater dressing room, the band’s label WM Entertainment announced Wednesday. The camera was reportedly spotted by an actor who was starring in the musical “Next to Normal,” in a dressing room located on the sixth floor of the Kwanglim Art Center in southern Seoul on April 9. The actor immediately reported the camera to the police. According to local media reports, the dismissed employ

Social AffairsApril 17, 2024

President of Equatorial Guinea to attend 1st Korea-Africa summit

The President of Equatorial Guinea will attend the first-ever South Korea-Africa summit from June 4 to 5, acknowledging the commitment of the Yoon Suk Yeol government to strengthening cooperation with African countries, the Foreign Ministry in Seoul announced Wednesday. The announcement followed talks between South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and his Equatorial Guinean counterpart Simeon Oyono Esono Angue in Seoul on the same day. "Both sides engaged in discussions on matters of mut

Foreign AffairsApril 17, 2024

Democratic Party of Korea pushes universal cash subsidies to ‘save economy’

The Democratic Party of Korea on Wednesday proposed doling out monetary subsidies of some 14 trillion won ($10.1 billion) in total to boost consumption, reiterating the party’s key general election pledge. During a leadership meeting, the Democratic Party’s leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung said his party would put forward an official proposal for adopting what he called “emergency measures” to “restore livelihoods and save the economy.” Making a case for universal ca

PoliticsApril 17, 2024

Russia, China efforts won't halt new NK sanctions monitoring: US envoy

The United States and its allied countries will ultimately develop an alternative mechanism to replace the soon-to-be-dissolved UN panel of experts tasked with monitoring sanctions on North Korea, said the US ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday in response to Russia's recent exercise of veto rights on the matter at the UN Security Council. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield highlighted that the initiative will proceed independently, regardless of the cooperation and agreement of C

Foreign AffairsApril 17, 2024

1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse

Amid rapid aging and an increasing number of young people choosing to hold off on marriage, the proportion of one-person households in South Korea increased last year to 33.4 percent, data from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family showed Wednesday. According to the ministry's factual survey of families based on 12,044 households in the country, the number of single-person households nearly doubled in 10 years. The group which accounted for 15.8 percent in 2010 grew to 30.4 percent i

Social AffairsApril 17, 2024

Yoon's office denies considering liberal figures for key posts

The presidential office on Wednesday denied rumors that President Yoon Suk Yeol, in his search for candidates for a new prime minister and key aides, reached out to liberal figures who formerly worked for his predecessor Moon Jae-in. The presidential office "has not considered any plans to hire former SMEs and Startups Minister Park Young-sun or Yang Jung-chul, former head of the Institute for Democracy," it said in a statement Wednesday. The Institute for Democracy is the main opposit

PoliticsApril 17, 2024

Korean Muslim YouTuber's plan to build mosque in Incheon goes viral

South Korean Muslim YouTuber Daud Kim has again become the subject of media attention, after he announced on his channel that he would build a mosque on land he had purchased in Incheon. Kim, a content creator in his 30s with more than 5.52 million YouTube subscribers, posts videos in English about living as a Muslim in Korea. He gained a lot of followers overseas after publicly announcing on YouTube his conversion to Islam from Christianity in September 2019. In August 2020, he generated contro

Social AffairsApril 17, 2024

[Herald Interview] Government to support firms in reducing carbon emissions

Kim Sang-hyup, co-chair of the Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth, said that the environmental crisis caused by climate change is “not something to consider for the distant future, but a current matter of survival for everyone.” During an interview with Herald Business and The Korea Herald on Mar. 28, Kim mentioned that extreme weather events have recently become more frequent and that climate change has seriously affected people’s daily lives and the

Social AffairsApril 17, 2024