Marriages between Korean men, Japanese women soar

As seen on popular YouTube channels featuring happy couples as well as heartwarming drama series like "Eye Love You," Korean men and Japanese women are increasingly finding love. In 2023, there were 840 marriages registered here between Korean men and Japanese women, marking a 40.1 percent surge from the 599 recorded in 2022, according to Statistics Korea. While such marriages still only constitute a small portion of the total number of marriages of Korean nationals to a spouse of fo

Social AffairsMarch 26, 2024

Quiet quitting: Why more than half of S. Koreans do it

More than half of South Korea's workers are choosing to do minimal work at their jobs without actually resigning, a survey showed Tuesday, indicating that the global trend of "quiet quitting" is growing more prominent among workers here. Local job search website Incruit recently conducted a survey of 1,097 employees across the country about quiet quitting, in which 51.7 percent said they have done so. The term, coined in the early 2020s, refers to an employee doing the absolute m

Social AffairsMarch 26, 2024

Overseas voting to kick off this week ahead of April 10 elections

Overseas voting for the April 10 general elections is set to kick off this week and run for the next six days at 220 polling stations across 115 countries, the National Election Commission said Tuesday. A total of 147,989 people are eligible for overseas voting set for Wednesday through Monday, the NEC said. Eligible voters unable to participate in the overseas voting or those wishing to cast their ballots in South Korea can do so on the voting day if they report to regional election commissions

PoliticsMarch 26, 2024

Hotline opens to protect medical students from peer bullying

The education ministry opened a hotline on Tuesday to protect medical students wanting to return to classes from peer bullying from other students boycotting classes in protest of the government's increase of the medical school quota. The move came amid reported cases of medical students unwillingly joining the ongoing collective action of boycotting or staying away from classes due to coercion or threats of future disadvantages by protesting students or student groups. Nearly half of the c

Social AffairsMarch 26, 2024

S. Korea, Malaysia to resume free trade talks

South Korea's trade ministry said Tuesday it has agreed with Malaysia to resume their bilateral free trade agreement talks that have been stalled since 2019. Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo and his Malaysian counterpart, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, made the announcement during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The two countries agreed to seek a bilateral FTA in 2019 but related negotiations have been stalled after holding three rounds of talks that

Foreign AffairsMarch 26, 2024

Police investigating message vowing to kill opposition lawmaker

Police are tracking down the writer of a message vowing to kill Rep. Ko Min-jung of the main opposition Democratic Party, officials said Tuesday. The message was posted in an online game chatroom Monday morning, vowing to kill Ko, who is seeking parliamentary reelection in her constituency of Seoul's Gwangjin district, according to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police. Police launched an investigation upon receiving a report on the threat. They plan to trace the writer by locating the IP ad

Social AffairsMarch 26, 2024

Doctors' group to pick new leader amid tense standoff over increased enrollment quota

A major lobby group of community doctors is set to elect a new leader Tuesday, with a prolonged walkout by junior doctors over the increased medical school enrollment quota continuing to disrupt public health services at major hospitals. The Korean Medical Association, which represents some 100,000 community doctors, plans to announce a new chairman later in the day, a move certain to further intensify the standoff with the government. The two candidates are Lim Hyun-taek, head of the Korean Ped

Social AffairsMarch 26, 2024

VIP patron of internet celebrity dies; family presses charges for fraud

A South Korean internet celebrity has recently been accused of fraud by the bereaved family of a South Korean man who died last year after spending large sums of money in support of the celebrity. The deceased, whose body was found inside his car in May last year, had been a VIP patron of the female's celebrity's online show, spending as much as 50 million won ($37,000) a day in sponsorships. An investigation found that his donations were largely made via borrowing, as he was around 15

Social AffairsMarch 25, 2024

[Election Battlefield] Power of young voters gains traction in chip cluster

HWASEONG, Gyeonggi Province -- Hwaseong City lies at the heart of South Korea's chip industry cluster in the southern part of Gyeonggi Province, which anticipates a total of 622 trillion won ($462.1 billion) in spending by 2047 and 3 million new jobs. With a large capital commitment constantly drawing young voters to the chip cluster in the south of Seoul, the number of constituencies in five such cities -- Hwaseong, Suwon, Yongin, Pyeongtaek and Icheon -- increased to 17 for the April elec

PoliticsMarch 25, 2024

Divorced men and women have differing views on physical intimacy

Men and women who have experienced divorce each have differing interpretations of physical intimacy in their new relationship, a joint survey by local matchmaking agencies showed Monday. The companies Only U and Bien-Alle conducted a survey of 516 men and women who wish to get remarried to ask about physical contact with romantic connotations with their new romantic partners. The survey generally showed that female respondents attribute slightly more meaning to physical intimacy than male respon

Social AffairsMarch 25, 2024

Man sends narcotics to wrong address, gets 8-year jail term

A South Korean man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for smuggling a large quantity of illegal drugs into the country, a local court said Monday. The defendant in his 30s has been accused of having brought in the drugs, hidden inside bags of snacks, from Hawaii between December 2018 and October 2021. He smuggled a total of 405 pills of ecstasy, 16.35 grams of cocaine and 2.79 kilograms of cannabis. South Korea's Narcotics Control Act bans the possession, transaction or use of what

Social AffairsMarch 25, 2024

North Korea going for short-range missiles a ‘Japan-conscious move’: Seoul’s ex-vice defense chief

CHEONAN, South Chungcheong Province -- Shin Beom-chul, who until recently served as the deputy national defense minister, said that North Korea limiting its weapons testing to short-range missiles last week “may have been a Japan-conscious move.” Speaking with The Korea Herald, he said that as Pyongyang has been courting a summit with Tokyo, “anything beyond short-range missiles being fired toward the sea east of Korea would have the potential to be perceived by the Japanese as

PoliticsMarch 25, 2024

Yoon vows new law for autonomy of Yongin, Suwon, Goyang, Changwon

Four cities that have lower-level local autonomy but have populations of over 1 million each may enjoy greater autonomy to set up infrastructure for construction, transportation and education, as the government anticipates a population influx with the advent of new chip industry complexes, according to President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday. A new law, if proposed, will ensure the administrative power of a provincial governor in these cities be transferred to the cities' mayors, President Yoon

PoliticsMarch 25, 2024

Professors tender resignations despite Seoul’s offer of dialogue

Medical professors on Monday said they would proceed with their plan of tendering their resignations, a day after the ruling party chief offered to open a dialogue between the government and the medical community. Announcing the plan, the Medical Professors Association of Korea said the government’s unilateral decision to raise the admission quota and allocate new student seats led to the resignations. “The discussions regarding the quota are scientific, so I knew I wouldn’t be

Social AffairsMarch 25, 2024

Russian subway pickpockets given suspended sentences

A group of Russian nationals received suspended prison sentences for pickpocketing passengers in Seoul's subways late last year, according to a local court. The Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 17 handed down one-year sentences, suspended for two years, to three Russian nationals -- two men in their 40s and a 39-year-old woman. Over a period of nine days in November, the three pickpockets spent an average of five hours a day in Subway Line No. 3 and Line No. 9, where

PoliticsMarch 25, 2024

Bank refusal to open account for resident from 'high-risk country' discriminatory: rights commission

A South Korean bank's refusal to open an account for a foreign national resident from a designated "high-risk country" is discriminatory, the country's human rights watchdog agency said Monday. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea's recommendation was made in response to a complaint lodged by the Korean spouse of a bank customer whose application to open an account was rejected on the grounds of their nationality. The bank said in August 2022 that because the re

Social AffairsMarch 25, 2024

Ophthalmologist who covered ER to fill staff void found dead

An ophthalmologist in his 40s from Pusan National University Hospital died in his home early Sunday morning, according to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency on Monday. On Sunday at 4:30 a.m., police officials received a call that the doctor was found unconscious in his home. When emergency medical services reached the doctor’s home, he did not have a pulse nor was he breathing, according to police officials. The doctor was immediately taken to the Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital n

Social AffairsMarch 25, 2024

[Bills in Focus] Infrastructure building in new cities, retail industry deregulation

Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Special Act on Public Housing Proposed by Rep. Seo Il-jun (People Power Party) ● The lack of major transportation infrastructure in new cities is inconvenient for residents. This amendment modifies the timeframe for formulating improvements in metropolitan transport in large-scale housing supply projects from "before the approval of the housing zone development plan" to "within one year after the designation of a housing zone." Propos

PoliticsMarch 25, 2024

Cambodia calls for cultural diplomacy on National Culture Day

The Cambodian Embassy called for cultural diplomacy to enhance cooperation, hosting its National Culture Day on Sunday. Marked each year on March 3, Cambodia’s National Culture Day showcases the resilience and richness of Cambodian heritage. Delivering remarks at the event, Cambodian Ambassador Chring Botumrangsay paid homage to generations who have preserved and cherished Cambodian traditions, passing them down through the ages with love and reverence. “In a world shaped by rapid ch

Foreign AffairsMarch 25, 2024

Seoul's bus union threatens strike over wage dispute

The union of city bus drivers in Seoul said Monday its leaders agreed to start a general strike by all members later this week after failing to reach a deal on wage hikes with the Seoul city government. The Seoul Bus Labor Union, which has about 18,000 members at 65 companies, said heads of its chapters decided to launch the walkout at 4 a.m. on Thursday. The union has reportedly demanded wage increases, revision of the salary system and the abolition of wage discrimination for contract workers

Social AffairsMarch 25, 2024