Tensions hit fever pitch as doctors hold mass street rally

Tensions between the Yoon Suk Yeol government and the medical community have escalated to a boiling point, with doctors flooding the streets in a massive protest on Sunday, defying the government's ultimatum to return to work by Thursday or face legal consequences. At the Yeouido Hangang Park in western Seoul, doctors, interns, residents and medical students staged a large-scale protest to denounce the government's decision to increase the annual medical school student enrollment quo

Social AffairsMarch 3, 2024

40% of Korea's female workers say they were paid less due to their gender

Roughly four out of 10 South Korean female employees said they have received less in wages from their employer due to their gender, a survey showed Sunday. Local civic group Gabjil 119 surveyed 1,000 employees across the country about gender discrimination in work-related issues such as wages or promotions. It showed 40.6 percent of the female respondents said they have been unfairly penalized in wages because of their gender, which was nearly double the 21.8 percent of men who said the same. Th

Social AffairsMarch 3, 2024

Mainstream factions dominate as election candidates

The overwhelming majority of candidates from the two main parties picked to run in the upcoming legislative election so far are viewed as part of the parties’ respective mainstream factions, data showed Sunday. The outcome contradicts earlier pledges made by the two parties to select more candidates from their respective nonmainstream pools for the April 10 general election in order to promote fairness. According to data provided by the ruling party, the majority of the candidates from

PoliticsMarch 3, 2024

[From the Scene] Day of Rage: Doctors resist pressure to bend

Expressing frustration and anger at the South Korean government’s recent decision to increase the annual medical school quota by 2,000 starting in 2025, tens of thousands of doctors, interns, residents and medical students walked the picket line Sunday afternoon to urge a reversal of the planned hike. Chants of “Let’s fight together, let’s win together” reverberated through the crowd, reflecting determination even as the government has issued repeated warnings that

Social AffairsMarch 3, 2024

Marriages in Korea fall by 40% within a decade

In another piece of grim news underscoring South Korea's looming demographic crisis, the number of marriages in 2023 fell by 40 percent compared to the level recorded a decade ago, government statistics revealed Sunday. According to Statistics Korea, an estimated 193,673 couples tied the knot last year, a drop of 40 percent compared to the 322,807 couples who got married in 2013. From a year ago, however, the 2023 figure marks a 1 percent increase, or 1,983 more marriages. In 2022, marria

Social AffairsMarch 3, 2024

Koreans working 200 hours fewer than decade ago: data

South Korean workers’ actual annual working hours have decreased by nearly 200 hours over 10 years, yet people here still work far longer than the average of the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Sunday, the average monthly working hours of employees in South Korea stood at 156.2 hours in 2023, down 2.5 hours from 158.7 hours in 2022. In 2013, the average monthly worki

Social AffairsMarch 3, 2024

[KH explains] Why is S. Korea mulling ease on marriage ban between blood relatives?

The debate on consanguineous marriage is heating up, as the government appears to be moving toward easing laws related to intrafamily marriage. Currently, South Korea prohibits marriage between blood relatives within eight degrees of relations ("chon" in Korean), according to the Civil Act, Article 809 and Article 815. That means that Koreans may not marry third cousins -- their grandparents' cousins' grandchildren -- or closer relatives. Article 809, Section 1 states that &l

Social AffairsMarch 3, 2024

Fake news on soccer star generated W700m: report

YouTube videos carrying fake news about controversy-ridden soccer star Lee Kang-in are thought to have generated up to 700 million won ($523,000) in profit in the two weeks after his alleged altercation with Son Heung-min became public, a report by an advertising consulting firm claimed Sunday. Lee, a 23-year-old player for Paris Saint-Germain, was subject to nationwide criticism when it was reported that he had allegedly fought with the South Korean national men's soccer team captain Son H

Social AffairsMarch 3, 2024

Gang member found dead amid probe for assault on YouTuber

A member of a South Korean gang who was under investigation for instigating an assault on a YouTuber has been found dead, a local media outlet reported Sunday. The body of the 30-something-year-old suspect was found inside a motel in Gyeonggi Province, according to a Channel A report. The man was being investigated by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office on suspicion of instigating an attack against a YouTuber who uploaded critical content about his organization. Police did not disclose d

Social AffairsMarch 3, 2024

S. Korea's 1st spy satellite transmits 'good-resolution' images of central Pyongyang

South Korea's first military spy satellite has successfully transmitted "good-resolution" images of central Pyongyang back home following the satellite's launch in December, military sources said Sunday. The first indigenous South Korean military spy satellite was placed into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Dec. 2, allowing South Korea to independently gain satellite imagery on the North Korean military and leadership. According to the sources, the ele

DefenseMarch 3, 2024

US investigations into F-16 crashes in S. Korea ongoing amid public safety concerns

The US military's investigations into three recent F-16 fighter jet crashes in South Korea remain ongoing, a US Air Force official has said, as safety concerns remain unabated over the series of crashes. Last May, a US F-16 crashed in Pyeongtaek, 60 kilometers south of Seoul, followed by another crash into the West Sea in December and a third one into the waters in January. All three pilots from the crashes ejected from the aircraft and were rescued. Ten months on since the May crash, its c

DefenseMarch 3, 2024

Ex-PPP leader to run for seat in less conservative Hwaseong city

Lee Jun-seok, leader of the newly launched New Reform Party, said Saturday that he will run for a parliamentary seat representing a constituency in Hwaseong, a metropolitan city near Seoul considered traditionally a liberal stronghold. Lee, a former leader of the ruling conservative People Power Party, made the announcement in a Facebook post that he will run for the constituency that covers Dongtan 2 New Town in the upcoming April 10 elections. "Hwaseong is a difficult area for conservativ

PoliticsMarch 2, 2024

1 crew member missing from capsized fishing boat off Jeju found dead

One of the two crew members missing from the fishing boat that capsized off the southern island of Jeju the previous day was found dead, the Coast Guard said Saturday. The body of the crew member was discovered at around 12:30 p.m. in waters about 22 kilometers away from the accident site by a fishing boat that was helping with the rescue work, the Jeju Coast Guard officials said. Officials later identified the body as one of the two fishermen, in his 50s, who went missing after the boat overtur

Social AffairsMarch 2, 2024

Tensions loom as doctors plan mass rally in deepening clash over med school quota

Tensions were rising Saturday as defiant doctors were set to hold a mass rally over the weekend in protest against the government plan to increase medical school admissions, with no sign of a breakthrough amid growing risks of a major medical disruption. The Korea Medical Association, the largest doctors' lobby group, plans to stage a large demonstration in western Seoul on Sunday in a show of resistance against the government's plan to add 2,000 more seats to the medical school admission quota

Social AffairsMarch 2, 2024

DP leader Lee retains ticket to his constituency for April elections

The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) leader Lee Jae-myung retained the ticket as the party's single candidate to his constituency for the upcoming April 10 elections, the party announced Saturday. The DP's nomination committee made the announcement as it unveiled the decisions on the candidate nominations for seven other constituencies, with about a month left before the parliamentary votes expected to serve as a political litmus test for the Yoon Suk Yeol government. The announce

PoliticsMarch 2, 2024

S. Korea takes part in multinational drills in Thailand

South Korea's Navy and Marine Corps joined the United States and Thailand in a large-scale annual multinational exercise in the Southeast Asian country to enhance amphibious landing capabilities and humanitarian operations, officials said Saturday. The Cobra Gold exercise took place on a coastal area in Thailand on Friday, involving three landing ships of the South Korean Navy, including the 4,900-ton No Jeok Bong vessel, six armored vehicles, F-16 fighter jets and C-130 transport aircraft,

DefenseMarch 2, 2024

South Korea publicly orders some doctors who walked off the job back to work

South Korea's government late on Friday publicly ordered 13 doctors, at least some of whom have been vocal about a walkout by roughly 9,000 physicians over a health system reform plan, to return to work or face penalties. The public legal notice is the latest sign of the South Korean government's continued hardline stance toward trainee doctors participating in the walkout or criticizing the reform plan, after local police raided officials of a doctor's association on Friday, a pu

Social AffairsMarch 2, 2024

Poland preparing technical inspection at diplomatic mission in N. Korea: VOA

Poland is in talks with North Korea to conduct a technical inspection at its diplomatic mission in Pyongyang, a US news outlet reported Saturday, after a few other European countries have taken similar steps amid prospects of reopening the missions in the North after years of the pandemic-driven shutdown. Poland is "discussing with the DPRK authorities a suitable time for both sides to conduct a technical mission in Pyongyang," the Voice of America reported, citing a written comment fr

North KoreaMarch 2, 2024

Fishing boat capsizes off Jeju; 1 dead, 2 missing

SEOGWIPO -- A fishing boat with 10 crew members on board capsized off the southern island of Jeju on Friday, leaving one of them dead and two others missing, the Coast Guard said. Five South Korean and five Vietnamese were aboard the 33-ton vessel when it overturned in waters about 12 nautical miles off the city of Seogwipo at 7:24 a.m., Coast Guard officials said. Eight crew members -- three South Koreans and five Vietnamese -- were rescued by a nearby fishing boat, but one of them, a South K

Social AffairsMarch 1, 2024

S. Korea to update unification vision for 1st time in 30 years

The government of President Yoon Suk Yeol plans to draw up a new vision for unification with North Korea to include the principle of liberal democracy, a presidential official said Friday. It will mark the first revision to the National Community Unification Formula, South Korea's unification policy unveiled in August 1994 under the administration of late President Kim Young-sam. "The National Community Unification Formula, which has served as the official unification plan of our gover

Social AffairsMarch 1, 2024