US diplomat voices hope for S. Korea to offer more defense material support to Ukraine

A US diplomat expressed hopes Monday for South Korea to provide more defense material support to Ukraine, stressing the importance of air defense assistance for Ukrainian forces striving to fend off Russian attacks. Speaking at a forum, Yuri Kim, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasian affairs, underscored the need for continued aid to Ukraine, as US military support to the war-ravaged country has stalled with a funding bill held up in the House due to Republican op

Foreign AffairsFeb. 27, 2024

Vice FM urges N. Korea to cease provocations at UN disarmament conference

Second Vice Foreign Minister Kang In-sun urged North Korea to return to denuclearization talks and to cease its nuclear and missile programs, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Kang made the remark during her speech at the high-level segment of the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on Monday, saying the North's illegal nuclear and missile programs are the "most urgent tasks" to address for international peace and security. "North Korea's nuclear and missile obsessio

Foreign AffairsFeb. 27, 2024

Woman dies after bungee jumping in mall

A woman in her 60s went into cardiac arrest and died after falling from a bungee jumping platform on Monday afternoon, officials said. The victim, whose name and exact age were withheld, jumped from the platform only to plummet 8 meters below to a concrete floor at a sports facility located within Starfield Anseong Mall in Gyeonggi Province, around 4:20 p.m., according to Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police. She was rushed to the hospital after emergency services performed CPR on her, but she did n

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

Democratic Party of Korea’s beef with prosecutors, explained

With the April general election just around the corner, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea is again campaigning on “abolishing the political prosecution” -- a slogan that the liberal party has been using for every election for at least the past three administrations. Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party chair who was narrowly defeated by then-rival Yoon Suk Yeol in the 2022 presidential election, says he is a victim of “political prosecutors." Having been in

PoliticsFeb. 26, 2024

Over 150 elementary schools have no 1st graders: ministry

A total of 157 elementary schools across South Korea do not have any first graders set to enroll in March, the Ministry of Education said Monday, as a record-low number of new students is expected for the upcoming school year. According to the ministry, nearly every provincial and metropolitan area across South Korea had at least one elementary school that was not expecting new students, except Seoul, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan and Sejong. North Jeolla Province led all regions with 34 schools with

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

Skepticism clouds roles of overseas Korean nationals in upcoming election

The launch of the Overseas Korean Agency raised expectations that overseas Korean nationals could play a bigger role in this year's general election, but experts are skeptical. With polling indicating a weak turnout and parties showing little interest, they say the impact of overseas voters is likely to be very small. "The interest in the upcoming election is obviously lower than the 2022 presidential election," Lee Jean-young, director of Inha Center for International Studies s

PoliticsFeb. 26, 2024

ER admission delay leads to death of cardiac arrest patient

Admission delays at emergency rooms were reported across South Korea amid a walkout by trainee doctors, while a cardiac arrest patient in her 80s died in an ambulance in Daejeon while emergency workers tried to find an ER that would admit her. According to local media reports on Monday, the patient suffered heart failure on Friday and was taken away by an ambulance. The emergency workers were turned away by seven hospitals, who told them that they did not have medical staff or hospital beds to t

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

Police probe satirical edited video featuring President Yoon

South Korean police on Monday said it has launched an investigation into a satirical edited video featuring President Yoon Suk Yeol, which shows him delivering a speech disparaging himself, which went viral last week. Cho Ji-ho, the chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Station Agency, said in a press briefing that the police had acquired the ID of the person who appears to have uploaded the original video and begun an investigation on the person. The ruling People Power Party filed a complaint

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

Korea to lift land use restrictions near military bases

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday pledged to remove restrictions near military bases regarding land use for private purposes such as construction, in yet another apparent move to appeal to voters ahead of the April parliamentary election. Yoon's conservative administration has decided to ease land regulations on a total of 339 square kilometers of land across the nation -- equivalent to 47,480 soccer fields, or 0.3 percent of South Korea's land area -- mostly near military airfields an

PoliticsFeb. 26, 2024

Broadcaster warned after omitting honorific for first lady

A state-run committee recently issued a warning against broadcaster SBS after a panelist on one of its shows referred to first lady Kim Keon Hee without an honorific, a decision that sparked a dispute about the freedom of the press across the country. The South Korean Committee on Election Broadcasting, organized and operated by the Korea Communications Standards Commission, held a meeting last week and decided to issue a warning against the local TV broadcaster's daily "Newsbriefing.&

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

[From the Scene] 12 hours to get ER treatment -- it could get worse

Kim, a mother in her 30s, arrived at Seoul National University Hospital’s emergency room on 5 a.m., Friday, after her preschool son’s temperature surged at midnight and he was losing energy. But she was not able to meet a doctor until 3 p.m., after almost 12 hours waiting on a bench outside of the ER with her crying son. “(My son) wasn’t feeling well last night. His temperature went too high, his face got red and he was sweating for days, so ... (I had to come here),&rdqu

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

Seoul looks for foreign volunteers to monitor city life

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will recruit 40 foreign national volunteers as the “Seoul Life Monitoring Team,” to help the city government identify any concerns or inconveniences foreign nationals living in Seoul have. The city government has been recruiting Seoul Life Monitoring Team volunteers since introducing the program in 2012. In 2023, 37 volunteers of 20 different nationalities participated in the program. This year, foreign nationals and naturalized citizens may apply if

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

Government sets Thursday deadline for doctors' return

Amid intensifying tensions between doctors and the government over its plan to increase the medical school enrollment quota, the government has upped the pressure, issuing doctors with an ultimatum to return to work by Thursday. The government will not hold medical residents accountable for walking out if they return to work by the deadline, according to Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min, who spoke at a briefing Monday. Previously, the government has warned of a possible suspension or

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

Korea to accept foreign workers' industrial accident claims via embassies

Foreign embassies in South Korea can now process and submit applications from their citizens claiming industrial accident compensation, the Korea Worker's Compensation and Welfare Service announced Monday. Previously, only the victims themselves, the victims’ direct relatives and certified labor attorneys could apply for compensation on behalf of the victims. For instance, the bereaved family of a Cambodian woman in her 30s who was found dead while residing in an unheated plastic gree

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

[Bills in Focus] Companies supporting child birth, redevelopment projects

Proposed Bill: Partial Amendment to the Act on the Improvement of Urban Areas and Residential Environments Proposed by Rep. Park Duk-hyum (People Power Party) ● The number of owners of most plots of land in major cities exceeds the number of owners allowed to directly or jointly implement a redevelopment project, which has complicated the implementation of redevelopment projects. This amendment expands the conditions regarding the number of owners of a plot of land from the current less than 2

PoliticsFeb. 26, 2024

Teenage boy confesses to mistakenly stealing bike to take care of siblings

South Korean police on Sunday said a high school student who recently confessed to stealing a bicycle did so in order to support his brothers and sisters, who he has been taking care of due to his mother's illness. Police said that various state organizations have decided to provide financial aid to the boy's family, who they said had been in the blind spot of the country's welfare system. According to the Osan Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, a report about a stolen bicycle w

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

S. Korea to tighten export controls on Russia, Belarus

South Korea plans to tighten export controls on Russia and Belarus for items that can potentially be used for military purposes, the trade ministry said Monday. The announcement came after South Korea added 682 items with actual or potential military use to the list of items to be banned from shipping to Russia and Belarus last week. "The ministry will bolster the implementation of export controls under ties with related organizations, as there will be more attempts to dodge export controls

Foreign AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

Trump could see trade deficit with S. Korea with 'concern' if reelected: US expert

Former President Donald Trump could view America's growing trade deficit with South Korea with "concern" if reelected, a prominent US expert has said, as his campaign proposal for new tariffs has raised worries among nations. Wendy Cutler, a vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute and former negotiator of a South Korea-US free trade agreement, made the remarks during a press meeting, noting that Trump continues to place "such a big emphasis on trade deficits."

Foreign AffairsFeb. 26, 2024

S. Korea to offer tax incentives to boost value of listed firms

The financial regulator said Monday that it will work to incentivize efforts by local businesses to enhance their own value that will in turn lead to increased returns to investors. The move comes as part of efforts to end the "Korea Discount," where local shares are traded at prices lower than their fundamentals. A seminar, attended by Kim Joo-hyun, the head of the Financial Services Commission, was held on the day to discuss how to encourage local firms to improve their value. "

PoliticsFeb. 26, 2024

Concerns over public health deepen as mass walkout by trainee doctors enters 7th day

Concerns over public health deepened Monday as surgeries were delayed or reduced as thousands of trainee doctors didn't come to work for the seventh day in a row in protest of the government's plan to boost the number of medical students. About 8,000 trainee doctors have left worksites to protest against the plan to admit 2,000 more students to medical schools next year from the current 3,058 seats to address a shortage of doctors. Adding to the chaos at hospitals, fellow doctors, who have been

Social AffairsFeb. 26, 2024