Torrential rainfall forces 1,500 to evacuate, causes widespread damage to homes, roads

Over three days of relentless downpours, 1,500 people across the nation were forced to evacuate as heavy rains wreaked havoc on homes, roads and infrastructure. Heavy rain from Thursday afternoon to Saturday began from Jeju Island and along the southern coast, before spreading across the nation. Along the southern and western coasts, heavy rain fell at a rate of about 100 millimeters per hour, while southern regions and the North and South Chungcheong provinces experienced 50-80 millimeters pe

Social AffairsSept. 22, 2024

Yoon returns home from Czech trip focused on nuclear energy cooperation

President Yoon Suk Yeol returned home Sunday from his trip to the Czech Republic, focused on strengthening South Korea's bid to secure a nuclear energy deal and enhance economic ties with the European nation. Yoon held summit talks with Czech President Petr Pavel and Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Thursday and Friday, promoting Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power's (KHNP) bid to build two nuclear power plants in Dukovany, after being selected as a preferred bidder in July. His visit came as

Foreign AffairsSept. 22, 2024

40% of Korea's workers who reported bullying faced retaliation: survey

Some 40 percent of South Korean workers who reported workplace bullying said they faced retaliation from their superiors afterward, a survey by a local civic group showed Wednesday. Workplace Gabjil 119, an organization that assists victims of workplace abuse, surveyed 1,000 workers across the country in the second quarter of this year about bullying at the workplace. Of the 305 respondents who said they had been bullied, only 12.1 percent said they had reported the case to the company or labo

Social AffairsSept. 21, 2024

Over 82,000 Korean young people unemployed, not searching for job long-term

Nearly a quarter million South Korean young people have been unemployed for at least three years, recent government data showed Thursday, with over 80,000 saying they were neither looking for work nor receiving education related to their career during the period. According to Statistics Korea, 238,112 people aged 15-29 were found not to be working at least three years after graduating from their most recent educational institution, as of May this year. Of those, 82,545 said they weren't d

Social AffairsSept. 21, 2024

600 evacuated as heavy rain floods roads, homes in southern regions

Heavy overnight rains across South Korea triggered landslides and flooding, forcing the evacuation of more than 600 people in southern regions and submerging roads and buildings Saturday. No casualties have been reported so far, according to authorities. Heavy rain warnings were in effect across the southern Gyeongsang region and parts of Gangwon, Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces as of Saturday morning, with more rainfall expected through Sunday, according to the Korea Meteorological Adminis

Social AffairsSept. 21, 2024

S. Korea to inject $37m in joint R&D projects with Czech Republic

PRAGUE -- South Korea is poised to inject $37 million in joint research and development projects with the Czech Republic in the next decade, according to President Yoon Suk Yeol's office on Friday. Park Sang-ook, senior presidential secretary for science and technology, told reporters in a briefing in Prague that Seoul's estimated annual R&D budget spending will translate into a 20-fold surge compared with the level in the past from 1995 to 2015. Park added that the spending will g

PoliticsSept. 21, 2024

S. Korea, Czech Republic to increase direct flights

PRAGUE -- South Korea and the Czech Republic will increase nonstop flights for the first time since 1998, as President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to Prague is expected to offer people from the two countries more opportunities for exchanges. The growing potential of strengthened ties between the two countries -- partly with a South Korean group being selected as the preferred bidder for the 24-trillion won nuclear export deal in the Central European country in July -- led to a decision to "i

PoliticsSept. 21, 2024

Yoon, Fiala seek wider range of cooperation beyond nuclear energy

PRAGUE -- President Yoon Suk Yeol and the Czech Republic's Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Friday adopted action plans to implement the strategic partnership between the two countries for the next three years, seeking a wider range of cooperation beyond South Korea's potential nuclear export to the Czech Republic. Under the new action plan, effective 2025 -- or the 10th anniversary of the bilateral strategic partnership -- the area of cooperation between Seoul and Prague will no longer be limited t

PoliticsSept. 21, 2024

Seoul, Prague to team up throughout nuclear energy project delivery

PRAGUE -- The governments, state-run firms and private-sector companies of South Korea and the Czech Republic signed 13 memoranda of understanding to team up with one another for the entire process and delivery of the nuclear power unit construction project. According to the presidential office, these documents will allow South Korean and Czech entities to collaborate on the preconstruction, construction and postconstruction stages of nuclear power units, if a group of South Korean firms clinch

PoliticsSept. 20, 2024

Prosecutors demand 2-year prison term for DP leader Lee Jae-myung

Prosecutors on Friday sought a two-year prison sentence for Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, around two years after he was indicted for making false statements during the 2022 presidential election campaign. The court is scheduled to deliver its verdict on Nov. 15. In the final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors urged the court to impose the sentence, accusing Lee of violating the Public Official Election Act. "The defendant repeatedly lie

PoliticsSept. 20, 2024

Presidential security official accused of extorting funds in 2022 office relocation

A presidential security official who was recently arrested on charges of illegally taking personal profits when handling the 2022 presidential office relocation project, was found to have extorted a large sum of money from a construction broker to funnel the relocation budget, reports said Friday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, which last week arrested the official, identified by his surname Jeong, found that the suspect threatened and extorted a total of 176 million won ($132,15

Social AffairsSept. 20, 2024

Heavy rain, strong winds to lash Korea this weekend

Heavy rain, with strong winds of up to 25 meters per second, is expected over the weekend when Typhoon Pulasan passes near South Korea’s southern region on Saturday evening, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Friday. The state weather agency warned that heavy rain will be concentrated in the Greater Seoul area of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, the eastern coast of Gangwon Province, and Jeju Island, with some areas expected to receive up to 300 mm of rainfall by

Social AffairsSept. 20, 2024

Police bust Vietnam-based phishing ring in W10b scam

Police have busted a Vietnam-based scam ring suspected of stealing more than 10 billion won ($7.5 million) through phishing schemes involving fake mobile wedding invitations and delivery notifications, officials said Friday. Last week, Korean and Vietnamese authorities apprehended seven individuals, six of whom -- including the leader -- have been extradited to Korea. The criminal ring is accused of stealing around 10 billion won, the largest amount recorded in such phishing scams, from 230 vict

Social AffairsSept. 20, 2024

Popular AfreecaTV streamer arrested on drug charges

A popular AfreecaTV streamer, identified only by the surname Park, has been arrested and handed over to prosecutors on drug abuse charges, according to police Friday. The Gangnam Police Station in Seoul said Park's case was transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday morning on charges of using illegal drugs. The court issued an arrest warrant, citing the possibility Park might flee. Park, 35, is accused of consuming drugs, including ketamine, on several oc

Social AffairsSept. 20, 2024

US military personnel booked for beating taxi driver over fare dispute

A US soldier has been booked for assaulting a taxi driver in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, local media reported Thursday. The US soldier -- a man in his 20s -- is being investigated for causing injuries to the driver while they were arguing about the taxi fare on Sept. 1, Dongducheon Police Station told local media Thursday. The soldier was charged 77,000 won ($58) for traveling from Seoul's Hongdae neighborhood to the city at around 8 a.m. He attacked the driver in his 70s on a sidewalk,

Social AffairsSept. 20, 2024

Formation of four-way consultative body to discuss quota hike faces tough road

Eyes are on whether the much-anticipated four-way consultative body comprising the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, opposition parties and the medical circle will convene as the health care standoff continues following the Chuseok holiday. Amid the medical stalemate, Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said during Friday's government response meeting that the door to talks is open. He stressed that the government is "ready to engage in discussions with an open mind" if the medic

Social AffairsSept. 20, 2024

Allies urge NK to free detainees as S. Korean missionary marks 4,000 days in captivity

Seoul and Washington issued concurrent statements condemning North Korea’s unlawful detention of six South Korean nationals and demanding their immediate, unconditional release, timed to mark missionary Kim Jung-wook's 4,000th day in captivity. South Korea released the statement from Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho on Friday, while the US simultaneously issued the press statement Thursday from State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. In his statement, Kim decried, "North Korea

North KoreaSept. 20, 2024

3 suspects apprehended for selling celebrity deepfake porn: police

Three suspects are accused of selling sexually explicit deepfake images and videos of over 20 South Korean celebrities, including minors, through Telegram, according to Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency on Friday. Police officials announced two suspects were arrested and one was apprehended without arrest Thursday in violation of the Juvenile Protection Act and the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes. The police said the three suspects were in their 20s and were

Social AffairsSept. 20, 2024

Car crashes into restaurant; 1 dead, 5 injured

One person died and five others were injured after a car sped into a restaurant in eastern Seoul. The vehicle, driven by a 70-something driver, sped into the restaurant on the first floor of a building in Mia-dong, Gangbuk-gu, at 10:32 a.m. Friday. The car reportedly ran over a metal fence near a bus station and hit a tree on a sidewalk before crashing into the restaurant and coming to a stop. A pedestrian was found in cardiac arrest at the scene and moved to a hospital but was later pronounced

Social AffairsSept. 20, 2024

Busan police scrap 281 blades amid full-on sword inspection

A monthlong inspection, prompted by a murder by a sword-wielding man two months ago in Seoul, has led to the scrapping of over 280 swords in Busan. According to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency on Friday, a review was completed of 85 percent, or 2,979, of the 3,482 swords registered for individual possession in Busan as of earlier this month. Of the inspected swords, permits for 549 items were revoked. Among these, 281 swords were retrieved and disposed of due to abandonment of ownership and

Social AffairsSept. 20, 2024