British 'spiderman' case sent to prosecution

Police have referred a case involving a British free climber who attempted to scale the world’s fifth-tallest building with just his bare hands to the prosecution for further investigation, officials said Tuesday. George King-Thompson, 24, was taken into custody while climbing up the outer wall of the Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, Seoul, June 12. He reached the 72nd floor, about 309 meters high, before being escorted inside the building and apprehended by police, according to Songpa Police

June 27, 2023

[Best Brand] NLCS Jeju aims to become educational hub of Asia

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL NLCS Jeju The North London Collegiate School Jeju, an international boarding and day school established in 2011, is a branch of the historical British education facility founded in 1850. The school was the first international school to be opened as part of the Global Education City on Jeju Island. The school has firmly positioned itself as an exceptional education choice for children aged 4 to 18, in both student management and academic performance. The school has not only

June 27, 2023

Korea unveils measures to cut reliance on private education

The Education Ministry on Monday unveiled a set of comprehensive plans to alleviate private education costs for students, starting with setting up a ministry-led committee comprising public school teachers to adjust the difficulty level of the Suneung, the nation’s college entrance exam. Calling it a way of restoring the fairness of the test, the committee will eliminate the so-called “killer questions” in the exams starting from this year, saying the difficulty level of such q

June 26, 2023

Police mull murder charges for infanticide suspect

Police are reportedly considering applying murder charges for a woman in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, in her 30s, who is alleged to have kept the bodies of two 1-day-old infants in a freezer at her apartment, instead of infanticide charges amid growing criticism that punishment for the crime is too light. Criminals convicted of infanticide face up to 10 years in jail, far lighter than murder. A lineal ascendant who kills a baby while being delivered or immediately after delivery in order to avoid d

June 26, 2023

Seoul police to crack down on two-wheelers as accidents spike

Seoul police have initiated a two-month safety crackdown beginning Monday to curb the steep rise in two-wheeled vehicle accidents. Two-wheeled vehicles, comprising motorized personal mobility vehicles (PMVs) such as electric scooters as well as motorcycles, will face stricter and more frequent inspection across the city according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Between March and May 2023, traffic accidents involving two-wheeled vehicles surged by 30 percent, with corresponding injuries

June 26, 2023

Government on high alert as monsoon arrives

As monsoon season began with heavy rain early Monday morning, the government kicked off a 24-hour emergency duty system to prepare against the seasonal downpour. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety launched the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at 3 a.m. Monday and raised the warning level from "attention" to "caution." The "caution" stage is the second of the three warning stages the emergency headquarters can issue. Upon his return from

June 26, 2023

Monk decides to return to lay life amid suspicions he has kids

South Korean Buddhist monk Doyeon is seeking to renounce monastic life and return to lay life, following revelations that he may have fathered two children. According to the Jogye Order, the largest Buddhist sect in South Korea to which he belongs, Ven. Doyeon has officially notified the sect of his intention to leave, without giving any specific reason for his decision. Earlier this month, allegations arose that he was the father of two children, which violates the sect’s rules of celib

June 26, 2023

Sejong University tops Leiden Ranking on Korean univs

Sejong University topped this year's Korean list for the Leiden Ranking, a global university ranking that assesses the volume and citation impact of publications released by universities, officials said Monday. It is the first time for the university to top the list after ranking second for the last two years, Sejong University officials added. After Sejong University, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) took second place, followed by Pohang University of Science and

June 26, 2023

Woman convicted for 'hacking' into boyfriend’s phone

A South Korean court recently found a 30-year-old woman guilty of invading her boyfriend’s privacy, after the accused had browsed his phone without his consent to look for video and contact information of his previous girlfriend. While finding the accused guilty for looking through the phone of the victim -- her boyfriend at the time -- in December of 2020, the Seoul Central District Court, gave her a suspended sentence of a 300,000 won ($230) fine. The Article 316 of the Criminal Act says

June 26, 2023

Up to 100 mm of rain to hit greater Seoul area until Tuesday

Heavy rain began pouring nationwide Monday, with the greater Seoul area expected to see up to 100 millimeters for two days, as the annual monsoon season started, the state weather agency said. Precipitation is expected to range between 50 and 150 mm for the southern resort island of Jeju and from 30 to 100 mm for other regions, including the capital area, mountainous areas and the Yellow Sea islands, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. The eastern coast of Gangwon Province will

June 26, 2023

[Graphic News] Foreign ownership of S. Korean land rises 1.8%

Foreign ownership of South Korean land rose 1.8 percent in 2022 from a year earlier, the Land Ministry said. Foreigners owned 264.01 square kilometers - slightly more than four times the size of Manhattan - at the end of December. It represents 0.26 percent of South Korea’s total land area, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. The value of land held by foreigners also increased 2.6 percent to 32.88 trillion won ($24.8 billion) over the cited period, the s

June 26, 2023

Revisiting Korea's journey to finding sex crime victims' rights

In 1964, then-18-year-old Choi Mal-ja became a convict for fighting off an attempted rapist by biting off a part of his tongue, with the prosecution and court waving off her claims of self-defense. This case, for which she currently seeks a retrial, stands as a landmark in wrongful convictions and serves as a reminder of the abysmal state of women's rights during that era. Since then, the rights of women or sex crime victims in South Korea have undergone several changes. These include the

June 25, 2023

Is Korea’s college entrance exam too difficult?

The South Korean Education Ministry’s decision to exclude the high-level “killer questions” from the Suneung, the state-administered college entrance exam, has once again rekindled debate regarding the test’s difficulty. Arguably one of the toughest exams in the world, Korea’s College Scholastic Ability Test, commonly known as the Suneung, has played a pivotal role for decades in measuring students’ potential achievement in the future after enrolling in colleg

June 25, 2023

Lovebug outbreak spreads in Seoul

An outbreak of lovebugs, a species of March fly that remains in pairs, has spread rapidly to areas across Seoul over the weekend, according to reports from authorities Sunday. In 2022, several complaints were filed about lovebugs in northwestern Seoul and Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. However, this year, the outbreak has spread to other districts, such as Dongdaemun-gu and Seongdong-gu in eastern Seoul, and Gwanak-gu in southern Seoul, authorities said. Lovebugs aren’t toxic or harmful, but t

June 25, 2023

Deluge in Jeju kicks off monsoon season forecast to be exceptionally wet

A heavy rain advisory was issued early Sunday morning for the inland area of Jeju, the southern island province, signaling the onset of this year's monsoon season, which is anticipated to be exceptionally wet. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Jeju is expected to receive rain accumulating 100-200 millimeters through Monday, with some mountainous areas reaching up to 300 millimeters. Downpours will then spread to upper parts of the country, with capital Seoul experienci

June 25, 2023

Violent crimes up last year following eased COVID-19 restrictions: data

The number of violent crimes that saw a significant drop in the initial years of the pandemic bounced back last year partially on eased social distancing measures, data showed Sunday. A total of 450,623 violent crimes were reported last year, up 7.4 percent from 419,683 cases the previous year, according to data from the National Police Agency submitted to Rep. Chung Woo-taik of the ruling People Power Party. The violent crimes include murder, robbery, rape and sexual assault, theft and violence

June 25, 2023

Arrest warrant issued for mother accused of killing 2 newborns, storing bodies in freezer

A woman accused of killing her two newborns and keeping their bodies in a refrigerator was formally arrested Friday after a court issued a warrant for her arrest. The Suwon District Court issued the warrant, citing fears she might flee. The woman in her 30s was charged with murdering two babies, one boy and one girl, after their births in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and storing their bodies in a freezer at her home in Suwon, 30 kilometers south of Seoul. Earlier in the day, she declined to atte

June 23, 2023

Police raid Daegu city hall amid tension over Pride parade

Police raided Daegu City Hall on Friday over a police investigation into the city's mayor, six days after scuffles broke out between police officers and city hall officials during the Daegu Pride Parade. The Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency sent about 10 investigators and raided several offices from 9 a.m. at Daegu City Hall. The search and seizure was in connection with an investigation into Mayor Hong Joon-pyo’s alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act. Hong, in a Face

June 23, 2023

Calls for new birth notification system grow after baby killings

South Korea is facing growing calls for changes to the birth notification system after an infant’s body was found in a trash can in Ulsan following other recent infanticide cases. Ulsan Nambu Police Station said Friday that a dead baby had been found the previous day at an apartment complex in Ulsan. A cleaner reportedly found the body in the trash can and reported it to the police. The police are trying to track down the person who abandoned the baby. On Wednesday, a Suwon woman in her 30

June 23, 2023

Repeat offender gets commuted life sentence for robbery-murder

The Seoul High Court on Friday has commuted the death sentence of a 54-year-old man who robbed and murdered a woman, as well as killed an accomplice. The man, Kwon Jae-chan, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being given a death sentence in June 2022. The appellate said in a ruling that evidence to prove that his murder was premeditated was insufficient, while acknowledging that he had intended to rob the woman. In December 2021, Kwon brutally choked the woman, whom the murderer was a

June 23, 2023