Military decides not to view homosexual intercourse as harrassment

The military revised the enforcement regulations of the Military Disciplinary Decree and removed the part that stipulated sexual relationships between members of the same sex as "harassment." In November last year, the military announced a legislative amendment to the Enforcement Rule of the Military Disciplinary Enforcement Decree, adding a new sentence that said "sexual harassment includes anal sex, oral sex or similar acts between the same sex against soldiers." The part t

May 17, 2023

Seoul offers one-night sleepover at Dongdaemun Design Plaza

The city of Seoul is looking for just a pair of people wishing to spend a night at the landmark Dongdaemun Design Plaza in September. One of the venues in the building, JandiSarangbang, will be turned into a hotel room under a collaborative project with Airbnb as part of a tourism campaign, according to the Seoul Design Foundation, which runs DDP. The guests, whose stay will be from Sept. 4-5, will get the front-row treatment at Seoul Fashion Week, sitting alongside celebrities. They will also g

May 17, 2023

S. Korea to mark 1980 pro-democracy uprising anniversary this week

South Korea is set to mark the 43rd anniversary of the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju later this week, the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said Wednesday. Some 3,000 people are expected to gather at a national cemetery in Gwangju, 330 kilometers southwest of Seoul, on Thursday to commemorate the May 18 uprising, a watershed event for the country's democratization. On May 18, 1980, demonstrators, including students, protested against the then ruling

May 17, 2023

S. Korea to complete vaccinations at local farms this week amid FMD outbreak

South Korea plans to complete vaccinations at local farms by the end of this week in the latest move to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, the agriculture ministry said Wednesday. The move came after South Korea has confirmed 10 cases of FMD since reporting its first outbreak in more than four years in the central city of Cheongju, 112 kilometers south of Seoul, last week. Currently, nine cattle farms and one goat farm have reported cases of FMD infections, according to the Ministry o

May 17, 2023

Montenegrin prosecutors appeal court decision to grant bail to Terraform co-founder

Montenegrin prosecutors have appealed a court decision to grant bail to Do Kwon, cryptocurrency firm Terraform Labs' co-founder accused of fraud in South Korea and the United States in connection with the crash of the firm's TerraUSD and Luna coins. A district prosecutors office in Podgorica, Montenegro, recently filed the appeal against the court decision to grant bail to Kwon and an aide of Kwon, known only by his family name Han, according to a report by Vijesti, a Montenegrin newsp

May 17, 2023

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases over 20,000 for 2nd day amid eased rules

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed over 20,000 for a second day Wednesday, as the country has eased COVID-19 rules to leave behind the pandemic that upended people's lives for the past few years. The country reported 26,147 cases, including 39 imported cases, bringing the total caseload to 31,465,107, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Wednesday's tally was higher than the 23,515 cases the country reported a week ago. The corresponding figure was 20,192

May 17, 2023

Itaewon tragedy marks 200th day

The bereaved families of the Itaewon disaster in October last year marked the 200th day of the tragedy on Tuesday, holding a rally at the memorial in front of Seoul City Hall. Despite the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s request to the bereaved families to voluntarily remove the memorial altar, they have refused to comply, demanding the truth about the deadly incident. The mother of the late actor Lee Ji-han, who died at the age of 24 on the night of the Halloween festival, said she would f

May 16, 2023

Off-duty police officer saves toddler's life

An off-duty police officer on Saturday saved a three-year-old child by performing CPR in Yeongwol-gun, Gangwon Province. As he headed to work on Saturday at around 1 p.m., police officer Lee Do-Kyeong of Youngwol Police Station heard a woman crying in front of a store in Yeongwol-eup, the downtown area of Yeongwol-gun. The woman ran out of the store holding her unconscious son, and while the child's father attempted CPR, the father was trembling too much to be effective, according to news r

May 16, 2023

Court orders Holt to pay W100m to deported US adoptee

A South Korean court on Tuesday ordered adoption agency Holt Children's Services to pay 100 million won ($74,700) to Adam Crapser, who was adopted to a family in the United States in 1979 but deported after four decades. The Seoul Central District Court acknowledged the agency's "failure to uphold its duty to protect the adoptee and ensure the adoptee's acquisition of citizenship," it said in a ruling. The landmark ruling is the first in the history of Korea to recognize a legal violat

May 16, 2023

US media 'clotheshorse' comment a reminder of first lady's fame and notoriety

A US newspaper’s recent comment calling South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee a “clotheshorse” and a subsequent complaint from one of its readers has garnered attention in South Korea, where the president's wife is both praised and surrounded by controversy. In a submission to the weekly readers’ grievances at the Washington Post, one reader took issue with the newspaper describing Kim as a “noted clotheshorse” in an April 27 article. The reader claimed th

May 16, 2023

[Hello Hangeul] ‘Korean boom’ in Uzbekistan: How it all began

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- Thirty-one years ago, Hur Seon-haeng went to Tashkent to teach children of Korean War refugees the language of their motherland. Then he fell in love with the city and never left. Over the decades, his school bloomed into a landmark for Korean education in Uzbekistan, having taught some 8,000 students of all backgrounds. Hur, 58, landed in the Uzbek capital in March 1992 after graduating college with a degree in education. It was his professor who suggested that he teach

May 16, 2023

Seoul renews support program for multi-child families to boost birth rate

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that the city government will expand the pool of beneficiaries for a new program designed to support multi-child families by lowering the bar for “multi-child” family from the current three to two children. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said the new child benefit scheme would beef up support for families with more than one child, explaining that it would alleviate the economic burden of households and improve child care services. To encourage m

May 16, 2023

Venomous snake removed from a Seoul apartment complex

A snake was removed from an apartment complex in Mapo-gu, western Seoul on Monday, after a report from an elementary school student recognized it as a venomous species. The one-meter-long snake was spotted by a group of children, and one of them noticed that it had some features of the tiger keelback breed, based on his knowledge of reptiles, local media reports. Thanks to the child’s rapid report, the snake was caught by the emergency personnel. No injuries involving the snake were report

May 16, 2023

MSN Weather goes viral with drenched July forecast

Microsoft's MSN Weather app forecast for South Korea in July has gone viral here for predicting nearly a full month of rain. However, the country's weather agency has said that the probability of actually having such weather is slim, saying the method the US company uses is not reliable. Screenshots of monthly weather forecasts provided by the Microsoft website and app have spread on Twitter and in online forums. MSN Weather forecast that Seoul will be rainy for the entire month except

May 16, 2023

Actor Yoo Ah-in attends police questioning over alleged drug use

Actor Yoo Ah-in showed up before police Tuesday for his second round of questioning over allegations of illegal drug use, five days after he canceled his scheduled appearance, citing the presence of too many reporters. The 37-year-old actor arrived at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at 9 a.m. to undergo interrogation, with the inquiry expected to focus on the types and quantities of drugs he allegedly consumed, the source of the narcotics and the possible involvement of accomplices. The act

May 16, 2023

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases climb to over 20,000 amid eased restrictions

South Korea's new coronavirus cases rose to over 20,000 on Tuesday, as the country ended almost all antivirus restrictions to move on from the COVID-19 pandemic of the past three years. The country reported 23,680 cases, including 34 imported cases, bringing the total caseload to 31,438,960, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Tuesday's tally was slightly higher than the 21,681 cases the country reported a week ago. The corresponding figure was 15,736 two weeks. It wa

May 16, 2023

Forced labor victim's family accepts govt compensation, withdraws legal action against Japanese firm

The bereaved family members of a wartime forced labor victim have withdrawn their request for a court order to dispose of a Japanese company's assets after accepting the Seoul government's compensation plan, legal sources said Monday. The four family members of the late victim, Yeo Un-taek, on April 27 submitted a letter of withdrawal to the Supreme Court, which was reviewing the case, they said. Yeo was one of the four forced labor victims who initiated a compensation suit against Nip

May 15, 2023

251 cow farms under quarantine against FMD

CHEONGJU -- More than 250 cow farms in a local city where the first cases of foot-and-mouth disease had broken out in South Korea are subject to government-led quarantine inspections to prevent the further spread of the contagious animal disease, a government official said Monday. Last week, South Korea reported FMD infections at two beef cattle farms both located in the central city of Cheongju, 112 kilometers south of Seoul, for the first time in four years. The country last reported FDM cas

May 15, 2023

NHRC recommends prison grant individual cell to LGBTQ prisoner

The National Human Rights Commission issued a recommendation to a prison warden to come up with new measures to respond to an LGBTQ prisoner’s request to be given an individual cell. Dismissing the request violates human rights of pursuing happiness, the commission said. The commission refused to provide details on the prisoner's gender or the way in which they were LGBTQ, citing confidentiality. According to the human rights watchdog, the inmate asked for an individual cell in 2021,

May 15, 2023

Herald Retirees' Gathering

The members of the Herald Retirees’ Club, former Herald Corp. senior managers as well as current ones, met at Mt. Ansan in Seodaemun-gu on Saturday. About 40 members joined a 2-hour-long hike along the Ansan Jarak-gil, the mountain trail, while shooting the breeze. The hike catered to the seniors and offered the pleasure of hiking in the middle of Seoul. The gathering was attended by distinguished members including club Chair Park Haeng-hwan, Honorary Chair Yun Ik-han, former Herald Corp.

May 15, 2023