[Graphic News] Young workers’ debt levels soar in 2021

Debt held by South Korean salaried workers in their 20s jumped 15 percent on-year in 2021, much higher than the 7 percent growth on average for all salaried workers, data showed. Bank and nonbank loans extended to salaried workers in the country averaged 52.02 million won ($40,107) per person as of the end of 2021, up by 3.4 million won from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. It is the first time that salaried workers’ per capita debt surpassed 50 million won sinc

April 3, 2023

[Out of the Shadows] Chun Woo-won, superrich Koreans in US, and drugs

The Korea Herald is running a series of feature stories and interviews on the evolution and rise of drug crimes, insufficient support systems and young addicts’ stories in South Korea. This is the fifth installment. -- Ed.   When reading news reports on Chun Woo-won, the grandson of former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan, and his claims of drug use by several NYU Stern School of Business graduates, Kim Haram, a 21-year-old in New York felt a sense of relief. Kim said Chun was exp

April 2, 2023

Fire breaks out on Inwangsan

A large forest fire broke out on the slopes of Inwangsan, a mountain in central Seoul, on Sunday. According to authorities, the blaze began at approximately 11:53 a.m. and quickly spread to the northern side of the mountain, burning an area approximately the size of 30 football fields. No deaths or casualties had been reported as of 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. The National Fire Agency deployed 15 helicopters, 93 rescue vehicles and 580 personnel to extinguish the fire and said it had contained 70 to 80

April 2, 2023

Key figure in development corruption scandal to be tried starting this week

A Seoul court is poised to kick off its trial of Kim Man-bae, the owner of an asset management firm at the center of a high-profile development corruption scandal, this week, legal sources said Sunday. The Seoul Central District Court plans to hold its first hearing of Kim, who has been additionally indicted on charges of concealing criminal proceeds from the lucrative urban development project, on Wednesday afternoon, they said. The case has grabbed keen public attention for months, especially

April 2, 2023

Former Gyeonggi governor's son arrested over alleged meth use

The elder son of former Gyeonggi Gov. Nam Kyung-pil was arrested Saturday for allegedly taking methamphetamine. The Suwon District Court issued an arrest warrant against the 32-year-old, citing concerns he is a flight risk. The junior Nam is accused of injecting methamphetamine once at an apartment in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, on Thursday. He was detained by police a week earlier after his family reported him for allegedly taking the drug in his own apartment in Yongin, about 40 kilometers

April 2, 2023

What it means to be a relationship virgin in South Korea

A woman in her thirties living in Seoul, revealed online a secret that she has vowed to conceal at all costs until her death: that she is a “motae solo.” This Korean slang phrase, often abbreviated as “mossol,” refers to those who have never been in a relationship, with "motae" meaning a mother’s womb in Korean and "solo" meaning alone. So, to translate literally, it means "single since birth." Coming out as a mossol can be very tough

April 1, 2023

[Subway Stories] The rise and fall of Noryangjin, from nation's first railway station to lackluster hagwon hub

Noryangjin Station, on Seoul Subway Lines No. 1 and 9, is best known as the home of the nation's largest fisheries wholesale market, a habitat for aspiring civil servants and the birthplace of "cup bap." What greeted this reporter upon stepping outside of the station was, however, a sprawling bright green soccer field set against the backdrop of Yeouido’s old landmark 63 Building and a few other high-rises. The soccer field, along with a baseball field and a running track, were b

April 1, 2023

[Breaking] 3 arrested in abduction and murder of woman

Police on Thursday apprehended three men on charges of abduction and murder of a woman. Two men were arrested in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, while another was taken into custody in a residential area of Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul. The men are suspected of kidnapping a woman in Yeoksam-dong at 11 p.m. on Wednesday and killing her nearby Daejeon, Seoul Suseo Police Station said in a statement released on Friday. During police questioning, the suspects indicated that they had disposed the victim&r

March 31, 2023

Colder winter produced stomach-churning cherry tomatoes

Following an increasing number of reports of vomiting and stomach pain after consuming cherry tomatoes, local health and agriculture authorities on Thursday pointed to a substance in tomatoes called ‘tomatine’ as the main cause of the gastric distress. Naturally produced as the tomato plants grow, tomatine normally decomposes when tomatoes begin to ripen. The substance is a chemical that allows the plants to resist negative changes in the environment, such as attacks by insects or

March 31, 2023

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases fall for second day

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell for two straight days to around 10,000 on Friday, keeping the numbers steady compared with a week ago, as people began to come to terms with treating the virus as endemic. The country reported 10,368 new COVID-19 infections, including 18 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,820,130, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Friday's count is down from the previous day's 11,039 and Thursday's 13,134. The figur

March 31, 2023

[Photo News] Construction machine falls on residential buildings in Ulsan

A 37-meter-high pile driver fell on residential buildings at a construction site in Ulsan on Wednesday, resulting in five residents being sent to a hospital. The machine, used for pushing foundations into the ground, struck three residential buildings severely damaging their exteriors, after tipping over while moving in the apartment construction site, local media reported. Three people aged over 60 and two in their 40s, including one pregnant woman, were sent to hospital after being rescued fro

March 30, 2023

Rare white roe deer spotted

A rare white roe deer has been spotted on a hill in Wonju, Gangwon Province. Considered a mystical creature here, it's known to be a once-in-a-decade discovery. The deer was first observed by residents in the neighborhood last week. The hill it was spotted on is reported to be close to the city area, surrounded by roads and buildings. White deer hold a special place in many cultures’ traditions. Appearing in a tale that dates back to 37 BC during the Goguryeo era, Koreans consider a w

March 30, 2023

Temperature in Seoul to rise to 25 C on weekend

Warm and dry weather will continue until early next week, with wide daily temperature ranges, the weather forecaster said Thursday. Due to the influence of high atmospheric pressure, clear and dry weather across the country will remain until around Tuesday, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. High pressure could mean weaker winds, causing the atmosphere to stagnate and raising the possibility of fine dust, it added. Temperatures will be 5 to 10 degrees higher than the early Apr

March 30, 2023

Whistleblower to overnight celebrity: Nation fixated on ex-dictator’s grandson

Chun Woo-won is slated to meet with the bereaved families of those killed in the 1980 Gwangju Uprising on Friday morning, as South Koreans keenly follow the man’s self-proclaimed quest to atone for the legacy of his late grandfather, a military dictator widely blamed for the massacre. According to officials of the May 18 Memorial Foundation, the 27-year-old will hold a press conference in which he will officially apologize on behalf of his grandfather, ex-President Chun Doo-hwan, for his r

March 30, 2023

Early exposure to gadgets delays development: research

Early exposure to screens may negatively affects a child’s social development, research showed Thursday. A research team led by Kim Sung-koo, a professor at Hallym University’s Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, showed that 95.8 percent of toddlers under the age of 2 who experience developmental delays spent more time using technological gadgets than those who didn't display such delays. The findings were based on a study between 2013 and 2019 of 197 children, 96 o

March 30, 2023

Sejong University’s College of Hospitality and Tourism Management ranks 46th in world

Sejong University’s College of Hospitality and Tourism Management ranked 46th in the annual World University Rankings by Subject in 2023, as released by QS Quacquarelli Symonds on Thursday. It is also the No. 1 hotel management university in South Korea, maintaining the top spot among domestic peers for three consecutive years. Established in 2004, the London-based ranking system aims to help students identify leading universities in a particular subject around the globe. Universities are

March 30, 2023

A man arrested for unprovoked attacks on children

A man in his 50s has been indicted for unprovoked attacks on elementary school children he had no connection with. After being on the wanted list for 18 months, the 52-year-old man was charged with assault and child abuse, said the Incheon District Prosecutor's Office on Thursday. The prosecution requested he be detained at a psychological treatment facility following the decision that he has a very high risk of recidivism if not treated medically. The suspect is alleged to have attacked a

March 30, 2023

Man who killed father on day of mother’s funeral gets sentence reduced

A Busan court on Thursday reduced the sentence for a man charged with killing his father on the day of his mother’s funeral, citing petitions from his family and for showing remorse. The Busan High Court on Thursday reduced the 56-year old man’s sentence to 27 years in prison from the previous 30-year imprisonment. The court cited petitions from the man’s sister, wife and son pleading for leniency, and the man showing remorse for his crime during the appeal. The 56-year old man

March 30, 2023

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases post on-week decline

South Korea reported just over 11,000 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, a mild drop from a week earlier, as the country is adapting to the idea of the virus becoming endemic and is making efforts toward returning to normalcy. The country reported 11,039 new COVID-19 infections, including 14 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,809,762, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Thursday's tally is down from the previous day's 13,134 and a decline of 350 from sev

March 30, 2023

Law denying fathers birth registration of extramarital children ruled unconstitutional

The Constitutional Court has ruled against a family registration law that practically bars biological fathers from registering the birth of children they have in extramarital relations with married women, legal sources said Thursday. The court recently delivered the ruling in a unanimous decision on a petition filed against Articles 46 and 57 of the Act on Registration of Family Relations, saying they breach the basic rights of children born out of wedlock. Under the articles, the duty of birth

March 30, 2023