Schoolyard nightmares extend their reach in digital age

"R-r-r-ring! R-r-r-ring!" Picking up the phone, I was greeted by a barrage of harsh words. “Why won’t you check your f---ing messages? You that eager to die? See what happens next,” Minji, my supposed “friend,” spat before hanging up. An alarm on my phone notifies me of an invitation to a chat room, the members of which seem to be in a competition to see who could be crueler to me.   The above is content from “Cyberbullying Vaccine,” a mob

March 27, 2023

Gyeonggi police chief to head National Office of Investigation

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday tapped Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Commissioner Woo Jong-soo as the new state investigation chief, ending the leadership vacuum created by an ex-prosecutor who resigned from the post amid a school bullying controversy involving his son. The new chief of the National Office of Investigation will oversee 30,000 investigators under the national police, according to Yoon's office. Launched in 2021, the NOI, often referred as the Korean version of the US' Federa

March 27, 2023

Four Nigerian children killed in fire in Ansan

Four Nigerian children were killed in a fire early Monday in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. The two girls aged 11 and 4, and boys aged 7 and 6 were siblings. The fire broke out around 3:28 a.m., and was put out at 4:16 a.m. by firefighters at the second floor of the three-story residential building in Seonbu-dong of Danwon-gu in the city just southwest of Seoul. Three more Nigerians including the parents of the deceased children, two Uzbeks and a Russian sustained injuries, and 37 people were evacuat

March 27, 2023

Yoo Ah-in grilled over drug use

Actor Yoo Ah-in was questioned by police on Monday over allegations of habitual use of illegal drugs, according to investigators and reports. Police are also reportedly considering seeking an arrest warrant for Yoo. Yoo, whose real name is Uhm Hong-sik, appeared at the Mapo-gu office of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at around 9:20 a.m., flanked by a group of star lawyers specializing in drug offenses. Yoo was originally supposed to appear before police on Friday, but he requested to postp

March 27, 2023

Top court says Iranian refugee who faked visa document won't be punished

South Korea's Supreme Court has ruled that an Iranian national charged with obtaining a visa based on fake documentation should not be punished, citing an international refugee convention, officials said Monday. The Iranian applied for refugee status in March 2016 after entering Korea on a short-term visa that he obtained by submitting an invitation letter from a Korean company. But it was discovered that the invitation letter was a fake he had bought from a broker for $4,700. The Ministry

March 27, 2023

One Kazakhstani who fled airport arrested

One of two Kazakhstanis who fled Incheon Airport after being denied entry into South Korea was apprehended Sunday afternoon in Daejeon, nearly 200 km away. A 21-year-old man was captured at around 9:42 p.m. at a convenience store in Daejeon, where he had gone to meet an acquaintance, the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency said. The police are currently checking security footage to track down another individual aged 18 who is still on the run. The two Kazakhstani nationals had broken a termin

March 27, 2023

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases post on-week rebound amid post-pandemic recovery

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases bounced back to over 4,000 from a week earlier Monday, as people increasingly adapt to post-pandemic everyday life with the relaxation of most of the COVID-19 rules coming into effect. The country reported 4,204 new COVID-19 infections, including nine cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,773,460, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Monday's figure is up from 3,930 logged a week ago and marks a rebound after reporting

March 27, 2023

Police tracking down two Kazakhs who fled from airport

South Korean authorities are on the hunt for two Kazakh nationals who fled from the airport after being refused entry into the country. According to Incheon Airport Police, at 4:18 a.m. Sunday, two Kazakhs nationals -- aged 18 and 21, respectively -- fled over the northern fence on the fourth landing strip of Incheon Airport. The two Kazakhs arrived at Incheon Airport Terminal 2 at 7:26 a.m. on Friday on Korean Air flight KE992, which had departed Tashkent, Uzbekistan. They were denied entry due

March 26, 2023

[Hello Hangeul] Upgrade needed for teaching 'advanced' Korean

The soaring popularity of South Korean pop culture has fueled a boom in Korean language learning using songs and dramas in recent years. With the help of the media and internet, foreign learners are putting their best foot forward to get a better grasp of Korean colloquial expressions, new words and slang used by younger Koreans. Some learners also improve their linguistic knowledge by taking Korean language classes. Teachers often find introductory Korean courses easier to teach, but they often

March 26, 2023

Bereaved families can get foreign workers pension payments

The South Korean Constitutional Court has ruled that a clause in the Construction Workers Act preventing the payment of retirement deductions to foreign nationals' bereaved families living abroad is unconstitutional. The ruling came after a Vietnamese woman, whose husband worked in Korea and died in a construction site accident, was denied retirement deductions by the Construction Workers' Mutual Aid Association due to her foreign nationality and residency abroad. With the unanimous op

March 26, 2023

Warrant dismissed for ex-governor's son's alleged meth use

The Suwon District Court on Saturday denied a police request for a warrant to further detain the son of former Gyeonggi Province Gov. Nam Kyung-pil, who has been accused of methamphetamine use. The court declared there was not enough evidence to constitute a need to detain the 32-year-old Nam, who is suspected of illegally taking drugs at his apartment in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Nam was apprehended by local police after his family called police and told them he "seems to be on

March 26, 2023

More premature births amid low birthrates: report

The preterm birth rate in South Korea is on the rise, while the country's overall birthrate reached an all-time low, data showed on Sunday. Statistics from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs showed that the total number of births in the nation has decreased over the past decade, shrinking from 471,000 in 2011 to 261,000 in 2021. During the same period, the rate of premature births have increased. The rate of preterm births grew from 6 percent to 9.2 percent and the rate of in

March 26, 2023

Over 600 elderly citizens rally support for Busan Expo bid

Over 600 elderly citizens from Busan and its neighboring regions have recently rallied support for Busan's bid to host the World Expo in 2030. The so-called "Silver Supporters" will be tasked with taking part in events to promote Busan's World Expo bid and to welcome the Bureau International des Expositions Enquiry Mission visit to Busan in early April. Busan is the third destination for the BIE committee, which represents the World Expo organizer to assess the feasibility of

March 26, 2023

Top court finds Jehovah's Witness guilty of evading civilian service

The South Korean Supreme Court revealed Sunday that it recently found a religious man guilty of failing to fulfill his alternative military service as a social service agent, which exempts him from active duty as a soldier. The case to decide whether the 31-year-old Jehovah's Witness, whose further personal identity remains undisclosed, committed a crime has been remanded to a district court in Daejeon for further proceedings. A ruling by the nation's top court read that those who refu

March 26, 2023

[New Neighbors] As crackdowns resume, immigration officers fear for safety

The names of immigration service field officials interviewed by The Korea Herald are aliases to protect their identities. -- Ed. Kim Jong-sup, who works at a local branch office of the Korea Immigration Service, never thought he would be risking his life in the course of his job. “Yesterday, I went to detain illegal aliens working at a water parsley farm. I (fell and) rolled over and suffered bruises all over my body,” Kim said, showing his broken glasses. It was not the first ti

March 26, 2023

New COVID-19 cases over 10,000 for 5th day amid eased restrictions

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases topped the 10,000 threshold for the fifth consecutive Saturday, with more people traveling mask-free amid eased virus restrictions in public areas. The country reported 10,448 new COVID-19 infections, including 17 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,759,895, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The Saturday figure slightly rose from the 10,283 reported the previous day. There were six more COVID-19 deaths, with the

March 25, 2023

Extended detention of foreign nationals subject to deportation is unconstitutional: top court

Keeping foreign nationals subject to deportation in detention centers for long periods of time is incompatible with the Constitution, South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled Thursday. The clauses of the current Immigration Control Law that allow the authorities to prolong physical custody of foreign nationals slated for deportation until their departure must be amended to eliminate their unconstitutional elements, the court said in a 6-to-3 majority decision. "The statutes that impos

March 24, 2023

Ex-President Chun Doo-hwan's grandson vows not to do drugs again

Chun Woo-won, former President Chun Doo-hwan's grandson, on Friday, said he had recovered from losing consciousness and vowed not to use drugs again. The 27-year-old who lives in New York wrote an update on his Instagram account about what had happened to him since he abruptly stopped live-streaming on March 16, when local police pulled him out of his apartment after he began using drugs while live-streaming and showed signs of hallucinating. Chun was moved to a hospital via ambulance. The

March 24, 2023

Two troubling trends in Korean med school admissions

A look at the recent-year admissions data of Korean medical schools has revealed two disturbing trends: Applicants try year after year to get into the program and those who succeed are mostly from Seoul and major cities. Three out of 4 students admitted into medical schools across the country in the past four years had taken entrance exams multiple times before they succeeded, an analysis by the office of Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kang Deuk-gu of 5,144 students enrolled showed. Repeat taker

March 24, 2023

Former bank officials convicted for recruitment scandal

Four former Hana Bank officials have been found guilty by the Supreme Court for manipulating recruitment results in favor of graduates from certain schools and those recommended by high-ranking bank officials or financial authorities. They were also accused of discriminating female applicants from 2013 to 2016, local media reported Friday. Song, a former head of the bank’s human resources department, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years, and a 2 million won ($1,550)

March 24, 2023