7 national parks absorb 1.9m tons of greenhouse gases, saving W127b

Seven national parks across South Korea have been found to absorb approximately 2 million tons of greenhouse gases annually -- equivalent to the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by 147,000 Korean nationals per year. As of 2021, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted annually per citizen is 13.1 tons. According to a report released Thursday by the Korea National Park Service, part of the Ministry of Environment, the parks -- Seoraksan, Odaesan, Taebaeksan, Sobaeksan, Chiaksan, Bukhansan and

Oct. 25, 2024

Fire at USFK warehouse in Busan under control, no casualties

A fire at a US Forces Korea warehouse in the southeastern port city of Busan has been brought under control, with no casualties reported, officials said Friday. The Busan Metropolitan City Fire Disaster Headquarters said the fire was nearly under control by 7:24 a.m., with the fire response system also lifted as of 7:34 a.m. The blaze occurred at 6:31 p.m. Thursday at the USFK's facility in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, prompting authorities to dispatch over 160 personnel and 51

Oct. 25, 2024

Fire breaks out at USFK storage facility in Busan

A fire broke out at a US Forces Korea (USFK) storage facility in the southeastern port city of Busan on Thursday, officials said, with no casualties reported so far. The blaze occurred at 6:31 p.m. at the USFK's Busan Storage Center in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to officials. More than 160 personnel and 51 pieces of fire equipment have been mobilized to extinguish the fire, which is believed to have started during plumbing work. As of 7:55 p.m., Busan fire authoriti

Oct. 24, 2024

Abductee families’ group vows to send leaflets to Pyongyang next week

A group representing the families of those abducted by North Korea vowed Thursday to fly leaflets into North Korea next week, aiming to raise awareness about the abductee issue. About 100,000 leaflets bearing the names and photos of abductees in North Korea will be sent across the border from the western border city of Paju sometime next week, the group said in a press conference in Suwon, south of Seoul. A copy of the leaflet shown by the group included images and descriptions of those abduct

Oct. 24, 2024

South Korea moves to regulate popular wiki site

For South Koreans seeking information online, all signs point to Namuwiki. The home-grown open-source encyclopedia has emerged as the country’s go-to knowledge hub, offering a more casual and community-driven alternative to Wikipedia. Boasting over 6.5 million entries that span everything from academic discourse to pop culture, it ranked as the nation's fifth most visited domain as of September, according to web analytics firm SimilarWeb. Operating through servers in Paraguay, Namuwik

Oct. 24, 2024

Long-term foreign residents in S. Korea at all-time high

The number of foreign nationals residing in South Korea long-term has increased to an all-time high, reaching almost 2.5 million last year, according to official data presented by the Ministry of Interior and Safety on Thursday. As of Nov. 1, 2023, there were a total of 2,459,542 foreign nationals staying in Korea for at least three months. According to the Interior Ministry -- which defines foreign residents as those without Korean nationality, those who have obtained Korean citizenship but are

Oct. 24, 2024

Jessi apologizes for assault case involving fan

Rapper-singer Jessi apologized Wednesday following heavy backlash after a fan was assaulted by a man who was with her at that time. In a statement posted to her Instagram account, the Korean-American singer expressed regret and apologized. “I deeply apologize to the victim and his family for causing pain,” she said. “From the moment the incident happened until now, I have hurt many, including the victim, and left them feeling betrayed and angry due to my wrong actions, attitude

Oct. 24, 2024

Man stops attack against store clerk

A man is being considered for commendation after intervening in an assault against a convenience store clerk, local media outlets reported Thursday. According to the local broadcaster YTN, the attack occurred at a convenience store in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The suspect, identified only as a foreign national in his 20s, attempted to buy a bottle of soju but the store clerk in his 60s repeatedly refused to sell it, citing that the suspect needed an ID to

Oct. 24, 2024

Tattoo artist calls for all body inking to be legal at audit

The debate on legalizing tattooing by non-medical practitioners further heightened on Thursday, after a veteran tattoo artist called to scrap the decades-old regulation that officially restricts the practice to only being conducted by licensed medical personnel. "I looked around the room, and about half of the people here have tattoos. But I don't think there's a single person who got it legally," Kim Do-yoon, who heads the country's first labor union of tattooists, told

Oct. 24, 2024

Campaign for proper K-food names

The Seoul city government announced a campaign to promote standardized foreign-language names for Korean foods on Thursday, aiming to boost culinary tourism by providing accurate translations for international visitors. The initiative, in collaboration with the Seoul Tourism Organization and the Korea Food Service Industry Association, runs until Nov. 1 and focuses on correcting mistranslations of famous Korean dishes. Foreign tourists often encounter baffling translations on menus, including no

Oct. 24, 2024

Draft-dodger falls from building trying to run from investigators

A young man on the run for allegedly dodging his mandatory military service survived a fall from a building while trying to evade prosecutors, officials said Thursday. The suspect, in his late 20s and wanted for violating the Military Service Act, was visited at his home in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province by officials from the Namyangju Branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office at around 12:40 p.m. on Monday. One investigator knocked on the door while the other was standing by outsi

Oct. 24, 2024

Court approves process to find new owner for beleaguered e-commerce platforms

A Seoul court has approved the process to find a new owner for e-commerce platforms TMON and WeMakePrice placed under court-led rehabilitation since early September after failing to make payments to vendors using their platforms, an official said Wednesday. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court has selected the EY Hanyoung accounting firm as the lead manager for the process to sell the e-commerce platforms to help resolve the massive payment delays, the court's appointed custodian, Jo In-cheol, told Y

Oct. 23, 2024

KBS nominates main anchor Park Jang-beom as new president

The board of directors at South Korea's largest public broadcaster KBS on Wednesday recommended its main news anchor as new president and CEO, officials said. During an extra board meeting in the day, Park Jang-beom was chosen to replace current CEO Park Min to be the 27th president of the broadcaster out of three candidates, including the incumbent chief. The decision needs approval from President Yoon Suk Yeol. If confirmed, the new president's term will begin on Dec. 10 to run throu

Oct. 23, 2024

Doctor under fire for labeling patient's fat tissue as 'lard' in medical report

A South Korean doctor is facing backlash for allegedly describing a patient’s fat tissue as “pig lard.” The incident was revealed Tuesday on JTBC’s current affairs show “Scandal Supervisor." A patient who had been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism visited a local hospital after experiencing heart palpitations and shortness of breath. For further assessment, the doctor ordered a CT scan and she paid around 800,000 won ($579). When reviewing the scan results, the pa

Oct. 23, 2024

[Herald Interview] Korea building law database system for foreign nationals: minister

The South Korean government is stepping up its efforts to make the country more foreigner-friendly by building an accessible database system of the country's laws and legislation, the minister of government legislation told the Korea Herald earlier this month. As South Korea pushes to embrace foreign workers and immigrants to address population decline, the Ministry of Government Legislation -- a body focused on making the nation's legal system clear, consistent, and accessible both do

Oct. 23, 2024

DDP begins rooftop tours

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung-gu, central Seoul, will begin hosting rooftop tours, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Design Foundation on Wednesday. According to the city government and the foundation, the rooftop tours will open to the public from Friday to Nov. 17 as a test run, before officially launching it as a regular tour program in the spring of 2025. “The rooftop tour is a new attempt (by the Seoul Metropolitan

Oct. 23, 2024

Seoul unveils plan to move 68km of railways underground

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced its plan on Wednesday to convert 68 kilometers -- or 94 percent -- of the city’s above-ground railway network into an underground network. The space for ground railways as well as station buildings will be turned into parks, and commercial and cultural facilities. Currently, Seoul has 71.6 kilometers of above-ground railway across six lines, running through 15 out of 25 districts. The conversion includes 34.7 kilometers of the Gyeongbu Line and 3

Oct. 23, 2024

Low-income patients less likely to survive cancer: study

Low-income patients are less likely to survive any type of cancer, as they have a lower prevalence of cancer screening than wealthier patients, data showed Wednesday. The five-year survival rate for stomach cancer patients receiving medical aid was 22.7 percent lower than for patients covered by health insurance, 20.4 percent lower for colorectal cancer, 27.2 percent lower for liver cancer, 13.5 percent lower for breast cancer and 16.6 percent lower for cervical cancer. The data was presented

Oct. 23, 2024

'No tattoo' policies at hotels spark dispute

Controversy over tattoos is brewing again, following reports about several five-star hotels in Seoul banning customers with "excessive tattoos" from using some facilities. One hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, reportedly has a clause allowing it to restrict gym and swimming pool access to customers with "an excessive amount of tattoos, to the extent of causing anxiety or discomfort to others." Another hotel in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, was reported to ban pool use for those with tatto

Oct. 23, 2024

S. Korea to allow driver's license tests on EVs

South Korea is planning to allow those taking tests for driver's licenses to do so with electric vehicles, the National Police Agency said Wednesday. According to the NPA, the revision of the Road Traffic Act allowing battery-powered cars to be used at state-run driver's test centers was passed at the Korean National Police Committee meeting on Wednesday. The revision is expected to come into effect as early as this year, in which case test-takers will be able to use EVs next year. Und

Oct. 23, 2024