Top court defines repeated missed calls as harassment

South Korea's Supreme Court on Tuesday expanded the definition of harassment to include repeated missed calls by an offender meant to intimidate a victim in a landmark ruling. On May 18, the nation's top court remanded the case to the Busan District Court, dismissing the lower court's ruling that refused to recognize the behavior of leaving numerous missed calls as harassment. It was the first Supreme Court ruling to define the nature of such behavior. A rights advocacy group known as the Korean

May 30, 2023

Husband arrested after escaping police custody amid suspicion of killing Philippine wife

A murder suspect fleeing from South Korean and Philippines' authorities has been apprehended in the Philippines capital Manila, South Korean police said Tuesday. According to the South Korean police agency, the suspect was spotted at a condo in Manilla on Monday. The suspect is a South Korean male in his 30s who fled to the Philippines after allegedly murdering his wife, a national of the Philippines, earlier this year. Police believe the suspect murdered his wife and disposed of the body a

May 30, 2023

Over half of foreign claimants of unemployment benefits Korean Chinese: data

Over half of foreign subscribers claiming unemployment benefits last year were ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality, data released by a lawmaker showed, despite them accounting for only a third of those paying in to the system. Foreign subscribers of all nationalities were less likely than Koreans to claim, and the disproportionate number of ethnic Korean claimants indicates visa status is one hurdle to accessing benefits. Some 12,107 foreign subscribers received unemployment benefits from th

May 30, 2023

Daycare center teachers' licenses revoked due to child emotional abuse: court

The Constitutional Court has ruled that a current law, which revokes a daycare center teacher's license if the principal or teacher is punished for emotionally abusing children, does not violate the Constitution. Earlier in June 2017, two daycare center teachers were accused on charges of showing homophobic videos to 18 elementary school students who visited the daycare center for volunteer activities. They claimed that the video was to warn the children of the dangers of homosexuality and

May 30, 2023

[News Focus] Korea seeks to boost medical tourism as future growth engine

South Korea aims to boost its medical tourism industry as a key driver of future growth, with a target of attracting 700,000 foreign patients annually from 2027. However, challenges such as the language barrier and complex immigration procedures still remain. The Ministry of Health and Welfare set a goal of attracting more foreign patients to undergo medical treatments or get cosmetic surgery in Korea by increasing the number of foreign patients visiting the country by 26 percent each year. A

May 30, 2023

Election commission's unfair hiring scandal snowballs

The scandal surrounding alleged unfair hiring practices in South Korea's National Election Commission is growing. Jeon Hyun-heui, chair of the Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission, told a press briefing Tuesday that it has embarked on an investigation into unfair hiring practices in the election commission, following complaints filed with the civil rights authorities. The investigation will run until the end of June, Jeon said. At least 11 officials at the commission have allegedly r

May 30, 2023

Seoul City seeks to boost budget by W3tr for safety net

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday proposed a bill to increase its annual budget by 3.04 trillion won ($2.3 billion) to boost the social safety net, as inflation bites hard on finances of the city's nearly 10 million residents. The plan, submitted to the city council, will bring this year's total budget of South Korea's capital city to 50.3 trillion won. The increased budget will be spent to alleviate the rising cost of living of those marginalized, offset city transportation maintenan

May 30, 2023

Seoul eyes drug crimes with more security cameras

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that it would monitor drug-related offenses more closely by installing and renewing old surveillance cameras across the city. The city government will add 2,096 surveillance cameras and restore 1,531 old security cameras in 25 districts. Currently, there are 87,884 surveillance cameras in Seoul as of December 2022, where related personnel is working in real-time to detect drug crimes. With the upgrade, the metropolitan government said the security c

May 30, 2023

Woman suspected of being 'psychopath' arrested on murder charges

A woman in her 20s was apprehended Monday on suspicion of murdering another woman, also in her 20s, whom the suspect met online through an app, where she pretended to look for a private tutor for her child. According to the police, the woman is suspected of murdering the victim on Friday in Geumjeong-gu, Busan. The police said they appeared to have met up through an app specialized in matching private tutors with students and parents. According to reports, the app allows users to look for tutors

May 30, 2023

Arrest motion for 2 lawmakers over 'cash envelope' scandal to be reported to National Assembly

A motion requesting parliamentary consent to potential arrests of two lawmakers over an election bribery scandal was set to be reported to a plenary session of the National Assembly on Tuesday. Prosecutors sought arrest warrants for the two -- Reps. Youn Kwan-suk and Lee Sung-man -- for their alleged involvement in a campaign to distribute "cash envelopes" containing a total of 94 million won ($71,163) to members of the Democratic Party to help then candidate Song Yong-gil win party ch

May 30, 2023

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases under 20,000 for 6th day

South Korea's new coronavirus cases remained below 20,000 for the sixth consecutive day Tuesday as health authorities prepare to ease remaining antivirus curbs later this week. The country reported 13,529 new infections, including 19 imported cases, bringing the total caseload to 31,679,100, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Tuesday's tally is lower than the 23,671 cases two weeks earlier and 21,385 a week ago, continuing the downward trend in infection figures. The

May 30, 2023

Flights resume from typhoon-hit Guam to bring stranded S. Korean tourists home

South Korean tourists stranded on Guam will return home as the international airport on the island resumed operation Monday afternoon after closure due to a powerful typhoon, airline officials said. The country's four carriers -- Korean Air Co., Jeju Air Co., Jin Air Co. and T'way Air -- said they have resumed flights to bring back Korean tourists starting Monday, as the Guam airport reopens at 2 p.m. (Korean time) or 3 p.m. (local time) on the same day. The carriers plan to send a tot

May 29, 2023

K-culture propels medical tourism in Korea, survey shows

Nearly half of international patients who sought medical treatment in South Korea last year were influenced by the appeal of Korean culture, a survey from the Korea Health Industry Development Institute revealed Sunday. Of 1,200 foreign patients surveyed, 49.7 percent affirmed the influence of Korean culture on their decision to come to Korea for medical travel. Respondents from Southeast Asia, Japan, China and Russia constituted the bulk of the surveyed patients. The statistic represents an inc

May 29, 2023

Women, under-40 most frequently victimized by ‘romance scams’: study

An overwhelming majority of those who fall victim to "romance scams," in which a scammer manipulates the victim by abusing his or her affection and trust, in South Korea are women or under 40, a recent study by scholars at Seoul-based Korea University showed. An analysis of crime reports filed to the National Police Agency between January and June of last year showed that 71.4 percent of victims in a total 280 crimes categorized as romance scams were female, according to the “Cur

May 29, 2023

Smuggler jailed for 8 years over W180m of chocolate-coated meth

An appeals court on Monday upheld an eight-year prison term for a smuggler who attempted to bring chocolate-covered methamphetamine pills into South Korea. The Gwangju High Court dismissed the appeal filed by the smuggler, a Thai national whose identity has been withheld, convicting for breaching the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. The gender of the convicted was not known. The customs office at Incheon International Airport discovered the 10,123 pills of yaba -- a mix of me

May 29, 2023

Pregnancy increases among women in 40s

As South Korea’s fertility rates are waning, the number of women giving birth in their 40s has starkly increased over the last decade, data showed Monday. According to data received by Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party of Korea from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the total number of birth cases declined from 424,717 in 2013 to 244,580 in 2022, down 180,137 births in 10 years. In the same period, however, the country saw a rise in the number of women giving birth in their 40

May 29, 2023

Arrest warrant issued for man who opened plane door mid-air

DAEGU-- A local court issued a warrant Sunday to arrest a passenger who opened an emergency exit door on board an Asiana Airlines flight right before landing in the southeastern city of Daegu last week. The 33-year-old man, only identified by his surname Lee, was detained by police Friday on suspicions of opening the door 213 meters above ground just minutes before landing at Daegu International Airport in Daegu, 237 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The Daegu District Court granted the request f

May 28, 2023

Sales workforce at offline shops declines as online deals rise

The sales workforce at South Korea's retail stores continued to decline in the past four years on increased online transactions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Sunday. The number of newly hired salespeople at offline outlets fell 13 percent, or 393,000, to 2.64 million in April this year from 3.03 million in the same month of 2019, data from Statistics Korea showed. The April tally is down 0.7 percent from the same month of last year, the data said. Subjected workforce

May 28, 2023

[Photo News] Police request arrest warrant for passenger who opened emergency exit door before landing

Police filed an arrest warrant request for a male passenger in his 30s who opened the emergency exit door on a plane before landing on Sunday. The man is accused of opening an emergency exit door on an Asiana Airlines flight from Jeju Island to Daegu on Friday. He has been detained by police. He told officials he wanted to get off the plane quickly because he felt suffocated. On Sunday, Asiana Airlines decided it will ban the sales of a seat on the emergency exit aisle of aircraft model A321-200

May 28, 2023

Unforeseen consequences of shaking bedding out on the balcony

On May 8, a 49-year-old man died after falling from the balcony of his apartment in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. According to the police, the man, a resident on the 15th floor, appeared to have accidentally fallen while attempting to shake dust off his carpet. The tragic incident is the latest example of what Koreans refer to as "death by falling while shaking a comforter," which claims lives nearly every year. In 2021, a woman in her 60s fell to her death from an apartment in Jincheon, No

May 28, 2023