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

S. Korean prosecutors seek repatriation of Terraform's Do Kwon

South Korean prosecutors said Friday that they would seek the extradition of Do Kwon, the wanted co-founder of Terraform Labs, via the Ministry of Justice, hours after he was arrested in Montenegro. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office said it would initiate a repatriation request to the Montenegrin authorities to transfer him to Korea. Kwon was arrested at Podgorica Airport on Thursday before boarding a flight. His identity was confirmed through a fingerprint comparison. Kwon&r

March 24, 2023

Video reveals escaped zebra in Seoul lost parents

A zebra that escaped from a Seoul zoo Thursday had begun acting out earlier this year after its parents died, a video revealed. Two-year-old Sero was captured alive after having roamed around a Seoul residential neighborhood for roughly three hours, and was seen galloping through busy traffic and sniffing the garbage bags in the area. Sero reportedly broke free from Seoul Children's Grand Park's zoo by damaging a wooden deck installed around its pen. Early this year, Sero had become ag

March 24, 2023

Construction union raided over alleged illegal donation to progressive party

Police raided offices of a major construction workers' union Friday over allegations that the union provided illegal political funds to a minor progressive party ahead of the 2020 parliamentary election. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency sent investigators to two branch offices of the Korean Construction Workers' Union and eight other locations to seize evidence, including account books and computer hard disks, according to officials. The KCWU, affiliated with the Korean Confederati

March 24, 2023

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases remain in 10,000s for 4th day amid eased curb

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases remained at the 10,000 level for the fourth straight day Friday, with most state-imposed virus restrictions lifted in public areas. The country reported 10,283 new COVID-19 infections, including 14 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,749,740, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The Friday figure declined from the 11,400 reported the previous day but is higher than the weekly average of 9,825. The KDCA reported 10 COVID-19

March 24, 2023

Zebra captured some 3 hours after escaping from Seoul zoo

A zebra that escaped from a zoo in Seoul on Thursday was captured in the streets of the South Korean capital after having roamed at large in the streets for about three hours, according to zoo officials and fire authorities. The zebra reportedly broke free from Seoul Children's Grand Park's zoo in eastern Seoul around 2:50 p.m. and roamed around the nearby residential area. Born in 2021 in the same zoo, the zebra, named Sero, broke the wooden deck installed around its pen, they added

March 23, 2023

Constitutional Court upholds prosecution reform bill, but admits procedural lapses

  South Korea's Constitutional Court upheld a bill to curb the prosecution's investigative power on Thursday, putting an end to debate over whether the bill itself breaches rights protected by the Constitution. But the court partially acknowledged that there were procedural lapses in the process of passing the bill on the part of the Democratic Party of Korea, the main opposition that holds a majority of seats in the National Assembly. The nine-member court dismissed prosecutor-turned-Justi

March 23, 2023

JMS raided over religious leader’s alleged sex crimes

Prosecutors and police on Thursday raided the compound of a religious group led by Jeong Myeong-seok, who is facing fresh allegations of sex crimes raised by the Netflix documentary series titled, “In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal." The South Chungcheong Provincial Police deployed 120 investigators to the compound, which houses a training center and the residence of the leader of the organization, located in Wolmyeong-dong, Geumsan-gun, South Chungcheong Province. Jesus Morning Sta

March 23, 2023

More than half of child sex offenders get probation: report

The number of prison sentences for sex crimes against children and adolescents are on the rise, but more than half of the offenders ended up getting probation, according to government data released on Thursday. According to an analysis of court records involving sex offences targeting children and adolescents, there were 2,671 perpetrators and 3,503 victims in total in 2021. This analysis includes the data of sex offenders whose personal information was registered in 2021. The analysis was condu

March 23, 2023

Passersby flip car on its side to rescue driver

Footage of pedestrians who came together in the spur of the moment to rescue a driver from a flipped car earned praise online Thursday. Ulsan Metropolitan Police on Thursday shared a video of an accident on its YouTube channel, showing some ten passersby gathering around a sport utility vehicle that tipped onto its side at a junction in Ulsan on Tuesday morning. As some people begin to push the vehicle back up, other passersby and drivers dashed to pitch in. Only around 80 seconds after the car

March 23, 2023

Five kinds of puppyhood in Korea

March 23 is "National Puppy Day," which was started in 2006 by dog lovers in the US to honor the cute furry animals that bring joy and happiness to humans. Here, The Korea Herald looks at the lives of five different kinds of pups in South Korea. 1. Pet dogs The daily lives of puppies in loving and caring homes in Korea revolve around one important routine – walking with their owners. As many Koreans live in apartments, which often lack outdoor space, regular walks are crucial f

March 23, 2023

[From the Scene] Hydrogen tram, floating islands touted in Busan Expo bid

BUSAN – Floating islands and hydrogen-powered trams were among the plans unveiled Thursday to turn Busan’s historic North Port area into a World Expo 2030 site. The city, bidding to host the event in 2030, plans to leave many harbor facilities in place to turn them into historic attractions and cultural facilities, while reducing the Expo’s environmental footprint. Redeveloping the area will “return the harbor to the people,” the city said, as the port is effectivel

March 23, 2023

[KH Explains] Will grandson help locate Chun Doo-hwan’s slush funds?

The mystery of what happened to the bribes taken by late President Chun Doo-hwan have re-entered the spotlight after his grandson, Chun Woo-won, an accountant based in New York, made headlines last week by alleging that his family was living off the illicit funds. Chun was an Army general who seized power in a coup and led Korea as a dictator from 1980 to 1988. He was responsible for authorizing a massacre of demonstrators during the Gwangju Democratic Uprising before making himself president. Y

March 23, 2023

Sandstorm from China forecast to push up fine dust levels in S. Korea

A sandstorm that swept across Beijing and China's northern provinces is forecast to partially affect South Korea on Thursday, sending fine dust levels to "very bad" in parts of the country, a research institute said. The severe yellow dust that blanketed China over the past two days is expected to pass north of South Korea, but part of it is expected to move southeast into the country Thursday afternoon, the National Institute of Environmental Research said. The country's wes

March 23, 2023

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases fall below 12,000 amid eased restrictions

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 12,000 Thursday, as the coronavirus has been slowing down for months. The country reported 11,400 new COVID-19 infections, including 21 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,739,457, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The Thursday figure declined from the 13,081 reported the previous day. It went up slightly from the 9,932 a week ago and the 10,885 two weeks ago. The KDCA reported 14 COVID-19 deaths, raising the

March 23, 2023

Sunfull Foundation to launch campaign to raise awareness on multiculturalism

The National Assembly Sunfull Committee and the Sunfull Foundation said they will hold a launching ceremony for the "Respect for Multicultural Families and All Ethnic Groups in Korea" campaign at the National Assembly Hall on March 27. The campaign aims to promote equal treatment for multicultural families and ethnic minority groups living in Korea, according to the organizers. It will shed light on the role these populations play in Korean communities, the economy and Korean culture

March 22, 2023

Cult leader maybe abusing lawyer visits in prison: lawmaker

Suspicions of cult leader Jeong Myeong-seok abusing lawyer visits have risen, with records showing that he had visits from his legal representative on average of 1.7 times a day during his detention since October, a lawmaker revealed Wednesday. According to Rep. Park Bum-gye of the main opposition Democratic Party, Jeong had met lawyers 265 times during his current detention as of March 3. He was detained on Oct. 4 on suspicion of sexually assaulting his follower in the South Korean religious gr

March 22, 2023

Fraudster who faked own death for 9 years jailed over W375m scam

A man in his 40s was sentenced to 18 months in prison for multiple counts of fraud, which he tried to get away with by faking his own death, Gwangju District Court said Tuesday. Some additional charges were dismissed because the statute of limitations has already passed, the court said. From 2008 to 2013, he swindled 375 million won ($287,000) out of five people under the pretense of finding them employment in the Yeosu Industrial Complex. As he faced lawsuits, he forged his death by tipping ove

March 22, 2023

Korea to revamp emergency medical services

The government unveiled a five-year plan aimed at improving emergency medical services throughout the region on Tuesday. Under the new plan, paramedics will play a vital role in determining the severity of patients' conditions and directing them to the appropriate emergency room. This approach is expected to reduce wait times and improve patient outcomes. To help optimize resources and ensure patients receive the best possible care, emergency rooms at hospitals will be graded into three cat

March 22, 2023