Koreans lost nearly W1.7tr to phishing scams over past 5 years: data

Fraudulent phone calls and text messages, also known as phishing, in South Korea have caused nearly 1.7 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in damage over the past five years, data showed Tuesday. According to data received by Rep. Kang Min-kuk of the People Power Party from the Financial Supervisory Service, a total of 227,126 scams were reported from 2018 to 2022, and the expense of reported loss from these scams was some 1.66 trillion won, with the number of such crimes seeing an uptake since 2020. V

Feb. 21, 2023

Mother gets 15-year prison term for killing infant son

A 15-year prison sentence has been confirmed for a mother in her 20s who killed her two-month son by pressing the child with her body. The Daejeon High Court said the 25-year-old mother, who had been convicted of child murder, did not file a petition for appeal. She confessed that she pressed him for a significant time because he wouldn't stop crying. The defendant committed the crime while undergoing an appeals trial over another child abuse case involving her two other children, who were

Feb. 21, 2023

Court recognizes same-sex partner as dependent

A South Korean high court ruled on Tuesday that the spouse in a same-sex partnership is eligible for national health insurance coverage under his partner’s subscription. The landmark ruling overturns a lower court's decision in January 2022 that rejected the same-sex couple's petition to cancel the National Health Insurance Service's decision to demand back-payments from the non-earning partner. A spouse without a source of income is exempted from making a health insurance c

Feb. 21, 2023

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases continue weekly decline as virus slows down

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases continued their downward trend Tuesday as the spread of the coronavirus has markedly slowed down in recent months. The country reported 11,880 new infection cases, including 25 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,445,775, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The figure fell from 14,368 cases a week earlier and from 16,112 two weeks earlier. In the past three months, the daily caseload for a Tuesday peaked at 87,528 on Dec

Feb. 21, 2023

[Korean Dilemma] More cafeterias for children, a way of the future

Even with AI doing, or “assisting,” more and more human jobs in the future, there’s one thing we will continue to do every day even a hundred years from now: eating. Yes, there may one day be capsules containing all the necessary nutrients that we can gulp down when we can’t be bothered to chew. But gastronomy and conversing (or arguing) at the dining table are integral parts of human life that differentiate us from other animals, or robots. And it takes at least an hou

Feb. 21, 2023

Yoon approves request for parliamentary consent to opposition leader's arrest

President Yoon Suk Yeol has signed off on a request for parliamentary consent to opposition leader Lee Jae-myung's arrest, his office said Tuesday. The president's endorsement is a procedural step that comes before the justice ministry submits the request for consent to the National Assembly. By law, prosecutors need parliamentary consent to arrest a lawmaker while the assembly is in session. Lee, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party, faces charges of corruption and bri

Feb. 21, 2023

[Graphic News] Number of workers taking parental leave up 18.6% in 2022: data

The number of South Korean workers who took time off to take care of their children rose 18.6 percent in 2022 from a year earlier on the back of more government support for parental leave, government data showed. A total of 131,087 workers took parental leave to take care of their children last year, up 20,532 from the previous year, according to the data by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. Women accounted for 71.1 percent of the workers on leave last year, far outnumbering their male count

Feb. 21, 2023

Yoon warns of 'firm action' against labor unions refusing to disclose account books

President Yoon Suk Yeol warned Monday of "firm action" against labor unions that refuse to disclose their account books while receiving large amounts of government subsidies, his office said. Yoon's warning came during a weekly meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as they discussed ways to increase labor unions' accounting transparency and regulatory reforms, according to presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon. "The president stressed once again that the starting poin

Feb. 20, 2023

Russian draftees seeking refuge await decision in South Korea

Three draft-eligible Russians have been left stranded at Incheon Airport for about four months as they await the South Korean government’s decision on their refugee claims. The Russian men -- aged 26, 34 and 38, respectively -- first got here in October and applied for refugee protection after initially reporting their purpose of visit as tourism. Their applications were rejected by the Ministry of Justice, however, which stated that fleeing military service would not qualify as a reason t

Feb. 20, 2023

A dog day care owner under investigation for animal abuse

Cheongju Heungdueok Police Station has launched an investigation into allegations of animal abuse by the owner of a dog day care center in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. According to reports, the owner is suspected of committing multiple counts of animal abuse which allegedly took place between early January and Feb. 7, according to the Korea Abandoned Animal Welfare Association, the civic group that reported the case. KAWA submitted CCTV video footage of the inside of the facility which

Feb. 20, 2023

State not responsible for death of child who followed school vaccine mandate: court

The South Korean government is not responsible for compensation for a child who was inoculated following a boarding school's vaccination requirement, a court ruling showed Monday. The mother of the deceased son, whose identity was not disclosed, claimed in a lawsuit that the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency had unlawfully rejected the mother's request to review whether the case was subject to state compensation or not. She demanded the case be at least discussed at a committ

Feb. 20, 2023

8,000 child day care centers shut down over 4 years

Over 8,000 child day care centers in South Korea closed over the past four years, weighed down by declining births, government data showed. Some 21 percent, or 8,248, of all day care centers across the nation disappeared from end-2018 to the end of last year, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Sunday. The total number of day care centers, which typically admit children aged 6 and under, stood at 30,923 as of Dec. 31, compared with 39,171 at end-2018. Separate data showed that the

Feb. 20, 2023

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases continue to fall amid virus downturn

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 5,000 on Monday, continuing an on-week decline amid a gradual virus downtrend. The country reported 4,324 new infection cases, including 13 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,433,895, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The figure fell from 5,163 cases a day earlier and from 5,847 a week earlier. The infection numbers have been on a steady decline despite worries that the removal of the indoor mask mandate late last

Feb. 20, 2023

S. Korea reports lowest Sunday tally of COVID-19 cases in 33 weeks

South Korea has reported the lowest number of new COVID-19 cases in 33 weeks for any Sunday amid a gradual decline in virus infections in the country. A total of 10,274 additional cases, including 23 from overseas, were confirmed Sunday, bringing the total caseload to 30,429,571, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. It marked a decline from 12,042 a week earlier. On Saturday, 10,718 new cases were posted. The KDCA reported 12 new deaths from COVID-19, putting the death t

Feb. 19, 2023

S. Korea's first relief team to Turkey returns home

A South Korean relief team sent to Turkey earlier this month to support rescue work following the devastating earthquake there returned home Saturday, Seoul's foreign ministry said. The 118-member Korea Disaster Relief Team arrived at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, just south of the capital, at 7 a.m., according to the ministry. Last week, South Korea dispatched the team, mostly comprised of search and rescue personnel, to the city of Antakya, having offered $5 million in emergency humanitaria

Feb. 18, 2023

S. Korea to introduce 'anti-drone' system to key facilities

The South Korean government on Friday announced its plan to introduce an "anti-drone system" to prevent terrorist attacks from targeting key national facilities with drones. The meeting of the 16th National Counter Terrorism Committee, convened by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, approved the government's plan of deploying the anti-drone system to key facilities, including oil refineries and power plants, in stages of order of importance. The government will also seek to actively supp

Feb. 17, 2023

S. Korea-China weekly flights set to rise by end of month: PM

The number of international flights between South Korea and China, currently 62 per week, will be increased to 100 per week next month. The decision to drop other quarantine measures, including mandatory PCR tests for entrants travelling from China, will be announced next week. "We will gradually increase the number of international flights between Korea and China to 80 per week by the end of this month, and to 100 per week next month," said Prime Minister Han Duck-soo at a COVID-19

Feb. 17, 2023

Kids who threw bricks from building immune from punishment

A two-kilogram brick thrown from the top of a five-story building by children smashed the outdoor condenser of an air-conditioner, and a second one fell right in front of a shopkeeper who came out to see what caused the crashing sound. The shopkeeper is getting medical treatment for the traumatic experience, but because the children are aged under 10, the police can’t do anything other than write down their personal details, a local broadcaster reported Thursday. The children were caught b

Feb. 17, 2023

Foreigners caught funding terrorist group using cryptocurrency

Two foreign nationals residing in South Korea have been arrested for funding an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group using cryptocurrency, police said Thursday. A 31-year-old Uzbek man and a 29-year-old Kazakh man were sent to the Supreme Prosecutors Office on Jan. 17 on charges of breaking the anti-terrorism and anti-terrorist funding acts, according to the National Office of Investigation of the National Police Agency. The funds were delivered to Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad, or KTJ, an anti-Syrian

Feb. 17, 2023

Blue Tree Foundation calls for anti-cyberbullying measures at UN side event

The Blue Tree Foundation, an institution for victims of school violence, held a meeting Monday on the sidelines of the 61st Session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development, to discuss the prospect of sustainable development in the era of digital transformation. The 61st plenary session of the UN Commission for Social Development was held online and offline at the UN headquarters in New York from Feb. 6 to Wednesday with the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea to the United

Feb. 16, 2023