University heads to attend audit regarding controversies surrounding first lady

The heads of Kookmin University and Sookmyung Women’s University will attend a National Assembly audit on Friday over controversies surrounding first lady Kim Keon-hee. After missing out on an audit held earlier this month, citing overseas business trips, Lim Hong-jae and Jang Yoon-geum, the heads of Kookmin University and Sookmyung Women’s University, respectively, will attend the parliamentary audit to address allegations of plagiarism and false career history concerning the first

Oct. 19, 2022

Absentee parents to face criminal penalties

Two noncustodial parents will be reported to police for neglecting their duties to cover the expenses for their children. This will be the first time for child support obligors to face criminal charges since related laws were revised in July 2021. A civic group committed to conflicts related to child care expenses said on Wednesday it will report two “bad parents” who purposefully refused to pay for their noncustodial children’s living expenses to Suseo Police Station. Accord

Oct. 19, 2022

Seoul records 1st ice of season

Seoul witnessed the first ice of the season Wednesday morning, with the morning low dipping to 4.4 C, the state weather agency said. The temperature was 5.8 degrees below average, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. Seoul on average witnesses its first ice around 15 days later. Ice or frost can be formed even when the air temperature is a few degrees above freezing, as the temperature is usually measured at the height of some 1 meter above ground surface. Other parts of the count

Oct. 19, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases fall below 30,000 amid slowing virus spread

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases dipped Wednesday, in a sign that the virus curve has yet to change its downward course that the country has seen in recent months. The country reported 29,503 new COVID-19 infections, including 72 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 25,194,177, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Wednesday's figure is down 3,745 from a day ago, and more than 1,000 from a week ago. On Tuesday, the daily figure tripled from Monday's

Oct. 19, 2022

[Newsmaker] South Korean lawyers voice solidarity with women in Iran

Human rights lawyers gathered outside the Iranian embassy in Seoul on Tuesday in a show of support for women in Iran. “We stand with the women of Iran who are courageously fighting against appalling repression, and urge the Iranian government to stop the violent crackdown of protesters and respect the freedom of women and girls,” the lawyers said in a joint statement. “Today we join people around the world who have taken to the streets to support the women in Iran, who are r

Oct. 18, 2022

COVID-19 cases double on-week amid potential for winter resurgence

South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases rose on Monday, as the spread of the virus stopped slowing and showed signs of a potential resurgence. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 33,248 new COVID-19 infections for the 24 hours of Monday. This was more than twice the 15,476 cases a week prior but this was mainly due to fewer tests on the previous Monday, which was a public holiday. But the figure was also up slightly on the preceding Tuesday, and the seven-day average of the nu

Oct. 18, 2022

1 in 10 freshmen at SNU are from southern Seoul: report

Two affluent districts in southern Seoul produce disproportionate number of students accepted into the country's top university, indicating a growing education gap, a lawmaker said Tuesday. According to Rep. Seo Dong-yong from the Democratic Party of Korea, 10.4 percent of the students admitted to Seoul National University this year were from high schools in Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu, affluent areas of southern Seoul. The southern Seoul districts are often referred to as the hub of South Korea'

Oct. 18, 2022

Pedophiles in treatment highly rare, experts say will matter most

Only about 20 people a year receive treatment to manage pedophilia, while sex offenders against minors who have been newly ordered to register their personal information surpassed 2,900 on average in last four years. Experts call for more specific standards to judge pedophilic tendency while stressing that the patients’ will is the most important factor in treatment. Pedophilia, classified as a sexual preference disorder, requires medical approach. According to data Rep. Shin Hyeon-young f

Oct. 18, 2022

Iranian athlete who defied hijab rule in Seoul competition flown back

Iranian sport climber Elnaz Rekabi, who competed in a climbing championship in Seoul on Sunday without wearing a hijab, has flown back to Iran, the Iranian Embassy in Seoul said Tuesday. “Ms. Elnaz Rekabi, who has participated in the final round of the Asian Climbing Competitions in Seoul, departed from Seoul to Iran in the early morning of October 18, 2022, along with the other members of the Team,” the embassy said in a statement. “The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Oct. 18, 2022

Ministry backs proposed ban on use of drug references in food advertisements

Alarmed by a rapid rise in drug offenses, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Tuesday it supports a legislative proposal to ban references to narcotics in food advertisements as something irresistibly good. “Using drug references to promote food can have a negative effect on children or adolescents,” a ministry official said. “Once the proposed bill gets passed by the National Assembly, the ministry will take measures, including drawing up an enforcement ordinance to curb

Oct. 18, 2022

Disabled advocacy group chief gets suspended jail term for organizing protests

A Seoul court handed down a suspended prison sentence to the head of a disabled advocacy group Tuesday for organizing bus protests aimed at demanding better mobility rights for the disabled. Park Kyoung-seok, head of Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD), was indicted on charges of disrupting bus operations during rush hour in Seoul in last April to call for the improvement of disability rights. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Park to four months in prison, suspended for

Oct. 18, 2022

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases rise to over 30,000 amid general slowdown in infections

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases more than doubled from a week ago Tuesday, a departure from the steady downturn in new infections the country has seen in recent months. The country reported 33,248 new COVID-19 infections, including 87 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 25,164,695, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Tuesday's tally tripled from 11,040 a day ago and more than doubled from a week ago, when the corresponding figure was 15,466. While th

Oct. 18, 2022

Thief in the family: Should law forgive when you don't?

The bitter money feud between TV personality Park Soo-hong and his older brother who is also his former manager continues in South Korea, with their father recently entering the media spotlight for his sudden “confession” that he, not the accused son, embezzled Park’s earnings. Although the father’s claim was dismissed as groundless by investigators, it threw light on the country’s long-held legal practice of exempting parents of criminal liability for financial c

Oct. 18, 2022

Fishing boat capsizes in waters off Jeju; search under way for 4 crewmen

SEOGWIPO -- A fishing boat capsized in waters off Mara Island, just south of the southern island of Jeju, on Tuesday, Coast Guard officials said, adding that a search is under way to rescue four crewmen believed to have been on board. The 29-ton fishing boat capsized in waters 7 kilometers southwest of Mara Island at 3:13 a.m., according to a report filed with the Coast Guard. Coast Guard rescuers arrived at the scene around 5 a.m. and found the boat upturned. Mobilizing a patrol ship, the Coast

Oct. 18, 2022

Oh Se-hoon, Don Tapscott discuss digital vision for Seoul

  Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Blockchain Research Institute Executive Chairman Don Tapscott exchanged views on how to strengthen the digital ecosystem of Seoul at Seoul City Hall Monday. Don Tapscott is in Seoul to attend a forum on tech reshaping humanity hosted by The Korea Herald on Wednesday. Oh said that his government was committed to providing customized information to the city's residents before they demand it. He said that data held by central and provincial governments and departme

Oct. 17, 2022

[Newsmaker] Kakao Outage: What happens when a country heavily relies on one super app?

Tech giant Kakao has said most of its services have been restored following an extended outage that began Saturday. But as the country suffered a digital blackout for many hours, the dominance of its "super app" has been called into question. Launched in 2010 as a messaging app, KakaoTalk grew in popularity exponentially over the years and branched out to other areas such as shopping and banking. Kakao also launched in-house apps that work in connection with KakaoTalk, such as ride-hai

Oct. 17, 2022

Nurses disadvantaged for volunteering to help with pandemic: survey

Nurses who were at the front lines of the yearslong battle against COVID-19 are being neglected as the pandemic recedes, according to the results of a local survey released by Rep. Kang Sun-woo of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Monday. The Korean Nurses Association conducted a survey on 764 nurses from 245 hospitals across the country between Sept. 19 and 25, which included a total of 588 nurses who worked at COVID-19 wards. Of the 588, 229 nurses were not able to return to w

Oct. 17, 2022

Education nominee challenged over funding

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister nominee Lee Ju-ho has been accused of receiving inappropriate funds when running for the Seoul education superintendent position. According to Rep. Kang Min-jung from Democratic Party of Korea, Lee received funds from an edutech company, while running for the Seoul education chief last year. Two officials from the company donated 10 million won ($7,000) to Lee, who gathered a total of 74 million won for his campaign. During the election campaign peri

Oct. 17, 2022

Twitter being abused as a channel for child sex crime: lawmaker

Statistics showed that among diverse social media services, Twitter is the most popularly used channel to distribute sexually exploitative content involving children, Monday. According to data Rep. Kim Young-joo of Democratic Party of Korea received from the Korea Communications Standards Commission on Monday, among 15,000 requests to delete certain content from social media services in 2021, 5,665 cases were requests regarding the child sexual exploitation. Among them, 5,180 cases were regardin

Oct. 17, 2022

Illegal importing of nail guns surge, lawmaker points to online shopping

The number of guns - including powder actuated nail guns - caught by the Korea Customs Service this year jumped more than 170 times compared to five years ago, data showed Monday. According to data that the People Power Party’s Rep. Bae Joon-young received from the Korea Customs Service on Monday, weapons were found in 13,195 cases between 2017 and 2021. The items include 154 devices using gunpowder along with 130 rounds of live ammunition, 3,051 swords and knives, and 9,860 imitation guns

Oct. 17, 2022