Health care workers approve strike over crippled medical system, pay raise

A nationwide union of nurses and medical workers said Saturday that their members have voted to launch a strike next week, calling for a pay raise and the normalization of the crippled medical system amid a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors, its officials said Saturday. The Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union, which has some 30,000 nurses and medical workers at 61 hospitals as members, said more than 91 percent of its members supported the strike plan, according to the officials. If

Aug. 24, 2024

Seoul suffers record 37th tropical night this summer

Seoul has posted its 37th tropical night this summer, the most in the city's history, the state weather agency said Saturday. Seoul experienced yet another tropical night phenomenon overnight, setting the highest number in a single year since modern meteorological observation began in the city in 1907, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. A tropical night refers to a phenomenon when the nighttime temperatures stay above 25 degrees Celsius from 6:01 p.m. to 9 a.m. the followin

Aug. 24, 2024

Seoul meets Busan: Oh stresses more autonomy, city growth

BUSAN -- Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon called on the central government to decentralize authority and allocate more human resources to municipalities, enabling them to develop tailored strategies for addressing the population crisis and fostering future growth. “Korea’s chronic low growth and deepening polarization cannot be overcome with regional strategies that are centralized and standardized," he said Friday at a conference held by the Korean Political Science Association in Busan.

Aug. 23, 2024

Korea sees record-breaking streak of tropical nights

South Korea is suffering under a relentless heat wave, with Seoul, Busan, and other regions breaking records for consecutive tropical nights, data by the country's weather agency showed Friday. As of Friday, Seoul and Jeju have each experienced 33 and 39 straight nights of sweltering temperatures, respectively, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. A tropical night refers to overnight temperatures remaining at or above 25 degrees from 6:01 p.m. to 9 a.m. the following day. S

Aug. 23, 2024

Seoul to build large marina in Jamsil

The largest marina in Seoul is planned to be constructed at Jamsil Hangang Park in Songpa-gu, in the southeastern portion of the capital. The new facility is to accommodate 220 vessels, including yachts, as part of the city’s initiative to expand water leisure amenities. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Friday that it had signed an agreement with private company Hangang Marina to carry out the project. Construction is slated to begin early next year, with completion and openin

Aug. 23, 2024

Deepfake sex crimes spread among teens

  Recent progress in video technology has had some alarming effects in South Korea, as a growing number of tech-savvy youngsters are using deepfake technology to produce sexual images of people without their consent, often of their peers. A recent report showed that there had been 180 criminal cases related to deepfake images last year. Ninety-one of the 120 people punished in those crimes were teenagers, according to a report compiled by Rep. Cho Eun-hee of the ruling People Power Party, w

Aug. 23, 2024

Bereaved families mourn, survivors recall chaos of Bucheon hotel fire

Among the seven people who died in Thursday's hotel fire in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, was a 28-year-old woman whose final moments have deeply resonated with the public. The woman, surnamed Kim, made her last desperate phone call to her father at 7:42 p.m., just three minutes after the fire broke out, according to reports by the JoongAng Ilbo. "Something terrible has happened. The smoke is so thick I can’t get out," she said. In a second call, just over five minutes later, she a

Aug. 23, 2024

Gyeonggi bus drivers vote for Sept. general strike

A labor union of bus drivers in Gyeonggi Province, responsible for the operation of over 90 percent of all bus routes in the province, plans a general strike early next month, sparking concerns about disruptions in the public transit system. The walkout plan was approved in a vote Thursday, with 98.3 percent of the 12,613 participants voting in favor. The union, under the Korean Automobile and Transport Workers’ Federation, represents 16,592 members across 45 bus companies in 31 cities i

Aug. 23, 2024

Number of COVID-19 patients continues to rise

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 continued to increase in the third week of August, according to the most recent tally Thursday, but at a lower growth rate than weeks before. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, 1,464 people were newly hospitalized with the disease between Aug. 11 and Aug. 17, marking a 7.2 percent increase compared to 1,366 new patients in the previous week. The figure by the state-run agency refers to the patients admitted to one of 22

Aug. 23, 2024

Skeletal remains of man found in abandoned Jeju motel

Skeletal remains of a man in his 70s were discovered Thursday in a defunct motel in Ora-dong, Jeju City, police said Friday. The deceased, believed to be a former welfare recipient, had reportedly been living in the facility before its closure in 2019. Welfare officials had placed him on a watch list after losing contact in August 2020. An official conducting a premises check located the remains in a room of the abandoned building and alerted local authorities around 9:36 am Thursday. Investigat

Aug. 23, 2024

15-year-old saves man in diabetic shock by feeding him snacks

A 15-year-old boy recently rescued a man suffering from a sudden drop in blood sugar at a Daejeon convenience store when he did some quick thinking and fed the man sugary snacks. Local News 1 reported Thursday that the man had lost consciousness at 8:20 p.m. on Aug. 17 at a convenience store inside the Daejeon World Cup Stadium while he was waiting in line. The man suffered from hypoglycemia and heat exhaustion which caused him to collapse. Song Min-jae, a student at an Incheon middle school,

Aug. 23, 2024

Gwangju explosion caused by disgruntled dental patient: police

A 79-year-old man who caused an explosion and fire at a dental clinic Thursday in Gwangju had done so out of dissatisfaction with the clinic, according to local police. The suspect had told police investigators that he committed the crime because he was discontent with the dental treatment he received, local media outlets reported Friday, citing officials at Gwangju Seobu Police Station. The incident occurred at 1:14 p.m., when the suspect set off an explosion with a makeshift device in the rece

Aug. 23, 2024

7 killed, 12 injured in hotel fire in Bucheon, electric fault blamed

Seven people were killed and a dozen others injured Thursday following a fire at a hotel in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, with authorities on Friday strongly suspecting "an electric fault" as the main cause. The blaze started on the eighth floor of the nine-story building at around 7:39 p.m. at a hotel in Jung-dong, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, according to fire authorities. The fire, which was confined to the hotel’s upper floors, quickly filled the corridors with thick b

Aug. 23, 2024

[Graphic News] Average commute hits 48.4 minutes

The average daily commute for South Korean workers takes 48.4 minutes, with those living in Gyeonggi Province spending the most time on the road and experiencing the highest stress levels, according to a survey by Job Korea. The online recruiting company polled 1,010 people nationwide to assess the current status of work commutes. Workers in Gyeonggi Province reported the longest average commute at 58.2 minutes. Seoul residents followed with an average of 46.8 minutes, while those living outsi

Aug. 23, 2024

1 killed, 4 in cardiac arrest in hotel fire in Bucheon

BUCHEON, Gyeonggi Province (Yonhap) -- One person was killed and four others were in cardiac arrest following a fire at a hotel in Bucheon, just west of Seoul, on Thursday, police said. According to the Gyeonggi Province firefighting headquarters, the fire began on the eighth floor of the nine-story hotel at 7:39 p.m. "We're currently putting out the fire and trying to rescue people, so we haven't determined the exact number of casualties," a firefighting official said. "

Aug. 22, 2024

Police launch probe into threats posted on German Embassy's website

Police said Thursday they have launched an investigation into threatening messages posted on the website of the German Embassy in Seoul. Nearly 100 messages have been posted on the website since Tuesday, including threats to install explosives at the embassy or blow up key facilities, such as Seoul Station and Asan Medical Center, according to Namdaemun Police Station. The texts were written in German, Korean and Japanese, police said. The messages did not indicate when the explosions would take

Aug. 22, 2024

In South Korea, 'communist party' joke leads to espionage investigation

A group of vacationers inadvertently triggered a national security investigation after a photo of their gathering with a banner jokingly referring to it as a "Communist Party" meeting circulated online. The image, which showed approximately 20 individuals including children under a banner reading "Inaugural Korean Communist Party Family Summer Camp," quickly spread across online forums, leading multiple concerned citizens to file espionage complaints with the authorities. On

Aug. 22, 2024

Explosion at Gwangju dental clinic; no casualties

A man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of causing an explosion that led to a fire at a dental clinic in Gwangju, some 270 kilometers south of Seoul. The suspect, 79, brought a makeshift explosive comprised of four canisters of butane gas and a container with flammable material to the reception area of the clinic, located on the third floor of a building in Seo-gu, western Gwangju. He set fire to the material at 1:14 p.m. Thursday, setting off a chain of explosions that forced some 90 people to

Aug. 22, 2024

Government to hold ‘K-Community Challenge’ for foreign participants

The Korean government has launched the “K-Community Challenge” competition for foreigners, set to run until Sept. 22, officials said Thursday. The contest is being promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. This initiative invites participants to submit videos showcasing performances and demonstrations across four categories: Joseon pop, "sogochum" (Korean folk dances) "taekwonm

Aug. 22, 2024

Woman gives birth in ambulance after 4 hospitals turned her down

South Korean rescue officials said Wednesday that a pregnant woman recently gave birth inside an ambulance after four hospitals refused to take her in because they lacked the necessary medical staff or beds in their emergency rooms. According to Jincheon Fire Station in North Chungcheong Province, the woman called an ambulance at 1:31 a.m. on Aug. 15 after she went into labor. The rescue workers reached out to the four nearest hospitals in Cheonan and Cheongju, but all four said they did not h

Aug. 22, 2024