Yoon orders swift damage assessment, safety check after 4.8 magnitude quake

President Yoon Suk Yeol instructed the government Wednesday to carry out a swift damage assessment and safety check in response to a 4.8 magnitude earthquake that struck near the southwestern county of Buan early in the day, his office said. Yoon gave the instruction upon being briefed on the quake, the strongest on the Korean Peninsula and in its surrounding waters this year, while on a state visit to Kazakhstan, according to presidential spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung. He also called for continual

June 12, 2024

PM orders thorough govt. response to 4.8 magnitude earthquake

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo instructed the government Wednesday to take thorough and effective measures in the aftermath of a 4.8 magnitude earthquake that struck near the southwestern county of Buan early in the day, his office said. The quake struck 4 kilometers south of the North Jeolla county at 8:26 a.m., the strongest on the Korean Peninsula and in its surrounding waters this year, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. Han ordered the interior minister to thoroughly manage

June 12, 2024

Medical professors set to decide whether to join planned strike by community doctors

Professors at 40 medical schools were set to hold a meeting Wednesday to decide whether or not to join a planned strike by community doctors, an official at a group of the professors has said. Community doctors voted to take a day off next Tuesday in support of a protracted walkout by trainee doctors, who have left their worksites since late February to protest against the government's medical reform. The official at the Medical Professors Association of Korea told Yonhap News Agency on Tue

June 12, 2024

[Graphic News] 1 in 10 Seoul households have dogs: report

A recent report by the Seoul Digital Foundation, an organization affiliated with the Seoul city government, revealed that the number of registered pet dogs in Seoul has reached 612,000, accounting for 17.5 percent of the country’s total. This data, based on the March 2024 database of registered pets, indicated that approximately 1 in 10 households in the South Korean capital now own at least one dog, with a ratio of 14.9 dogs per 100 households. The report also provided a detailed breakd

June 12, 2024

Gym draws fire for banning 'ajumma'

In South Korea, the debate has intensified over indoor spaces attempting to bar certain groups from entry, notably sparked by a gym's recent decision to ban older women, creating a "No ajumma zone." According to a post on Blind, an online discussion platform for verified employees, on Monday, a gym in Incheon hung up a sign on its premises saying: "Ajumma not allowed to enter," with the additional explanation, "Only cultivated and elegant women allowed," below.

June 11, 2024

Prosecution launches investigation into former first lady's trip to India

The prosecution has recently launched an investigation into accusations that former first lady Kim Jung-sook spent an “excessive” amount of taxpayers’ money to fund her 2018 trip to India, which has resurfaced in recent days, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office said Tuesday. The decision to open the investigation comes nearly six months after the complaint was filed. In December last year, Lee Jong-bae, a People Power Party member on the Seoul Metropolitan Council, fi

June 11, 2024

First tropical night of the year hits Gangneung, week earlier than last year

South Korea's first tropical night of 2024 hit Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Monday night, a week earlier than last year, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Tuesday. Tropical nights are defined as ones in which the temperature remains above 25 degrees Celsius from 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. the next day, according to the KMA. As of 6:50 a.m. Tuesday, the KMA announced that temperatures remained above 25 C in Gangneung and would remain the same or higher until 9 a.m. It is the

June 11, 2024

Patients feel let down by doctors' strike

Four months into the prolonged medical standoff, patients, once again, are left on edge as medical professors and private practitioners are set to take a day off next week, after the largest lobbying group for doctors voted to go on strike on June 18 to protest the government's drastic medical school quota expansion. Waiting in line in front of Severance Hospital's Diabetes Center on Tuesday morning to pick up a prescription, Jung Ok-bun, a 67-year-old with diabetes from Gimhae, South

June 11, 2024

Company accused of ‘illegal’ dissection classes: doctors group

A South Korean doctors group said Tuesday it has filed a complaint with local police against a company for providing what it claimed were illegal cadaveric dissection classes for nonmedical personnel with a body donated to a local medical school. The group Gonguimo, or Doctors' Association for Fair Society, filed the complaint with the Seocho Police Station in Seoul related to a local company's recent anatomy lessons conducted at the Catholic Institute for Applied Anatomy, an affiliate

June 11, 2024

Police say debt likely behind Paju murder-suicide

The South Korean police said Monday it plans to close the investigation into a murder-suicide in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, with evidence suggesting that the victims were killed during an attempt by the perpetrators to pay off their debts. The police found that the two men responsible for the deaths both had sizeable debts, and the investigators believe that they had lured the two female victims to extort money from them. The April 10 case made headlines after police investigating a missing person

June 11, 2024

[Graphic News] Korea’s average salary ranks 19th among OECD members

South Korean workers’ average yearly salary has surpassed 90 percent of the OECD average, according to a recent report. The country’s salary has also consistently exceeded that of Japan for the past decade. The report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reveals that the average annual salary for South Korean workers in 2022 was $48,922, which is 91.6 percent of the OECD average. This marks significant growth since 1992, when the ratio was just 63.8 percen

June 11, 2024

Seoul ranks 9th in global startup ecosystem: report

Moving up one spot from 2022, Seoul ranked 9th in the 2024 Global Startup Ecosystem Report released Monday by Startup Genome at The London Tech Week. GSER 2024, informed by data across 300 global ecosystems in 100 countries, includes a top 100 ranking of global startup ecosystems. Seoul ranked ninth out of 300 cities worldwide, its highest ranking ever. Seoul was previously ranked 10th in 2022 and 12th in 2023. Four Asian cities are included in the top 10 ranking of global startup ecosystems, in

June 10, 2024

Anti-corruption agency closes case on first lady's Dior bag allegations

The state anti-corruption agency said Monday that it had closed an inquiry into allegations that first lady Kim Keon Hee broke anti-graft legislation when she received a high-end designer bag from a pastor in 2022 because it has found no violation of the law. “Under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, there is no provision for presidential spouses. Therefore, the case has been closed,” Deputy Chairman Jeong Seung-yoon of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said durin

June 10, 2024

Gang rape victim's sister speaks against doxxing suspects

The younger sister of the victim in the 2004 Miryang gang rape case has recently spoken out against YouTubers disclosing the identities of the perpetrators, alleging the victim had never consented to making them public. The sister wrote a post in online used car community Bobae Dream on Sunday, with a screenshot of text messages exchanged between her and local YouTuber Pan-seug, who has been uploading videos revealing the personal information of the alleged perpetrators of the Miryang incident.

June 10, 2024

Godeok or Guri? Dispute over name of new Han River bridge

The Seoul district office of Gangdong-gu and the Guri city government have failed to settle their differences over the naming of a new Han River bridge, resulting in the matter being handed to a state-run committee. According to the Gangdong-gu Office, the Korea Expressway Corporation recently requested the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation's naming committee to decide on the name of the bridge, which is currently under construction and set to be completed later this yea

June 10, 2024

Summer weather arrives in S. Korea

Summer is right around the corner, with average daytime temperatures nationwide estimated to record over 30 degrees Celsius throughout the week, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration on Monday. Monday’s average daytime temperatures nationwide were to range between 26 C and 33 C, as South Korea falls under the influence of high pressure coming toward the peninsula from Mongolia while warm air comes in from the west, according to the KMA. On Tuesday and Wednesday, morning te

June 10, 2024

Ministry to order private doctors to maintain operation on day of strike

Amid an escalating dispute between the government and doctors over having more medical students, the government on Monday ordered private practitioners to keep providing treatment and report to authorities when they close practice to join a one-day strike led by the country's largest doctors' group next week. Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong remarked during a government response meeting that the order is based on the Medical Service Act and a "minimum necessary measure" to prote

June 10, 2024

Store owner fined for shooting unruly customer in face with gas gun

A 36-year-old convenience store owner was fined 2 million won ($1,450) by court for shooting a customer in the face with a gas-operated gun, after the customer hit him with a carton of milk several times, court said Monday. Incheon District Court found the defendant guilty of special violence and special destruction and damage, both of which are applied when the perpetrator uses a dangerous weapon. The defendant got into an argument with a 65-year-old customer at a convenience store he runs in

June 10, 2024

4 out of 10 S. Koreans want shorter work week: survey

A recent showed that many South Korean workers think the optimal cap for weekly work hours should be 48 hours, four hours less than the legally allowed 52 and far lower than the 69 previously pursued by the government. Local civic group Workplace Gapjil 119 on Sunday revealed the results of the survey it conducted in February on 1,000 workers across the country, asking opinions on the legal limit for working hours per week. The leading answer was 48 hours, picked by 42.5 percent of the responden

June 10, 2024

'Nightclub for the teens' closed down by authorities

Gimpo city government said Saturday it is taking measures to slap a two-month suspension of operation on a Gimpo-based club that operated overnight for teenage customers. The club in Gurae-dong, Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, promoted itself as a nightclub for teens, exclusively for students ranging from the second year of middle school to the third year of high school. According to its Instagram page, it opened at 5 p.m. and closed at 3 a.m. the next day. Operators of the club claimed that the busin

June 9, 2024