Daytime highs to soar up to 37 C; season's 1st heat wave advisory issued in Seoul

Temperatures are expected to shoot up to 37 C in the city of Goyang, north of Seoul, on Wednesday, as a heat wave grips the nation, the state weather agency said. Other parts of the country are also expected to see temperatures rise to 35 C or higher. Highs are forecast to be 36 C in the southeastern city of Daegu and 35 C in Seoul, the central city of Daejeon and the southwestern city of Gwangju, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. The eastern coastal city of Gangneung was hit by yet

June 19, 2024

Regulator launches probe into major doctors' group over walkout

The antitrust regulator launched an on-site inspection into a major lobby group for doctors Wednesday for allegedly forcing its members to join a walkout against the government's medical reform plan, officials said. The Fair Trade Commission sent inspectors to the office of the Korean Medical Association in Seoul and conducted a probe regarding the KMA-led one-day walkout on Tuesday that involved community doctors and other medical staff, as well as a massive rally in Seoul, according to of

June 19, 2024

Doctors to discuss next steps against govt. following one-day strike

Major groups of doctors and medical professors will gather Wednesday to discuss what to do next against the government's medical reform plan after threatening to launch an indefinite strike next week, officials said. On Tuesday, some community doctors and medical professors affiliated with the Korea Medical Association held a one-day walkout, and they have threatened to launch an indefinite strike June 27 unless the government accepts their demands. The KMA will hold a meeting with groups f

June 19, 2024

[Graphic News] Jamsil overtakes Gangnam as Seoul’s busiest subway station

Jamsil Station on Seoul’s Subway Line No. 2 has replaced Gangnam Station of the same line as the capital’s busiest station, with over 150,000 passengers using the station per day, Seoul Metro said. Jamsil Station in southeastern Seoul served a daily average of 155,229 passengers in the first four months of this year, compared with Gangnam Station with a daily average of 151,607 passengers, according to Seoul Metro’s analysis of traffic at all stations on Line Nos. 1-9. Gangna

June 19, 2024

Police request arrest warrant for company commanders over recruit's death

CHUNCHEON -- Police on Tuesday requested arrest warrants for two Army company commanders over the death of a trainee soldier following a session of demanding disciplinary training last month, officials said. The suspects are accused of ordering a disciplinary session for six recruits at a unit in Inje County, 126 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on May 23, in violation of relevant training rules, resulting in the death of one conscript. The soldier was taken to a civilian hospital after collapsi

June 18, 2024

Korean students outperform OECD peers in creative thinking

South Korean students showed a high level of creative thinking, outperforming on tests that compare the capability of generating original ideas among 15-year-olds around the world, a survey showed Tuesday. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released the Program for International Student Assessment results Tuesday, in which South Korea ranked first to third among 28 OECD countries and second to fourth among 64 countries in "creative thinking." PISA is a study of 1

June 18, 2024

[From the scene] Patients left stranded as local clinics shut down

Choi Jung-hwa, a woman in her 30s, discovered a notice of service suspension Tuesday at the internal medicine clinic she regularly visited in Nowon-gu, northern Seoul, for heartburn treatment. Although she was aware of the ongoing monthslong confrontation between the government and doctors over expanding medical school quotas, she had not anticipated it would disrupt her access to medical care. "I didn't expect that even this local clinic where I have been treated would be closed,"

June 18, 2024

S. Korea plans support for workers who cover for colleagues with kids

South Korea's Cabinet approved a bill Tuesday to reward employees taking up the duties of coworkers who work reduced hours for child care with government subsidies. Effective on July 1, the revision will allow the government to make up for the employers' compensation to employees who handled the tasks of co-workers who, for example, leave the workplace early for child care purposes. Moreover, parents of young children who work two hours fewer than the regular working hours every day in

June 18, 2024

No older people allowed: Daegu gym triggers controversy

The "no-someone zone" controversy has flared up in Daegu, where a hotel has become embroiled in debate due to its new fitness center policy, which is to ban those aged 76 or up from signing up as members. Local media outlets on Tuesday reported that the allegedly four-star hotel in Suseong-gu, Daegu has decided to ban those 76 and up from signing up to use the gym, starting July 1. According to the new policy, those 76 or older will only be able to use the gym if they sign two consent

June 18, 2024

Seoul to invest W650b in universities for city competitiveness

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will invest 650 billion won ($471 million) over the next five years to help universities train students with the skills needed for the next generation of industries, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said in a press briefing Tuesday. “With a goal to make Seoul one of the top five global cities (in the Global Cities Index), the city government aims to boost the city’s global competitiveness by boosting the competitiveness of universities in Seoul, by helping to

June 18, 2024

Korea's largest doctors' group begins full-scale strike despite warnings

Thousands of doctors affiliated with the largest coalition of neighborhood practitioners in South Korea launched a full-scale, one-day strike on Tuesday, despite the government's return-to-work order and threat to disband the organization. The Korean Medical Association, representing some 140,000 doctors, mostly self-employed practitioners, pleaded to the public that it is the "last chance" to salvage the nation's health care from the brink of collapse. Some 50,000 people wer

June 18, 2024

Zoo-born lion’s first moment outdoors captured in photos

A lion that was born and kept in the basement cell of an indoor zoo for its whole life experienced what it feels like to be outside for the first time on Monday. According to Yonhap News Agency and officials at Spavalley, a theme park in Daegu, the male lion appeared bewildered at first and hesitated, but he soon began to explore his new home of around 500 square meters of land -- more than 10 times the size of the previous indoor cell. The lion also met his lifelong female lion companion, whi

June 18, 2024

Octogenarian killed by man falling from apartment

Two people died when a man who fell from an apartment building in Busan landed on top of another man, police said Monday. According to Busan Sasang Police Station, a man in his 50s fell from the 15th-floor unit of an apartment complex in Sasang-gu, Busan, at around 7 a.m. on June 15. He landed on another man in his 80s who was walking by. The younger man died instantly. The older man received treatment at a nearby hospital, but died the next day. It is unclear why the man fell, as the initial

June 18, 2024

S. Korea has far more unmarried men than women: study

As South Korea faces a falling marriage rate, a recent government study showed that the unmarried male population here outnumbers its female counterparts by nearly 20 percent. According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs report released Monday, unmarried South Korean men outnumbered unmarried women by 19.6 percent in 2021, with the imbalance in gender ratio being more pronounced outside of metropolitan areas. The report used Statistics Korea data on those born between 1970, 1

June 18, 2024

Seoul City names former PPP supreme council member as new vice mayor

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday it has appointed Kim Byung-min, a former member of the ruling People Power Party's Supreme Council, as its deputy mayor for political affairs. The 42-year-old will be Seoul's third vice mayor, alongside the first and the second administrative deputy mayors. Kim's main task will be to assist Mayor Oh Se-hoon in overseeing public relations affairs and serving as a mediator between the city administration and media, city council, and nat

June 18, 2024

Lotte World set to reunite families with time capsules frozen for 20 years

Lotte World Adventure, one of South Korea's most visited theme parks, announced Tuesday its plan to reunite two-decade-old frozen memories from time capsules kept under its ice rink with their rightful owners. In June 2004, the theme park in central Seoul invited 50 guests to participate in an event celebrating the 15th anniversary of the ice rink. Guests tucked messages and family photos into 13-centimeter capsules, which were then buried beneath the ice as part of the rink's thawin

June 18, 2024

Govt. orders some striking community doctors to return to work

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said Tuesday the government ordered community doctors who joined a one-day walkout to return to work, warning that they would face legal punishment unless they comply with the order. The order came as about 4 percent of the nation's 36,371 community hospitals, excluding dental and Oriental medicine clinics, have been expected to take a day off in protest of the government's medical reform. The one-day walkout took place a day after about 55 percent of medi

June 18, 2024

[Graphic News] 1 in 10 Korean households buy lottery tickets

According to Statistics Korea, 1 in 10 Korean households purchased lottery tickets in the second quarter of this year, marking the highest proportional increase in the past five years. These households spent an average of 7,321 won ($5.30) per month on lottery purchases. Approximately 2.2 million households bought such tickets, encompassing the scope of Lotto, the pension lottery, horse racing and bicycle racing, in the last quarter. This accounts for 10.1 percent of the surveyed households. T

June 18, 2024

Dispute over 'disrespectful' form of speech leads to knife attack

The Korean custom of paying respect to elders through a particular form of speech took a wrong turn recently when a quarrel over a supposed disrespectful form of speech resulted in a stabbing attack. Ulsan District Court said Monday that it sentenced a man in his 40s to two years in prison for stabbing another man in his 20s after the defendant's use of "banmal" -- an informal way of addressing another person -- caused a dispute. The incident occurred in Ulsan in January when bo

June 17, 2024

Civic group files complaint against anti-corruption chief for dropping inquiry into luxury bag scandal

A civic group filed a complaint Monday against the chief of the state anti-corruption watchdog on charges of dereliction of duty after the agency dropped an inquiry into a luxury bag scandal involving first lady Kim Keon Hee. Last week, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission closed its inquiry into the allegations that Kim accepted a luxury handbag as a gift in 2022, citing the absence of rules on punishing a public official's spouse under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. T

June 17, 2024