Why young people have 'call phobia' and how to manage it

A minute away from initiating a phone call with her landlord, Lee Hyun-jung, a 24-year-old college graduate, feels her heart racing and palms getting sweaty. These all-too-familiar symptoms seem to arise when she has to make or receive a phone call, prompting her to avoid speaking on the phone whenever possible. Phone anxiety, also known as call phobia or telephobia, is a form of social anxiety disorder observed in a growing number of people, particularly among those belonging to the so-called &

Aug. 1, 2023

[Herald Review] In ‘Little Garden,’ grannies learn to document own lives on video

In Myeongju-dong, an older neighborhood in Gangneung, Gangwon-do, a group of eight older women who have lived in the area for over 30 years and have an average age of 75 among them gather to go over video footage they took over the past week. Besides meeting friends, volunteering, doing housework and gardening, these women have a new thing to cross off their to-do lists: shooting moments of their everyday lives with their smartphones. It is part of a community center program. Some of the women t

July 31, 2023

10 people died at the Astroworld music festival two years ago. What happens now?

Nearly two years after 10 people were crushed to death during the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival, no charges have been filed — even though some people, including event workers, expressed safety concerns. Pinpointing “who exactly caused those deaths is not an easy question to answer,” said Sandra Guerra Thompson, a criminal law professor at the University of Houston Law Center. “It’s a very difficult thing to say, unless you have some kind of clear evidence that som

July 30, 2023

Why Korea's parenting icon faces blame for recent surge in teacher assaults

Dr. Oh Eun-young has risen to prominence as a South Korean TV personality in recent years thanks to her medical assessments and advice on parenting and mental health, captivating audiences still concerned about seeking psychiatric help due to the social stigma surrounding such treatments. The star psychiatrist, however, has recently found herself at the center of controversy, with some internet users and teachers blaming her that teachers are becoming more powerless because of Oh's parentin

July 28, 2023

[Reporter's Notebook] Bereaved families do not deserve abuse

Fuming with rage and shedding tears were bereaved family members of victims in the deadly Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon last year, following the Constitutional Court's verdict Tuesday that cleared Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min of legal accountability for the incident. An unidentified man's yelling sparked an outcry from the bereaved family members, who flocked to the crowded street in front of the court as they were attempting to speak to the press. Tuesday marked 270 da

July 27, 2023

Seoul officials yet to face consequences for Itaewon crowd crush

Eight months after the deadly Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon, none of the officials in charge of the situation at the time has faced legal punishment, with investigations and trials still ongoing. On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court dismissed impeachment of Interior Minister Lee Sang-min, rejecting the National Assembly's request to remove him over the crowd crush that left 159 dead. Police investigating the incident had earlier decided not to seek criminal charges against him. The trial

July 26, 2023

93-year-old British veteran to sing Arirang to commemorate Korean War

When British veteran Colin Thackery first heard Korean military men singing Arirang on the battlefield during the 1950-53 Korean War, he could not have known what the song was about and that he himself would be belting it out 70 years later in the country he had fought for. “When we first heard Arirang, we didn't know what it was. We thought it was a lullaby or a national anthem because we heard it so often. But it’s very familiar to everybody now. It has such a pretty tune,&rdq

July 25, 2023

Why some S. Korean children refuse to ditch masks

Despite masks no longer being required for about six months, some young Koreans have refused to give them up, not only to stay healthy and protect themselves from potential viruses, but for personal reasons as well. Min Kyeong-chae, a 13-year-old student, told The Korea Herald that she feels reluctant to take her mask off because of her insecurities. “My face breaks out very easily, which is something that I feel the most insecure about,” said Min. “I think I look prettier with

July 24, 2023

[Beyond Earth] Spacemap looks to revolutionize satellite orbit prediction

In February 2009, two communications satellites -- a commercial satellite owned by US-based global satellite company Iridium Communications and a Russian military satellite -- collided in space, marking the first-known collision between two satellites and resulting in over 10,000 pieces of space debris. Spacemap, a South Korean startup, is looking to bring about an evolution that makes space missions safer with its platform technology that can predict the orbits of satellites and space debris to

July 23, 2023

[Well-curated] Stay cool inside with underground art space, trampolines and comics

Explore art and architecture at Songeun Art Space Songeun Art Space is located in a building designed by world-renowned Swiss architecture firm, Herzog & de Meuron, in Cheongdam-dong, an affluent neighborhood in southern Seoul. Opened in 2021, visiting the building that houses Songeun Art and Cultural Foundation offers a chance to check out the architects’ first-ever project in South Korea, as well as an exhibition of an emerging media artist Kwon Hye-won. The geometric 11-story buildi

July 21, 2023

BTS book takes US bookstores by storm

The English version of a book about K-pop sensation BTS released earlier this month by the band's agency to mark the septet's 10 year anniversary is taking US bookstores by storm. The book, titled “Beyond the Story: 10-year Record of BTS,” by BTS and Myeongseok Kang, translated by Anton Hur and Claire Richards, topped the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover nonfiction on Wednesday. Rankings on the newspaper’s weekly list reflect sales including pre-orders for the week

July 20, 2023

[Newsmaker] Travis King not first US soldier to cross border

A US soldier is believed to be in North Korean custody after crossing the demilitarized zone that divides North and South Korea while on a tour of the border village of Panmunjom, the United Nations Command said Tuesday. The soldier has since been identified as Travis King, a private in his early 20s who had just been released from a South Korean prison after serving about two months on assault charges. But long before King there was Charles Jenkins, who was accused of leaving his post with the

July 19, 2023

[KH Explains] Entrapment in the 'Kakao Kingdom'

Lee Yu-jin, a 34-year-old office worker who has gone on parental leave, thought about deleting her KakaoTalk account, as she wanted to disconnect from co-workers and acquaintances during her temporary break. But she could not get away from the messaging app, as it has become a crucial conversational tool among moms in her son’s kindergarten. Since its introduction as a free mobile messenger in March 2010 under its vision to “connect everything,” KakaoTalk has quickly dominated

July 18, 2023

[From the scene] As water recedes, mud hinders search for the missing

CHEONGJU, North Chungcheong Province -- The bullet train slowed to a near-halt as it approached North Chungcheong Province, as if the locomotive was cautious not to bring any more jitters to a region where a record July downpour has taken at least 16 lives as of Monday. Most of the deaths occurred in the flooded underpass in Cheongju's Osong-eup, about 2 kilometers from Osong Station where the KTX train stopped. When this reporter arrived Monday morning, the floodwaters that had engulfed th

July 17, 2023

Flooding claims dozens of lives as rainfall lashes Korea

More deaths have been reported across the country as flooding from heavy rain claimed over 30 lives as of Sunday, including a 34-year-old man who tried to save his father from an open manhole on Saturday afternoon. Both father and son were found dead. The father, chief of a Gwangdeok-ri village in North Chungcheong Province, was trying to remove objects obstructing the town's drainage facilities when he was swept into the manhole. His son jumped in in an attempt to save him. Rescue personne

July 16, 2023

Bipartisan bill eyed to toughen penalty for infant abandonment

A bill to increase the penalty for the criminal offense of abandoning an infant passed a preliminary review of the National Assembly’s legislation committee on Thursday with bipartisan support, following revelations on a series of deaths of abandoned infants that fanned public outrage. The criminal code currently mitigates the penalty for abandoning an infant or an infant dying as a consequence of abandonment in cases where there is a reasonable cause to believe the offender -- more specif

July 14, 2023

[Feature] Explicit gesture or acceptable performance?

Girl group Mamamoo’s Hwasa, 27, is under police investigation after a civic group filed an official complaint over the artist's sexually explicit dance moves at a campus festival in May. Hwasa, a popular K-pop star, was performing at Sungkyunkwan University as part of cable channel tvN's music show, “Dancing Queens on the Road." The show follows South Korea's iconic solo dance artists Kim Wan-sun, Uhm Jung-hwa, Lee Hyo-ri, BoA and Hwasa as they travel around the c

July 13, 2023

Nongshim sets vision to achieve $1.5b in sales by 2030

In celebration of his second year in office, Shin Dong-won, chairperson of Korean food giant Nongshim, on Thursday unveiled a vision to post $1.5 billion in global sales by 2030 and become the No. 1 ramen seller in the US amid its soaring performance there. According to the company, Nongshim's plan, which is to triple its annual sales by 2030 from its current $490 million, mainly centers on scaling up its US business. For the achievement of its goal, Shin said Nongshim will review plans to

July 13, 2023

[Korean History] A tale of two Koreas at the UN

The United Nations holds a special position in South Korea’s modern history. From the nation-building process following the liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese occupation to the 1950-53 Korean War and postwar recovery and reconstruction efforts, the global governance body played a crucial role by providing South Korea with military and humanitarian assistance. Yet, it wasn't until 1991 when South Korea officially became a member. Joining alongside North Korea, it was the 161st to join the

July 12, 2023

Twin pandas born in S. Korea for the first time

Twin giant panda babies have been born at a South Korean amusement park's zoo. According to Everland, the country's largest amusement park, Ai Bao and Le Bao, a panda couple on loan from China, had two female babies, on Friday morning. Everland said the first cub was born at 4:52 a.m. and the second at 6:39 a.m., respectively at its zoo in Yongin, south of Seoul. The mother Ai Bao and her newborns are in good condition. The baby pandas weigh 180 grams and 140 grams each, it added.   This is

July 11, 2023