[Weekender] 'Old money' rises as the new black in fashion

The “old money” fashion trend that has been spreading globally has reached South Korea. As of Thursday, the hashtag #oldmoney accrued over 8.5 billion views on TikTok, with #oldmoneyaesthetic and #oldmoneyoutfits amassing 3.8 billion and 1.4 billion views, respectively. Old money refers to wealth that is deeply rooted in tradition, or wealth that is inherited rather than acquired through personal earnings. In this regard, the idea behind the old money look means looking like someone

Aug. 19, 2023

Stabbing threat at K-pop concert turns out to be prank by 11-year-old

The recent online threat of a mass stabbing at a K-pop group’s concert turned out to be a prank by an 11-year-old girl, local police said Friday. The child, whose identity has been withheld, posted an online threat Tuesday that claimed that she would stab fans gathered at a concert held at the Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul. Seoul Guro Police Station dispatched 39 officials to conduct an extensive search of the venue until after the concert was over at midnight that day. Officials track

Aug. 18, 2023

More Koreans to suffer from 'climate depression': experts

A growing number of Koreans are suffering from "climate depression," after experiencing extreme heat waves, heavy rains and a typhoon this summer, according to local experts. Although no hard data has been presented, experts believe that the number of people suffering from climate depression will increase significantly in the future. “Already, the World Health Organization is taking the issue of climate depression seriously. If climate change continues, more and more people may s

Aug. 17, 2023

Breaking silence, N.Korea says US soldier intends to seek asylum

Shattering its silence on the issue, North Korea on Wednesday asserted that US soldier Travis King intentionally crossed the inter-Korean border into its territory and expressed his intention to seek asylum. But the US Defense Department dismissed the report, referring to the claims as "alleged comments." North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency, primarily catering to international audiences, unveiled the "interim findings of the investigation into US soldier Travis

Aug. 16, 2023

Have food deliveries had their heyday?

During COVID-19, social distancing forced Koreans to eat at home, leading many to seek solace in the convenience of delivered food. Now that life has essentially returned to normal, a new cost-benefit analysis is reshaping the food delivery landscape: declining numbers of orders, decreases in delivery jobs and increases in commissions, pushing up food prices and weighing down order volumes. According to Mobile Index, the big data analysis unit of local data tracker IGAworks, the number of users

Aug. 15, 2023

Police investigate bomb threat email targeting Seoul City Hall

The police are investigating an email threatening to blow up Seoul City Hall on this week’s Liberation Day, officials said Monday. According to police, the email stated that high-powered bombs were installed in several locations around Seoul City Hall, with detonation set for 3:34 p.m. Tuesday. The email, sent from a Japanese account to local media outlets, was received Sunday afternoon. The email, sent in English, Japanese and Korean, stated, "There are bombs planted in several place

Aug. 14, 2023

[70th Anniversary] Joining the dots, connecting people

With The Korea Herald’s 70th anniversary comes an opportune moment to reflect on the path it has forged and the lives it has impacted. A number of readers have shared their journeys with The Korea Herald, many of which illustrate how the daily has evolved into being not just an English-language lens into Korean society, but also catalyzes personal growth, opens up new perspectives and serves as a cultural connector. Here are some of their stories. Expanding perspectives through a globa

Aug. 13, 2023

'One of best experiences in life': Scouts unfazed by Jamboree chaos

Sixteen-year-old Scout Nora Gothberg from Sweden was taken aback at the chaos that unfolded in the World Scout Jamboree, but says she wouldn't trade the experience for anything. "Even if I were to go back in time and I knew these troubles would still occur, I'd still participate in the Jamboree," said Gothberg. Despite having to deal with challenges such as a searing heat wave and lack of hygiene facilities at the campsite in North Jeolla Province, Gothberg said they didn

Aug. 11, 2023

Jamboree friendship formed over Korean fried chicken

The ill-prepared and ill-fated World Scout Jamboree has been a source of embarrassment and shame for many South Koreans. But amid all the negative publicity over the event's numerous problems -- from the heat wave, to the partially flooded campsite, to the insect bites, hygiene issues, insufficient food and even an alleged peeping tom incident -- there have also emerged stories of unexpected kindness and friendship. In one such story shared with The Korea Herald, a team of adult volunteer

Aug. 10, 2023

[Korean History] Sampoong: A deep national wound

A sultry early-summer day was just starting to fade, when a deafening bang reverberated throughout Gangnam, Seoul. Half of Sampoong Department Store, the pink-color, two-building complex that had stood as a landmark of the affluent Seocho-gu neighborhood, was gone, leaving behind scenes of ruins, debris and dust. The June 1995 collapse killed 502 people and injured 937 others, making it the largest peacetime casualty event in South Korea's modern history — a record that remains unbr

Aug. 9, 2023

Samsung’s latest foldable phones set preorders record at home

Samsung Electronics’ new foldable smartphones -- the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Fold 5 -- have yet to be launched, but preorder figures suggest that they are likely to be a super hit. The South Korean tech giant said Tuesday that preorders for the two models amounted to 1.02 million units in South Korea, setting an all-time high record for the form factor. The preorder record marked by the previous models was 970,000 units last year. While Samsung accepted seven-day preorders until Monday ahead o

Aug. 8, 2023

[From the Scene] 'Things are improving, we're just enjoying the moment'

SAEMANGEUM, North Jeolla Province -- The heat has been troublesome for 15-year-old Swedish Scout David Yao and his teammates when they first entered the World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, last week. But things are improving enough to continue their adventure, make friends with Scouts from global contingents and learn about different cultures, he said. “At first (the heat) was a shock to us because we are from Sweden. But we are getting used to it,” said Yao. &

Aug. 7, 2023

Seoul to host 2027 World Youth Day

Pope Francis on Sunday announced Seoul as the host of the 2027 World Youth Day site during the closing Mass for this year’s global Catholic Church event for young people in Lisbon. South Korea will become the second Asian host of World Youth Day, a celebration organized by the Catholic Church for young devotees from all over the world, following the Philippines in 1995. The closing Mass in Manila recorded the largest gathering of people in a religious event with over 5 million people, whil

Aug. 7, 2023

[Newsmaker] Mass stabbings prompt demand for more power among police

South Korea, terrorized by a series of stabbing sprees all over the country in the past month, is pondering if its police need more liberty in deploying force when confronting a suspect. Earlier this month President Yoon Suk Yeol said that the country’s “entire police force would be mobilized” to prevent the recurrence of stabbing attacks at random. But police officers on the front lines complain they are being held liable for use of force even when judged to be necessary on th

Aug. 6, 2023

Stabbing rampages push S. Korea to seek life sentence without parole

The South Korean government said Friday that it will take steps to introduce life sentence without parole as punishment for violent crimes, in response to a series of deadly and seemingly random attacks that have occurred in the past weeks. The announcement came a day after a 22-year-old man injured 14 in what appeared to be a random attack against pedestrians at Seohyeon Station in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province. The culprit -- who showed signs of paranoia -- gave no clear motive to police, fueling

Aug. 4, 2023

'Ajumma' no more: Housekeepers given new job title, 'house managers'

Housekeepers in Korea, commonly referred to as “ajumma” or “imo,” have acquired a new job title, "gasa gwallisa," meaning house manager. The Ministry of Employment and Labor, officially announcing the new occupational title Wednesday, asked the general public to use it to refer to domestic workers -- those who provide services such as cleaning, washing, kitchen work and caring for members of a household -- from now on. So far, domestic workers have often been

Aug. 3, 2023

Rethinking work, vacation in era of 'global boiling'

Summer heat is becoming increasingly deadly in many parts of the world, as the Earth has entered an "era of global boiling," as declared by the United Nations last week. South Korea is among the countries that are grappling with extreme heat, with the number of victims of heat-related illnesses rising at an alarming pace. According to fire authorities, a total of 23 people have died from May 20 to Monday due to heat-related illnesses. The number is more than triple the total 7 deaths i

Aug. 2, 2023

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