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

Why it's so hard for same-sex couples and single women to have kids in S. Korea

  Kim Gyu-jin and Kim Se-yeon held their wedding ceremony during the 2023 Seoul Queer Culture Festival earlier this month in central Seoul. Hundreds at the festival congratulated the wife-wife couple on their union -- even though it is not legally recognized by South Korean law -- as well as on the baby they are expecting. The Kim couple revealed that their quest to have a child required a trip to a foreign country, Belgium, as accessing a sperm donor had not been possible for them in South

July 10, 2023

Lee Kang-in signs with PSG; Kim Min-jae ‘nears deal’ with Bayern

South Korean midfielder Lee Kang-in finalized a deal to play for Paris Saint-Germain through 2028, according to the French team’s website on Sunday, while his compatriot Kim Min-jae is reportedly inching to closing a deal with Bayern Munich. The 22-year-old Lee will become the first South Korean to officially don the PSG uniform in the coming season, after playing two seasons for Mallorca in the Spanish League. “It’s incredible to be able to join Paris Saint-Germain, it’s

July 9, 2023

Streaming era brings back '90s 'video bang'

Along Garosu-gil, a street packed with shops in Sinsa-dong, Seoul, there is a business offering four private screening rooms for hosting watch parties. A new type of business borne out of the streaming era, it caters to guests who seek shared entertainment by watching content offered by an array of streaming platforms together. “Customers, mostly in their 20s and 30s, come to share their subscription accounts to streaming services and enjoy the content together,” said a senior mana

July 8, 2023