New Year's Eve celebrations roll across Asia, but wars cast a shadow on 2024

Revelers across Asia celebrated the countdown to midnight on New Year's Eve with fireworks and brightly lit signs — offering a hopeful start to 2024 for some, even as the globe's ongoing conflicts raised security concerns and led to muted or even canceled festivities. As the clock struck midnight in Australia, more than 1 million people — a number equivalent to one in five of the city’s residents — watched a 12-minute firework display focused on the Sydney Har

Foreign AffairsJan. 1, 2024

Over 240,000 illegal sexual photos, videos deleted this year

Over 240,000 illegally produced and distributed sexual photos and videos were deleted in 2023 in South Korea, an anti-digital sex crime organization said Friday. A total of 243,855 items of such illegal content were deleted between January and Dec. 20, data compiled by the Digital Sex Crime Victims Support Center, an organization closely affiliated with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, showed. The figure is up 30,855 from about 213,000 last year, highlighting a troubling potential tre

Social AffairsDec. 29, 2023

A look back at 2023

The year 2023 saw very few ups and an overbearing number of downs, with war, climate threats and social and economic woes posing existential questions. The Korea Herald runs the top 10 news stories of the past year for Korea and the world, with hopes that humanity will prevail to overcome the challenges we continue to face in the new year. [Top 10 News in Korea] Teachers' deaths ignite outrage A series of apparent suicides among teachers since July sparked outrage, exposing the grim reali

NewsmakerDec. 28, 2023

[Newsmaker] Estranged Lee Jun-seok to launch new party

The estranged ex-leader of the ruling party, Lee Jun-seok, said Wednesday he would launch a new political party of his own, as the new interim party leader made no moves to convince him to stay. "I have decided to leave the People Power Party, leaving all my political assets tied to it behind," the 38-year-old politician announced in a press conference held in the afternoon at a restaurant in Nowon-gu, northeastern Seoul. Lee spent his childhood in Nowon-gu and sought to represent the

PoliticsDec. 27, 2023

Ministry inspected 2% of 2,600+ sexual abuse cases in public sectors

  Over 2,600 cases of sexual violence and harassment were reported in public organizations nationwide over the past two years, with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family responding to just over 50 cases for on-site inspection, the ministry's data showed Tuesday. Some 18,000 government offices, institutions and schools recorded 2,620 cases of sexual abuse from July 2021 until June this year, according to data provided by the ministry to Rep. Yangyi Won-young of the main opposition Democ

Social AffairsDec. 26, 2023

Israel bombs Gaza on Christmas

Palestinians said they felt "no joy" this Christmas as Israel bombed the besieged Palestinian territory on Monday, with no end in sight to the war that Hamas says has claimed more than 20,000 lives. Festivities were effectively scrapped in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, with few worshippers or tourists on the usually packed streets. In the Gaza Strip, the Hamas militant group reported 50 strikes in central areas early on Monday, inc

NewsmakerDec. 25, 2023

At least 68 killed in central Gaza in airstrike, adding to weekend's bloodshed

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza — At least 68 people were killed by an Israeli strike in central Gaza, health officials said Sunday, while the number of Israeli soldiers killed in combat over the weekend rose to 15. Associated Press journalists at a nearby hospital watched frantic Palestinians carry the dead, including a baby, and wounded following the strike on the Maghazi refugee camp east of Deir al-Balah. One bloodied young girl looked stunned while her body was checked for broken bones. The 68

Foreign AffairsDec. 25, 2023

[Newsmaker] Hype builds for Yoon’s ‘wingman’ to helm ruling party

Han Dong-hoon, the star prosecutor who was President Yoon Suk Yeol’s first justice minister, is about to make his official debut in politics as the leader of the ruling party. One of the best-known figures in Yoon’s Cabinet, Han surprised Seoul’s political capital Yeouido on Thursday when he accepted an offer to lead the People Power Party, the top seat of which had been left vacant for over a week. Previous party leader Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon stepped down amid an open power struggl

PoliticsDec. 22, 2023

Cho Tae-yong: Who is the new pick for South Korea’s spy chief?

Cho Tae-yong was tapped again by President Yoon Suk Yeol earlier this week to head the National Intelligence Service, marking his third presidential nomination under the administration that is less than two years old. Since Yoon took power about a year and a half ago, Cho was made his ambassador to the US and then his national security adviser -- a minister-level role he would be leaving if his appointment as the new leader of the spy agency is finalized. A seasoned diplomat, Cho built a career

PoliticsDec. 21, 2023

Extreme cold, heavy snow to hit S. Korea from Thursday

Temperatures are expected to drop significantly from Thursday as the cold weather continues to persist in the central region, with heavy snow forecast in southwestern parts of South Korea until Friday, according to the national weather agency on Wednesday. As the continental high pressure builds, cold air will begin to move toward the west, causing snow clouds that have formed along the west coast to move inland, it said. This will cause snow to fall near the west coast of South Chungcheong Prov

Social AffairsDec. 20, 2023

Deadly quake shakes China

BEIJING — An overnight earthquake killed at least 116 people in a cold and mountainous region in northwestern China, the country's state media reported Tuesday. Search and rescue operations were underway in Gansu and neighboring Qinghai provinces. The earthquake left more than 500 people injured, severely damaged houses and roads, and knocked out power and communication lines, according to the media reports. The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck in Gansu at a relatively shallow depth of

World NewsDec. 19, 2023

Big 5 banks brace for losses from foreign real estate projects

South Korea’s top commercial banks -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori and NongHyup -- are facing a potential risk of suffering losses in overseas real estate investments amid a slowdown in the global property market following persistent high rates. The balance of overseas real estate funds sold by the five banks stands at 753.1 billion won ($580 million), according to financial authorities. Of the amount, fund products worth 257.1 billion won are set to expire next year. With the global r

EconomyDec. 18, 2023

[Newsmaker] Police investigate after Gyeongbokgung walls vandalized

Gyeongbokgung, one of Korea's significant cultural heritage sites, was vandalized with spray paint Saturday. The police are tracking down the person behind the graffiti that spans some 44 meters of wall. The incident occurred around 1:50 a.m., when an unidentified suspect wrote graffiti with red and blue spray paint on various sections of the palace, including both the left and right sides of Yeongchumun (The West Gate), and the side gate near the National Palace Museum of Korea, according

CultureDec. 17, 2023

Korean battery, clean energy firms expected to benefit from US tax incentives

South Korean battery and energy firms that have already built production sites in the United States are expected to receive tax credits from the US Inflation Reduction Act, Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Friday. The US Department of Treasury earlier unveiled proposed guidelines for manufacturers looking to receive consumer tax credits for making eco-friendly energy components such as batteries for electric vehicles and solar panels. The incentive, named the Section 45X Advan

IndustryDec. 15, 2023

Wage gap between small and large firms persist as youth avoid jobs at SMEs: data

South Korean young adults are avoiding jobs at small firms due to low compensation, as the wage gap between small and large companies has been at nearly double for several years, data showed on Thursday. A survey conducted by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, involving 1,000 young people between Oct. 20 and Nov. 1, revealed that the average expected monthly salary among individuals employed at SMEs was 3.23 million won ($2,490). The most expected salary range, chosen by 40.7 per

Social AffairsDec. 14, 2023

LK-99 not superconductor, says Korean review committee

The Korean Society of Superconductivity and Cryogenics’ review committee on Wednesday said LK-99, an alleged room-temperature superconductor created by a South Korean research team, has not shown any key features of superconductivity. “There is no ground for saying that LK-99 is a superconductor,” the committee said in a report, stressing that it showed no signs of superconductivity in a series of tests on resistance and magnetic susceptibility in either room- or low temperatur

TechnologyDec. 13, 2023

[KH Explains] How Netherlands has become a top K-food destination

In a surprising but pleasant twist to the global wave of Korean cultural influence, the Netherlands has emerged as a formidable player in its love for Korean instant noodles, kimchi and K-food overall. According to customs data, the Netherlands imported $48.64 million of ramen from Korea in the January-November period this year, becoming the fourth-largest importer in the category, following China, the US and Japan. In a separate report, the country also ranked third in kimchi imports, total

IndustryDec. 12, 2023

Doctors start voting on whether to strike over medical school quota

The Korean Medical Association, South Korea's largest group of medical doctors, began collecting votes on Monday on whether they should launch a general strike against the government’s plan to expand the medical school enrollment quota. The organization will collect votes until Dec. 17, and announced that doctors will stage a mass rally on the same day near Gwanghwamun in central Seoul. The majority of the association's membership consists of doctors running their own clinics. Ahead of suc

Social AffairsDec. 11, 2023

1 out of 7 teenagers thought of suicide: data

The rate of South Korean teenagers who had thought of suicide recently has been on the rise, with some 1 in 7 students now having considered taking their own lives. Of some 50,000 middle and high school students asked across the nation in 2022, 14.3 percent have thought of suicide over the past 12 months, according to a survey released by the Korea Center for Disease and Prevention Agency on Sunday. First conducted in 2005, the rate had exceeded the 20 percent mark in its first three years, but

Social AffairsDec. 10, 2023

Self-suspension, a peculiar 'punishment' for celebrities in Korea

Singer Nam Tae-hyun recently joined the growing list of South Korean celebrities facing drug charges. The prosecution on Thursday requested a two-year prison term for the former member of the boy band Winner, while seeking 1 year and six months for reality show star Seo Min-jae on charges of alleged drug use. It is unclear what the future holds for the 29-year-old K-pop star, but his career had been mostly on hold since the array of controversies surrounding him. After being caught drunk driving

Social AffairsDec. 9, 2023