Last month, a Korean Navy sergeant was beaten up by a group of seven fellow servicemen for more than two hours at a unit in Donghae, Gangwon Province. The victim suffered severe ligament tears and bruises all over his body, which required four weeks of medical treatment. About a month before that, four high school girls in Cheonho-dong, southeastern Seoul, were caught by police for assaulting one of their classmates at a construction site.  The two cases may seem unrelated, but they have

Social Affairs July 13, 2022

Meth overdoses could be the cause of the two deaths – just hours apart – of a patron and a staff member of a late-night bar in Seoul’s Gangnam, police investigating the case said Sunday.  On July 5, at around 8 a.m., a man in his 20s was found unconscious in his car at a park in southern Seoul. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.  About two hours later, a woman in her 30s was found dead at her home. The deceased was an employee of a bar in Gan

Social Affairs July 10, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic is not quite over yet, but the world is on alert for the next virus: monkeypox.  To date, more than 6,000 cases of monkeypox have been reported in 58 countries, with over 80 percent of the cases in Europe, according to the World Health Organization.  Korea confirmed its first case of the virus on June 22. The first patient is a Korean citizen who returned from a trip to Germany and showed symptoms of fever, sore throat, lethargy and skin lesions, the Korea Dise

Social Affairs July 7, 2022

The American West is battling a “biblical” explosion of grasshoppers and Mormon crickets. Italy’s Sardinia has been hit by what has been described as the worst locust outbreak in 60 years. It seems the world is under an invasion of insects.  And South Korea has its own problem.  An outbreak of tiny flies called “lovebugs” has brought an onslaught of complaints from residents in the northwestern part of Seoul and adjacent city of Goyang, Gyeonggi Provinc

Social Affairs July 6, 2022

   Sujan Shakya is perhaps the most famous Nepalese in Korea now.  Having starred in JTBC’s multinational talk show “Non-Summit” and MBC Every 1’s reality travel show “Welcome, First Time in Korea?” the 34-year-old is among those foreign residents who found fame here.  He is less well-known for his work as an interpreter for other Nepalese seeking asylum in Korea.  Almost every week, he meets two or three refugee applicants from Ne

Social Affairs July 4, 2022

   In the latest action thriller “The Round Up,” a tenacious Korean detective Ma Seok-do (Ma Dong-seok, also known as Don Lee) chases after a ruthless murderer Kang Hae-sang (Son Suk-ku) in Vietnam who kidnapped and murdered a Korean tourist there.  Mostly set in the Southeast Asian country, the film’s bloody fight and chase scenes between the two protagonists have enthralled more than 10 million moviegoers, making it one of the biggest box office hits since th

Social Affairs June 30, 2022

Just before 11 a.m. on June 9, a 53-year-old man surnamed Chon walked into a five-story building in Daegu, about 300 kilometers south of Seoul, holding two plastic bottles.   His destination was the office of a lawyer who shared the office space with several others on the second floor of the building. There, he took out a backpacking knife and wielded it at the lawyers and paralegals he encountered. Two men were stabbed.  Chon then set the office on fire, with flammable liquid

Social Affairs June 23, 2022

A police officer in South Korea is awaiting punishment after he lost his bullet holder with six rounds of ammunition in it on May 18.  The incident, belatedly revealed to the media, made headlines, as he belonged to a special police unit in charge of security services for the office of President Yoon Suk-yeol in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Criticism ensued over the police‘s lax management of firearms and slack discipline. In the aftermath, the police unit’s leader was replaced on Wedne

Social Affairs June 22, 2022

   Korea is known as a relatively drug-free nation, where most people have no experience whatsoever of drugs. But when 31-year-old David from Canada recently browsed restaurant menus on a local food delivery app, he couldn’t help but wonder: Do people know what narcotics are actually like?  From kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew), kalguksu (knife-cut wheat flour noodles) to tteokbokki (spicy rice cake), a variety of food and beverage items were being sold with a reference to &ldq

Social Affairs June 16, 2022

If you’re a single man and looking for love and marriage through dating apps in Korea, you’d better have at least one of these: A diploma from a high-ranking university, a high-paying job, a sizable net worth, or at least a luxury car. These are the requirements for men to be qualified for a matchmaking service at the Gold Spoon app, which has more than 470,000 members. “We thoroughly evaluate male candidates’ financial ability by looking into their employment contra

Social Affairs May 30, 2022

“Omakase” is a traditional Japanese dining style where guests leave their menu choices up to a chef. Literally meaning “I will leave it to you” in Japanese, omakase in Korea usually refers to a high-end dining experience at a Japanese restaurant’s sushi counter. The chef prepares one piece of fish at a time and introduces its name and origin.  Recently, non-sushi items, from tempura, coffee and pork, have also found their way into the local omakase scene. The

Food May 28, 2022

A craving for sweet foods and hunger for exploring new flavors are diversifying Seoul’s dessert cafe scene. From British Cornish pasties to Turkey’s traditional milk cream “kaymak,” here are three dessert cafes that reporters of The Korea Herald visited to help you expand your taste palate. Meet Turkish version of clotted cream It was around 1 p.m. on Thursday afternoon and a group of people -- mostly young women -- were lining up in front of a Turkish ba

Culture May 23, 2022

They say love is universal, but when it comes to dating culture, Korea has a different love language, according to five international couples that The Korea Herald interviewed. From love ‘confessions’ to matching outfits, here are some dating norms that set Korea apart. –- Ed. In some Western countries, moving in together is considered an important step for a couple trying to take their relationship to the next level. But in Korea, an unmarried couple living together is tab

Culture May 23, 2022

The following is part of Seoul Subway Stories, a Korea Herald series exploring the city’s subway stations and surrounding areas. -- Ed. On a subway map of Seoul, some stations have names that end in the same Korean letter, romanized as “reung,” or “neung.”  Signifying the burial mounds of kings and queens, the stations are where the royal mausoleums from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) lie, a reminder of Seoul’s long history as the capital city. 

Travel May 23, 2022

They say love is universal, but when it comes to dating culture, Korea has a different love language, according to five international couples that The Korea Herald interviewed. From love ‘confessions’ to matching outfits, here are some dating norms that set Korea apart. – Ed.  Whether through phone calls or text messaging, Koreans like to stay connected with their loved ones throughout the day, asking each other where they are, what they’re doing and what they&rs

Culture May 20, 2022