진행자: 최정윤, Ali Abbot Assembly race heats up as early voters turn out in historic numbers 기사 요약: 22대 총선 사전투표의 최종 투표율이 31.28%로 집계되면서 역대 '최다' 사전 투표율 기록 [1] More registered voters than ever turned out for early voting on Friday and Saturday, further heating up the election race, with the Democratic Party of Korea claiming that it points to a possible advantage. *turn out: 모습을 드러내다/ (결과가 특정 방식으로) 되다/ 바깥쪽으로 향하다 *claim: 주장하다(assert, declare) / 갖다 [2] According to the National Election Commi

Podcast April 8, 2024

As South Koreans go to the polls to elect the 300 members of the National Assembly on Wednesday, political candidates have fully ramped up efforts to court voters. Walking down practically any main street at the moment, one will easily spot rallies of candidates and supporters singing theme songs with politically tweaked lyrics and flamboyant dance routines. Others have taken more unconventional turns in the outreach. One candidate was seen barefoot greeting visitors at the red clay road in Gumi

Politics April 7, 2024

Starting in late April, students from schools that operate morning exercise classes will be provided with free breakfast, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on Thursday. Launched in October last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has initiated morning physical education activities to revitalize student exercise. Some 573 schools currently holding morning workout sessions that apply for the breakfast plan will benefit from the project. Elementary schools will be

Social Affairs April 4, 2024

Students and schools' participation in before- and after-school care programs, a new state-backed child care initiative, has increased over a month into the launch, the Ministry of Education reported Wednesday. Dubbed "Neulbom" which directly translates to "always caring," a total of 2,838 out of 6,175 elementary schools have joined the government-run child care education, accounting for 46 percent of the total number of elementary schools nationwide, Education Minister

Social Affairs April 3, 2024

Prosecutors arrested Hur Young-in, chair of South Korean bakery giant SPC Group, after he repeatedly failed to comply with being summoned for an investigation. The 74-year-old is under investigation for his suspected involvement in forcing bakers at PB Partners to quit their membership in the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions umbrella labor group, between 2019 and 2022. PB Partners is SPC's subsidiary in charge of recruiting and training bakers for bakery chain Paris Baguette. Prosecut

Social Affairs April 2, 2024

Seoul plans to boost fiscal support to encourage single-sex schools in the city to transition to coeducational schools, which refers to schools where male and female students are taught together, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on Monday. Same-sex schools that register to change to coed will receive 600 million won ($445,000) for six years. Schools can use the funds for educational programs and activities suitable for each school. Schools will also receive 90 million won

Social Affairs April 1, 2024

The International Labour Organization has asked the South Korean government to express its position on Korean doctors' request to reconsider the United Nations agency's intervention in its back-to-work order imposed on protesting junior doctors, the labor ministry said Friday. "Unlike ILO's previous notice of terminating the intervention request due to the lack of eligibility of the Korea Intern Resident Association, they are seen to have come to such a decision, taking consi

Social Affairs March 29, 2024

Yellow and fine dust blanketed South Korea on Friday with a thick haze of pollution categorized as "very bad" in the central region of the country, prompting the state weather agency to issue advisories. Yellow dust advisories for the greater Seoul area, Gangwon and South Chungcheong provinces were raised to "caution," the second-lowest level in the government's four-stage crisis alert as of 8 a.m. Friday, according to the Ministry of Environment. A yellow dust warning i

Social Affairs March 29, 2024

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on Thursday said it will put more responsibility on non-custodial mothers and fathers to bear child-rearing expenses by having them pay the government directly for the expenses covered by the state in advance. Under the advance payment of child-rearing expenses system, the state pays unpaid child support to the custodial parent first and then collects the outstanding amount from the non-custodial parent later. As early as next year, the new single-paren

Social Affairs March 28, 2024

Freedom Speakers International, a Seoul-based NGO that supports North Korean refugees in South Korea, will hold its 19th English speech contest at Harvard University on April 13. Held two times every year since 2015, under the theme "I am from North Korea," this year's event marks the first time the contest takes place outside of South Korea. By holding the event at Harvard University, the organization hopes to help North Korean defectors improve their English speaking skills and

Social Affairs March 26, 2024

A group of Russian nationals received suspended prison sentences for pickpocketing passengers in Seoul's subways late last year, according to a local court. The Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 17 handed down one-year sentences, suspended for two years, to three Russian nationals -- two men in their 40s and a 39-year-old woman. Over a period of nine days in November, the three pickpockets spent an average of five hours a day in Subway Line No. 3 and Line No. 9, where

Politics March 25, 2024

The ongoing conflict between the government and medical communities over a medical student quota expansion plan shows no signs of tempering, with both parties refusing to back down despite confusion spreading at hospitals across the country. Watchers say this week could be the peak of the conflict, as the Health Ministry begins from Tuesday to suspend the medical licenses of trainee doctors who have defied a return-to-work order. The government has sent prior notices of license suspension to som

Social Affairs March 24, 2024

Most Koreans support the establishment of an independent government agency for immigration services, despite worries among some Korean youths and low-earners that it will lead to competition with foreign workers for job opportunities, recent data showed. According to a public perception survey of 1,000 adults conducted by a private research firm on behalf of the Migration Research and Training Center, 68.6 percent of the respondents approved of the agency, while 15.2 percent said the agency was

Social Affairs March 21, 2024

Koreans are more open to accepting foreigners as members of their society compared with other social minority groups including sexual minorities and North Korean defectors, data by a state-affiliated think tank showed Tuesday. The Korea Institute of Public Administration's annual survey, conducted last year, measuring the social exclusion level of the Korean society involving 8,221 Korean citizens aged 19 or older showed that only 7.2 percent of the respondents were "unwilling to accep

Social Affairs March 19, 2024

Four out of 10 students in South Korea believe that reunification between the divided Koreas is no longer necessary, a government survey showed. The survey conducted in October last year by the Ministry of Unification involving 73,991 students aged 6 to 18 across the country comes amid escalating inter-Korean tensions. Pyongyang has conducted five rounds of cruise missile tests so far this year. Some 38.9 percent of the respondents responded that reunification is "not necessary," marki

North Korea March 18, 2024