Restaurant owners who are unfamiliar with English may not know how to properly translate Korean foods such as ‘bossam’ or ‘jumulleok’ for their menus, sometimes leading to confusion among foreign guests unacquainted with local dishes. To cope with such issues amid the rising popularity of Korean food, the Korea Tourism Organization will publish new standards for translating Korean food into English, Chinese and Japanese. While there were previously no unified guidelin

Culture Dec. 30, 2020

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will launch a pilot project to release closed-circuit television footage from inside the kitchens of restaurant franchises. The project aims to ensure a healthy cooking environment for delivery food as more people order food to eat at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry said Tuesday in a press release. The topic of kitchen hygiene at restaurants has become a hot issue since a customer posted a photo of a living mouse found in delivery food onl

Social Affairs Dec. 29, 2020

When the calendar gets closer to New Year’s day, it is usually common to meet up with family and friends for nice dinners and year-end parties with a couple of drinks. But in the time of COVID-19, such get-togethers and celebrations are a no-no due to increased social distancing measures. Instead, drinking alone at home has become popular. According to a drinking habits survey released Thursday by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, home became the most preferred place to drink in the

Culture Dec. 26, 2020

South Korea drew up its first-ever ethical standards for artificial intelligence, with a focus on humanity-centered technology. On Wednesday, the government’s presidential committee on the “fourth industrial revolution approved the AI ethical standards, which were proposed by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Information Society Development Institute. Under the main theme “AI for humanity,” the ethical standards recommend following three pillars when using

Technology Dec. 23, 2020

The government proclaimed a revision Tuesday that will allow distinguished pop artists, such as the bandmates of K-pop boy band BTS, to delay their mandatory military service until the age of 30. Under the revision of the Military Service Act proclaimed by the Ministry of National Defense, those excelling in popular culture and the arts will be allowed to put off their enlistment until the age of 30 -- if recommended by the culture minister -- for elevating the country’s global reputatio

Defense Dec. 22, 2020

Nine out of 12 graphic warnings on cigarette packs will change starting Wednesday, as part of efforts to show the harmful effects of smoking more clearly, health authorities said Monday. Products with new warnings will be sold at retail stores from the end of January next year. The new graphic warnings include more alarming images of the harmful effects of smoking in lung cancer, oral cancer, heart disease and stroke. The current images of laryngeal cancer and sexual dysfunction, as well

Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2020

YouTuber HayanTree is facing criticism after his review video of a restaurant reportedly forced it to shut down. HayanTree uploaded the review video of an all-you-can-eat soy sauce-marinated crab restaurant in Daegu on his YouTube channel on Dec. 7. In the video, the YouTuber saw grains of rice in the refilled marinated crab and raised the suspicion that the restaurant might reuse its food. As the HayanTree channel had about 700,000 subscribers at the time, the review video led to a quick im

Social Affairs Dec. 17, 2020

A Korean entrepreneur has won the business rights to a cable car project in Sri Lanka’s Kandy -- home of the Temple of the Tooth Relic, which is one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in the world. The entrepreneur is 71-year-old Sky Asia Chairman Yoo Sun-ha. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the construction will begin next year and the cable car is expected to open by the end of 2022. It will connect 2.2 kilometers from downtown Kandy and Hanthana Mountain. A total of $35 million will b

People Nov. 23, 2020

In South Korea, going to one’s hometown for big family gatherings and visiting ancestors’ graves together are considered normal practices during Chuseok -- one of the country’s biggest traditional holidays. But the COVID-19 pandemic has taken away a lot of what was once considered normal. Chuseok traditions are no exception. Park Choong-ho, who lives in Busan, used a live video chat program for the memorial ceremony of his late mother on Sept. 9 with his brother who lives in U

Social Affairs Sept. 30, 2020

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are spending more time on social media with their various devices to entertain themselves and stay connected during self-isolation or lockdown periods. When the coronavirus outbreak worsened in late February in South Korea, health authorities called for stronger social distancing measures to prevent the further spread of the virus. Choi Young-rock, a 28-year-old man living in Gyeonggi Province, still wanted to keep in touch with his friends. He t

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2020

Convenience stores in South Korea began selling thin, droplet-blocking masks on July 1. Labeled as KF-AD for Korean Filter and Anti-Droplet, the newly stocked masks are now available at CU, 7-Eleven and Emart24 across the nation.  Five masks are sold in one package at the cost of 3,000 won. There is no limit to how many masks one person can buy.  CU and 7-Eleven plan to supply 500,000 and 350,000 masks a week, respectively. Emart24 is set to sell 1 million masks in the first week of

Social Affairs July 2, 2020

  Since June 10, South Korea requires QR code entry logs at facilities deemed to pose a high risk of creating COVID-19 clusters. It is a step intended to bolster the country’s contact-tracing capabilities and study virus transmission routes. Around 80,000 facilities across the nation -- including bars, nightclubs and singing rooms -- are now required to install QR code readers. Anyone who wishes to enter first needs to scan a QR code using a Naver smartphone app. 　 The Korea Center

Social Affairs June 17, 2020