Koreans have broken less traffic rules last year, but concerns still remain as an official report showed an increasing frequency of jaywalking and a growing number of drivers using smart devices on the road, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Wednesday. The Transport Culture Index, which measures driving and walking behaviors and the level of transport safety across 229 cities and counties, recorded a score of 78.94 last year, increasing by 2.30 points compared to 2019. A

Social Affairs Jan. 28, 2021

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has found hundreds of advertisements falsely promoting certain cosmetics as the answer to skin troubles caused by wearing a face mask everywhere during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Altogether, 413 websites have been found to be in violation of the Cosmetics Act because of misleading or exaggerated advertisements, the Drug Ministry said Thursday. The pages have been shut down. According to the ministry, 318 of the sites advertised their cosmetics as if t

Social Affairs Jan. 28, 2021

A group of researchers from the University of Nebraska and the National Strategic Research Institute have developed ultra-absorptive nanofiber swabs that could reduce the number of false negative tests for COVID-19. Currently, the most sensitive and widely used test for the coronavirus uses a method called PCR. A specimen of mucus is collected by putting a long swab deep inside a person’s nose. But if the viral load is low, which can happen early in the course of an infection, the swab

World News Jan. 28, 2021

Young people in South Korea eat too much sugar from processed food, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday, citing the World Health Organization’s recommendations. Using data from a health and nutrition survey conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the Food Ministry looked into the daily sugar consumption patterns of some 7,000 Koreans in 2018. The daily sugar intake from processed food accounted for 10.1 percent of total calories for children aged 3

Technology Jan. 27, 2021

A man in his 30s surnamed Kwak signed up for an online subscription service that provides movies. Kwak tried to download videos from the webpage, but it never worked, even after multiple tries. So he contacted the service provider and asked for a refund. The service provider turned him down, saying that the error in Kwak’s case could not be identified. Amid the increasing demand for online subscription services, especially video or music streaming content, Kwak’s case is an exa

Social Affairs Jan. 27, 2021

Amid speculation that Tokyo may pass on the Summer Olympics due to a recent surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, Florida has proposed relocating the Games from Japan to the Sunshine State. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday, offering the state as a replacement host. In his letter to the IOC, Patronis cited “recent media reports” about leaders in Japan privately having concluded that t

Olympic Games Jan. 27, 2021

Job losses and reduced working hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic cost the world the equivalent of 255 million jobs last year alone, the International Labor Organization said Monday. The losses led to an 8.3 percent decline in global income, which equals about $3.7 trillion or 4.4 percent of the gross world product, according to the ILO report. “This has been the most severe crisis for the world of work since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Its impact is far greater than that of the

World News Jan. 26, 2021

Pohang city has ordered its residents to have at least one person get tested for the coronavirus from each household. “Although the spread of COVID-19 is on the decrease across the country, the city of Pohang is seeing an increase in the number of local community transmissions including infections stemming from the Sangju evangelical church facility and sauna-related cases,” said Pohang Mayor Lee Kang-deok in a press conference Monday. “We are issuing an administrative orde

Social Affairs Jan. 25, 2021

Police will start cracking down on unauthorized entertainment facilities that hinder quarantine efforts in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the National Police Agency said Sunday. Starting Monday, police will team up with local governments across the country and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for a 3-week long special inspection period. As the government’s ban on gatherings at five types of entertainment facilities such as bars and pubs still remains in effect, the

Social Affairs Jan. 25, 2021

Kim Si-woo won the American Express and captured his third PGA Tour title, securing his first victory since 2017. Kim birdied two of the final three holes to card a bogey-free 8-under 64 in the final round to edge out late-storming Patrick Cantlay, who got 11 birdies in the final round alone, by a stroke on Sunday. “My heart was very firm in the last five holes and Patrick kept making birdies,” Kim said in the interview after winning the tournament. “But I was not trying

Golf Jan. 25, 2021

Korean rock icon Jeon In-kwon is facing a police investigation over a dispute with his neighbor, multiple media reported Friday. Seoul’s Jongno Police Station called in the legendary rocker on Wednesday over property damage allegations, according to reports. Jeon allegedly threw a roof tile at his neighbor’s front door in September. The rocker had gotten into a dispute with his neighbor, claiming that the neighbor re-constructed their house to raise the height of the roof by one

Social Affairs Jan. 22, 2021

Amid social distancing measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more people have turned to home training instead of going to the gym. But working out at home with training equipment should be handled with care, the Korean Consumer Agency (KCA) says. Over 4,000 accidents related to training equipment have been reported across the country every year since 2015, according to the annual data from the KCA’s Consumer Injury Surveillance System. The number of injury reports has increased stea

Technology Jan. 22, 2021

The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) has proposed unmanned submarines, flying bikes, and artificial intelligence (AI) pilots as the future game changers. In a collaboration with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the ADD unveiled the Novel Weapon Systems Yearbook in booklet form for free on its website Wednesday. Introduced in the booklet, the state-of-the-art weapons systems cover a wide range of technologies in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including AI, synt

Defense Jan. 21, 2021

The Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK), a Korean language exam for nonnative speakers of Korean, will take place three times outside of South Korea this year, according to test administrators. The overseas exams are slated for April 10-11, July 11 and October 16-17 and the registration periods for each test are January 29-February 3, May 21-27 and August 3-9, respectively. Two more exams will be held only in South Korea in May and November. Anyone who wishes to apply to take the test can

Social Affairs Jan. 21, 2021

Remote work and more home entertainment could present a grave danger to the environment, according to a recent study. Published in the Resources, Conservation and Recycling journal earlier this month, the study points to how internet data is stored and transferred across the globe and how it impacts the environment. The study says just one hour of videoconferencing or streaming emits 150-1,000 grams of carbon dioxide. In comparison, a car burning a gallon (3.8 liters) of gasoline emits less t

Technology Jan. 20, 2021