A dedicated resting area for essential public workers is to be newly built in central Seoul’s Euljiro 5-ga. Jung-gu Office announced Wednesday that it plans to build a seven-floor resting area building with a floor space of 200 square meters by October, with construction to begin early this month. The existing rest areas in Jung-gu for on-site essential public workers were installed on a small scale and mostly located underground. They have been vulnerable to ventilation problems,

Social Affairs Jan. 20, 2021

The Gwacheon branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea, is holding an exhibition titled “Olympic Effect: Korean Architecture and Design From 1980s to 1990s.” The show reexamines the foundations of South Korea’s architecture and design culture, which grew rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s. It presents some 300 artworks, photos, documents and interview clips that shed light on the effects of the 1988 Seoul Olympics on urban development and industrial desig

Arts & Design Jan. 18, 2021

A parent of an autistic child filed a presidential petition Friday after having received numerous complaints by neighbors in their apartment building. According to the presidential office’s petition website, a petition titled “Please save our family of autistic children” was posted under the category of “child-rearing/education.” The petitioner noted that he lives with a 9-year-old son who has autism in an apartment in Seo-gu, Incheon. He said, “Some residen

Social Affairs Jan. 18, 2021

South Korea’s popular GPS location service Kakao Map is dealing with controversy surrounding allegations of leaking user data, amid heightened concerns about private information following a string of recent incidents. Users of Kakao Map, which has some 5 million users, raised the issue earlier this week through a media outlet, claiming their personal information seems to have leaked from the location service. It turned out to be partially true, but it was also pointed out that the users

Technology Jan. 15, 2021

To combat the pandemic in 2021, private industries and nonprofit organizations are developing vaccine passports or identification cards that can serve as proof of inoculation to governments and businesses, including airlines. The ID card targets both domestic and international purposes of use, such as simply going out to theaters or stadiums, or traveling abroad to neighboring countries. On Thursday, Microsoft, Salesforce and Oracle, in collaboration with the US health care nonprofit Mayo Cli

Industry Jan. 15, 2021

Terrestrial broadcasters will be allowed to air commercial breaks starting June, the first time since laws regulating the TV industry have been in place 48 years ago. 　 The Korea Communications Commission announced its “Broadcasting Market Promotion Policy Measures” on Wednesday. The Enforcement Decree of the Broadcasting Act states that commercial breaks will be allowed for all broadcasters regardless of their service providers. Current laws prohibit local terrestrial broadcasters

Technology Jan. 14, 2021

Teo, who just turned 3 years old this month, is cared for by a babysitter until sunset, as day care centers have been partially shut down due to COVID-19. After dark, the situation changes. “When I work overtime at home past 6 in the evening, it’s the smartphone that keeps Teo company in the living room,” the mother of Teo sighed, as she admitted that smartphone usage at such a young age may not be the best option for a child. A recent survey has demonstrated that Teo is not

Technology Jan. 14, 2021

South Korea’s blood reserves, which had been in a sharp decline due to the lingering third COVID-19 wave, have begun to stabilize. The Korean Red Cross’ National Blood Institute of Daejeon-Sejong-Chungnam, issued an alert over the shortage of blood reserves in mid-December. However, the Institute announced that as of Thursday, the country had recovered to the average supply amount needed, maintaining a little over four days’ worth of blood reserves. At the alert-stage of ca

Social Affairs Jan. 14, 2021

Korean firm Scatter Lab has defended its Lee Luda chatbot in response to calls to end the service after the bot began sending offensive comments and was subjected to sexual messages. Kim Jong-yoon, CEO of Scatter Lab, posted answers Friday to the public’s questions through the development team’s official blog, saying the bot was still a work in progress and -- like humans -- would take a while to properly socialize. Kim acknowledged that he had expected this controversy to ignite

Social Affairs Jan. 11, 2021

A single comment from Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Twitter led a small company’s stock price, which had nothing to do with the comment itself, to multiply 12-fold in just two days. The phenomenon is being predictably attributed to investors’ great trust in Musk, as well as enormous liquidity released on the recent stock market. Musk posted a message on Twitter on Thursday saying, “Use Signal.” The message was later revealed as meaning to encourage the use of encrypted messeng

Technology Jan. 11, 2021

Matchmaking advertisements in South Korea can no longer display personal information such as a person’s height and weight, or any photos of the face. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced Friday that an amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Brokers Business Management Act was in effect. Under the amended enforcement decree, photos of users’ faces cannot be revealed in public through any type of advertisement that is visible to the general public. This includes

Social Affairs Jan. 8, 2021

The Busan Metropolitan Government will provide economic relief for industries in the city that have been affected by the social distancing measures that were extended due to the third wave of COVID-19. Beneficiaries will include artists, the transportation industry and the tourism industry. Busan’s acting Mayor Byun Seong-wan said 154,000 businesses and individuals would receive a combined 220 billion won ($208 million) from city, district and county resources. This is separate from the

Social Affairs Jan. 8, 2021

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed the appeal of a high school teacher and acquitted the man who had been indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act. Identified by the surname Ko, the teacher had shared controversial posts on social media ahead of parliamentary elections in March and April of 2016. The teacher at a public high school on the island of Jindo, South Jeolla Province, who also serves as the branch president of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers&ls

Social Affairs Jan. 7, 2021

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will more than double the number of staff at government agencies supporting victims of digital sex crimes, from 17 in 2020, to 39 this year. The services provided by the Digital Sexual Crime Victim Support Center, established by the Women’s Human Rights Institute of Korea under the ministry, includes victim counseling, help getting illegal videos deleted, investigative support, litigation support, and post-monitoring. Since its launch in April 2

Social Affairs Jan. 7, 2021

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Tuesday that it will replace all 27 buses on four of the green circuit bus lines that travel along the Namsan Park area with electric, low-floor buses. The bus routes go to Namsan Park, Myeong-dong, Seoul Station, Insa-dong, and the main palace Gyeongbokgung. The city will ban diesel tour buses that used to pick up and carry group tourists from entering Namsan Park. Namsan Park was designated a “clean-air district” in 2015, showing off i

Social Affairs Jan. 5, 2021