Health authorities in South Korea confirmed two more cases of mpox Wednesday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, two South Koreans tested positive for the virus, formerly known as monkeypox, on Monday and Tuesday, bringing the total to eight. The KDCA has concluded the cases were locally acquired, as neither of the two new patients had traveled overseas in the past three months. Korea's sixth case, reported Friday, was recorded as the first locally transmitted mpo

Social Affairs April 12, 2023

Four Southeast Asian women were held captive and forced to work as prostitutes on Jeju Island, Korea's southern resort island. The suspects who allegedly held the women have been arrested, local police said Tuesday. The island's provincial police agency said they had arrested four suspects, including a Korean bar owner in his 40s, his Chinese wife, and two of their accomplices. The suspects have been sent to the prosecutor's office. The victims arrived in Korea in November for wor

Social Affairs April 11, 2023

The number of Koreans diagnosed with Parkinson's disease is on the rise, despite the fact that public awareness of the disease remains low, data showed on Monday. According to the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a total of 111,312 people were diagnosed with the disease in 2020, a 15 percent increase from 96,764 in 2016. “In the Korean population, the prevalence of Parkinson's disease has been steadily increasing due to the rapid increase in the elderly populati

Social Affairs April 10, 2023

Health authorities in South Korea have confirmed the first locally acquired case of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, on Sunday. To date, six people across the country have become infected with the virus, with cases traceable to overseas sources. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, a South Korean national tested positive for mpox on April 7, bringing the total number of infections to six. This individual had not traveled overseas in the past three months and had no kno

Social Affairs April 9, 2023

Part of a bridge in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, collapsed, killing one pedestrian and leaving another in critical condition, authorities said Wednesday. A part supporting the sidewalk of Jeongjagyo gave way at around 9:45 a.m Wednesday. The two, strangers to each other, were reportedly on the bridge at the time. Both fell into the stream below, about 5 meters below the bridge, according to reports. A woman in her 30s was taken to a hospital with cardiac arrest, but was later pronounced dead, wh

Social Affairs April 5, 2023

The Ministry of Health and Welfare unveiled a five-year plan aimed at becoming the world's fifth-largest exporter of medical devices on Tuesday. According to the “Five-Year Plan for Fostering and Supporting the Medical Device Industry,” the government will increase exports of medical devices to $16 billion by 2027, which is twice the current level. Under the new plan, the government will invest 10 trillion won ($7.6 billion) for state-funded research and development projects thr

Social Affairs April 4, 2023

The Korean National Police Agency on Monday announced a crackdown on crimes targeting foreign nationals, such as fraud, gambling, robbery and other violent crime. The crackdown will run until July 2. “While the number of illegal immigrants reached the highest last year, the main target of crimes against foreigners has been illegal immigrants. Since crimes against illegal immigrants are expected to increase, the police have decided to protect them through this intensive crackdown,&rdquo

Social Affairs April 3, 2023

Soongsil University said Monday that its GTEP project team participated in Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna 2023. The Glocal Trade Experts incubating Program is organized by the Ministry of Industry and operated by the Korea International Trade Association. Every year, they pick undergraduate students interested in trade and immerse them in trade practice and export marketing activities. Students from Soongsil university have been selected for the GTEP for the past 16 years and they have participated

Social Affairs April 3, 2023

South Korea has proposed a plan to shorten the mandatory COVID-19 isolation period from seven days to five starting early May, moving away from the country's crisis-response mode, health authorities said Wednesday. According to a set of new plans dubbed "road map for returning to normalcy," the government will also consider lowering the crisis level from "serious" to "alert," as well as the disease's classification level. "The government will shorte

Social Affairs March 29, 2023

South Korea's food and drug safety authorities said Tuesday they have ordered to halt the sales of castella products imported from China after they found a preservative substance banned for use in bakery goods. “Mini castella produced in China and imported by PTJ Korea has been found to contain benzoic acid and will be subject to a recall," the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said. "Benzoic acid is a commonly used antimicrobial preservative in antibacterial ointment and m

Social Affairs March 28, 2023

Korean men have an average lifespan that is six years shorter than Korean women, data showed Tuesday. According to Statistics Korea, in 2020, Korean women had a life expectancy of 86.5 years, while men had a life expectancy of 80.5 years. The difference in life expectancy is due mainly to men being more vulnerable to diseases, including lung cancer, pneumonia, heart disease and vascular disease. “As long as records have been kept in all countries, women have lived longer than men,” s

Social Affairs March 28, 2023

South Korea's Supreme Court has ruled that an Iranian national charged with obtaining a visa based on fake documentation should not be punished, citing an international refugee convention, officials said Monday. The Iranian applied for refugee status in March 2016 after entering Korea on a short-term visa that he obtained by submitting an invitation letter from a Korean company. But it was discovered that the invitation letter was a fake he had bought from a broker for $4,700. The Ministry

Social Affairs March 27, 2023

The preterm birth rate in South Korea is on the rise, while the country's overall birthrate reached an all-time low, data showed on Sunday. Statistics from the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs showed that the total number of births in the nation has decreased over the past decade, shrinking from 471,000 in 2011 to 261,000 in 2021. During the same period, the rate of premature births have increased. The rate of preterm births grew from 6 percent to 9.2 percent and the rate of in

Social Affairs March 26, 2023

The names of immigration service field officials interviewed by The Korea Herald are aliases to protect their identities. -- Ed. Kim Jong-sup, who works at a local branch office of the Korea Immigration Service, never thought he would be risking his life in the course of his job. “Yesterday, I went to detain illegal aliens working at a water parsley farm. I (fell and) rolled over and suffered bruises all over my body,” Kim said, showing his broken glasses. It was not the first ti

Social Affairs March 26, 2023

The National Assembly Sunfull Committee and the Sunfull Foundation said they will hold a launching ceremony for the "Respect for Multicultural Families and All Ethnic Groups in Korea" campaign at the National Assembly Hall on March 27. The campaign aims to promote equal treatment for multicultural families and ethnic minority groups living in Korea, according to the organizers. It will shed light on the role these populations play in Korean communities, the economy and Korean culture

Social Affairs March 22, 2023