A disability rights advocacy group said Friday it will temporarily halt subway protests, calling for budget increases to expand mobility rights for individuals with disabilities. The Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, one of South Korea's prominent disability rights groups, announced that instead of conducting its regular rush-hour subway protests, it will initiate daily silent protests at Line No. 4's Hyehwa Station starting from Monday. The temporary suspension will persis

Social Affairs Dec. 1, 2023

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Thursday chose “sky coral,” a color derived from the pink sky when the sun sets over the Han River, as the city's color next year, as part of its new annual initiative called “Color of Seoul.” Prior to developing the Color of Seoul, the city government analyzed places frequently visited by Seoul citizens and their key interests between 2022 and 2023 based on the 2022 Seoul Survey results and the 2022 Korea Tourism Data Lab resul

Social Affairs Nov. 30, 2023

Dongha, which specializes in resource circulation, is the only domestic company that reuses coffee grounds to make them into decks placed in parks and beaches. Also known as "coffee decks," the products developed by Dongha contain coffee ground content of 51 percent, and the components that are generated when roasting coffee beans -- cafestol and melanoidine -- have been proven to strengthen the quality of its products. While Dongha’s coffee decks officially entered the market th

Social Affairs Nov. 29, 2023

To solve water shortage problems exacerbated by climate change, Amogreentech developed a gravity driven membrane system that can purify water using only a pressure difference with a nanofiber membrane. The system, developed by the Korean advanced material and component firm, boasts a high efficiency. The system's device wastes no excess energy and equipment to install and operate to remove contaminants and waterborne bacteria from the water. The device is easy to maintain with its effective

Social Affairs Nov. 29, 2023

Female scientists in South Korea struggle with the highest gender barrier in the world, a study revealed Tuesday. Korea scored an average of 4.09 out of 5 in a scale that measures the gap between the effects of marriage, pregnancy, childbirth and child care on male and female scientists, according to a 2022 survey analysis conducted by the Association of Korean Woman Scientists and Engineers. Higher scores indicate that respondents experienced tougher gender barriers. Korea outscored 86 other co

Social Affairs Nov. 29, 2023

Individuals who consume large amounts of ultra-processed foods such as ham and sausages may be at a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, a study showed Wednesday. Korea University’s Division of Health Policy and Management discovered a link between ultra-processed foods and Type 2 diabetes after studying 7,438 test subjects between ages 40 to 69 living in Ansan and Anseong of Gyeonggi Province over a time span of around 15 years. Research was conducted from 2001 to 2019. Of all ultra

Social Affairs Nov. 29, 2023

Public broadcaster Traffic Broadcasting System, or TBS, appealed to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Metropolitan Council to postpone their plan to eliminate their financial support for the radio station through an official statement on Monday. “We are facing the crisis of being forced to close down completely following the city council passing the ordinance that abolished support for TBS from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, currently effective starting next year,” said

Social Affairs Nov. 27, 2023

Strengthening social minorities and developing a city’s competitiveness should not be considered separately from each other when establishing city policies and development projects, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said at a forum on Wednesday. “The Seoul Metropolitan Government aims to accompany and assist social minorities while transforming Seoul into a more attractive and appealing city for everyone,” said Oh at the Global Business Forum hosted by The Korea Herald. Oh presented a set

People Nov. 23, 2023

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has announced a set of plans to launch Seoul Winter Festa, a large-scale network of winter festivals that takes place across the capital in December. On Wednesday, the city government stated that Seoul Winter Festa will take place from Dec. 15 to Jan. 21 at seven locations in Seoul -- at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in eastern Seoul and Gwanghwamun Square, Yeolrin Songhyeon, Cheonggyecheon and Seoul Plaza in central Seoul. While winter-themed events were held at thes

Social Affairs Nov. 22, 2023

Prosecutors at Daejeon District Court sought a 30-year prison sentence for the leader of the religious movement organization Jesus Morning Star, Jeong Myeong-seok, Tuesday. Jeong is accused of raping and sexually assaulting three female followers from February 2018 to September 2021. “The defendant, who is the leader of a religious organization, posed as the Messiah and used the JMS church to commit sexual crimes against female followers, which can be considered a grave crime,” said

Social Affairs Nov. 22, 2023

Teenagers in South Korea are increasingly being exposed to online gambling, and the government and police are working to prevent a further rise in teen gambling addictions. However, a shortfall in medical support to prevent or treat teenagers' addiction has come under the limelight as the National Center for Youth Internet Addiction Treatment serves as the only facility that runs rehab programs for online gambling addictions in Korea. When one is admitted to the state-run rehab camp, they m

Social Affairs Nov. 21, 2023

The computer network used by local government offices across South Korea, together with the platform used by residents to interact with the government and issue government documents are back running after a four-day outage, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety on Monday. However, local tech experts raised concerns over the risk of another error potentially affecting e-government networks and services, pointing out that the cause of the failure over the weekend remains unclear. Kim My

Social Affairs Nov. 20, 2023

Ruling party lawmakers on Sunday blasted the main opposition party for releasing new political banners that contain phrases it called "demeaning to the youth." On Friday, the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea’s election campaign committee revealed new political banner designs aimed at young voters in their 20s and 30s ahead of the upcoming general elections in April. The new banners included controversial phrases such as, "The party for me," “I don't

Politics Nov. 19, 2023

Regarding the recent megacity plan involving expanding Seoul's administrative boundaries to include several neighboring cities in Gyeonggi Province, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said during a regular Seoul Metropolitan Council meeting on Thursday that it could counter rural extinction. In response to ruling People Power Party Rep. Lee Jong-bae’s question, "Can megacities can be seen as a global trend?" Oh answered that it is “time to mobilize all possible measures to counter

Social Affairs Nov. 16, 2023

Forget beauty vloggers and celebrity content -- vlogs made by high school dropouts are becoming increasingly popular among teen viewers on YouTube. Aside from sharing daily life updates after dropping out of school, these teenage YouTubers also create videos where they inform their parents about the decision to drop out, submit withdrawal letters and celebrate a last-day-of-school party with their classmates. “I decided to vlog about my dropout experiences because I wanted people to have a

Social Affairs Nov. 15, 2023