South Korea’s lower court on Friday ordered the Korean government and Seoul City to repay US private equity firm Lone Star Funds 168.2 billion won ($127.6 million), which the firm had paid as corporate tax levied on the sale of its now-defunct Korea Exchange Bank stake. The Seoul Central District Court said the central government should pay 153 billion won and Seoul city government 15.2 billion won, respectively. The ruling applied an annual interest rate of 5 percent for delayed damages,

Social Affairs June 30, 2023

Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun is planning a trip to Kumgangsan in North Korea to attend a private service on Aug. 4 commemorating her late husband, Chung Mong-hun, said officials on Friday. The event will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of Chung Mong-hun. The Ministry of Unification said that Hyun has asked for Seoul's permission to be in contact with North Korea to visit the country in August on Tuesday. By law, all South Koreans must file a report to the Ministry

Politics June 30, 2023

Jeong Myeong-geun, mayor of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, enters his second year in office on Saturday with an aim to speed along his campaign pledges centering on implementing balanced city development. The campaign pledges he addressed included establishing and operating a special committee for balanced city development, building a technopole, establishing a botanical garden, pushing forward the “Hwaseong International Theme Park,” expediting a metropolitan railroad project and buil

Politics June 28, 2023

After a brief break in the afternoon, Lee Si-hyun, a first-year high school student in Seoul, gets ready to go to hagwon -- after-school cram schools where she spends her evenings studying for Korea's college entrance exam, which is coming up in two years’ time. “I go to a total of four hagwon -- for Korean, English, math and science -- on weekdays and weekends," she said. "My friends go to the same number of hagwon or more.” For Lee and her friends, spending tim

Social Affairs June 28, 2023

Sejong University topped this year's Korean list for the Leiden Ranking, a global university ranking that assesses the volume and citation impact of publications released by universities, officials said Monday. It is the first time for the university to top the list after ranking second for the last two years, Sejong University officials added. After Sejong University, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) took second place, followed by Pohang University of Science and

Social Affairs June 26, 2023

An outbreak of lovebugs, a species of March fly that remains in pairs, has spread rapidly to areas across Seoul over the weekend, according to reports from authorities Sunday. In 2022, several complaints were filed about lovebugs in northwestern Seoul and Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. However, this year, the outbreak has spread to other districts, such as Dongdaemun-gu and Seongdong-gu in eastern Seoul, and Gwanak-gu in southern Seoul, authorities said. Lovebugs aren’t toxic or harmful, but t

Social Affairs June 25, 2023

Global Education Venture, an educational company based in Dubai, has joined hands with boarding school King’s College to provide British education to students across the world. This partnership aims to establish British schools across regions including South Korea, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Macao, India and Nepal. More regions will be added to the list going forward. Based on the agreement, Global Education Venture has been granted exclusive rights to establish and develop King’s

People June 22, 2023

A Korean national, identified only by his surname Kim, has been arrested for sexually harassing three females in Osaka, Japan, according to a Japanese broadcaster's report on Tuesday. The man allegedly committed a total of eight crimes over the course of one week that included robberies and sex crimes after arriving in Japan, prompting local police to launch further investigations. According to Yomiuri TV and local media sources, Kim was arrested in Osaka on suspicion of committing indecent

Social Affairs June 21, 2023

A zoo in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province is under fire for allegedly failing to care properly for its animals. The number of complaints filed by Gimhae residents about the zoo on Gimhae City Hall’s website's "Ask the mayor" forum between 2013 and 2021 totaled three, and there were six complaints in 2022, but the number of complaints about the zoo jumped to 33 just this month. Along with their complaints, residents posted photos of poorly cared for animals, according to the

Social Affairs June 14, 2023

Reports of parents sending their children to day care or kindergarten with recording devices have sparked controversy online. While the parents claim that they are “collecting evidence of possible abuse,” some teachers complain that the illegal practice is a sign of “unfounded distrust from the parents." Searching for "day care recorder" on the internet turns up numerous small recording devices on sale that come in diverse forms, from necklaces to badges. Some ar

Social Affairs June 13, 2023

A funeral home in Osan, Gyeonggi Province is accused of directing bereaved family members to change in a room with a built-in security camera, said Osan Police Station on Monday. On May 31, a family was allegedly directed by the funeral home’s staff to change in an empty room in the funeral home. The family no longer had access to the bereaved family’s waiting room, as their father’s funeral had already ended. The family members filed a report with the police as soon as they fo

Social Affairs June 13, 2023

Two women in their 20s were taken in for questioning over on suspicion of assaulting two minors for not greeting them respectfully in Ulsan, according to the city's Ulju Police Station on Monday. The women allegedly summoned two minors -- a middle school student and a high school student -- to the basement of a building located in Ulju-gun, Ulsan at night on June 4. They are suspected of forcing the students to kneel and slapping their faces for 20 minutes. The two women are also suspected

Social Affairs June 12, 2023

Korean burger chain Lotteria is facing criticism over alleged hygiene issues, after an employee appeared to reuse a hamburger bun that they had dropped on the floor. After visiting a Lotteria branch in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, a customer filed a complaint that while watching an employee make the burger, the mayonnaise-slathered side of a bun fell to the floor. The complaint alleges the employee picked the bun back up and served it to the customer. According to the customer, the emplo

Social Affairs June 12, 2023

A total of 18,047 drivers were caught drunk driving from April 13 to May 31, said the National Police Agency on Friday. In addition, 7,082 drivers were also caught violating traffic regulations in school zones over the same period. The police said that the number of car accidents that occurred during this time significantly decreased compared to the same period last year. A total of 1,358 car accidents occurred due to drunk driving, which is a 32.1 percent decrease compared to the year before, w

Social Affairs June 9, 2023

Four middle school students were taken in for questioning after stealing and crashing a car in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, according to Asan Police Station on Thursday. The teens are suspected of stealing an unlocked SUV at around 11:40 p.m. on June 2, then driving the vehicle for four hours around Asan. Their alleged criminal actions ended when the driver caused the vehicle veer off into farmland in Inju-myeon, Asan, at around 4 a.m. the next day. It is estimated that the suspects drove a

Social Affairs June 9, 2023