Mobile identification cards, such as the driver’s license and the mobile national veteran's registration card, were to start being issued on Samsung Wallet from Wednesday, said the Ministry of Interior and Safety. On Wednesday, the Interior Ministry hosted an open event with Samsung Electronics to publicly announce the introduction of digital ID cards. At the event, Interior Minister Lee Sang-min and Chair Go Jin from the Presidential Committee on the Digital Platform Government demon

Social Affairs March 20, 2024

US actor Daniel Dae Kim received a certificate of honorary Seoul citizenship on Wednesday, in recognition of his efforts in promoting Seoul through "Butterfly," an upcoming Amazon Prime Video series. "Butterfly" is a spy thriller series that centers around the character David Jung, a former US intelligence operative living in South Korea. Kim is both the lead actor and the executive producer of the six-episode series. Since February, Kim has been filming around several Seoul

Social Affairs March 20, 2024

Only half of South Korea's adult population is willing to get married, with fewer than half expressing intentions to have children in the future, according to the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy on Sunday. The presidential committee shared findings from a survey conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, which polled 2,000 respondents aged between 19 and 49 in August last year. The survey revealed that among the 1,059 unmarried respondents

Social Affairs March 17, 2024

Individuals from South Korea, China, and Japan perceive lawmakers as holding the highest societal status job, whereas those from the United States and Germany consider firefighters to have the highest social status, according to survey results released Sunday. The Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training conducted the survey from July to August 2023. The survey involved 7,500 employed individuals aged between 18 to 64 across five different countries: South Korea, China, Ger

Social Affairs March 17, 2024

A total of 2,018 cases of speeding and traffic signal violations were detected after bidirectional traffic enforcement cameras were installed in four locations across Gyeonggi Province, according to the National Police Agency on Thursday. Bidirectional traffic enforcement cameras capture license plates on both the front and rear ends of a vehicle. These are different from the traditional kinds of cameras installed in most locations nationwide which are only capable of capturing license plates on

Social Affairs March 14, 2024

Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency said Tuesday it had uncovered a cybercrime ring accused of operating an illegal gambling website and attracting minors into gambling. Police apprehended 35 suspects, including the ringleader in his 40s, on suspicion of operating illegal gambling websites for five years, from December 2018 to March this year. Out of the 35 suspects, 10 had been arrested as of Tuesday. According to police officials, the criminal ring operated gambling websites out of Dubai a

Social Affairs March 13, 2024

Meteorological drought levels are forecast to remain normal nationwide, due to high levels of precipitation over the past few months compared to previous years, the Ministry of Interior and Safety said Tuesday. According to the Interior Ministry, the total precipitation levels recorded over the past six months reached up to 504.7 millimeters nationwide -- 150.6 percent above the average precipitation levels recorded between 1991 and 2020. In February alone, up to 102.6 mm of rain was recorded, m

Social Affairs March 12, 2024

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and Wad, the developer behind the app Catch Table, will sign a business agreement Tuesday to make it easier for international tourists without Korean phone numbers to make restaurant reservations and join online queues. The move comes amid an increase in the number of international visitors coming to South Korea for culinary tourism purposes. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in 2022, 68 percent of tourists answered

Social Affairs March 11, 2024

The tightening of border controls by the Kim Jong-un regime, marked by the construction of multiple layers of fences along the China-North Korea border following the COVID-19 pandemic, has exacerbated the already dire humanitarian and human rights crisis in North Korea, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. The HRW, an international human rights organization headquartered in New York, on Thursday published a comprehensive 148-page report titled "A Sense of Terror Stronger than a Bull

North Korea March 8, 2024

A circulated online list containing the names of doctors who did not participate in the prolonged walkout and instead remained or returned to their positions has prompted the police to pledge action against the individual responsible for its distribution. The National Police Agency released an official statement, stating that it will “strictly handle any acts that interfere with normal medical procedures.” “Posting full names of trainee doctors returning to work and writing thr

Social Affairs March 8, 2024

South Korea dealt with the wettest winter in about half a century, seeing a historic amount of 236.7 millimeters of rain drenching the nation in recent months, the weather agency said Thursday. From Dec. 1 through the end of February, up to 236.7 mm of rain was observed here, marking the highest amount of precipitation to be recorded in the cited period since 1973, when the Korea Meteorological Administration started collecting the related data. The latest precipitation level was 2.7 times highe

Social Affairs March 7, 2024

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will build up to 1,007 gardens across the city by 2026, starting with 150 new gardens by the first half of 2024, the city government said Thursday. The city government will spend 265.9 billion won ($199.8 million) to install gardens and green areas in various places around the city, specifically for groups such as children, older citizens and people with disabilities. The installation of the new gardens aims to lessen the stress and anxiety levels felt by Seoul

Social Affairs March 7, 2024

With South Korea’s total fertility rate reaching as low as 0.72 in 2023, making it one of the lowest among the ranks of the 38-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the government is devising a list of attractive policies to persuade women to have babies -- that includes giving them hefty amounts of subsidies dubbed “childbirth benefits.” From the central government, potential mothers receive 1 million won ($751) to pay for their medical expenses. Once t

Social Affairs March 6, 2024

As ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean gradually decrease, climate conditions will most likely switch to a neutral state between April and June, according to the World Meteorological Organization. El Nino is a natural phenomenon in which ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific remain 0.5 degrees Celsius higher than usual for more than five months. The El Nino phenomenon officially began between May and June 2023 and was recorded as one of the five strongest El N

Social Affairs March 6, 2024

The Health Ministry on Tuesday said it was considering filing criminal complaints with the police against the trainee doctors who are leading the protest against the government's plan to expand the annual medical school student quota. “We are considering filing police complaints on the trainee doctors who led the walkouts,” said Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo. “Details as to when the police complaints will be filed and who it will be filed against will be decided

Social Affairs March 5, 2024