Around 4,500 households in the Marine City area of Busan had no heat or gas services for three to four hours on Monday after a construction crew damaged gas lines in the city’s Haeundae district. According to Busan City Gas and police sources, the accident occurred at 4:49 p.m. when an excavator operated by a road construction crew damaged the underground gas pipes between Marine City and Dongbaek intersection. Marine City (Yonhap)Emergency restoration work began around 5 p.m. and the gas suppl

Social Affairs Dec. 11, 2018

Public day care centers should be set up and operate in new apartment complexes of more than 5,000 households, and day care centers must check whether infants are vaccinated each year, as decreed in a newly revised law. The revised Infant Care Act, proposed by Rep. Kwon Mi-hyuk, will come into effect in the next three to six months, after it passed the National Assembly on Friday, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.  (The National Assembly of the Republic of Korea)The government had

Social Affairs Dec. 10, 2018

 The three-day cold spell that eased Monday caused 160 water meters to freeze and burst in Seoul, the local government said. According to the Office of Waterworks Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday, a total of 58 cases of frozen water meters had been reported over the weekend as of Monday morning. (Yonhap)Temperatures fell as low as minus 11 degrees Celsius on Friday and minus 11.4 degrees Celsius on Saturday, triggering a warning to be issued for freezing water meters.After temperatures ea

Social Affairs Dec. 10, 2018

A man surnamed Park, who is accused of killing 22-year-old soldier Yoon Chang-ho while driving under the influence, admitted to the charges against him at his trial Friday. In the first inquests into the death, presided over by Justice Kim Dong-wook at the Busan District Court, prosecutors said Park was indicted on charges of killing Yoon in front of a crosswalk in Haeundae, Busan, while driving a BMW with blood alcohol content of 0.181 percent on Sept. 25.Park briefly said, “I agree,” when the

Social Affairs Dec. 7, 2018

With strong winds and cold wave warnings in effect in some parts of Incheon on Friday, all passenger ferry services linking Incheon to islands have been canceled. On Friday, a strong-wind warning was issued for most parts of the eastern and western coasts of Korea.According to the Incheon Weather Station, the temperature in Incheon dropped to minus 7.7 degrees C at 9 a.m. Friday, with the wind chill temperature at minus 14.5 C.Strong winds at speeds of 14 to 20 meters per second were blowing Fri

Social Affairs Dec. 7, 2018

At 7:58 a.m. on Friday morning, a Subway Line No. 8 train headed for Amsa Station in Seoul came to a stop at Sujin Station in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Subway operation on Subway Line No. 8 was delayed for 20 minutes due to an electrical failure. (Yonhap)At 8:16 a.m., 18 minutes later, Seoul Metro moved the broken train to a subway train garage, and resumed operations using another train. The accident caused inconvenience for commuters on their way to work.Subway Line No. 7 service was delaye

Social Affairs Dec. 7, 2018

Young people preparing to start their own businesses will get assistance from the Seoul Metropolitan Government in the form of housing.A groundbreaking ceremony for the new project was held Thursday afternoon in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. (Yonhap)Daechi-dong is a district where major companies that provide assistance to startups are concentrated, such as Google Campus, D-camp and Tips Town S1. The entrepreneurs will be able to occupy the rental units for up to 10 years and pay only 400,000

Social Affairs Dec. 6, 2018

Temperatures will drop significantly Friday, with heavy snowfall, on the coldest day according to Korea’s traditional 24 seasonal divisions.Morning lows will vary from minus 12 to 2 degrees Celsius, with highs of minus 5 to minus 3 C during the day. (Yonhap)The morning temperature in Cheorwon and Daegwallyeong, Gangwon Province, will plunge to minus 12 C, while Seoul will see the mercury drop to minus 9 C. Cold air coming from the northwest will bring down temperatures. With temperatures in some

Social Affairs Dec. 6, 2018

The police investigation into the rupture of a hot water pipeline near Baekseok Station in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, is set to expand to employees of subcontractors who were in charge of maintaining, repairing and inspecting the pipe involved. (Lee So-jeong/The Korea Herald)According to police sources, the heat pipeline maintenance and inspection companies had used subcontractors for the work. “We will call in the employees of each company to continue the investigation,” police said.Police confi

Social Affairs Dec. 6, 2018

An underground pipe carrying hot water burst Tuesday evening north of Seoul, killing one and injuring 22 others. The incident near Baekseok Subway Station in Ilsan -- a district within Goyang, Gyeonggi Province -- left nearly 3,000 homes without heat or hot water, fire authorities said.A 69-year-old man was found dead in the back seat of a car after apparently being trapped there.“The victim seems to have suffered burns from the hot water that rushed into the car right after the accident, but th

Social Affairs Dec. 5, 2018

Over a hundred suspects have been arrested for making and distributing illegal film and child pornography, using overseas-based social media channels such as Tumblr and Twitter, police said Tuesday. (Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency Website)According to the Cyber Security Team of Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, 101 people were arrested on charges of violating the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles From Sexual Abuse. Of those, nine suspects were indicted via a s

Social Affairs Dec. 4, 2018

The first cold wave warning will be issued at 11 p.m. Tuesday, as temperatures plummet after Tuesday’s rain. (Yonhap)According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the cold wave warning will take effect in most parts of the country at 11 p.m., including Seoul, Daejeon, Incheon, Gyeonggi, North Gyeongsang, North and South Chungcheong, Gangwon and North Jeolla provinces.Temperatures in Seoul will plummet below minus 4 degrees Celsius Wednesday morning, with a daytime high of 4 C expected. B

Social Affairs Dec. 4, 2018

From next summer, South Koreans will likely spend less time at the immigration lines at UK airports.South Korea and Singapore will be added to the list of countries whose nationals will be eligible to use e-passport gates to enter the UK from summer 2019, the UK’s home secretary said Monday.  (Heathrow Airport website)An estimated 400,000 Korean passengers per year will be able to take advantage of the automated gates, which use face-recognition technology to allow eligible passengers to be proc

Social Affairs Dec. 4, 2018

Heat waves were legally classified as natural disasters in September, so victims can now receive government support. To be eligible, applicants must have been in the affected areas during the relevant time frames and must produce medical documentation certifying that they suffered from heatstroke or other heat-related illnesses. (Ministry of the Interior and Safety)Those who were hospitalized for heat-related illnesses during a heat wave warning and died later are eligible to apply for governmen

Social Affairs Dec. 3, 2018

This past June, Kim Tae-hyung finally achieved his long-held dream of running his own food business but with minimal risk.The one-man restaurant, Seoul Poke, specializes in Hawaiian food and runs 100 percent on takeout. There’s no dining area. What’s unusual about this new startup is that Kim saved massively on his initial investment by forgoing not just an eat-in venue but also the purchase of kitchen appliances, which together often account for a huge proportion of a new restaurateur’s outlay.

Industry Dec. 2, 2018