Thin and essentially invisible ice coating the road is being blamed as the cause of a 14-vehicle pileup on Ilsan Bridge -- linking Gimpo and Goyang in Gyeonggi Province -- on Tuesday morning that injured 13. No deaths were reported and none of the injuries have been deemed critical. The accident occurred around 8 a.m. on the northern (Goyang) direction of the Ilsan Bridge. The part of the bridge in concern was shut down for an hour, hampering morning traffic.According to the fire department at t

Social Affairs Nov. 21, 2017

The North Korean soldier who defected to the South last week regained consciousness Tuesday. A second round of press briefing by Ajou University Hospital regarding the soldier’s condition will take place as early as late Tuesday.  A post-surgery prss briefing had taken place on Nov. 15 (Yonhap)The soldier reportedly asked to listen to a South Korean song upon waking up. He is not in a stable enough condition to talk with the media, as he had sustained gunshot wounds. 　The North Korean soldier da

North Korea Nov. 21, 2017

A suspect of the alleged sexual assault of an Australian child was arrested by the Australian authorities, Seoul police said Tuesday. A local Australian police station caught the suspect, a woman in her 20s, in the city of Darwin, a northern port city of the country. The suspect is being charged with child abuse. The suspect is accused of authoring a written account of sexual abuse of an underage Australian boy on Womad, an online Korean extremist misandry community. The suspect’s nationality ha

Social Affairs Nov. 21, 2017

호주에 거주하며 현지 남아한테 수면제를 먹이고 성추행했다는 문제의 온라인 글이 삭제된 자리에 여아 성추행 글이 올라왔다. 　　20일 청와대 온라인 국민청원 창엔 남성혐오 및 여성우월주의 사이트인 ‘워마드’에 호주 어린이 성폭행 글이 올라왔다며 수사를 요청하는 게시물이 올라왔다. 　　문제가 된 워마드 글엔 호주의 한 휴양시설에서 근무하는 듯한 글쓴이가 현지 남아에 약을 먹여 재우고 성추행한 내용이 적혀 있었다. “동영상을 못 올려 아쉽다”며 자신의 컴퓨터 모니터 화면을 캡처한 사진까지 첨부하는 모습을 보였다. 　 문제가 된 워마드 글에 포함되어 있던 이미지. 모자이크 처리 (사진=워마드 캡처)　해당 게시글은 20일 오후 삭제되었으며 링크를 따라가면 대신 그 자리엔 성인 남성이 어린 여아를 추행한 수기로 바뀌어 있다. 　　이 여아 추행글의 댓글엔 “여아 추행 사건은 이슈화도 안 시키며 남아 추행 사건만 크게 다룬다”고 주장하며 “워마드 원글도 남성이 자작한 글일 것”이라고 추정했다.　　

한국어판 Nov. 21, 2017

An anonymous netizen has said that he or she drugged and sexually assaulted an Australian boy at an unspecified location in the country. The account appeared on Korea’s extremist online community for misandry called Womad, Sunday, using a proud tone of voice in narrating the incident. In the post, which was made in the Korean language, the netizen says that he or she had been biding time to “have a taste of a Western boy since living in Australia.”The netizen claims that while “lolita is a crime

Social Affairs Nov. 20, 2017

Free-of-charge multilingual translation services for tourists will be available in Songpa-gu, Seoul, by voluntary street translators. Dubbed “We Can,” the service group will take off with a launching ceremony scheduled for 5 p.m. at Songpa YMCA, Tuesday. Some 100 residents inhabiting the Jamsil Special Tourist Zone in Songpa-gu are in the volunteer group, including retired seniors over 50 years old and teenagers. Songpa-gu Office (Yonhap)The volunteer workers can speak English, Chinese, Japanese

Travel Nov. 20, 2017

The parents of an elementary school student living in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, were taken aback when they were contacted by police for an inspection into their alleged child abuse.A local media outlet reported Monday that the parents had raised a stick to their child for stealing from a friend and a store. The act was intended to be for discipline’s sake, but a visiting teacher who glimpsed the act thought of it as child abuse and alerted the police. Another family in the same regio

Social Affairs Nov. 20, 2017

In Seoul, the first snow of the year only counts as official if it is seen and recorded by government officials stationed at Seoul’s weather station in Songwol-dong, Jongno-gu, next to Gyeonghuigung.Early morning on Friday, social media was abuzz with sightings of snow in some parts of the capitalOpinions clashed on the accuracy of the claims. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, although it could be true that snow fell in some parts of Seoul, it is only officially the first sno

Social Affairs Nov. 17, 2017

In short, the answer is no. But while radio probably won’t get to outshine video, it also won’t lose its place, either. Technology has changed quite a lot since The Buggles released “Video killed the radio star” in 1980 -- but it has not always changed for the better.Screens now have a dominant presence in Korea, where the most common sight of people is with their faces glued to their smartphones that have thousands of videos and other contents demanding simultaneous attention.But has video real

Technology Nov. 17, 2017

Long padded coats made as part of goods for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics have become all the rage in Korea since their launch on Oct. 26. Within two weeks, the coats, which cost 149,000 won ($135) each, have sold out at both online and offline stores. It is not known when they will be restocked.The coats come in white, black and gray. They became “it” items after positive reviews spread that they were light and warm. Celebrities were also seen wearing the long padded coats, adding to the

Industry Nov. 17, 2017

One third of foreign expatriates residing in Busan were found to be low-skilled laborers with insufficient capacity to spend, a report by the Bank of Korea’s Busan office showed Thursday. A spokesperson from the BOK Busan voiced the opinion that the influx of foreign residents should be selective to encourage contributions to local economic growth.According to report by the central bank office, in 2015, Busan -- as Korea’s second-largest city -- had 3.5 percent of the total foreign p

Economy Nov. 16, 2017

Koreans of legal age consumed an average 9 liters of pure alcohol per person in 2015. The figure was confirmed by professors from the Catholic University of Korea Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital and Inje University Graduate School of Public Health, through a study on data, Chosun.com reported Tuesday.Nine liters of alcohol would be 121 bottles of soju or 366 cans of 500-milliliter beer. Soju typically has 21 percent alcohol by volume while beer is about 5 percent.  (Yonhap)The research team analyz

Industry Nov. 16, 2017

The increasing number of Koreans who dine alone, dubbed the “honbab” trend in Korean, is proving to be a boon for sushi sales at major supermarkets nationwide. E-mart, the country’s largest discount chain operator, said Thursday that the number of sushi sold between January and October this year amounted to 63 million pieces. In the same period, E-mart had made extra efforts to carry “premium sushi” for consumers.The brand said its sushi sales revenue is rising 20 percent each year and that sush

Industry Nov. 16, 2017

South Korea’s first lady Kim Jung-sook danced the iconic horse dance to a rewritten version of Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” dubbed “PyeongChang Style,” at an event held in the Philippines on Wednesday. The song was sung by Ryan Bang, a Korean TV personality based in the Philippines, to promote the upcoming 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in Korea. Kim reportedly displayed the popular dance moves upon excitement at hearing the familiar tune. (Yonhap)Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife were atten

Politics Nov. 15, 2017

15일 경북 포항에서 발생한 강진이 전국 곳곳에서 감지되며 사회적 불안을 야기했다. 　　포항에선 오후 2시 반쯤 규모 5.4 지진에 이어 규모 3.6의 여진이 발생했다. 서울에선 동대문 및 국회 일대, 인근인 천안-아산 지역과 전라도 광주에서도 심한 흔들림을 느꼈다는 제보가 들어왔다.　　　　수능을 하루 앞두고 일어난 자연재해 현상에 학교 건물들에 금이 가며 뒤숭숭한 분위기다.　　교육부는 수능이 차질 없이 포항 등 전국에서 예정대로 진행될 것이라 발표했다. 　　사진은 포항시 북구 두호동 한 아파트의 벽에 간 금이다. 　 (사진=연합뉴스)　(khnews@heraldcorp.com)

한국어판 Nov. 15, 2017