Shake Shack, a popular burger chain from New York City, will open its first store in Gangnam on July 22, Korean food and confectionary company SPC Group said Tuesday.  (Shake Shack)The store will be near Sinnonhyeon Station, Subway Line No. 9, which is on the same main street in Gangnam as Gangnam Station, Subway Line No. 2. SPC, the operator of bakery chain Paris Baguette, will be operating the burger store under an exclusive contract with Shake Shack. Shake Shack started out in 2001 as a hotdo

Food July 12, 2016

South Korea's inbound travel market rebounded in the first half from a temporary slump a year ago in the wake of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak, the state-run tourism agency said Tuesday. About 8.1 million foreigners visited South Korea in the January-June period, surging 21 percent from a year earlier, the Korea Tourism Organization said.The tourism sector was hit hard last year by MERS since the first case was discovered in May 2015, with the number of inbound travelers retreati

Industry July 12, 2016

Jeju Island was the most traveled to destination for Koreans in the first half of the year, according to a report by the online travel agency Expedia Korea on Monday.  Jeju Island (Instagram user @sosohan_rin)Listing the most in-demand cities by the volume of hotel reservations, Jeju Island, the resort island off the southern coast of Korea, jumped 75 percent compared to the same period last year, pushing it from third to first place. 　Osaka took the No. 2 spot followed by Seoul, Okinawa and Tok

Travel July 11, 2016

South Korea's ruling and opposition parties remained divided over the latest decision to deploy an advanced U.S. missile defense system in the country, with smaller parties expressing concerns over diplomatic fallouts with China and Russia, political pundits said Monday.Last week, Seoul and Washington agreed to station the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea to better counter Pyongyang's ever-growing missile threats. Moscow and Beijing have been opposing the move, claiming

Foreign Affairs July 11, 2016

Prosecutors said Friday they have put travel bans on the chairman of embattled South Korean retail giant Lotte Group and its founder as they widened their probe into allegations of corruption in the conglomerate.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has barred Chairman Shin Dong-bin and his father and Lotte founder Shin Kyuk-ho from leaving the country, according to the sources. Prosecutors have been widening their investigation into the country's fifth-largest conglomerate since early

Companies July 8, 2016

The body of a man who allegedly hanged himself was discovered only two days later on Wednesday, as the police had initially not followed up on a report made by children. 　South Chungcheong Police said Thursday that the police emergency hotline received two calls on Monday from a group of elementary school children who claimed they had found a dead man.  (Yonhap)The children, aged between 7 and 9, told the police where they had discovered the body -- at a defunct supermarket in the region’s Nonsa

Social Affairs July 7, 2016

A 4-year-old toddler died from being entangled in the cords of window blinds in an apartment in Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi Province on Monday.The child was discovered unconscious by her mother who had briefly left her unattended to use the bathroom. The toddler was taken to the hospital but did not survive.  (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission)According to the Korea Consumer Agency, Koreans should be mindful of the potential fatal accidents that can take place with the cords of window blinds. 　

Social Affairs July 7, 2016

More cases of police officers engaging in sexual misconduct have surfaced days after the public condemnation of the school police officers who had sex with teenagers they were providing counseling to.A police officer, who was on a probationary period, was sacked on Friday after he was indicted for raping a teenager, according to Gwangju Bukbu Police, Tuesday. Another police officer was dismissed for paying for sex, according to Seoul Geumcheon Police, Wednesday. Prostitution is illegal in Korea.

Social Affairs July 6, 2016

Three female high school students were ordered to transfer schools after they brutally bullied a freshman, according to Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office of Education, Tuesday.  (123RF)The accused students beat the victim over three counts in secluded spots within and outside the school in June, causing severe psychological distress for the victim.The victim’s parents reported the case to Jeju Dongbu Police, which forwarded it to the prosecutors for opinion on indictment. The Jeju Of

Social Affairs July 6, 2016

Half of the female population in Daegu is financially inactive, according to the research by Daegu Women and Family Foundation, Tuesday. The research, conducted by DWFF to mark the Gender Equality Week between July 1 and 7 found that only 51 percent of the Daegu female population held a job or earned money, which was 22 percent less than their male counterparts, whose financially active population reached 72 percent. (123RF)The biggest obstacle to women’s financial activity was child care, which

Social Affairs July 5, 2016

A teacher who inflicted corporal punishment on a student for applying lip balm is to be penalized, according to Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, Monday. The GMOE said the middle school teacher, 37, punished the student for applying tinted lip balm and was accused of violence by the pupil’s father.Applying make-up is actively discouraged for teenagers within the Korean academic curriculum while direct corporal punishment was banned from Korean schools by the government in March 2011. Thi

Social Affairs July 5, 2016

An arrest warrant is being sought for a man who murdered his father to protect his mother, Monday. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said the 33-year-old surnamed Ahn is being accused of stabbing his 63-year-old father to death, as he was enraged by the victim’s domestic violence toward his mother. (Yonhap)According to the police, the victim came home drunk on Sunday night, whereupon he beat his wife and used vulgar language toward her.The accused Ahn, who is the second son of the family, alleged

Social Affairs July 5, 2016