A ginseng variety of samgak kimbap was launched at 7-eleven convenience stores in Korea on Tuesday, in collaboration with Korea Ginseng Corporation. Samgak, or triangle, kimbap have long been a convenience store staple. Rice is formed into a triangle about the size of a baby‘s fist and wrapped in seaweed with any number of varying ingredients inside. Popular fillings are spicy bulgogi and tuna with mayonnaise.  (7-11 Korea)The newly launched product has rice cooked in Cheong Kwan Jang red ginsen

Food April 26, 2016

The stakeholders of an entertainment management agency admitted to taking part in celebrities’ overseas prostitution at a public hearing held on Wednesday. The Seoul central court said the three accused, each identified by their last names Lim, Yoon and Oh, had connected a female celebrity and a trainee to a Korean entertainment company that owed them investment money.  (123RF)The company’s CEO and chairman, surnamed Kang and Park, were under financial pressure to repay the trio for their invest

Social Affairs April 20, 2016

Seoul City has discovered 105 underground cavities after four months of high-tech ground inspection. According to the city government Wednesday, during its inspection of 48-kilometer section of arterial roads previously connected to cave-in accidents, 105 potential sinkholes were detected.  A sinkhole that opened up at an apartment complex in Sindorim-dong, Guro-gu, last year. (Yonhap)With an additional 246-kilometer section to be scanned this year, an estimated 195 more cavities are expected be

Social Affairs April 20, 2016

The 49-year-old man who murdered a trekker on a well-beaten mountain path in Gwangju had a serious case of megalomania, according to the police on Tuesday. The killer, surnamed Kim, had wandered around a college campus and the adjacent Eodeungsan Mountain with a knife, before coming across a trekker and brutally murdering him at around 5 p.m. on Monday.The victim was a 63-year-old man surnamed Lee who had been resting on a rock with his mobile phone. Kim attempted to forcefully take the phone fr

Social Affairs April 19, 2016

Seoul city announced Tuesday that it will be reducing the number of cabs here by 74 to help ease the overcrowded taxi market. Research recently showed that the city currently has an oversupply of 11,831 vehicles. The Seoul city government aimed to completely resolve the problem by 2036.In the meantime, it will cut down the number of cabs by 74 in 2016, an additional 108 in 2018 and another 110 in 2019. (Yonhap)Cars to go this year include 50 operated by individual drivers. This will be followed

Industry April 19, 2016

Franchise coffee house Coffee Banhada will launch a new mobile application that rewards customers with free drinks and desserts when they watch commercials, the company said Friday. Customers can save points on the app by watching commercials or participating in surveys and quizzes. The accumulated points can be used like cash at more than 350 Coffee Banhada franchise.  (123RF)“In this never-ending competition within the low-priced coffee market, we had to lead with a completely new service,” Li

Industry April 18, 2016

Jejudo police are looking into the possibility that the woman found dead on the island may be Chinese. The woman was wearing a skirt with a Chinese lettered tag, and her fingerprints did not lead to a domestic match so far.The victim, presumed to be in her 30s, is between 160 and 165 centimeters tall, and wore a winter T-shirt and skirt with leggings.  The Seogwipo police are waiting for reports that match the descriptions specified in this poster. (Yonhap)The Seogwipo police found the body Wedn

Social Affairs April 15, 2016

A man was sentenced to two years in jail on Wednesday for setting his workplace ablaze in the belief that his boss was intentionally avoiding him to not pay him.According to the Seoul High Court, the 37-year-old was working at a sofa manufacturing company in Gyeonggi Province when he decided to quit his job following a dispute between him and a coworker. He naturally requested the boss pay him for the work he had done so far, but was enraged when the boss, after saying he would first make other

Social Affairs April 13, 2016

The saturated fishcake market in port city Busan has embraced creativity for its next-generation street snack. (@seung_ryeoll Instagram)Brainchild of tried-and-tested chef Lee Seung-ryeoll, 53, the chicken wing fishcake mashes together chicken’s savoriness with fishcake’s chewy texture. The recipe for this is simple. The chicken wing is first deboned and stuffed with fishcake, then it is cooked in an oven, roasted on a grill and served on a paper plate with sauce and sesame salt. Lee said he cam

Food April 12, 2016

Some Japanese consumers are boycotting McDonald’s for a commercial that depicts a Korean-style bow, a Japan-based English-language online publication said Friday. (YouTube capture)The commercial in question shows a McDonald’s employee politely bowing to customers before attending to their orders. While the commercial obviously intends to portray polite service, some Japanese viewers have found fault with the way the employee bows, with her hands clasped in front of her stomach, saying it appears

Social Affairs April 12, 2016

A middle-aged woman was taken into police custody Tuesday on suspicion of murdering her younger brother. Gyeonggi Suwon Nambu police said that the 52-year-old is suspected of stabbing her brother aged 47 during an altercation, which led to his death.  (123RF)The woman, surnamed Kim, had been staying with her younger brother’s family for a number of months. At the time of the alleged attack, Kim is said to have been under the influence of alcohol and angry at her brother’s usual disdainful attitu

Social Affairs April 12, 2016

Lotte Super, a major local retailer, will refund all fruit that customers found unsatisfactory in celebration of the 16th anniversary of its foundation.CEO Choi Choon-seok on Tuesday said, “Neither the price nor the size of a fruit has any effect on customers if it is not delicious. We promise to refund or exchange all fruits that fell short of our customers’ expectations.” (Lotte Super)This new policy will be put into practice from Wednesday’s 16th anniversary sales event. Lotte Super will also

Food April 12, 2016

A man was sentenced to four months in prison with one year of probation, Monday, for invading the sexual freedom of his wife. He was additionally given 40 hours of education on recovery from sexual violence. (123RF)The 40-year-old was charged for uploading a photo of his sleeping wife’s exposed buttocks on social media in September 2014. The couple separated the following March. The man is also accused of trespassing in his ex-wife’s residence five times in October 2015.The judge who presided ov

Social Affairs April 11, 2016

A firefighter’s appeal for nullification of his suspension was upheld by the Seoul Administrative Court, Thursday. The man had been given a month’s suspension by his fire station after it was made known that he and his girlfriend had two abortions. The man has been a firefighter for 10 years, and had been common-law married since 2014 with a woman he had met online following his divorce. Court reports say the woman became pregnant four months into their cohabitation, but the man decided they cou

Social Affairs April 7, 2016