INCHEON -- Blue lights flashed on a walk-through screening machine after a man with drugs strapped to his left abdomen and his right thigh stepped into the checkpoint at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1. A group of airport security personnel immediately rushed in to check the substances hidden on the man’s body. The scripted demonstration arranged by the Korea Customs Service officials painted how the latest scanning technology has become a quintessential part of the airport's drug

Social Affairs Jan. 17, 2024

Calls are growing from South Korean police for clear guidance on how to deal with drunk people after two policemen were fined for the death of an intoxicated man they escorted home. The Seoul Northern District Court recently fined two Seoul police officers 5 million won ($3,755) and 4 million won for occupational negligence, according to reports on Tuesday citing legal professionals. The two officers working at the Mia District Unit of the Seoul Gangbuk Police Station reportedly took an intoxica

Social Affairs Jan. 16, 2024

Middle-aged men accounted for more than 85 percent of so-called “lonely deaths” in South Korea, while it took an average of more than three weeks for the bodies to be discovered, a study showed Monday. The Act on the Prevention and Management of Lonely Deaths defines the term as one in which a person dies alone after falling out of contact with friends or family, with his or her body remaining undiscovered for at least three days. The phenomenon is also referred to as a “solita

Social Affairs Jan. 15, 2024

A bikini-clad woman who roamed the streets of central Seoul in a cardboard box was referred to the prosecution on charges of obscene exposure, according to the Seoul Mapo Police Station on Friday. The woman, reportedly a model by the name of Ain, reportedly walked the streets of Hongdae, one of the country’s famous nightlife districts, sporting a scanty outfit which was hidden from view by a cardboard box in September 2023. She is alleged to have repeated a similar act in Apgujeong, a posh

Social Affairs Jan. 12, 2024

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency said Wednesday that the political ideology of the suspect in the stabbing of the main opposition leader led to the knife attack. “The attacker had vented resentment toward the Democratic Party leader and wanted to stop Lee from becoming president and prevent him from securing a majority of seats in the upcoming general election by giving nominations to specific persons,” said Woo Cheol-moon, head of the Busan Police Agency, as he briefed the press

Politics Jan. 10, 2024

One in nearly six or seven Korean women in their 20s are underweight, and almost half of these young women weighing less than average or classified as normal weight attempt to lose more weight to cater to Korea’s strict beauty standards idealizing thin bodies, a report showed Monday. According to a study published by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the percent of South Korean adults who attempt to lose weight and related factors using the Body Mass Index classification,

Social Affairs Jan. 8, 2024

While classrooms are shrinking in South Korea as a consequence of waning fertility rates, classrooms in Seoul have been seeing a steady rise in the number of students with multicultural backgrounds. Data released by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on Sunday indicates that at least 4 in 10 students at nine elementary schools in Seoul have at least one parent of non-Korean nationality or who is naturalized. Among the schools, two of them have more than 7 out of 10 students with multicul

Social Affairs Jan. 7, 2024

HANOI, Vietnam -- If the abounding lush green paddies and the Trump-Kim Hanoi summit click in your mind about Vietnam, you’re missing out on a big part, because the country has much more to offer. From waves gently hitting the shores and palm trees swaying in the distance to natural wildlife experiences, Vietnam aims to be South Korean travelers’ most sought-after destination this year, with its unique blend of traditions, cuisine and customs. The country had welcomed over 11.2 milli

Travel Jan. 6, 2024

Main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung was on the mend after being stabbed in the neck during his visit to Busan on Tuesday morning, a surgeon who operated on him at Seoul National University Hospital said Thursday. Lee sustained a knife wound on the left side of his neck that was about 1.4 centimeters wide and had surgery to close the wound, according to vascular surgeon Min Seung-kee, who performed the surgery. “About 60 percent of the anterior part of the internal jugular vein was c

Social Affairs Jan. 4, 2024

Despite an overall decline in the number of suicides in South Korea, more than 43,000 people visited emergency rooms nationwide in 2022 for reasons related to suicide attempts and self-harm, a report showed Wednesday. Out of 7.7 million emergency room visits recorded nationwide in 2022, 43,269 were related to self-harm and suicide attempts, according to a report published by the National Medical Center and the National Emergency Medical Center. The figure represented a slight increase from 42,96

Social Affairs Jan. 3, 2024

Prosecutor General Lee One-seok on Tuesday ordered the Busan High Prosecutors’ Office to form a special investigative team to look swiftly into the stabbing of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader during his visit to Busan at the hands of an unidentified man. He also ordered prosecutors to team up with the police to investigate the case thoroughly, according to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. “The prosecutor general has asked that a special probe team be formed

Social Affairs Jan. 2, 2024

South Korean students will each benefit more from central government education spending in 10 years’ time as shrinking enrollment numbers push per-pupil budgets up, data showed Tuesday. As Korea grapples with a dwindling school-age population, fewer students are likely to be enrolled at schools across the nation in the coming years. As a result, the estimated education subsidy per pupil is expected to rise to some 20 million won ($15,350) in 2028 and to surpass 30 million won in 2032. Th

Social Affairs Jan. 2, 2024

HANOI, Vietnam -- Vietnam sees South Korea as a “good peer” in its plan to achieve developed-country status by 2045, according to Nguyen Anh Tuan, the deputy director general at the Foreign Investment Agency under Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment. “We plan to grow our economy to be a developing country with the GDP per capita in the group of the high-middle income by the year 2030,” Tuan told a group of Korean reporters at the ministry’s headqua

Foreign Affairs Jan. 2, 2024

Over 240,000 illegally produced and distributed sexual photos and videos were deleted in 2023 in South Korea, an anti-digital sex crime organization said Friday. A total of 243,855 items of such illegal content were deleted between January and Dec. 20, data compiled by the Digital Sex Crime Victims Support Center, an organization closely affiliated with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, showed. The figure is up 30,855 from about 213,000 last year, highlighting a troubling potential tre

Social Affairs Dec. 29, 2023

Jeong Myeong-seok, the leader of a controversial religious group, Jesus Morning Star, lodged an appeal on a court ruling last week sentencing him to 23 years behind bars for sexual assault and molestation. However, the future looks grim for Jeong, as legal experts on Thursday said it is highly unlikely that the 78-year-old will succeed in reversing the Daejeon District Court’s ruling in the appellate court due to the trustworthiness of the victims’ testimony and evidence. “The

Social Affairs Dec. 28, 2023