With summer in full swing, Seoul City has planned a month of fun-filled activities by the Han River, from outdoor movie screenings to silent disco parties. The 17-day festival, with 24 summer programs at eight Han River parks, will run from Friday until Aug. 20. The event kicks off with a music festival Friday in Yeouido, western Seoul, with jazz vocalists Woongsan and Maria Kim set to perform. Visitors can also go for a nighttime dip at the outdoor swimming pools at Nanji and Yanghwa Han River

Social Affairs Aug. 1, 2023

The bereaved family of a 23-year-old junior elementary school teacher who took her own life last week released part of her diary indicating that she had struggled with too much work and an unruly student on Tuesday, amid the ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death. “After going to work on Monday, I was bombarded with an immense workload and chaos caused by a student. I just wanted to let go of everything (at that point),” a diary entry presumed to have been

Social Affairs July 25, 2023

Amid growing concerns over recent cases of teacher abuse by students and parents, the government announced Monday that it would revise a student rights ordinance to safeguard teachers’ rights and enhance their authority in classrooms. The ordinance -- adopted in 2011 for schools in Gyeonggi Province and in 2012 in Seoul by progressive education superintendents -- is a set of legally binding guidelines that bans corporal punishment by teachers; discrimination against LGBT and pregnant stude

Politics July 24, 2023

Koh, a 23-year-old elementary teacher with two years of experience working at an elementary school in Busan, had a sixth-grade male student in her class last year who inflicted harm on himself in front of his peers, vomited every morning in class, skipped classes and assaulted teachers. But she wasn’t able to protect either herself or other students because the school refused to remove the student from the class, she said. She got a new class starting this year, but things have not gotten

Social Affairs July 23, 2023

The suicide of an elementary school teacher in her own classroom has reignited debate over teachers’ rights, and whether schools have enough protective measures in place, amid rising reports of assaults against teachers. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on Wednesday confirmed that an early-career teacher at an elementary school in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, was found dead in her classroom Tuesday morning before school started. According to reports, the teacher was a 23-year-old w

Social Affairs July 20, 2023

An elementary school teacher in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, took her own life in a classroom Tuesday morning, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said late Wednesday. The teacher, whose identity has been withheld, reportedly killed themselves before school started in the morning, according to reports. Local media has reported that the teacher was a 23-year-old woman who passed the teacher certification test earlier this year. It added that students had not yet been informed of the teacher&

Social Affairs July 19, 2023

The monthly pay for babysitters from Southeast Asian countries should be placed at 1 million won ($788.95) to make it available for middle-income households, a panel of experts said Wednesday during a discussion on how the government should prepare for the pilot program in the latter half of the year. Kim Hyun-cheol, a professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s Economics Department and Division of Public Policy, said South Korea should take a cue from Hong Kong, where do

Social Affairs July 19, 2023

Days of torrential rains have wreaked havoc across much of South Korea, shedding light on the importance of insurance coverage, which can help secure personal and business assets, as well as minimizing significant financial losses. As of 6 a.m. Tuesday, 1,486 cases of property damage had been reported to authorities -- 912 involving public facilities and 574 for private property -- according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters. Storm and flood coverage from private ins

Social Affairs July 18, 2023

The frequency of school violence is higher in upper grades than lower grades, a survey has found, with 1 in 3 high school victims experiencing peer-to-peer violence almost every day, data showed Monday. According to an in-depth analysis of school violence conducted by the Korea Educational Development Institute, 0.3 percent of high schoolers reported being victims of school violence in the past year, while the rates for elementary and middle school students were 2.9 percent and 1 percent, respec

Social Affairs July 17, 2023

Four schools announced early summer breaks on Monday, as incessant heavy rains ripped through parts of South Korea, leaving much of the country waterlogged over the weekend. The Ministry of Education also said on the same day that another 18 schools had tweaked their schedules as of Sunday at 10 p.m. to keep students and teaching staff safe in the wake of heavy rains. By region, one middle school in Seoul decided to shorten school hours, while another middle school in the southeastern city of Ul

Social Affairs July 17, 2023

Heavy rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, is expected to continue over the weekend, with flight operations likely to be canceled or delayed. The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast heavy rain of as much as 50 to 100 millimeters per hour in the North and South Chungcheong provinces and North Jeolla Province from late Friday night. More than 400 millimeters of rain is forecast for the two areas through Saturday. In particular, the country is expected to be shrouded in a stro

Social Affairs July 14, 2023

Two days of torrential downpours and fierce winds have battered major parts of Seoul, leaving 4,000 households without power and major motorways closed as the city grapples with the onslaught of rough weather. Electricity outages swept Seodaemun-gu’s Hongje-dong in Seoul late Thursday around midnight, after a falling tree downed a high-voltage power line in the area, leaving more than 2,000 households without electricity overnight, according to the central government headquarters in charge

Social Affairs July 14, 2023

Airplane emergency exit seats of four Korean airlines will be initially assigned to uniformed personnel, including police officers and firefighters, in an effort to prevent the reoccurrence of an incident in which a passenger opened an emergency exit door before landing, the ruling party said Thursday. During a consultation meeting between the ruling People Power Party and the government, Rep. Park Dae-chul, the head of the party’s policy committee, said his party has agreed to introduce t

Politics July 13, 2023

Six linguists and educators were awarded on Thursday by Education Minister Lee Ju-ho for spreading the Korean language across the globe. The Education Ministry said the award is designed to recognize their contribution in effectively administrating Korean language education at a time when the interest in the Korean language and culture is growing. Kim Seong-mi, a teacher at Fort Lee High School in New Jersey; Minh-Anh Hodge, superintendent of Tacoma Public Schools; Supaporn Boonrung, a professor

Social Affairs July 13, 2023

The most common type of cancer among women is breast cancer, and among all age groups, the incidence of the disease is highest among women in their 40s, a study showed Wednesday. According to the study conducted by the Korea Breast Cancer Society, breast cancer accounted for 24.6 percent of cancers in women, explaining that it has been the most common cancer for women since 2016. Only 0.4 percent of males were diagnosed with breast cancer in the same year. The highest breast cancer rates were am

Social Affairs July 12, 2023