The Korean National Police Agency’s National Office of Investigation said Monday that they are investigating 939 cases of what are popularly being referred to as “ghost children” in an ongoing nationwide probe to discover unregistered babies. So far, police have confirmed that 34 of the unregistered babies have died. Investigators are looking into the possibility of 11 babies having been killed by their own parents, according to local reports quoting police. Nineteen other case

Social Affairs July 10, 2023

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday that it had signed an agreement with the Korea Housing Association, Daewoo E&C and Habitat for Humanity Korea to team up to help repair houses in vulnerable residential areas. Under the partnership, the city government will provide administrative support and recommend houses that need improved habitat environments, while the KHA and Daewoo E&C will financially aid the home repair services. Habitat for Humanity Korea will be in charge of overs

Social Affairs July 10, 2023

A series of alleged infanticide cases that have emerged in an ongoing nationwide investigation into “ghost children” has laid bare the dark stories of South Korea’s mothers of unwanted pregnancies and how the country lacks protective measures and adequate sex education, according to observers here. Mothers not wanting to confess their pregnancies to their parents or endure economic hardships, in particular, have contributed to the infanticides, according to a study published by

Social Affairs July 9, 2023

Seoul Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon said Thursday he would deploy native English-speaking teachers at all public schools in Seoul, along with additional native teachers for schools with large student populations, in line with the government’s efforts to enhance public education quality. Addressing the alarmingly high spending on private education, especially in English, despite the declining student population, Cho said he plans to deploy English-speaking teachers at all elementary

Social Affairs July 6, 2023

Police said Tuesday they had launched an investigation into a progressive group of unionized teachers for mass-mailing teachers in Seoul to ask for their participation in opposing Japan’s discharge of water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The Seoul branch of the Korea Teachers and Education Workers’ Union reportedly sent out mass emails to 70,000 school teachers based in Seoul under the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education last month urging them to take part in a signature

Social Affairs July 5, 2023

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday it has teamed up with the National Assembly and Hyundai Motor Group to operate self-driving buses in the Yeouido area of western Seoul, in an effort to improve the convenience of transportation for visitors. The 13-seater autonomous bus developed by the South Korean automaker began service on Wednesday at noon. It runs on a 3.1-kilometer route connecting a parking lot in Yeouido to the National Assembly building. Only two shuttle buses will operat

Social Affairs July 5, 2023

The Korean National Police Agency’s National Office of Investigation said Tuesday that they are investigating 193 cases of what are being referred to as “ghost children,” babies whose births were never registered with local authorities, as part of the government’s latest efforts to discover unregistered children nationwide. Police said that they had received a total of 209 reports of unregistered babies as of Tuesday. The whereabouts of 20 nameless babies have been iden

Social Affairs July 4, 2023

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said his proposal of bringing foreign babysitters to ease the child care burden of households would reverse the waning birth rate as he marked one year in office since his reelection on Monday. Addressing the ever-decreasing birth rate as the city government’s biggest task to tackle, the mayor said the system would operate as a pilot program in the latter half of the year, and the government would later decide to implement the system. The city government will also fi

Social Affairs July 3, 2023

Illuminated by the vibrant colors of the rainbow, thousands from the LGBTQ+ community and their supporters congregated for the 24th Seoul Queer Culture Festival in Euljiro, central Seoul, Saturday. Participants from various generations donned colorful attire, waved rainbow flags and marched through the city's central district, standing together against rising anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and advocating for equal rights. Jang Sun-young, a 70-year-old, was among those who paraded through the streets

Social Affairs July 2, 2023

A new subway line connecting areas in the western part of the Seoul metropolitan area will start service on Saturday, with many hoping it will reduce commutes for office workers residing northwest, west and southwest of Seoul. The Daegok-Sosa double-track subway line will bridge Goyang, just northwest of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, to Bucheon, southwest of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, via Gimpo Airport in western Seoul. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the new subw

Social Affairs June 30, 2023

South Korean tax authorities have launched tax investigations targeting star lecturers at major private academies as part of the government’s efforts to identify alleged irregularities in the operations of hagwon, or private education institutions. According to local reports and education insiders on Friday, the National Tax Service conducted a special tax audit of Hyun Woo-jin on Thursday, a math instructor at Megastudy, one of Korea’s biggest hagwon companies. The NTS is reportedly

Social Affairs June 30, 2023

At a time when English skills in the business sector play a pivotal role in communicating and securing business deals, global education firm SPEP provides tailor-made language education and human resources consulting of professionals at local and overseas companies. The business language education provider develops its learning material based on its client’s needs and wants and operates an in-house research and development center comprising international and domestic English and business

Social Affairs June 28, 2023

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that reboarding subways within 10 minutes would be free for a year starting in July. Under the new scheme, the exemption will only apply to the same transportation card the passenger used for their initial boarding, and the transfers can only be made on the same subway station route. Currently, passengers pay an additional fare if they reboard the subway after going in the wrong direction, depending on how far they have traveled, or if they have t

Social Affairs June 28, 2023

Five South Korean universities ranked among the top 100 global universities, the ranking released by QS Quacquarelli Symonds showed Wednesday. Seoul National University sat at 41st on the 20th edition of the QS World University Rankings, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) ranked 56th, Yonsei University and Korea University sat at 76th and 79th, respectively, and Pohang University of Science and Technology was 100th. For its ninth year, Massachusetts Institute of Technolog

Social Affairs June 28, 2023

Following a weeklong debate on the difficulty of so-called high-level “killer questions” in the Suneung, South Korea’s state-administered college entrance exam, local high school teachers said Tuesday that the killer questions are “arduously difficult,” requiring university-level knowledge beyond the scope of high school students. The math section, which delves into complex equations and requires students to solve short-answer questions without a calculator, is for

Social Affairs June 27, 2023