A special police investigation into the deadly Itaewon crowd crush in October concluded Friday, with 23 officials referred to the prosecution, but with the Seoul mayor, safety minister and national police chief not among them. Investigators referred officials, including the Mayor of Yongsan-gu Park Hee-Yeong, and the then-chief of the Yongsan Police Station, Lee Im-jae, to the prosecution on charges of professional negligence resulting in death. Four other officials from the Yongsan Ward and the

Social Affairs Jan. 13, 2023

Ravi of boy band VIXX was booked by the joint investigation team of the prosecution and the Military Manpower Administration on charges of illegally evading military service through the use of a broker, media outlets reported Thursday. The joint investigation team suspects that the rapper had contacted a military broker to help him show false symptoms of epilepsy during a military examination. During the reexamination, he was deemed unfit to serve as a soldier in the army, which allowed him to s

Social Affairs Jan. 13, 2023

A Incheon man will serve 22 years in prison for the attempted murder of three members of a neighboring family over noise complaints, after he dropped his appeal, according to legal professionals and news reports Thursday. The Incheon District Court ordered the man to serve 22 years in prison and to wear a GPS-equipped electronic monitoring anklet for 10 years in the first trial in May. The ruling was confirmed as he withdrew the appeal he filed with the Supreme Court earlier this year. Only iden

Social Affairs Jan. 12, 2023

The school bullying scenes depicted in Netflix’s blood-soaking revenge drama “The Glory” have fanned memories of a horrific case of school violence that happened 17 years ago. The no-holds-barred depictions of abuse in the drama reminded many viewers of the incident dubbed “hair curler bullying” that took place at a girls’ middle school in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, in May 2006. In the drama, Park Yeon-jin, the main bully in her senior year of high

Social Affairs Jan. 11, 2023

China said Tuesday that it would stop issuing short-term visas for Koreans, including those traveling to the country for business purposes and tourism, in retaliation against the Korean government’s tightened COVID-19 restrictions against passengers from the neighboring country. The Chinese Embassy in Seoul said it was suspending the issuance of short-term visas to China for Korean nationals starting Tuesday under instruction from Beijing, via its official WeChat account. The embassy added

Foreign Affairs Jan. 10, 2023

Seoul Metro, operator of the Seoul subway system, filed a damages suit against a disability rights advocacy group for disrupting train operations through subway-riding protests. The Seoul city government said Tuesday the company filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court on Friday against Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, the country’s largest disability rights group, seeking damages of 601.4 million won ($484,000) for train delays and other losses. The subway operat

Social Affairs Jan. 10, 2023

Soongsil University said Tuesday that it received a total of 9,655 students for this year’s regular admissions, which closed on Jan. 2. The university plans to build an entering class of 1,310 students among the pool of nearly 10,000 applicants, it added. Universities are divided into three categories in the country’s regular admission cycle -- Ga, Na, Da -- and prospective students can only apply to one group. Over 2,300 students applied for the university’s Ga category, where

Social Affairs Jan. 10, 2023

South Korean men seek new options to avoid their two-year mandatory military service, and the number of draft dodgers continues to grow. According to data provided by Rep. Song Gab-seok of the Democratic Party received from the Military Manpower Administration, 578 people were turned over to prosecution for intentional draft dodging from 2012 until Nov. 30 last year. Recently, volleyball player Jo Jae-sung was charged with contacting a local military broker to help him show false symptoms of e

Social Affairs Jan. 9, 2023

A woman in Ulsan, was fined for killing her husband's pet by throwing it from the veranda of their 11th-floor apartment after she was asked for a divorce, according to legal professionals and news reports Sunday. The Ulsan District Court ruled the woman to pay a fine of 5 million won ($4,000) for violating the the Animal Protection Act, in an appeals trial, upping the previous sentence of a 3 million won of fine. It was reported that the woman, who is in her 20s, came home after drinking in

Social Affairs Jan. 8, 2023

Fine dust will likely plague most parts of South Korea until rain falls on Friday, authorities said Sunday, advising people to stay at home or to wear masks if they go outside. Fine dust levels are expected to be “bad” across most of the country, including the greater Seoul area, Gangwon, Chungcheong, North Gyeongsang, Jeolla Provinces as well as inland cities including Daegu and surrounding areas, according to Korea Meteorological Administration. As high levels of fine and yellow du

Social Affairs Jan. 8, 2023

The Chinese Embassy in Seoul lodged a diplomatic protest over the South Korean parliamentary delegation’s visit to Taiwan in December, calling it a “serious violation” of the two countries’ bilateral relations. “We urge Korea to adhere to the ‘One China’ policy and the spirit of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and China and refrain from engaging in any ‘official exchanges with the Taiwan region,’” an embassy spok

Foreign Affairs Jan. 5, 2023

A new rule mandating airline passengers traveling from China to South Korea to show negative COVID-19 test results before entering the country was applied Thursday, as the government expressed concerns over an uptick in imported virus cases from the neighboring country. For the next two months, all passengers arriving from China must either present a negative PCR test result conducted two days before departure or a rapid antigen test result taken within 24 hours before boarding. Passengers enter

Social Affairs Jan. 5, 2023

 진행자: 박준희, Beth Eunhee Hong 1) [Hello Hangeul] Common language, diverse goals 기사 요약: 한국어를 배우고 있는 전 세계 사람들의 얘기 South Korea’s thriving popular culture has been drawing an increasing number of curious young people around the globe to learn its language for years. * Thriving: 번영하다, 번창하다 * Popular Culture: 대중문화 * Drawing: 끌다 * Curious: 호기심이 많은 Aficionados of Korean culture often study the language to watch Korean shows without subtitles or to enjoy the lyrics of their favorite K-pop band

Podcast Jan. 5, 2023

South Korea’s Education Ministry said Wednesday it would make sure that major historical events, including the Gwangju Uprising, are reflected in new textbooks to be published in 2025. The announcement came a day after opposition lawmakers raised the allegation that the democratization movement against the military government in 1980 was intentionally taken out of the ministry's guidelines for textbook writers. Education Minister Lee Ju-ho said via a press release that the ministry wi

Politics Jan. 4, 2023

Seoul education governor Cho Hee-yeon laid out the blueprints for a “future-oriented” education system, highlighting the need to ramp up efforts for students hit by pandemic-related setbacks and technology-led education as well as narrow educational inequalities from the school starting gate. The three-term Seoul education superintendent touted his decade-long achievements, saying the past 10 years have changed from an authoritarian education system to a democracy-based education sys

Social Affairs Jan. 3, 2023