One-third of new students at Korea’s top three universities were found to come from high schools in the nation’s capital city, Seoul. According to Yonhap News reports citing the state-run Higher Education in Korea website on Sunday, among 13,141 entrants to Seoul National University, Yonsei University, and Korea University, 32 percent were from high schools in Seoul -- double the national average. By school, Seoul National University had the largest percentage of its students from Se

Social Affairs June 30, 2024

Delivery workers in the Osong area of Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, are protesting a new apartment rule requiring them to pay a fee to access an underground parking area, which is the only way for delivery vehicles to enter the premises, according to local news reports Thursday. According to Yonhap News Agency, citing a delivery worker who reported the issue, the driver recently was notified of a change in the complex's administration rules meaning that delivery vehicles must regi

Social Affairs June 29, 2024

Stephanie Arguello Gaona and Valentina Rojas Martinez, both from Colombia, stood before one of the 23 memorial statues at the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul, Tuesday. It was 74 years ago on that day when the Korean War broke out, marking the beginning of their connection to this distant Asian country. Their grandfathers, who were teenagers at the time, fought as part of the United Nations troops to defend South Korea from communist invaders. “My grandfather’s name is Santiag

Social Affairs June 25, 2024

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province is set to expand its reach into the Southeast Asian tourism market by appointing a popular Indonesian influencer as its new promotional ambassador. Jeju’s provincial government said Friday it officially designated Anang Hermansyah, an Indonesian influencer with 6.56 million YouTube subscribers and 2.58 million Facebook followers, as its promotional ambassador. On the day, Governor Oh Young-hun met with Anang Hermansyah and his wife, Ashanty Ash, along

Social Affairs June 21, 2024

Amid a recent surge in spam messages, hacking has emerged as the leading cause of personal information leaks. Notably, data revealed Friday that information leaks resulting from public organization hacks have significantly increased. According to data released by Rep. Park Chung-kwon from the People Power Party, obtained from the Korea Internet & Security Agency, information leaks through hacking stood at 151 cases, accounting for nearly half of the total 318 cases last year. Work mishap

Social Affairs June 21, 2024

A woman in her 30s, who is undergoing criminal trial for firing a gas-powered self-defense weapon at a doctor, is now facing additional charges for secretly filming her interrogations and court proceedings According to the prosecution in Daegu on Wednesday, the suspect, detained and prosecuted in the assault case, has been indicted for violating the Protection of Communications Secrets Act by filming the hearing using glasses fitted with a hidden camera. The woman was apprehended at a Daegu cl

Social Affairs June 20, 2024

Spam text messages promoting stock investment information, gambling, shopping and loan services have surged this year, data shows, while authorities have struggled take appropriate measures. According to data released by Rep. Hwang Jung-ah from the Democratic Party of Korea, obtained from the Korea Communications Commission, approximately 168 million text messages received via smartphones were identified as spam between January and May. The five-month tally surpassed the figure for the correspon

Social Affairs June 19, 2024

Find the answer at the bottom. South Korea’s southern Jeju Island, created by volcanic activities from as early as 1.2 million years ago, is virtually like a volcano museum. With diverse volcanic features, including volcanic cones, craters and lava tubes, stretching in every direction, the island was also the first in South Korea to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 2007. It was listed as the Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes, which includes Hallasan, Seongsan Ilc

Hashtag Korea June 19, 2024

A lion that was born and kept in the basement cell of an indoor zoo for its whole life experienced what it feels like to be outside for the first time on Monday. According to Yonhap News Agency and officials at Spavalley, a theme park in Daegu, the male lion appeared bewildered at first and hesitated, but he soon began to explore his new home of around 500 square meters of land -- more than 10 times the size of the previous indoor cell. The lion also met his lifelong female lion companion, whi

Social Affairs June 18, 2024

Choi Kyung-min, 33, describes himself and his wife as having been born with a “dirt spoon” in their mouths, meaning they come from less privileged backgrounds. Both graduated from university with student loans to pay back, and their parents are unprepared for retirement. Now renting a small apartment in Gyeonggi Province, they support their parents financially while trying to save as much as possible. However, it would take more than 10 years of saving to afford buying a home in

Hashtag Korea June 16, 2024

“Feeling burnt out? You’ve come to the right place,” the doctor said during my consultation at a clinic in Yeouido, Seoul's financial district, before prescribing what he called a “garlic injection.” As an average South Korean national, I am used to eating tons of garlic, but I wasn’t quite ready to have it injected into my veins. It turned out that the “garlic injection” wasn't actually a shot of garlic extract or anything similar. It&

Social Affairs June 15, 2024

Reports to emergency number 119 through channels other than direct phone calls increased by 36 percent last year, data showed on Wednesday. According to the National Fire Agency, a total of 896,049 reports were made to the hotline outside of conventional voice calls last year, up from 235,360 the previous year. Since 2011, people have been able to request emergency assistance via text messages, video calls, photos sent via text message or reports via the 119 mobile app, in addition to calling 11

Social Affairs June 12, 2024

The traffic sign just turned yellow and you find yourself in the “dilemma zone,” where it is too late to stop before the stop line. Would you stop or speed up? Recently, South Korea’s top court ruled that drivers must stop, rekindling a long-standing debate. In its decision early May concerning a case involving a car driver who chose to continue through a yellow light and collided with two motorcyclists in 2021, the Supreme Court stated that when the yellow light turns on befor

Hashtag Korea June 11, 2024

Find the answer at the bottom. Slightly over half of South Korea's population lives in the Greater Seoul area, consisting of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. The region is the country’s cultural, commercial and infrastructure capital. If the Greater Seoul area could be symbolized by a fried egg, the yolk would be Seoul and the white would be Gyeonggi encircling it. In terms of territory and population, Gyeonggi is bigger. Gyeonggi covers an area of about 10,200 square kilometer

Hashtag Korea June 10, 2024

Korean call center workers have called for proper government measures to address hostile customer complaints, citing a recent survey that showed a majority of workers "endure" unreasonable treatment. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions held a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday, revealing the results of a survey conducted among 790 call center workers from May 28 to June 3. According to the survey, 77.9 percent of respondents said they experienced verbal abuse, 12.8 percent

Social Affairs June 6, 2024