Nearly two-thirds of South Korea's weather agency's forecasts for Seoul during the rainy season this year were incorrect, data showed Thursday. Rep. Lim Lee-ja of the ruling People Power Party analyzed Korea Meteorological Administration's rain forecast for Seoul from June 29 to July 27, and compared it to the actual weather in the South Korean capital. The KMA predicted rain for 27 of the 29 days. Lim found that of the 27 days it was supposed to rain, forecasts for 16 of these

Social Affairs Oct. 5, 2024

Local researchers conducted an analysis on a recent international survey about various social challenges, and found that South Koreans are among the people who are the most likely to feel that AI technology could threaten their jobs. Scholars of the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs studied the data provided by the study "Societal Challenges, Public Opinion and Public Policies in 10 Countries," a survey of 10 countries conducted by the Digital Futures at Work Research Cente

Social Affairs Oct. 5, 2024

Demand for cellphone numbers in South Korea is expected to peak in 2032, but it will not lead to a shortage due to the projected population decline in the country, a government reported projected Friday. The need for mobile numbers beginning with the "010" is expected to reach 64.57 million by then, according to the Korea Information Society Development Institute's projections submitted to Rep. Choi Soo-jin of the ruling People Power Party. This would be 80.7 percent of the possib

Social Affairs Oct. 4, 2024

A 61-year-old man, who cut the hose of an apartment gas line and threatened to start a fire with his family there, was sentenced to 1 year in prison, suspended for two years by a local court. The Uijeongbu District Court said Friday it had handed the guilty verdict to the defendant indicted for threatening and exposing others to explosive substances. Using gas or other explosive substances to cause danger to another person is punishable by at least one year in prison, according to the Article 17

Social Affairs Oct. 4, 2024

A total of 136,796 workers in South Korea suffered work-related accidents last year, government data showed Friday, marking the highest figure in the past 10 years. The number of occupational accidents in the country increased by 11.4 percent from 128,379 in 2022, according to Ministry of Employment and Labor data submitted to Rep. Kim So-hee of the ruling People Power Party. Occupational accidents in the country have increased every year since surpassing 100,000 in 2018. Defined in Article 5-1

Social Affairs Oct. 4, 2024

A recent YouTube video has sparked a conspiracy theory related to January departure of Joo Hyun-young as a crew of SNL Korea, with some alleging that she had been forced to quit over her parody of first Kim Keon Hee. The 28-year-old Joo gained popularity with her appearances in the Korean version of "Saturday Night Live" since 2021. Little known at the beginning of her "SNL" stint, she rose to stardom for her witty depiction of various characters, including the character of

Social Affairs Oct. 4, 2024

A Daegu court said Thursday it has cleared a 60-year-old man of drunk driving charges, ruling that his consumption of alcohol after stopping his car made it impossible to determine if he had been intoxicated while driving. The man was initially suspected of driving 2.4 kilometers in Daegu with a blood alcohol content of 0.128 percent. He was stopped by police in the city’s Jung-gu district on Sept. 16 at 11:38 p.m. and his breath was tested by police 40 minutes later. The driver was charge

Social Affairs Oct. 3, 2024

A South Korean rapper who pretended that his mental illness had worsened in order to shorten his mandatory national service will be subject to a suspended prison term, the country's top court confirmed Wednesday. Announcing the ruling, which it said was made last month, the Supreme Court upheld a 14-month sentence, suspended for two years, for the rapper Nafla, who was convicted last year of violating the Military Service Act and the Criminal Act, specifically for obstructing the performanc

Social Affairs Oct. 2, 2024

A handful of South Korean gamers were treated to an unintended limited-time offer for the popular computer game Diablo 4 on Wednesday, when its publisher inexplicably put it on sale for 1,575 won ($1.20) for less than an hour in the wee hours of the morning. The short-term price for the standard edition of the action role-playing game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment was posted at the company's Battle.net website some time before 3 a.m. It reverted to its initial price of 6

Social Affairs Oct. 2, 2024

The South Korean soccer association violated multiple regulations in hiring the current and former national team coaches, the Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism confirmed Wednesday. The ministry, however, said that it remained unclear whether the violations would invalidate the contract of Hong Myung-bo, the current coach who replaced Juergen Klinsmann. "The Korea Football Association had said that all regulations were met in hiring the national team coach, but the probe revealed inap

Soccer Oct. 2, 2024

South Korean emergency room medical staff have experienced increasing instances of physical and verbal abuse in recent years, government data showed Tuesday. Doctors or nurses were subject to abuse from patients at emergency rooms 707 times in 2023, up from 602 in 2022 and 585 in 2021, according to Ministry of Health and Welfare data submitted to Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Of the 707 cases for last year, 457 were related to verbal abuse. Physical violence

Social Affairs Oct. 1, 2024

A Busan man living by himself was recently found dead in his home, after the emergency workers he had called for failed to track him down due to an error in their GPS system. According to local media reports Monday, the victim in his 50s called the 119 emergency hotline on Sept. 8 to report that he was experiencing severe health issues. He notified the operators of his specific address, including the name of the residential-commercial building he was in and the unit number. But the rescue work

Social Affairs Oct. 1, 2024

While passengers getting off an airplane before takeoff is uncommon, government data showed Tuesday that such cases have occurred 2,985 times between 2019 and August of this year. The passengers got off the plane on their own account in 2,548 cases, and a simple change of heart by passengers was responsible for 389 of these cases, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport data submitted to Rep. Yeom Tae-yeong of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. In the 417 re

Social Affairs Oct. 1, 2024

A couple who saved someone who appeared to be attempting suicide in a car was commended by police, officials of Seoul Gwanak Police Station said Monday. Bae So-dam, 33, and Kim Du-hyeon, 41, saw smoke coming out of a vehicle as they were taking a walk a park in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu in Seoul on Sept. 22. They found a person sitting in the driver's seat, pulled them out and reported the case to the authorities. Officials presented a certificate of appreciation to Bae and Kim, along with A

People Oct. 1, 2024

Illegal sales of prescription ADHD medication to students have been on the rise in South Korea recently, and government data Friday showed that such distribution soared before the crucial Suneung mock test. The local authorities spotted 669 cases of illegal sales of such medications to students from Aug. 4-14 in a special illegal drug distribution inspection targeting college applicants, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety data submitted to Rep. Han Ji-ah of the ruling People Pow

Social Affairs Sept. 27, 2024