Major South Korean companies are seeing an increase in the percentage of employees aged 50 or older, while that of employees in their 20s is declining, a recent report by corporate analysis firm Leaders Index showed Tuesday. The firm analyzed 2021-23 data of 141 companies among the top 500 in the country in terms of sales, compiling the report on 123 companies that also revealed the ages of their employees. The total number of employees at those companies went from 1.38 million in 2021 to 1.42 m

Economy Aug. 20, 2024

A year-long custody battle for a golden retriever ended with South Korea's top court ruling in favor of the woman who purchased the dog, not the woman who raised the dog for several years. In the civic case involving the transfer of corporeal movable -- a legal term for assets other than immovable ones like real estate -- a woman challenged her son's former girlfriend for custody of the dog. Despite the ex-girlfriend having legal ownership, she claimed ownership on the grounds that s

Social Affairs Aug. 20, 2024

Incheon police said Tuesday they are investigating a recent case of pornographic content created using deepfake technology being shared in a mobile group chat, involving an as-yet-unspecified number of college students. In the case, pornographic images of at least 30 former and current students of the Incheon-based Inha University were created using deepfake technology, and the images were shared in a Telegram group chat. The group chat is said to have operated since 2020, and have about 1,200 m

Social Affairs Aug. 20, 2024

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Monday that a crackdown on online copyright infringements of content will run until the end of the year in collaboration with the National Police Agency and Interpol. In a joint probe that will continue throughout the remainder of this year, the officials will clamp down on the illegal sharing of webtoons, movies, dramas and other video content at websites. "Illegal site operators take away legitimate profits from creators and threaten the ec

Social Affairs Aug. 19, 2024

Nearly 400 users of second-hand trading platforms that logged "substantial" revenue were taxed by the government this year, tax agency data showed Monday. A total of 379 people that were taxed by the National Tax Service reported an accumulated 17.7 billion won ($13.2 million) in sales this year, equivalent to about 46.7 million won per person, according to the National Tax Service data revealed by Rep. Park Seong-hoon of the ruling People Power Party. The report showed that the 10 mos

Social Affairs Aug. 19, 2024

A South Korea veteran of the Vietnam War in his 70s has been arrested on suspicion of defrauding money from another war veteran suffering from dementia, police said Monday. According to Suwon Jungbu Police Station, the suspect is being investigated on the charge of quasi-fraud, stipulated by Article 348 of the Criminal Act as taking advantage of a minor or one suffering from a mental disorder by taking one's property or obtaining financial advantages. He is believed to have taken some 86 mi

Social Affairs Aug. 19, 2024

A local professor known for his years-long promotion of Dokdo said Monday that social media accounts attempting to impersonate him have been spreading false claims related to the South Korean islets. Seo Kyung-duk, a professor of liberal arts at Sungshin Women's University, shared a screenshot of a fake Instagram account that says, "I love Japan (heart). Takeshima is Japanese territory and rising-sun flag is beautiful flag." Takeshima is what Japan calls Dokdo. "Some users on

Social Affairs Aug. 19, 2024

Government data showed Friday that patient transfers at major hospitals from February to May increased 17.2 percent on-year, amid the mass walkout of trainee doctors across the country since February due the government's announcement of its plan to raise the medical school admissions quota. During this period, there were 289,952 cases in which the patient was sent to a tertiary hospital and then transferred to another medical facility, up from 247,465 in the same period the year before, a

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2024

Seoul Metro, the operator of most of the city's subway lines, said Friday it would increase the number of its Metro Medical Zones in the stations from current eight to 12 within this year. The Metro Medical Zones are sections of the subway that provide medical services between 9:30 a.m. and 8 p.m., 365 days a year, housing both the fully-operational medical clinic and the pharmacy. The service first launched with two medical zones in 2022, and have since expanded to have eight zones in oper

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2024

Vietnamese divorcees of international marriage with South Koreans face financial difficulties after returning to their home country, a recent report by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family showed. The ministry conducted a study between September of last year and January of this year, on 161 Vietnamese women who had previously been married to South Korean men, along with their 130 children. The average age of the women was 37. The study showed that 36 women had no regular income while 18 ma

Social Affairs Aug. 16, 2024

South Korean authorities have received 1,567 reports of trash-carrying balloons sent by North Korea this year, according to National Fire Agency data revealed Thursday. Over 10,000 firefighters and 2,400 fire engines have been dispatched to deal with the totalitarian communist state's balloons from Jan. 1 to Aug. 13, according to the NFA data submitted to Rep. Yang Bu-nam of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Amid the currently icy inter-Korean relations, North Korea has been fl

Social Affairs Aug. 15, 2024

A man in his 20s died on Tuesday from what is thought to be an acute reaction from extreme heat exposure, raising the nationwide death toll due to heat-related illnesses to 22 as of Thursday. Twenty-two people have died of the 2,570 who have been diagnosed with heat-related illnesses since May 20 until 4 p.m. Thursday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's latest tally during what has been one of the most severe heat waves in recent years. The total number of peop

Social Affairs Aug. 15, 2024

A considerable number of South Koreans believe that sex-related conversations between romantic partners are necessary, a recent survey indicated. In a survey conducted by local matchmaker Duo with 500 unmarried men and women between ages 25 and 39, 69 percent of the respondents answered that such talks are essential in a romantic relationship. Of those responding such, 69 percent said it was because they believe sex is an area in which both sides should take efforts to adjust to the other. Twe

Social Affairs Aug. 15, 2024

A police data showed that over 10,000 cases of obstruction of public duties occurred last year, the highest figure in the past five years. The provisional National Police Agency data for 2023 was 10,120 local media outlets reported Wednesday, citing a report compiled by Rep. Lee Dal-hee of the ruling People Power Party. There were 9,588 of such cases in 2019, 9,538 in 2020, 8,216 in 2021, and 9,569 in 2023. Obstruction of the performance of official duties, stipulated in the Article 136 of the C

Social Affairs Aug. 15, 2024

An overwhelming majority of the counterfeit products seized by South Korean customs in the first half of this year were from China, Korea Customs Service data showed Thursday. From January to June, 93.4 billion won ($68.6 million) worth of fake goods were seized while being smuggled into the country. Imports from China accounted for 24 of the 34 cases, worth 78.1 billion won, according to the customs data in a report compiled by Rep. Park Seong-hoon of the ruling People Power Party. Most of th

Social Affairs Aug. 15, 2024