A total of 10.15 million took international flights between South Korea and Japan from January to May of this year to mark an all-time high, government data showed Friday. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the number of passengers who flew between South Korea and Japan in that period increased by 46.2 percent compared to the same period the year before, which was 6.94 million. The previous high in this category was marked in the Jan.-May of 2019, which was 9.38 m

Social Affairs June 21, 2024

Passengers recently aided an Incheon bus driver who fell ill while driving, helping him to safety and making sure he received medical care, the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said Thursday. In a video posted on the National Police Agency’s official YouTube page, the driver of an Incheon bus was seen swaying in his seat while driving in Michuhol-gu, Incheon. After he stopped the bus, concerned passengers came up to him and asked how he was, He replied, "I'm fine. I just need t

Social Affairs June 21, 2024

A golden retriever that was recently found severely injured after being abandoned is recovering well, a local animal protection center said Thursday. The Gangreung-based shelter Miso-Sarang posted a picture update of the dog now named Daru, saying the shelter is wrapping up the fundraiser it held to cover the dog's medical costs. According to the group, Daru was found abandoned near a freeway rest area in Gangreung, Gangwon Province, last week. The dog was lying on its back and its body w

Social Affairs June 21, 2024

A woman in her 30s has been taken into custody after she attacked a hospital nurse with a knife for being "too nice to her husband," police said Wednesday. The suspect is accused of attacking the victim at 12:57 p.m. Tuesday at a hospital on Jeju Island, according to the Jeju Dongbu Police Station. The victim, who was attending to the suspect's husband, sustained a 1.5-centimeter-long cut to her neck and received emergency medical treatment. The suspect told police that the nurse

Social Affairs June 19, 2024

World Golf Hall of Famer Pak Se-ri's father is known for having played a significant role in the golfer's career, but recent revelations involving alleged illegal activities on his part have illuminated a more complicated relationship. Pak addressed the public in Tuesday’s press conference matters related to the Seri Pak Hope Foundation filing a complaint against her father, Pak Joon-chul, who was recently accused of forging a stamp bearing the foundation's name in order to

People June 19, 2024

The South Korean police said Wednesday it is investigating a Busan man for assaulting the head of the residents' association at his apartment complex, over the association's decision to install an air conditioner in the complex's security guard's office. According to Busan Saha Police Station, the suspect in his 60s punched the victim after a residents' association meeting at around 7:30 p.m. on June 11. The group had just decided to repaint the walls of the apartment

Social Affairs June 19, 2024

Police on Tuesday requested an arrest warrant for two Army officers who are under investigation for their part in the recent death of a recruit. Investigators at the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency requested the warrant for an Army captain and a lieutenant, the commander and second-in-command for the company the deceased soldier had been part of. The two are being investigated for alleged death by occupational negligence and abuse of power, and had been summoned by Gangwon police since June 13

Social Affairs June 19, 2024

The "no-someone zone" controversy has flared up in Daegu, where a hotel has become embroiled in debate due to its new fitness center policy, which is to ban those aged 76 or up from signing up as members. Local media outlets on Tuesday reported that the allegedly four-star hotel in Suseong-gu, Daegu has decided to ban those 76 and up from signing up to use the gym, starting July 1. According to the new policy, those 76 or older will only be able to use the gym if they sign two consent

Social Affairs June 18, 2024

Two people died when a man who fell from an apartment building in Busan landed on top of another man, police said Monday. According to Busan Sasang Police Station, a man in his 50s fell from the 15th-floor unit of an apartment complex in Sasang-gu, Busan, at around 7 a.m. on June 15. He landed on another man in his 80s who was walking by. The younger man died instantly. The older man received treatment at a nearby hospital, but died the next day. It is unclear why the man fell, as the initial

Social Affairs June 18, 2024

As South Korea faces a falling marriage rate, a recent government study showed that the unmarried male population here outnumbers its female counterparts by nearly 20 percent. According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs report released Monday, unmarried South Korean men outnumbered unmarried women by 19.6 percent in 2021, with the imbalance in gender ratio being more pronounced outside of metropolitan areas. The report used Statistics Korea data on those born between 1970, 1

Social Affairs June 18, 2024

A recent survey indicated that many South Koreans react positively toward their girlfriends or boyfriends becoming avid fans of a celebrity. Local matchmaking company Duo surveyed 500 men and women between May 27 and 29, and asked what they felt about their romantic partners joining a celebrity fan club. The survey was conducted on individuals who have both been in a romantic relationship and been a member of a fan club. Some 89 percent of the respondents reacted positively, with 36 percent sa

People June 18, 2024

The Korean custom of paying respect to elders through a particular form of speech took a wrong turn recently when a quarrel over a supposed disrespectful form of speech resulted in a stabbing attack. Ulsan District Court said Monday that it sentenced a man in his 40s to two years in prison for stabbing another man in his 20s after the defendant's use of "banmal" -- an informal way of addressing another person -- caused a dispute. The incident occurred in Ulsan in January when bo

Social Affairs June 17, 2024

A police officer who used a stun gun on an armed suspect will not be held responsible for the man's subsequent death after autopsy results pointed to sudden heart failure, according to the Gwangju Police on Monday. According to officials at the Gwangju Bukbu Police Station, the National Forensic Service who conducted the autopsy found that the suspect had suffered sudden cardiac death. SCD refers to natural death from an unidentified cause within a short period of symptom onset, often wi

Social Affairs June 17, 2024

The Supreme Court on Monday upheld an earlier ruling that found three college students guilty of holding an illegal protest near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, during which they set fire to a controversial flag regarded as a symbol of Japanese imperialism. The defendants were found guilty of violating the Assembly and Demonstration Act, which bans protests that had not been reported to the police in advance. The court did not accept their claim that their action was not a protest, and fined th

Social Affairs June 17, 2024

More students than ever before are being accused of sexual misconduct against teachers, government data shows. There were 331 cases of sexual harassment or some kind of sexual misconduct against teachers reported to the Ministry of Education in 2022, local media reported. The figure is a 77 percent surge from the 187 in 2018. It is not clear how many cases were referred to the police. The rise is far steeper than the increase in the total number of cases concerning infringement of teachers'

Social Affairs June 17, 2024