A South Korean woman has been sentenced by a court to three years in prison for swindling 670 million won ($490,000) from three male victims by pretending to be in a romantic relationship with them, although investigators believe there may be more victims. The defendant was found guilty of fraud by the Ulsan District Court, officials said Monday. She was accused of extorting money from three male victims, each in their 30s, 40s and 50s, from September of 2018 to October 2023, while posing as a

Social Affairs May 13, 2024

Seoul's Han River was picked by the city's residents as the capital's most iconic feature, according to the results of a survey by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Thursday. Foreign nationals, on the other hand, chose Gwanghwamun Plaza as Seoul's top landmark in the same survey. A total of 35,881 South Koreans aged 15 or over, and 2,500 foreign nationals who stayed in the country for at least 91 days took part in the 2023 Seoul Survey. In the poll, in which multiple ans

Travel May 11, 2024

The Busan police on Friday requested an arrest warrant for a YouTuber in his 50s, accused of stabbing to death another YouTuber whom he was quarreling with in front of a local court. The suspect surnamed Hong is accused of murdering the victim surnamed Jo, also in his 50s, in front of the Busan District Court in Yeonje-gu, Busan, at around 9:52 a.m. on Thursday. The suspect fled the scene afterward but was captured by police at around 11:35 a.m. in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, some 70 ki

Social Affairs May 10, 2024

Lim Hyun-taek, the chief of the Korean Medical Association, made yet another controversial comment at a press conference Friday, during which he seemingly disparaged medical schools in other countries. The recently-elected leader of the doctors' group launched harsh criticism against the South Korean government's plan to allow foreign doctors to practice medicine in the country, in a bid to fill the health care void from the mass walkout of trainee doctors here. "There are (medica

Social Affairs May 10, 2024

The National Police Agency on Thursday posted a video of a South Korean police officer who plowed through the cold waters inside the drain system to save a drunken man who fell and injured himself. According to the NPA, emergency rescue services in Nam-gu, Ulsan, received reports that a man was lying inside a drainage tunnel at around 9 p.m., May 4. Police officers and emergency workers were dispatched to the scene and found a man in his 50s, who while walking intoxicated lost his footing and fe

Social Affairs May 10, 2024

South Korean tattooists held a protest in Daegu on Thursday calling for the legalization of nonmedical tattoos, ahead of the country's first-ever jury trial case involving the legal basis for a tattoo performed by a person without a medical license. Several members of the Korea Tattoo Federation gathered in front of the Daegu District Court in Suseong-gu and demanded a not-guilty verdict for a practitioner charged with giving a person an eyebrow tattoo without a medical license. The 20-som

Social Affairs May 10, 2024

The South Korean government said Friday that it has devised a guideline to clamp down on businesses that run "pseudo-casino operations," addressing the legal loophole that has allowed de facto gambling at drinking establishments such as the poker-themed bars commonly called "hold'em pubs." The guideline on bans of pseudo-casino operations was jointly developed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the National Police Agency and the National Gambling Control Com

Social Affairs May 10, 2024

Daegu on Wednesday commenced the construction of the Daegu Grand Park in its Suseong-gu district, slated for completion by 2027. The park is to house a range of facilities including a zoo, theme parks and venues for leisure activities and sports. The joint project by the city government and the Daegu Urban Development Corporation centers particularly on the plans for the new zoo, expected to replace the outdated facility currently located inside the Dalseong Park in Jung-gu. Daegu Mayor Hong J

Travel May 9, 2024

A one-year-old Korean Jindo recently made headlines here, after the dog traveled a substantial distance to make it back home after going missing 41 days ago. A local YouTube channel on Tuesday posted the story of Jindo dog Hong-min, who lives in the city of Daejeon with his owner Yoon Jeong-sang. Yoon, an avid soccer fan and owner of 10 Jindos, named the dog after Son Heung-min, mistaking the soccer superstar's name for Son Hong-min. The one-year-old dog went missing on March 24, when Yoon

Travel May 9, 2024

Korea News Editors' Association on Thursday named Yang Ji-woon as its secretary-general. The KNEA appointed Yang to his new post at its board of directors' meeting, held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, central Seoul. Yang joined the KNEA in 2009 and was formerly the association's strategy planning and business director. Launched in 1957, the KNEA is currently headed by Choo Seung-ho of Yonhap News TV.

People May 9, 2024

A teenager and a police officer were rescued from the Han River Wednesday after they fell from a bridge while the officer was attempting to prevent a suicide attempt. The Yeouido patrol unit of the Yeongdeungpo Police Station received a report at around 7:24 p.m. that a woman was hanging off the railing of the Mapo Bridge over the major river in central Seoul. Ten officers were immediately dispatched to the site, where a 17-year-old girl was hanging off the railing of the bridge over the river

Social Affairs May 9, 2024

The Gwangju High Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced two men to 10 years in prison for smuggling 12 kilograms of methamphetamine into the country. The two suspects, Malaysian nationals in their 30s and 40s, were found guilty of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, particularly the section on narcotics and psychotropic drugs. "Considering the amount of smuggled drugs and severe nature of drug-related crimes, the sentence seems to be app

Social Affairs May 8, 2024

A man found bank checks worth 50 million won ($36,600) and helped return them to their owner, then donated the reward money that the owner gave him to the local government. According to Saha-gu Office in Busan, a resident named Cha Sang-jae recently found the checks inside an old piece of clothing that he came across and reported it to the police. The checks were revealed to have belonged to the father of Wi Seong-han, who passed away two years ago. Wi, a resident of Seoul, had thrown the clothi

Social Affairs May 8, 2024

A report showed Wednesday that women account for only 3.2 percent of all inside directors at the biggest companies in South Korea. There are 787 inside directors and 850 outside directors on the boards of the 30 largest South Korean conglomerates and their 298 affiliates according to the local market analysis firm Leaders Index. There are 174 female outside directors and 25 female inside directors, each accounting for 20.5 percent and 3.2 percent of the respective totals. All 30 conglomerates ha

Industry May 8, 2024

Housing prices keep soaring in Seoul, as a report showed Wednesday that only 23.5 percent of high-rise apartments sold in the first quarter of this year went for less than 600 million won ($440,000). The real estate news platform Gyeongjae Man Lab -- Economy 10,000-Lab -- analyzed the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. It found that 2,188 of the 9,314 high-rise apartment transaction deals in the first quarter involved apartments worth less than 600 million won. It was

Economy May 8, 2024