Recent government statistics showed that in 2023, 2.07 million South Koreans aged 60 or above ran small businesses in the country, marking the first time the figure surpassed the 2-million mark. The number of older self-employed people in the country has nearly doubled since 2003, when the figure stood at 1.09 million. The older self-employed population accounted for 36.4 percent of all 5.68 million self-employed people in South Korea, also the highest-ever level. In comparison, 17 percent of a

Social Affairs Feb. 27, 2024

South Korean police on Tuesday said it was investigating a 50-something man for assaulting and insulting the emergency medical staff of a hospital, which the suspect said was because the staff spoke to him "in a commanding tone." According to Daejeon Dongbu Police Station, the suspect was taken to an emergency room of a hospital in Dong-gu, Daejeon, some 160 kilometers south of Seoul, to be treated for an injury to his face. He was drunk at the time. He punched the medical staff and cu

Social Affairs Feb. 27, 2024

South Korean police confirmed Tuesday they are investigating a man who was caught secretly filming women inside a bathroom, after a video of the incident went viral online. According to police, the male suspect in his 20s is believed to have snuck into the women’s bathroom room at a "jimjilbang" -- a Korean-style bathhouse with saunas, massage tables and unisex areas with heated floors -- in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul last Monday with the intent to film women's bodies. He wa

Social Affairs Feb. 27, 2024

A total of 157 elementary schools across South Korea do not have any first graders set to enroll in March, the Ministry of Education said Monday, as a record-low number of new students is expected for the upcoming school year. According to the ministry, nearly every provincial and metropolitan area across South Korea had at least one elementary school that was not expecting new students, except Seoul, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan and Sejong. North Jeolla Province led all regions with 34 schools with

Social Affairs Feb. 26, 2024

Admission delays at emergency rooms were reported across South Korea amid a walkout by trainee doctors, while a cardiac arrest patient in her 80s died in an ambulance in Daejeon while emergency workers tried to find an ER that would admit her. According to local media reports on Monday, the patient suffered heart failure on Friday and was taken away by an ambulance. The emergency workers were turned away by seven hospitals, who told them that they did not have medical staff or hospital beds to t

Social Affairs Feb. 26, 2024

South Korean police on Monday said it has launched an investigation into a satirical edited video featuring President Yoon Suk Yeol, which shows him delivering a speech disparaging himself, which went viral last week. Cho Ji-ho, the chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Station Agency, said in a press briefing that the police had acquired the ID of the person who appears to have uploaded the original video and begun an investigation on the person. The ruling People Power Party filed a complaint

Social Affairs Feb. 26, 2024

A state-run committee recently issued a warning against broadcaster SBS after a panelist on one of its shows referred to first lady Kim Keon Hee without an honorific, a decision that sparked a dispute about the freedom of the press across the country. The South Korean Committee on Election Broadcasting, organized and operated by the Korea Communications Standards Commission, held a meeting last week and decided to issue a warning against the local TV broadcaster's daily "Newsbriefing.&

Social Affairs Feb. 26, 2024

South Korean police on Sunday said a high school student who recently confessed to stealing a bicycle did so in order to support his brothers and sisters, who he has been taking care of due to his mother's illness. Police said that various state organizations have decided to provide financial aid to the boy's family, who they said had been in the blind spot of the country's welfare system. According to the Osan Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, a report about a stolen bicycle w

Social Affairs Feb. 26, 2024

A wheel broke off of a semi-trailer and hit an express bus at around 4:09 p.m. Sunday, leading to an accident that left two dead and 12 injured. According to local police, the accident occurred on the Gyeongbu Expressway near Anseong City, Gyeonggi Province. The wheel that came off the truck, which was headed in the direction of Busan, crossed over to the other side of the expressway and collided with the bus. The wheel went through the glass of the bus, inflicting fatal injuries upon the 60-som

Social Affairs Feb. 25, 2024

The number of South Korean nationals taking parental leave dipped by 3.9 percent in 2023 compared to the year before, though an increasing number of parents are using the state-backed reduced work hours system, according to a recent Ministry of Employment and Labor report. A total of 126,008 people took maternal or paternal leave last year, down 5,076 from the year before, the report showed. Parents taking leave or using the reduced work hours system receive a portion of their salary during the

Social Affairs Feb. 25, 2024

The bereaved family of a woman killed during last year's subway stabbing rampage has sent a letter of gratitude for the police officers in charge of the case, Suwon Nambu Police Station said Saturday. Kim Hye-bin, who was a 20-year-old college student at the time, was one of two victims fatally injured by then-22-year-old Choi Won-jong near Seohyeon Station in Seongnam city, Gyeonggi Province on Aug. 3, 2023. Family members of Kim and 65-year-old Lee Hoi-nam, who also lost her life in the r

Social Affairs Feb. 25, 2024

South Korean court on Saturday said it has decided on a 10-month prison term for a 36-year-old woman, who blackmailed and physically assaulted a South Korean celebrity after dating them for just 10 days. The defendant, who dated the 30-something victim briefly in August 2022, refused the victim's request to end their romantic relationship and demanded that he pay her 5 million won ($3,750). The defendant threatened to post malicious comments about the victim if he did not comply, taking adv

Social Affairs Feb. 25, 2024

A recent government report showed substantial income disparity among South Korean doctors, with the annual incomes of physicians in fields like ophthalmology, neurosurgery and dermatology being more than double that of pediatricians. An average ophthalmologist made 389 million won ($290,000) annually as of 2020, the highest out of all medical fields in the country, according to the annual report by the state-run Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs. The next highest on the list was neur

Social Affairs Feb. 25, 2024

A young couple who recently welcomed their seventh child became the first family in Seoul to receive a 10-million-won ($7,500) subsidy for bearing multiple children, the district office of Jung-gu in central Seoul said Thursday. Jung-gu Office said it had delivered Jeon Hye-hee and her husband Jo Yong-seok, both 28 years old, the cash incentive for couples who've had at least five children. The district office last year increased the incentives for couples who have five children or more fro

Social Affairs Feb. 24, 2024

South Korea's soccer governing body said it was "overjoyed" over recent news that Son Heung-min and Lee Kang-in of the national team have buried the hatchet after their highly-publicized quarrel during the Asian Cup 2023, seemingly putting an end to what the public and the local media dubbed "ping pong gate." "After hearing the news (of Son-Lee's reconciliation), I was as happy and excited as if (the team) won in a tournament. ... As for whether the two players

Soccer Feb. 22, 2024