South Korean men's national soccer team head coach Juergen Klinsmann was fired on Friday, following the team's disappointing semifinal exit at the Asian Cup 2023 in the previous week. Chung Mong-gyu, chief of the Korea Football Association, held a press conference at the KFA headquarters in Seoul to announce the German coach's sacking. "As the head of the organization operating the national team, I humbly accept the criticism toward the KFA and me. ... The KFA decided to replace the nationa

Soccer Feb. 16, 2024

Soccer star Lee Kang-in is facing mounting criticism over his highly-publicized altercation with the men's national soccer team captain Son Heung-min, with some going as far as to call for him to be permanently banned from playing for the country ever again. According to the Korea Football Association, petitions asking for a lifetime ban from the national team for Lee have been submitted, along with petitions for the resignation of KFA Chief Chung Mong-gyu and national team head coach Juerg

Soccer Feb. 16, 2024

National Team Committee of the Korea Football Association said Thursday that its members have agreed that Jurgen Klinsmann should be replaced as the men's national team head coach, following the team's disappointing performance at the Asian Cup 2023. The committee pointed out the coach's insufficient tactical preparation for South Korea's disappointing semifinals match against Jordan, his lack of commitment as the national team coach, and questioned his leadership over the recent quarrel among k

Soccer Feb. 15, 2024

With South Korea rapidly closing in on the "super-aged society" threshold, 20.1 percent of all job-seeking posts uploaded on the state-run job search website last year were by people aged 60 and above. According to the Ministry of Labor, a total of 4.77 million people sought to find new jobs through the state-run Worknet, out of which 959,602 were posted by senior citizens. The figure was higher than for any other age group except the 29 and below group, who uploaded 1.15 million posts

Social Affairs Feb. 15, 2024

Faced with controversy over a scuffle involving two of its best players and growing demand for the head coach's resignation, the Korea Football Association will hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the future of the South Korean men's national team. The main agenda of the meeting, slated for 11 a.m., will likely be Jurgen Klinsmann, who has been subject to criticism from the public, the media and even politicians after the national team's disappointing semifinals exit at the Asian Cup 2023. The

Social Affairs Feb. 15, 2024

Woes for South Korean men's national soccer team continued as its members were found to have gotten into a physical fight with each other before the big match, and the country's soccer governing body reportedly contemplating whether to request resignation of head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. The Korea Football Association confirmed Wednesday earlier reports by UK media that the team captain Son Heung-min got into an altercation with midfielder Lee Kang-in ahead of the team's semifi

Soccer Feb. 14, 2024

South Korean police on Wednesday said they were investigating a man in his fifties for obstruction of public duties after he prank-called the police hundreds of times "just because he was lonely." The suspect was taken in by police after he called the 112 emergency service twice for no reason at around 12:55 p.m. on Tuesday. The man was drunk at the time, and told the officers who arrived on the scene the first time that he called "just because." Thirty minutes later he calle

Social Affairs Feb. 14, 2024

South Korean court recently handed down a four-year jail term to a shaman who had swindled money from someone by pretending to speak to the victim's deceased mother. The 66-year-old defendant surnamed Jang claimed to the victim in April 2019 to have heard from the victim's late mother, who supposedly revealed the five winning numbers of the weekly South Korean Lotto. Jang said to the victim that an offering would be necessary to know the last number, and received 276 million won ($206,

Social Affairs Feb. 14, 2024

The appellate division of the Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday ruled against supporters of former President Park Geun-hye, denying their request for compensation for their psychological pain due to what they claim was the "unjust impeachment of Park." The plaintiffs, including a former reporter of the local Monthly Chosun magazine, filed a civic lawsuit against the state and eight justices of the Constitutional Court at the time of Park's impeachment in March 2013. The Co

Social Affairs Feb. 14, 2024

The Korean Nursing Association on Wednesday pledged its support for the government plan to boost the enrollment quota at medical schools, in light of the doctors threatening a strike in protest of the plan. The Korean Nursing Association held a press conference in front of the National Assembly in Seoul at which they expressed full support of the medical school overhaul and called for the normalization of the country's medical field. "Currently the people's lives are threatened du

Social Affairs Feb. 14, 2024

South Korean delivery workers on Tuesday submitted a joint petition to the local police demanding punishment for a 20-something DJ, who killed a 54-year-old delivery man when she was driving while drunk. The delivery workers' union of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said a petition signed by 1,500 people had been submitted to Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, calling for a thorough investigation. "For delivery workers, the road is our place of work. And drunk dr

Social Affairs Feb. 14, 2024

With the Korea Football Association slated to discuss the fate of men's national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann this week, local media outlets on Wednesday reported that the members of the South Korean soccer governing body have recommended its chief to request the beleaguered coach's resignation. In a first KFA meeting convened since South Korea's disappointing semifinal exit at the Asian Cup 2023, its executives have agreed that Klinsmann should be removed from his post, accor

Soccer Feb. 14, 2024

An estimated six million North Koreans have cellular phones as of 2021, a recently published report by a state-run think-tank said, indicating a wave of change among the people living under the oppressive regime. The Korea Institute for National Unification conducted a study on how distribution of mobile phones is affecting North Koreans' quality of life, in which they presumed that a little over 23 percent of some 25.7 million North Koreans own smartphones. The consensus was based on estim

North Korea Feb. 13, 2024

South Korean kids aged between three and four spend about 184.8 minutes a day watching screens of electronic devices such as smartphones, TVs and computers, which is three times more than the recommended amount for the same age group by the World Health Organization, a recent study showed. The Korea Press Foundation surveyed 2,675 children aged between three and nine around the country from Oct. 26 to Dec. 8, and they found that children aged 3-4 spend an average of 80.4 minutes watching TV, 52.

Social Affairs Feb. 13, 2024

The fire station which lost two of its firefighters in a Jan. 31 fire had been understaffed when the deaths occurred, local media outlets reported Tuesday. It was recently found that two of the three teams at the Mungyeong Fire Station in North Gyeongsang Province had been running with five members instead of the mandated six. The two deceased firefighters, 27-year-old Kim Su-gwang and 35-year-old Park Su-hun, had been members of the understaffed team 1. The exact circumstances of how the two fi

Social Affairs Feb. 13, 2024