With the number of single-person households on the rise in Korea, a recent study showed that 78.8 percent of them are at some risk of "godoksa," or lonely death. The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the state-run Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs jointly conducted a survey on 9,471 single-person households, assessing the likelihood of lonely death based on five criteria: accumulated feelings of failure and loss, loneliness in everyday life, level of social isolation, disc

Social Affairs Jan. 29, 2024

Incheon police on Friday are investigating two men believed to have sprayed four elementary and middle school students with a fire extinguisher, allegedly because the children were smoking. According to the Incheon Nonhyeon Police Station, the students reported that one man sprayed them while the other man filmed the incident in the staircase of a Nonhyeong-dong, Incheon, shopping center at around 4:56 p.m. on Thursday. It was reported that the two men were employees at the shopping center. The

Social Affairs Jan. 26, 2024

Seoul Western District Court on Friday sentenced a 78-year-old South Korean man to four years in prison for attacking police in front of the presidential office last year and injuring two on-duty officers. The court also ordered the defendant surnamed Park to three years probation, but turned down the prosecution's request for him to wear an electronic ankle tag. Park attacked two officers in front of the presidential office in Yongsan-gu at around 1:20 p.m. on Oct.31, injuring one officer

Social Affairs Jan. 26, 2024

Daejeon High Court on Friday upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a 39-year-old Filipino man to two years in jail for the attempted murder of his stepson. The defendant had been accused of stabbing his 22-year-old stepson in the back while he was eating lunch in the kitchen of their apartment in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, on July 4. He chased down the victim and stabbed him again, this time in the chest. The defendant said he suspected that the victim had poisoned the food of his

Social Affairs Jan. 26, 2024

With ticket scalping plaguing the local music scene, South Korean singers are adopting various methods to prevent fans from having to pay extortionate sums for concert tickets. Singer Jang Beom-jun recently announced that the ticket sales for his concert next month will be using the blockchain system, with the tickets being sold as non-fungible tokens that cannot be sold to anyone but the initial buyer. Jang had sold out the concert scheduled for this month, but cancelled all reservations due to

K-pop Jan. 26, 2024

An 83-year-old South Korean woman who had made headlines for her belated passion for education has been accepted to the extension college of Sookmyung Women's University. The Seoul-based university on Friday said Kim Jeong-ja has been accepted as a social welfare major for its Future Education Institute, which provides courses in liberal arts, specialized education. The school has granted Kim a one-year scholarship in support for her dreams. "I will keep on learning as much as my healt

People Jan. 26, 2024

South Korean advertisement company Inshorts has applied its "AI digital product placement solution" to promote products in the popular tvN drama "Maestra," marking the first time an AI-based technology has been used for product placement in the country. Samsung's "Bespoke Rug" and Wakti's "SW19 Hand Cream" were featured as part of the embedded marketing in a recent episode of the series aired via Disney+, tvN and Tving. The items, however, were i

Industry Jan. 25, 2024

South Korean police said Thursday that a 103-year-old South Korean man who wandered off in sub-freezing temperatures in Seoul has safely returned home, thanks to a bus driver who reported him to officials. The man, surnamed Bang, left his home in Dongdaemun-gu at 5:37 a.m. on Wednesday. The police were soon notified and a search was launched. The nation's capital experienced temperatures ranging from minus 3.7 degrees Celsius to minus 11.2 C on Wednesday, according to the Korea Meteorologic

Social Affairs Jan. 25, 2024

A South Korean man in his 40s who had been admitted to an alcohol addiction treatment center in Gyeonggi Province was found dead in a nearby warehouse with a stab wound to his neck, police said Thursday. According to Uiwang Police Station, the victim's body was found at around 4:20 p.m. on Wednesday at an empty warehouse in Gocheon-dong, Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province. The victim had sustained a fatal stab wound to the neck, which the police believe to have been self-inflicted. The man had been

Social Affairs Jan. 25, 2024

A 37-year-old Indonesian man who saved a woman from sea received a certificate of appreciation from the Ulsan Coast Guard Station on Wednesday, according to the officials. Riyanto, a sailor of the 29-ton fishing vessel Dongchang, saw a 30-something woman fall into the water at the Bangeojin Port in Ulsan last Thursday. He jumped into the water and held onto her until the coast guard arrived for rescue. The woman was resuscitated and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. It was found that

Social Affairs Jan. 25, 2024

A South Korean court recently cleared criminal charges for a man who had been fined for placing a "no parking" signboard on a car that had been blocking the entrance to an underground parking at an apartment complex, the Korea Legal Aid Corporation said Wednesday. In a case made public by the state-run company, the defendant had sought out the group's help after a local court handed him a fine of 700,000 won ($520) for property damage. The owner of the car had filed charges agains

Social Affairs Jan. 25, 2024

The number of days South Koreans spend in hospitals is expected to increase by 45 percent by 2035 when compared to 2022, government data showed Wednesday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare recently conducted a study based on recent data from the National Health Insurance Service and Statistics Korea. The findings indicated that South Koreans are expected to be admitted to hospitals for an accumulated 200.5 million days in 2035, compared to 138 million days in 2022. The ministry also speculated

Social Affairs Jan. 24, 2024

A taxi driver was caught after driving 37 kilometers on the wrong side of an expressway, saying that he turned the car around because his passenger said he had been going the wrong way, local police said Wednesday. According to the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency, the 65-year-old driver is being investigated on the charge of violating the Road Traffic Act at the Gyeongsan Police Station in North Gyeongsang Province. The suspect's car had been on the Seoul-bound side of the Gyeongbu Expre

Social Affairs Jan. 24, 2024

Seoul Eastern District Court on Wednesday sentenced a 29-year-old man to two years in prison for pretending to sell concert tickets and making some 12.4 million won ($9,200) in illegal profit. From April of August of last year, the defendant surnamed Lee posted notices on various websites that he was selling tickets for concerts, amusement parks and gift certificates at a discounted price, scamming 67 people. He lured the victims by saying he was selling tickets that had already sold out, using

Social Affairs Jan. 24, 2024

The head of a local talent agency has been sentenced to a suspended prison term for illegally transferring the profit from the firm to the parent company, also run by him, a local court said Wednesday. Seoul Western District Court recently sentenced the 57-year-old defendant surnamed Ahn to three years in prison, suspended for four years, on charges of embezzlement. Investigation found that Ahn, formerly the chief of the now-defunct K-Stars, used the profit from the agency to operate K Stars

Social Affairs Jan. 24, 2024