Busan city officials said Wednesday that they have installed emergency call systems in public women's bathrooms in four underground shopping districts, including a voice-activated one in Busan Station. According to the Busan Infrastructure Corporation, officials have installed the emergency call systems in a total of 18 underground public bathrooms across the southern port city. They were installed at two bathrooms in the underground shopping district connected with Busan Station, six bathr

Social Affairs Dec. 14, 2023

A new bill stipulating the authority bestowed upon police officers dispatched in emergency situations has recently been passed by the National Assembly, police officials said Wednesday. According to the National Police Agency, the parliament passed the law on operation of the 112 emergency dispatch service last Friday, providing legal grounds for the police's actions in emergency situations including evacuation of citizens, imposing fines and forcing entry into buildings. South Korea's

Social Affairs Dec. 14, 2023

A Seoul court on Wednesday sentenced a 44-year-old man to two years and six months in prison for setting his mother-in-law on fire while performing what he claimed to be an exorcism. The defendant, surnamed Kim, was taking care of the 68-year-old victim at a hospital in Nowon-gu, northeastern Seoul, on May 29, when he lit pieces of tissue paper on fire and threw them at her. The victim sustained second-degree burns on various parts of her body including her scalp, left hand, face and neck. Kim w

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2023

Starting next year, South Korean government will revise the traffic laws and driver's tests to accommodate for the rapidly advancing technology for automated driving systems and development of self-driving cars. The National Police Agency on Wednesday rolled out the traffic safety plans in preparation for when self-driving cars will hit the road, in which they announced that traffic safety education related to automated driving systems will be included in the state-issued driver's lice

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2023

The head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Tuesday that the government may downgrade the infectious disease notification level of COVID-19 from the current second-highest level of "alert" to the third-highest of "caution." "We (the government) are currently discussing the downgrade. Exactly when it will take place hasn't been decided yet, but we're watching the situation and thinking it should be after the winter season (sometime next year

Social Affairs Dec. 12, 2023

Incheon District Court on Tuesday ruled that the South Korean court should pay 100 million won ($76,000) in compensation to a man who was wrongfully arrested and jailed during the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising. The civil suit was filed by a man who was arrested by police during the pro-democracy movement of May 18, 1980. The military junta Chun Doo-hwan had declared martial law as the anti-government movement spread across the country, and subsequently ordered the bloody crackdown on the cont

Social Affairs Dec. 12, 2023

Incheon Seobu Police Station on Tuesday said it is investigating a high school student on suspicion of threatening to kill elementary school students, which he claimed was a joke. The suspect, whose exact identity was withheld by authorities, is believed to have posted that he would "kill all the kids while they are on their way home from school" around 9:35 a.m. Monday, via a KakaoTalk instant message board shared by parents of children who attend an elementary school in Seo-gu, Inche

Social Affairs Dec. 12, 2023

After Jimin and Jungkook's enlistment on Tuesday, all seven member of K-pop superstar band BTS will be enlisted in the mandatary military service, which is required by all able-bodied South Korean men. V in particular has his eyes on becoming a member of the special forces unit of the command defending the nation's capital. It has been reported that the soon-to-be 28-year-old has applied to serve in the 35th Special Mission Battalion, a counterterrorism unit of the Capital Defense Comm

K-pop Dec. 12, 2023

With fewer couples getting married each year here, the amount of combined debt of recently married couples recorded an all-time high, a report showed Monday. According to a report on those recently married by Statistics Korea, the median amount of combined debt for these households in South Korea in 2022 was 164 million won ($124,000), marking both an all-time high and jump of 7.3 percent from the year before. It also showed that 89 percent of such couples overall are in debt. The report concern

Social Affairs Dec. 11, 2023

A commemorative ceremony in honor of the late Lt. Col. Kim Oh-rang, who died while battling the rebel forces during the 1979 military coup, will be held Tuesday in his hometown of Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province. According to city officials, the annual ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. near Kim's bust erected between Samjeong Middle School and Samseong Elementary School, which the deceased soldier graduated from. The ceremony has been held each year since 2014, when the government conferre

People Dec. 11, 2023

The National Police Agency said Monday the drug investigation into G-Dragon was nearing the end, with no clear evidence of wrongdoing by the K-pop star discovered so far. "We've conducted an objective verification process (of G-Dragon's allegations) and summoned six people for testimonies. The investigation is more or less in its final stage," Woo Jong-soo, the head of the National Office of Investigation at the NPA told reporters in the regular press briefing. "We will

Social Affairs Dec. 11, 2023

Male divorcees' biggest fear in finding a new spouse is meeting someone who is a freeloader, while female divorcees said they are afraid to meet someone who needs to be taken care of all the time, a survey showed Monday. Only-You, a local matchmaking company exclusively for divorcees, conducted a survey on 516 people wishing to get married on the issue of "what makes you hesitant toward remarriage." For men, the No. 1 reason was that the potential spouse "may have a tendency

Social Affairs Dec. 11, 2023

A group of street vendors on Jongno 3-ga Pocha Street have decided to temporarily close up shop following controversy over the vendors' supposedly overpriced dishes, according to local media outlets on Monday. According to the Korea Democratic Street Vendors Confederation, an umbrella group of street vendors in South Korea, around 60 street eateries, called "pojangmacha," have conducted an overhaul of their shops late last month. The group said it was in reflection of the rec

Social Affairs Dec. 11, 2023

LGBTQ+ rights groups have launched a fundraiser for the Rev. Lee Dong-hwan, who was expelled from the Korean Methodist Church for blessing gay people at a queer festival, the groups said in a statement Sunday. Groups including the South Korean Coalition for Anti-Discrimination Legislation and Rainbow Jesus -- a group consisting of Christians in the LGBTQ+ community -- vowed to support Lee "all the way." The groups are conducting a fundraiser for the fees required for the judicial proce

Social Affairs Dec. 10, 2023

A survey released Sunday by a civic group showed that 15.3 percent of South Korean workers have been subject to direct physical or verbal abuse at work, highligthing the ongoing issue of workplace harassment. Nongovernmental organization Workplace Gapjil 119 conducted a survey on 1,000 employed individuals across the country, asking if they have been subject to abuse. About 14.8 percent of office workers; 17.2 percent of those in manual labor; and 15.2 percent of those in service industries said

Social Affairs Dec. 10, 2023