A 70-something-year-old man caused an accident while driving the van of a local day care center and is being investigated for operating the vehicle without a valid driver's license, local media outlets reported Thursday. No injuries occurred outside of the driver, as the car had no passengers at the time. Officials of the Seoul Seongdong Police Station are investigating the man for violating Article 43 of the Road Traffic Act, which prohibits driving a motor vehicle without a valid licens

Social Affairs June 15, 2024

A recent survey by a local matchmaking agency indicated that women in South Korea may be most concerned about age when looking for a prospective romantic partner. NRise Inc., operator of matchmaking platform Wippy, conducted the survey of 400 women in May, asking them what they thought were important factors when looking at the profiles of prospective romantic partners. About 59.2 percent of the respondents picked "age," followed by "distance between the person and me," at

People June 14, 2024

South Korean police on Friday said a man in his 60s is being investigated for potential violation of the Animal Protection Act, as they believe he killed one of his dogs for meat. The man, a resident of Jeju Island, is accused of butchering a dog that he owned at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday at his orchard, according to the Jeju Dongbu Police Station. A local animal rights group alerted police, but the dog had already been killed when officers arrived on the scene. Officers at the scene found an

Social Affairs June 14, 2024

The respective leaders of a group representing trainee doctors and the largest group of physicians in the country have entered a war of words regarding the ongoing standoff between the government and the medical community, hinting at a potential rift in the medical circle. Park Dan, the leader of the Korean Intern Resident Association, has criticized Korean Medical Association leader Lim Hyun-taek over his handling of the situation. Lim had said that communications with members of the medical co

Social Affairs June 14, 2024

A civic group supporting victims of sex crimes kicked off a fundraiser on Thursday in support of a victim in the infamous 2004 Miryang gang rape case, which has resurfaced recently following multiple YouTubers revealing the information of some of the alleged suspects. As of Friday morning, over 57 million won ($41,000) had been raised from over 1,400 people in the campaign set up by the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center at its homepage. One can participate in the fundraising via the pop-up b

Social Affairs June 14, 2024

A state-run agency said Thursday it has found 33 products that have downsized but maintained the same price in an inspection of so-called "shrinkflation" in the country. The Korea Consumer Agency, under the Korea Fair Trade Commission, inspected the products currently being circulated in the market to check the state of shrinkflation, which refers to a manufacturer downsizing a product while retaining the price as an alternative to raising the price. The agency used its price informa

Consumer June 13, 2024

The athlete most beloved by South Koreans is men's national soccer team captain Son Heung-min, a recent poll by Gallup Korea showed, while the late former President Roh Moo-hyun topped the list of favorite political leaders. The survey, conducted with 1,777 people aged 13 and above in March and April, released the first part of results on South Koreans' favorite things across 50 categories. The first leg of the survey included favorite president, entrepreneur, novelist and sports star,

People June 13, 2024

Kwon Gyeong-ae, a lawyer whose repeated failures to show up to court lost a case involving a teenage girl's death caused by school bullying, was ordered by another court to pay 50 million won ($36,000) in compensation to the bereaved family of the victim. The Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday ruled against Kwon in the civil damages suit filed by the girl’s mother, Lee Gi-cheol, and her family, in which they requested a total of 200 million won in financial and psychological dama

Social Affairs June 12, 2024

A member of a local church has been arrested and indicted for the abuse and murder of a 17-year-old girl, the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office said Wednesday. The 55-year-old suspect initially faced child abuse resulting in death, but the prosecution altered the charge to child abuse and murder after an additional investigation it conducted since taking the case from police on May 24. Child abuse and murder can be punished by at least seven years in prison, and up to a death sentence

Social Affairs June 12, 2024

An early morning 4.8 magnitude earthquake jolted South Korea on Wednesday, leading to minimal damage and no casualties, but causing a shock in a country where most residents are not accustomed to such tremors. In light of the recent quake, how to find the nearest earthquake shelter instantly became a topic of interest. Information about earthquake shelters near one's residence can be accessed via various websites and applications. To access information about the earthquake shelters, one can

Social Affairs June 12, 2024

The number of enterprises founded by those aged 60 and above marked a record-high number in the first quarter this year, government data showed Tuesday, despite the overall number of new businesses continuing to decline. According to Statistics Korea, a total of 276,000 new companies were founded in the first quarter, excluding those related to real estate. Of those, 38,000 were founded by people aged 60 and older, marking the highest figure ever. It was also the first time ever that new enter

Economy June 11, 2024

A South Korean doctors group said Tuesday it has filed a complaint with local police against a company for providing what it claimed were illegal cadaveric dissection classes for nonmedical personnel with a body donated to a local medical school. The group Gonguimo, or Doctors' Association for Fair Society, filed the complaint with the Seocho Police Station in Seoul related to a local company's recent anatomy lessons conducted at the Catholic Institute for Applied Anatomy, an affiliate

Social Affairs June 11, 2024

The South Korean police said Monday it plans to close the investigation into a murder-suicide in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, with evidence suggesting that the victims were killed during an attempt by the perpetrators to pay off their debts. The police found that the two men responsible for the deaths both had sizeable debts, and the investigators believe that they had lured the two female victims to extort money from them. The April 10 case made headlines after police investigating a missing person

Social Affairs June 11, 2024

The younger sister of the victim in the 2004 Miryang gang rape case has recently spoken out against YouTubers disclosing the identities of the perpetrators, alleging the victim had never consented to making them public. The sister wrote a post in online used car community Bobae Dream on Sunday, with a screenshot of text messages exchanged between her and local YouTuber Pan-seug, who has been uploading videos revealing the personal information of the alleged perpetrators of the Miryang incident.

Social Affairs June 10, 2024

The Seoul district office of Gangdong-gu and the Guri city government have failed to settle their differences over the naming of a new Han River bridge, resulting in the matter being handed to a state-run committee. According to the Gangdong-gu Office, the Korea Expressway Corporation recently requested the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation's naming committee to decide on the name of the bridge, which is currently under construction and set to be completed later this yea

Social Affairs June 10, 2024