A civic group said Monday that it has received 48 complaints this year on abuse related to "hoesik," Korean work dinners that often accompany rounds of drinking. Gabjil 119, a group seeking to raise awareness of workplace bullying in South Korea, shared details of the hoesik-related complaints, most of which were superiors forcing subordinates to participate by threatening to give low performance reviews if they were absent. The group said it verified the identities of those who submit

Social Affairs Dec. 18, 2023

The Cultural Heritage Administration on Monday launched an investigation of a male professor here over a string of allegations including misogynistic comments and extortion. Local media outlets reported that a professor at Korea National University of Cultural Heritage has been accused of insulting students, extorting money from them and making them run personal errands. Educational institutions here are conventionally under the supervision of the Education Ministry, but this particular institut

Politics Dec. 18, 2023

A video of a man hanging on a KTX train as it began departing from a station has gone viral online in South Korea. In the video, reportedly recorded just before 4 p.m. Friday at Gwangmyeong Station in Gyeonggi Province, a person appearing to be a man of foreign nationality hanging on the outside of a train leaving for Mokpo, which had just started moving, between two cars. A female station official ran alongside the man, shouting, "Get off! Get off!" in Korean. But the man continued to

Social Affairs Dec. 18, 2023

A fire broke out at a hotel in Incheon Sunday night, causing injury to 54 people including eight foreigners, the local fire department said Monday. The fire appears to have originated from the parking tower in the 18-story building, said officials of the Incheon Gongdan Fire Station, whose jurisdiction includes parts of Namdong-gu and Yeonsu-gu in the southern part of the city. The facility was set ablaze around 9 p.m. and 54 people suffered varying levels of injury including smoke inhalation an

Social Affairs Dec. 18, 2023

Just over a quarter of South Korea's 20-something women said marriage is something one should do in 2022, as young people's inclination to tie the knot continues to fall dramatically here, a report found Friday. Statistics Korea conducted a study on South Korean society, based on a variety of survey data, and found that only 27.5 percent of women in their 20s have a positive view toward marriage. Positive views on marriage among these young women were the lowest out of all age groups,

Social Affairs Dec. 16, 2023

South Korean soccer hero Park Ji-sung recently denied speculations that he would join the ruling People Power Party, saying that he would "appreciate it if such propositions did not take place in the future." "I never even imagined becoming a politician, and I don't even feel the slightest need to imagine such a thing. ... I was shocked that such speculation even exists," the former Manchester United midfielder said Thursday. He was responding to a media report last mont

More Sports Dec. 15, 2023

South Korean prosecutors on Friday demanded a prison term for a former professor at Yonsei University, who had said in a lecture that "comfort women" -- the euphemism for the tens of thousands of women coerced into sexual slavery by imperial Japan during World War II -- became prostitutes voluntarily. Ryu Seok-chun, who formerly taught sociology, sparked controversy in September 2019 after he told his class that the comfort women system was "a sort of prostitution." The prose

Social Affairs Dec. 15, 2023

The Supreme Court has confirmed a three-year prison term for a private lecturer who used the time difference between South Korea and other countries to leak questions for the SAT exam used for US college entrance. According to local media reports on Friday, the tutor was convicted of selling SAT questions that he acquired illegally to the parents of students taking the test in other time zones. Song and his accomplices -- a teacher at a local high school and a broker -- acquired photos of the SA

Social Affairs Dec. 15, 2023

South Korean bands claiming a spot on the top global charts is by no means a surprise at this point, with acts like Blackpink, NewJeans and BTS commanding massive international fan bases. But just a little more than a decade ago, even cracking Billboard's top 100 singles chart would put a K-pop act in the national headlines. And it could be argued that BTS and its contemporaries owe just a bit of their worldwide success to the first K-pop song to enjoy worldwide success: Psy's 2012 meg

Hashtag Korea Dec. 15, 2023

The percentage of Seoul students who said they have been victimized at school was the highest in the past 10 years, according to a recent survey. Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Friday that a survey of 486,729 students between the fourth grade of elementary school and the final year of high school found that 2.2 percent had been subject to some form of mistreatment at school. The figure increased by 2 percent compared to last year, and marked a 10-year high. South Korean law defines

Social Affairs Dec. 15, 2023

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a ruling by a lower court that issued a suspended jail term for stalking to a man who deliberately made noise to pester his neighbor, marking the first time for South Korea's highest judicial body to decide such a crime constitutes stalking. The defendant in his 30s was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, on charge of stalking, which the Act on Punishment of Crime of Stalking stipulates can be punishable by up to three years in

Social Affairs Dec. 14, 2023

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against a woman who requested state financial compensation for her son's death in the 2014 sinking of Sewol ferry, which she only learned of in 2021. She was, however, granted the right to inherit her share of the compensation paid to her son by the government. The plaintiff filed charges for compensation for the son's death in 2021, after belatedly learning of his death in one of the worst maritime tragedies in the country's history. The 2014 s

Social Affairs Dec. 14, 2023

A 31-year-old woman, whose assault of a police officer had thwarted her initial dream of becoming a prosecutor, has become a lawyer, local media outlets reported Thursday. The Korean Bar Association said it has accepted her application, as her previous criminal record from assaulting an officer is not in violation of the code of conduct for a lawyer. South Korea's Attorney-at-law Act stipulates that anyone who has received a suspended term for imprisonment without prison labor, or a more se

Social Affairs Dec. 14, 2023

FIFA recently changed one of its promotional images for the FIFA Club World Cup Saudi Arabia 2023, after South Korean fans complained over the controversial "Rising Sun" flag design in it. The image, posted on FIFA World Cup's official Instagram account, introduces the Urawa Red Diamond, participating in the event as the winners of the 2022 AFC Champions league. South Koreans, however, took issues with what appeared to be a Rising Sun flag in the background. Upon a flurry of comme

Soccer Dec. 14, 2023

State-run agency data showed Thursday that the average price for gimbap and kimchi-jjigae, two of the most popular eating-out options in South Korea, rose in November to 3,292 won ($2.50) and 7,923 won, respectively. The price for a roll of gimbap has been moving upward since breaking the 3,000-won mark for the first time in August of 2022, according to the Korea Consumer Agency, an affiliate of the Korea Fair Trade Commission. Price for a bowl of kimchi-jjigae -- conventionally served with a bo

Economy Dec. 14, 2023