Tech sector employment took a hit this week, with Twitter firing roughly half of its employees last week and Meta Platforms, operator of Facebook and Instagram, reportedly planning widespread layoffs. About a quarter of the 30 employees at the Twitter Korea have received notifications that they will be laid off, Donga Ilbo and others reported, while Facebook Korea said they not been alerted of any related measures as of Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal on Sunday reported that the parent compan

Industry Nov. 8, 2022

On Saturday, an estimated 20,000 people gathered on the streets of Jung-gu, Seoul near City Hall Station and Gwanghwamun Station in memory of the Itaewon tragedy that claimed 156 lives. The participants protested the lack of safety measures and promptness in response from authorities the day of the tragedy. The tribute, however, sparked a mixed reaction as some -- particularly the factions supporting President Yoon Seuk-yeol -- raised suspicion that the protest was politically charged to bring d

Hashtag Korea Nov. 6, 2022

In the aftermath of the Sewol ferry sinking which killed 304 people, the government allocated a total of 1.5 trillion won ($1.06 billion) to set up a new emergency communication system. That system was officially launched last year. However, it barely worked as designed when 156 lives, most of them young people, died in a crowd crush during Halloween festivities in Itaewon on Oct. 29. From a lack of appropriate safety measures before the disaster to the authorities’ botched response afterw

Social Affairs Nov. 4, 2022

Angered by South Korean soccer star Son Heung-min’s injury and its potential impact on the national team’s chances at the upcoming World Cup, some Korean fans have been bombarding the Instagram page of a player involved in Son’s injury with hate comments. As of Friday afternoon, there are over 5,900 comments on the most recent post of Chancel Mbemba, a defender of Olympique de Marseille, far more than for any other post on his page. Many of them -- written in Korean -- contain

Soccer Nov. 4, 2022

A string of safety measures being rolled out by the government shows how much of an impact the loss of 156 lives in last week’s Itaewon tragedy have had on Korean society. Prime Minister Han Duk-soo on Thursday said there will be a pan-government safety inspection on events where over 10,000 people are expected to partake, requesting regional government bodies to revamp their respective safety manuals. This was a reaction to the lack of safety measures and efforts by authorities to maintai

Social Affairs Nov. 3, 2022

While the entire nation has been fixated on the Halloween tragedy in Seoul over the weekend, families of two miners believed to be trapped at a mine in Bonghwa, North Gyeongsang Province, have been praying for their safe return for nearly 10 days. Thursday marks the ninth day since the zinc mine collapsed on Oct. 26. The two, aged 62 and 56, are thought to be in a vertical shaft some 170 meters underground. It is unclear whether they are alive. The rescue team had a minor breakthrough early

Social Affairs Nov. 3, 2022

  On the night of the Itaewon disaster on Saturday, 11 emergency calls were made to police that directly mentioned that people were being hurt or crushed, but the police were only dispatched to the scene a total of four times, police records show. While the police revealed the transcripts of those 11 calls, it was found later that a total of 79 emergency calls were made from the Itaewon area from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The exact content of those calls has not yet been identified. Of the 11 emerg

Social Affairs Nov. 2, 2022

The tragedy that left at least 156 people dead in central Seoul occurred when thousands of Halloween revelers jammed into a narrow alley fell over in masses, piling up on top of each other around 10:15 p.m. on Saturday. On that fateful night, a total of 11 emergency calls had been made to local police warning explicitly of deadly crowding in Itaewon, police records show. The following are translated excerpts from the desperate calls made to the police as early as nearly four hours before the dis

Social Affairs Nov. 2, 2022

Prime Minister Han Duk-soo on Wednesday issued an apology for a joke he made during the previous day’s press conference related to the Itaewon tragedy. “No matter what the circumstances are, I apologize for making the people uncomfortable,” he said in a message that he relayed to reporters through the Prime Minister’s Office. During Tuesday’s foreign media briefing, Han became the subject of controversy for what was perceived by some as “light-hearted behavior

Social Affairs Nov. 2, 2022

The family of a Japanese teenager who died during the Saturday crowd crush in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, arrived in South Korea on Monday and identified the victim's body. Accompanied by officials from the Foreign Ministry, the family arrived at the funeral hall of the Seongnam Central Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province on Monday afternoon. They began the procedure of transporting the victim’s body back to Japan. Officials at the hospital said the family wished to carry out the

Social Affairs Oct. 31, 2022

Professional sports leagues across the country joined the nation in mourning the loss of 154 lives during Saturday night’s deadly crowd surge in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Prior to the kickoff for game 2 of the 2022 Hana Bank FA Cup finals between Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and FC Seoul on Sunday, the players, coaching staff and fans bowed their heads out of respect for victims. The game was won by the eventual champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, who took the cup after a 3-1 victory. Profession

More Sports Oct. 31, 2022

Numerous festivals and events across the country have been cancelled or put on hold after Saturday's deadly crowd surge in Itaewon, in Yongsan-gu, Seoul that claimed 154 lives as of Monday. Seoul has designated a period of mourning for Yongsan-gu that will last until Dec. 31, cancelling all events that the city government had been slated to host. In case of festivals sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, officials will request the hosts to downsize the events. The 17th Busan Firew

Social Affairs Oct. 31, 2022

Of the 154 fatalities from last weekend’s Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon, nearly two thirds were women. As of Monday, a total of 98 women are confirmed to have been killed in the deadly human stampede, compared to 56 men. The significant gender gap has led many to wonder why the accident proved to be much more fatal to women than men. The gender ratio of the crowd at the time of the deadly crush remains unclear, but some medical experts say those with smaller body frames and less physica

Social Affairs Oct. 31, 2022

Many Koreans have a love-hate relationship with traditional shamans, or “mudangs” as they are called here. While it is not unusual to find a practitioner around the block, they are still widely frowned upon by the majority of the public. Jeong Ho-geun, a 58-year-old veteran actor better known as a shaman nowadays, has experienced such prejudice firsthand since he decided to become a shaman in 2014. His friends started dodging his calls and people left him “like the parting of t

People Oct. 29, 2022

Over 60 Vietnamese tourists who entered South Korea this month using the visa-free system have fallen out of contact with immigration authorities, raising suspicion that the individuals came here for illegal stay. Sixty-seven out of 1,600 Vietnamese tourists who came through Yangyang International Airport in Gangwon Province from Oct. 13-25 for packaged tours remain unaccounted for, as of Friday, according to the Korean Immigration Service. Earlier this week, Vietnamese media reported that its F

Social Affairs Oct. 28, 2022