Most Popular
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Hyundai Motor eyes 80,000 jobs, W68tr investment at home by 2026
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Doctors' group picks new leader amid tense standoff over increased enrollment quota
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Dialogue hopes fade as doctors pick hard-liner as new head
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Coupang pledges W3tr to expand Rocket Delivery nationwide by 2027
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[Election Battlefield] Political novice to face off star politician in ‘swing district’
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[Kim Seong-kon] The April 2024 election will decide our future
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Seoul’s bus union prepares for strike
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Korea enters full election mode
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[Campus Now] Hallyu, brokers and students' Korean dreams
South Korea's universities are witnessing a transformative shift in their cultural landscape, brought by a surge in the number of international students. Though the trend was stagnant during the pandemic era, the number of international students in Korea has steadily increased over the decades, amounting to 181,842 as of 2023. That is more than double the number 10 years ago (85,923), and 10 times more than in 2004 (16,832), when the Education Ministry began compiling related statistics. Th
March 13, 2024
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PM denounces attempts to delay med school quota hike plan
South Korea's Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Tuesday criticized recent attempts made by protesting doctors to delay the government's plan to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 and to lower the cap on the number of students. Han's remarks follow a proposal made by a group of senior doctors and medical school professors the same day, who called for the government "to decide on the quota increase after allowing overseas researchers to review the matter
March 13, 2024
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Police bust illegal gambling ring that hired minors to attract peers
Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency said Tuesday it had uncovered a cybercrime ring accused of operating an illegal gambling website and attracting minors into gambling. Police apprehended 35 suspects, including the ringleader in his 40s, on suspicion of operating illegal gambling websites for five years, from December 2018 to March this year. Out of the 35 suspects, 10 had been arrested as of Tuesday. According to police officials, the criminal ring operated gambling websites out of Dubai a
March 13, 2024
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Jeju introduces virtual news presenter
Jeju’s provincial government has recently hired a news anchor to conduct its weekly YouTube program for 600,000 won ($450) a month: virtual human J-na. The computer-created female presenter primarily delivers policy updates and local news from the island, reading scripts prepared via artificial intelligence. The program, developed and managed by a private contractor company, costs 600,000 won per month, according to the island province. "Employing human news presenters incurs signif
March 13, 2024
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Labor groups slam BOK report on foreign care worker wages
Labor groups have reacted with anger to a report by South Korea’s central bank that proposed to bring in foreign care workers and pay them less than the minimum wage. “The bank’s suggestions of paying migrant workers cheaper than the minimum wage are discriminatory and anti-human rights ideas,” said Citizens‘ Solidarity for Securing the Publicness of Care and Realizing the Right to Care, a major coalition comprised of the country’s two umbrella trade unions, t
March 13, 2024
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Late firefighter's father donates life savings in memory of son
The father of a firefighter who perished on the job has donated 500 million won ($381,000) to the National Fire Agency, which the NFA on Tuesday vowed to use to provide scholarships for the bereaved family members of those who lost their lives in service. The agency on Tuesday held a ceremony for the launch of the Firefighter Hero Kim Gi-beom Scholarship at Gangbuk Fire Station in Daegu. The scholarship was based on funds donated by Kim Gyeong-su, whose son Kim Gi-beom died at the age of 26 in 1
March 13, 2024
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Protesting medical students to press for schools' granting of their leave of absence requests
Medical students nationwide have resolved to request their schools grant leave of absence applications they filed in collective action protesting the government's plan to dramatically raise the medical school enrollment quota, their association said Wednesday. The Korean Medical Student Association said the decision was unanimously reached during a plenary session over the weekend. Under the resolution, members from all 40 medical schools across the country will ask their respective schools
March 13, 2024
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On-year job additions rise over 300,000 for 2nd month in Feb.
South Korea added more than 300,000 jobs for the second consecutive month in February led by solid job growth in the manufacturing sector amid rising exports, data showed Wednesday. The number of employed people came to 28.04 million last month, up 329,000 from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It is the second month in a row that the number of new jobs has exceeded 300,000. In January, 380,000 jobs were added after three months of job additions below 300,000. F
March 13, 2024
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Doctor denies giving drugs to Lee Sun-kyun's blackmailer
A South Korean doctor accused of providing drugs to a bar hostess, believed to have blackmailed late actor Lee Sun-kyun, denied the accusations at a court hearing on Tuesday. The lawyer for the 43-year-old plastic surgeon told Incheon District Court that his client denies all the charges related to the 30-year-old hostess of a high-end bar, who has been charged with receiving the drug from the doctor. Contrary to what the defendant said, the hostess has already pleaded guilty to all the charges
March 12, 2024
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City councilman proposes marriage in the middle of assembly
A 47-year-old member of the Gwangyang municipal council made headlines by proposing to his girlfriend in the middle of a general assembly meeting on Monday According to the council in Gwangyang, Gyeonggi Province, councilman Park Chul-soo of the main opposition Democratic Party took to the podium to pose questions about the city’s policies to officials. After the questions, he said, "Pardon me for speaking about my personal matters in the assembly." "I thought making it publ
March 12, 2024
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Drought levels to maintain normal conditions for next 3 months
Meteorological drought levels are forecast to remain normal nationwide, due to high levels of precipitation over the past few months compared to previous years, the Ministry of Interior and Safety said Tuesday. According to the Interior Ministry, the total precipitation levels recorded over the past six months reached up to 504.7 millimeters nationwide -- 150.6 percent above the average precipitation levels recorded between 1991 and 2020. In February alone, up to 102.6 mm of rain was recorded, m
March 12, 2024
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Man lies about wealth, education, tries to kill wife who forgave him
A 29-year-old South Korean man was sentenced on Tuesday to four years in jail by an appellate court for attempted murder of his wife, whom he had tricked into marriage by lying about his wealth and educational background. Gwangju High Court found the defendant surnamed Choi guilty of attempted murder, but overturned the earlier ruling by a lower court that had sentenced him to five years and six months in prison. "The defendant’s history of mental illness, including depression, appear
March 12, 2024
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Health care standoff worsens as professors threaten to leave hospitals
Further uncertainty is hovering over South Korea’s critical care system, as medical professors, who have been filling the vacuum left by junior doctors walking out, warned they too could walk out in protest against the government’s expansion plan. The Medical Professors Association of Korea -- a coalition of professors from 33 medical schools -- issued a statement Tuesday that the group would take collective action “if any damage is inflicted” on trainee doctors or medica
March 12, 2024
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[Herald Interview] Med school expansion won’t solve health care shortage: WMA president
The South Korean government’s decision to add 2,000 new spots in medical school admissions is not a solution to alleviate the immediate needs of medically underserved or specialty areas, according to Dr. Lujain Al-Qodmani, the president of the World Medical Association. In an exclusive written interview with The Korea Herald, the WMA head said the government’s decision overlooked the complexities of medical education and health care delivery and risks unintended consequences. Al-Qodm
March 12, 2024
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Busan's move to name district 'Eco Delta-dong' irks Hangeul advocates
Busan city is facing opposition from Korean language preservation groups as it moves to name a district “Eco Delta-dong,” making the first time an English place name would be used for an official administrative unit. As per the city’s announcement on Tuesday, the district office of Gangseo, Busan, has submitted the naming proposal last month for the new entity to be comprised of three existing areas, Gangdong-dong, Myeongji 1-dong and Daejeo 2-dong. In pursuit of the national
March 12, 2024
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[Out of the Shadows] A defense attorney's perspective on Korea's real drug challenges
Many Koreans perceive drug offenders as fundamentally different from ordinary people. An Jun-hung, a defense attorney who specializes in drug crimes, knows from his decade-long experience of representing them in court that this is not the case. He likens the experience of trying illegal drugs to getting into an unexpected car accident. "Most people who get caught doing illegal drugs first encounter them unknowingly or out of curiosity," the attorney from law firm Son & Partners s
March 12, 2024
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Baseball coach indicted for making elementary schooler run 100 laps
South Korean prosecutors said Monday it has indicted a baseball coach at a local elementary school on charge of child abuse, after he made one of his student athletes run 100 laps around the school grounds as punishment. According to Incheon District Prosecutors' Office, the suspect in his 30s is suspected of physical and psychological abuse against a member of his team. He is accused of forcing the student do the laps in addition to 500 pushups within 90 minutes last year. The child's
March 12, 2024
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Regrets from divorce? Men say 'lack of self-control,' women pick 'nagging'
When asked about their biggest regret from their marriages, divorced men cited a lack of self-control, while divorced women wished they had scolded their partner less, according to a survey by local matchmakers. Matchmaking services Only You and Bienarae jointly conducted the survey earlier this month on 518 men and women who have gone through a divorce. The leading answer for the question, "What do you regret most about how you treated your spouse from your first marriage?" 33.2 perc
March 12, 2024
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12-year-old dies, leaves note naming bullies
South Korean police said Tuesday it has launched an investigation into last year's death of a sixth-grader, as the bereaved family of the girl claim that the girl left a note of school bullies that allegedly tormented her until her death. According to Yeonje Police Station, the family recently told officials that the victim, who was 12 at the time, had been bullied for a year leading up to her death in October last year. The family told local media outlets that her suicide note contained th
March 12, 2024
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Health minister voices deep regret over SNU medical professors' resignation decision
Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong expressed deep concerns Tuesday over a decision by medical professors to resign unless there is a breakthrough in a prolonged walkout by trainee doctors, saying that such a collective action would pose a threat to the safety of patients. On Monday, medical school professors at Seoul National University resolved to submit resignations en masse next week if the government fails to present "a reasonable breakthrough" in the prolonged walkout. "The decisi
March 12, 2024