Police to strengthen preventive patrol

South Korea's police authorities announced on Monday plans to reassign 2,900 back-office staff to preventive patrol duties. The organizational reform is aimed at strengthening crime prevention capabilities amid a surge in apparent senseless crimes, the National Police Agency said. Most police officers who perform back-office jobs -- largely dedicated to administrative affairs -- will be given new high-visibility roles in crowded areas and secluded areas like park walking trails This is part of a

Sept. 18, 2023

Railroad strike over, but second strike may follow

The Korean Railroad Workers' Union ended its four-day general strike Monday morning, but announced the possibility of a second general strike without specifying when. “The second general strike plan has been set internally, but we will decide whether or not to go on a second strike and the exact schedule based on the Land Ministry's response,” Baek Nam-hee, the media communication chief of the railway union, said to The Korea Herald. “There are many concerns regarding

Sept. 18, 2023

Korea stacks up 15m doses of COVID-19 vaccine for winter

The first batch of Pfizer's vaccine for XBB.1.5, an omicron subvarient of COVID-19, has arrived at Incheon Airport on Monday, according to the quarantine authorities. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said that 4.04 million doses of the latest Pfizer vaccine arrived in the afternoon, out of a total 15 million doses set aside for this year's winter vaccination program. "A lot of research has shown that those who have taken this updated COVID-19 vaccine, which i

Sept. 18, 2023

A third of Korean households made up of single people

The landscape of Korean families has changed quite significantly over the last 30 years, with one-third of households in the country made up of single people and a fertility rate that has halved in the last two decades, government data showed Monday. According to the “Social Security in Statistics 2022” report released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of people living alone has more than doubled in the past 20 years. The number of single-person homes was 2.25 million

Sept. 18, 2023

Rail workers' 4-day strike comes to end; train services to normalize by night

Unionized rail workers were returning to work Monday after a four-day general strike staged to demand better working conditions and an expansion of the KTX bullet train service. The Korean Railway Workers' Union began the first walkout in about four years on Thursday, demanding the expansion of the KTX bullet train route to Suseo Station in southern Seoul, the starting point of another high-speed rail service SRT, as well as the full implementation of the four-team two-shift system. The uni

Sept. 18, 2023

Kim Yo-jong seen holding $7,000 Dior bag on Russia trip

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, could be seen grasping a $7,000 bag from French luxury fashion brand Christian Dior during Kim Jong-un’s visit to the Yuri Gagarin Aviation Plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia on Friday. According to a picture released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Kim Yo-jong was holding the black bag with quilting patterns like that of the Lady Dior bag currently being sold via Dior’s official website. Kim accom

Sept. 17, 2023

Caffeinated drinks spark buzz on teens’ overuse

Concerns are growing over the excessive consumption of caffeine among adolescents, according to a report on Sunday, citing a teen health study. According to last year’s “Youth Health Behavior Survey” conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on some 60,000 middle and high school students in 800 schools nationwide, 22.3 percent of the respondents answered “yes” when asked if they drink high-caffeine beverages more than three times a week. Some 26 p

Sept. 17, 2023

Man kills wife, three sons before drinking poison: police

The bodies of five found inside a family home in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province, on Friday, are believed to be those of a man in his 50s who killed his wife and three sons in their 20s before taking his own life by drinking poison, police said Sunday. South Jeolla Police Agency said an initial autopsy showed the man, identified by his last name of Kim, died of poisoning, while his wife and three children died from stab wounds. Police found one knife and a bottle of insecticide in a search of the

Sept. 17, 2023

Private education fees for preschoolers, kindergarteners up 38%: study

Private education spending among households with preschoolers or kindergarteners has increased by 38 percent in the last five years, a report showed Sunday. According to a report published by Kim Hye-ja, a researcher at the Korean Educational Development Institute, on the relationship between social awareness and educational expenses, the average spending on private education for preschoolers and kindergarteners jumped from 162,000 won ($121.71) in 2018 to 224,000 won in 2022, up 38.3 percent th

Sept. 17, 2023

1 in 5 ticketed Seoulites neglect parking fines; highest offender receives 752 fines in 5 years

One in 5 drivers in Seoul to have been ticketed has unpaid parking violation fines, resulting in an accumulated unpaid sum of 11.3 billion won ($8.5 million), the city of Seoul reported. According to data released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Sunday, the capital city witnessed approximately 1.42 million parking violation instances during an eight-month period from January to August this year. A total of 55.2 billion won was levied in fines, but approximately 20 percent, amounting to

Sept. 17, 2023

Statue of Korea's first Catholic priest officially unveiled in Vatican

A statue of Korea's first Catholic priest, St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon (1821-1846), was officially unveiled at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican during a Mass on Saturday, the anniversary of his martyrdom. The 3.8 meter-high marble statue was erected at a niche of St. Peter's Basilica, making it the first Asian saint's statue to be installed at the universal headquarters of the Catholic Church. Created by Korean sculptor Han Jin-sub, the statue wears a traditional Korean hat, ca

Sept. 17, 2023

Italy's invasive blue crab has Korean seafood fans excited

An Italian crustacean infestation is fanning culinary excitement in Korea, with a local seafood importer reaching out to Italy for possible imports. Italy's northern Adriatic coast has been dealing with an invasive crab species called the Atlantic blue crab in recent years, with the species wreaking havoc on the country’s ecosystem and causing millions of dollars worth of damage. First introduced through the bilges of foreign vessels several years ago, the Atlantic blue crab found a h

Sept. 16, 2023

Trains operate at nearly 80 pct capacity on 3rd day of rail strike

An ongoing strike by unionized rail workers entered its third day Saturday, forcing passenger trains to operate at just less than 80 percent capacity nationwide. The Korean Railway Workers' Union began its first strike in four years Thursday, demanding improved working conditions and an expansion of the KTX bullet train service to Suseo Station in southern Seoul, which is exclusively used by another high-speed railway service called SRT. The ministry said the national train operation rate w

Sept. 16, 2023

State audit agency to begin inspection of hosting of World Scout Jamboree next week

The state audit agency said Saturday it will launch a comprehensive inspection next week into the country's hosting of the World Scout Jamboree last month after the event faced much criticism for poor preparations. The 12-day event, which kicked off Aug. 1, underwent significant challenges, including a heat wave and a powerful typhoon, which forced the relocation of around 40,000 participants from a campsite in Saemangeum, a reclaimed wetland on the southwestern coast, to various parts of t

Sept. 16, 2023

Cases of teachers treated for depression rise 180% in four years: data

The number of cases of teachers getting treated for depression has risen by about 180 percent over the past four years, data showed, another worrying sign that teachers are being pushed to the brink in and outside the classrooms. According to data from the National Health Insurance Service obtained by Rep. Shin Hyeon-young, the number of cases of teachers getting treated for depression surged 179.4 percent to 158,066, up from 88,127 in 2018. Similarly, the number of cases involving anxiety disor

Sept. 15, 2023

Mother throws poopy diaper at daycare center teacher

A mother allegedly threw a poopy diaper at a daycare center teacher, complaining that her son had been abused. On Sunday, the teacher at the daycare center located in Sejong City visited a hospital where the mother’s child was hospitalized. The teacher said that she visited the hospital to apologize for the scar on the child's neck. The child got hurt while fighting with other children at the daycare center, so the teacher went to the hospital to apologize, she said. But when she arri

Sept. 15, 2023

Korea to establish surveillance system in wake of toxic humidifier disinfectant case

Health authorities announced on Friday plans to launch a real-time surveillance system to prevent future health disasters akin to the toxic humidifier disinfectant case, a string of lung disease outbreaks linked to chemicals found in humidifier disinfectants between 2006 and 2011. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced it has allocated 735 million won ($553,000) in the upcoming year's budget to create the Integrated Health Risk Information Management System. The

Sept. 15, 2023

Mom found guilty of stalking daughter, sentenced to six months in prison

A woman in her 50s has been sentenced to six months in prison and two years of probation for continuously harassing her adult daughter. The harassment included sending hundreds of abusive text messages and making unwanted visits, which constituted trespassing. Daejeon District Court documents outline the extensive nature of the harassment, which occurred from December 2021 to May 2022 and involved 306 text messages and 111 phone calls. The messages initially contained ordinary requests, such as

Sept. 14, 2023

[Herald Interview] What venture capital firms look out for in turbulent times

Venture capital houses have long found themselves leaning toward startups that offer business models featuring technologies that shape a better future for the next generation. Even during times of economic uncertainty, the investor appetite for business models that address issues of the future shows no signs of abating. Lim Sung-hoon, general partner of venture capital firm D3 Jubilee Partners, is one of the investors looking out for future environmental technologies that address problems surrou

Sept. 14, 2023

Bus driver given 6 years for deadly school zone accident

A bus driver who struck and killed an 8-year-old boy at a school zone crosswalk in May in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, was given a 6-year sentence in court on Thursday. “As a bus driver who had been driving the same route for three years, the defendant was aware that the location (of the incident) was a school zone with a right-turn traffic light, and that it was frequented by students attending an elementary school nearby,” said the Suwon District Court. “The accident could have

Sept. 14, 2023