Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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Airline reservations for Japan nearly full on March 1st Movement Day
Many Koreans are planning to travel to Japan during the three-day holiday starting on March 1, a national holiday commemorating the independence movement against Japanese rule, according to the aviation industry on Wednesday. Low-cost carrier Jeju Air said among the international routes departing from Incheon Airport from March 1 to March 3, the route to Matsuyama, Japan, has the highest reservation rate. As of Wednesday, the reservation rate is in the high 90 percent range. The overall averag
Feb. 21, 2024
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Concerns over public health heighten as trainee doctors walk off job for 2nd day
Surgeries have been canceled and some patients were forced to be transferred to other hospitals as trainee doctors stopped working for the second day in a row Wednesday in protest of the government's plan to boost the number of medical students. More than 6,400 trainee doctors nationwide, about 55 percent of the junior doctors, have submitted their resignations en masse so far, with about 1,600 of them walking off the job, according to the health ministry. Medical services at the five bigge
Feb. 21, 2024
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[Graphic News] 53% of Gen Z workers want 4-day workweek
Although the implementation of a four-day workweek is slowly on the rise globally, with new studies showing it to have overall positive effects on both the company and the workforce, it still remains a hot topic in South Korea where many businesses are hesitant to accept a change in the norm. According to a survey done by online employment platform Catch, 1,076 Generation Z job seekers were asked how they would feel about the four-day workweek system with pay cuts. Fifty-three percent of respond
Feb. 21, 2024
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Korean victim receives first compensation for forced labor from Japanese company
The bereaved family of a forced labor victim under Japan's 1910-1945 colonization received 60 million won ($44,850) in recompense in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling, marking the first case in which funds from a Japanese company were transferred to a forced labor victim. The family of the late victim surnamed Lee, who worked at the firm's shipyard starting in September 1944, withdrew 60 million won on Tuesday from the Seoul Central District Court, which Osaka-based industrial and
Feb. 20, 2024
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Busan police on hunt for unidentified Haeundae skyscraper jumpers
Busan police are looking after two unidentified individuals who allegedly parachuted from the 99th floor of a 104-story high-rise in Haeundae, Busan, last week. According to investigators at Haeundae Police Station on Tuesday, the duo, suspected to be extreme jumpers, likely jumped from an observation deck located on the 99th floor of the Haeundae LCT The Sharp, after sneaking into the mixed-use building. Charges of illegal trespassing are being considered by the authorities. The police wa
Feb. 20, 2024
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Brother of hiking trail murder victim laments sister's death
The brother of the woman who was murdered along a Sillim-dong hiking trail has shared the story of what the bereaved family has been through in a recent online post, since the brutal attempted rape and death of the 35-year-old teacher in August 2023. In a crime that shocked the nation, a then-30-year-old man named Choi Yoon-jong followed the victim, surnamed Gong, to a remote area along a hiking trail in Gwanak-gu, southern Seoul, before attacking her with the intent to rape her. He then fatal
Feb. 20, 2024
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Nurses urge trainee doctors to return
A group of nurses in Korea urged doctors to come back to their duties, stressing that its their duty to protect patients. “We also believe that the government’s sudden announcement to increase medical school enrollment quota is excessive. We also doubt that the quality of education from medical schools following the quota increase will be as good as the government claims it will be,” wrote the Korean Young Nurses Association on Instagram. “Nevertheless, we request for you
Feb. 20, 2024
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Ex-PM leaves New Reform Party after rift with Lee Jun-seok
Former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Tuesday announced his departure from the New Reform Party and resignation from its leadership, following signs of a growing rift with his co-chair, Lee Jun-seok. The announcement which comes merely 11 days after the ex-PM and his own political party, the New Future Party, merged with the Reform Party, which was launched by the former ruling party leader, Lee Jun-seok, last month. “I plan to return to the New Future Party and reorganize the party to prep
Feb. 20, 2024
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Junior doctors pull the trigger, stage walkout despite warning
Thousands of trainee doctors submitted their letters of collective resignation in protest against the government's plan to boost the number of medical students on Tuesday, aggravating fears of a major void in public health. As of Monday at 11 p.m., 6,415 trainee doctors at 100 teaching hospitals had handed in their resignation letters, with about 1,630 of them walking out of the hospital, according to the Health Ministry on Tuesday. The rate of junior doctors resigning is over 55 percent, a
Feb. 20, 2024
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[News Focus] Why do Korean doctors oppose having more physicians?
Thousands of medical doctors, the essential force for the care and treatment of critical patients, left their hospitals Tuesday in protest of the government’s policy to expand the number of medical school students. South Korea’s medical landscape has been gripped with the fear of a major health care crisis, with doctors leaving their patients, claiming that the nation does not need more doctors because it has enough already and that the policy change will lower the quality of medical
Feb. 20, 2024
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Human rights body to fund research on foreign workers' conditions
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea announced Monday that it plans to fund research on the working conditions of migrant workers, to expand the statistics available specifically on migrant worker deaths and potential support systems. The commission will be accepting research proposals for related studies with a maximum funding award amount of 50,000,000 won ($37,374) per project from March 7, 10 a.m. through March 10, 10 a.m. via their website. “Various factors make migrant worke
Feb. 20, 2024
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Nearly half of special medical equipment over 10 years old
The South Korean government on Tuesday said it will revamp the supervision and maintenance system for the medical equipment in the country, as recent data shows that some 42.6 percent of what is deemed "special medical equipment" here has been in use for 10 years or more. The Ministry of Health and Welfare's recently-announced second comprehensive state health insurance program for the 2024-2028 period kicked in this year, which includes plans to shorten the term for regular inspe
Feb. 20, 2024
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'Accommodating 2,000 new med students impossible': deans of med schools
Some 40 medical universities have called for governments to retract their original decision to add 2,000 seats to the country's medical school enrollment quota next year from the current 3,058, claiming that "the plan is impossible to accommodate considering the conditions of current education in a short period." The Korean Association of Medical Colleges (KAMC), on behalf of the deans of 40 medical schools and medical specialty schools nationwide, released such a statement on Mon
Feb. 19, 2024
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Trainee doctors take collective action against gov't medical policy
Trainee doctors began submitting their letters of collective resignation Monday in protest against the government's plan to boost the number of medical students, while the health ministry ordered all of them to keep providing medical treatment. Worries mounted as doctors warn of a large-scale strike and other responses in opposition to the government's decision to add 2,000 to the country's medical school enrollment quota next year, marking a sharp rise from the current 3,058 seat
Feb. 19, 2024
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Reality check: How diverse is Korea really? LGBTQ+ and society (9)
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2020, there has been a notable shift in public opinion in South Korea regarding the acceptance of homosexuality. The survey revealed that the percentage of individuals who believed that homosexuality should be accepted by society increased from 25 percent in 2002 to 44 percent in 2019. This shift suggests growing openness and changing attitudes towards LGBTQ+ issues within South Korean society over the years. However, it's impo
Feb. 19, 2024
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Man indicted for false testimony, evidence rigging over girlfriend's rape
South Korean prosecutors recently indicted a man for providing false testimony and rigging evidence related to the alleged rape of his girlfriend by another man. The man reportedly tried to convince his girlfriend that she had not been assaulted. Investigators have pushed for charges of perjury, instigation of perjury, and forging of evidence against the 20-something suspect, according to officials. The suspect, who was in a romantic relationship with the victim, was approached by a friend of
Feb. 19, 2024
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Police vow to probe doctors’ joint action
The police will investigate doctors who undertake joint action in protest of the government’s plan to increase the annual student enrollment quota at medical schools from 2025, Yoon Hee-keun, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency told reporters Monday. Yoon said that the police would investigate any joint action taken by doctors that were reported to law enforcement agencies, adding that arrest warrants would be issued for individual doctors who are “clearly in vi
Feb. 19, 2024
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More universities gear up for bigger tuition hikes
Four-year universities in South Korea are gearing up to raise tuition fees, going away from the so-called "half-price" tuition policy that encouraged them to freeze the price since 2012. Out of 137 universities that have set the amount of their tuition fees, 19 have decided to raise the expenditure. Keimyung University raised its tuition fee for the first time in 16 years, while Chosun University and Dong-Eui University raised them for the first time in 15 and 13 years, respectively.
Feb. 19, 2024
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Korea had over 100 quakes above magnitude 2.0 in 2023: KMA
More than 100 earthquakes with a magnitude above 2.0 were recorded on the Korean Peninsula in 2023, marking a slight increase compared to previous years, according to a report by the Korea Meteorological Administration on Monday. Through its annual report on earthquake occurrences, the KMA noted that a total of 106 earthquakes above magnitude 2.0 were recorded on the peninsula last year, more than the annual average of 70.8. This figure is calculated based on the number of earthquake occurrences
Feb. 19, 2024
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Patients on edge as doctors prepare for hospital walkout
Medical institutions were in a frantic dash Monday morning as junior doctors at Seoul’s “Big Five” hospitals moved to tender their resignation letters en masse Monday and walk out of their jobs on Tuesday at 6 a.m. in protest against the government’s planned hike in medical school enrollment quota. With a face full of worry, a woman in her 60s grabbed onto medical personnel at the main lobby of Severance Hospital in Seodaemun-gu, western Seoul, asking if she would be able
Feb. 19, 2024