Most Popular
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Koreans, Americans differ on prestigious jobs: lawmakers vs. firefighters
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Only half of S. Koreans willing to marry: data
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Disgraced ex-minister rises as major threat to ruling party
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Yoon calls for dialogue, trust from medical community
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Summit for Democracy opens in Seoul in mega-election year
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Jungkook of BTS updates life in Army
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Med professors to resign starting March 25
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Leaders call for action against threats to democracy posed by AI
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Ryu Joon-yeol, Han So-hee confirm dating since early 2024
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Dyson founder visits Seoul for global debut of new hair dryer
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Top 0.1% of Korea's employees averaged 685m won each in yearly bonuses: report
Of all the South Korean employees who reported having received bonuses from their companies in 2022, individuals in the top 0.1 percent got an average of 685.26 million won ($513,000) each, a National Tax Service report showed Saturday. According to a report made public by Rep. Yang Gyeong-suk of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, 9.79 million South Korean workers reported receiving bonuses, with the median figure among them being 4.34 million won. While the median figure marked an i
March 3, 2024
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Tensions hit fever pitch as doctors hold mass street rally
Tensions between the Yoon Suk Yeol government and the medical community have escalated to a boiling point, with doctors flooding the streets in a massive protest on Sunday, defying the government's ultimatum to return to work by Thursday or face legal consequences. At the Yeouido Hangang Park in western Seoul, doctors, interns, residents and medical students staged a large-scale protest to denounce the government's decision to increase the annual medical school student enrollment quo
March 3, 2024
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40% of Korea's female workers say they were paid less due to their gender
Roughly four out of 10 South Korean female employees said they have received less in wages from their employer due to their gender, a survey showed Sunday. Local civic group Gabjil 119 surveyed 1,000 employees across the country about gender discrimination in work-related issues such as wages or promotions. It showed 40.6 percent of the female respondents said they have been unfairly penalized in wages because of their gender, which was nearly double the 21.8 percent of men who said the same. Th
March 3, 2024
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[From the Scene] Day of Rage: Doctors resist pressure to bend
Expressing frustration and anger at the South Korean government’s recent decision to increase the annual medical school quota by 2,000 starting in 2025, tens of thousands of doctors, interns, residents and medical students walked the picket line Sunday afternoon to urge a reversal of the planned hike. Chants of “Let’s fight together, let’s win together” reverberated through the crowd, reflecting determination even as the government has issued repeated warnings that
March 3, 2024
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Marriages in Korea fall by 40% within a decade
In another piece of grim news underscoring South Korea's looming demographic crisis, the number of marriages in 2023 fell by 40 percent compared to the level recorded a decade ago, government statistics revealed Sunday. According to Statistics Korea, an estimated 193,673 couples tied the knot last year, a drop of 40 percent compared to the 322,807 couples who got married in 2013. From a year ago, however, the 2023 figure marks a 1 percent increase, or 1,983 more marriages. In 2022, marria
March 3, 2024
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Koreans working 200 hours fewer than decade ago: data
South Korean workers’ actual annual working hours have decreased by nearly 200 hours over 10 years, yet people here still work far longer than the average of the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Sunday, the average monthly working hours of employees in South Korea stood at 156.2 hours in 2023, down 2.5 hours from 158.7 hours in 2022. In 2013, the average monthly worki
March 3, 2024
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[KH explains] Why is S. Korea mulling ease on marriage ban between blood relatives?
The debate on consanguineous marriage is heating up, as the government appears to be moving toward easing laws related to intrafamily marriage. Currently, South Korea prohibits marriage between blood relatives within eight degrees of relations ("chon" in Korean), according to the Civil Act, Article 809 and Article 815. That means that Koreans may not marry third cousins -- their grandparents' cousins' grandchildren -- or closer relatives. Article 809, Section 1 states that &l
March 3, 2024
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Fake news on soccer star generated W700m: report
YouTube videos carrying fake news about controversy-ridden soccer star Lee Kang-in are thought to have generated up to 700 million won ($523,000) in profit in the two weeks after his alleged altercation with Son Heung-min became public, a report by an advertising consulting firm claimed Sunday. Lee, a 23-year-old player for Paris Saint-Germain, was subject to nationwide criticism when it was reported that he had allegedly fought with the South Korean national men's soccer team captain Son H
March 3, 2024
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Gang member found dead amid probe for assault on YouTuber
A member of a South Korean gang who was under investigation for instigating an assault on a YouTuber has been found dead, a local media outlet reported Sunday. The body of the 30-something-year-old suspect was found inside a motel in Gyeonggi Province, according to a Channel A report. The man was being investigated by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office on suspicion of instigating an attack against a YouTuber who uploaded critical content about his organization. Police did not disclose d
March 3, 2024
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1 crew member missing from capsized fishing boat off Jeju found dead
One of the two crew members missing from the fishing boat that capsized off the southern island of Jeju the previous day was found dead, the Coast Guard said Saturday. The body of the crew member was discovered at around 12:30 p.m. in waters about 22 kilometers away from the accident site by a fishing boat that was helping with the rescue work, the Jeju Coast Guard officials said. Officials later identified the body as one of the two fishermen, in his 50s, who went missing after the boat overtur
March 2, 2024
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Tensions loom as doctors plan mass rally in deepening clash over med school quota
Tensions were rising Saturday as defiant doctors were set to hold a mass rally over the weekend in protest against the government plan to increase medical school admissions, with no sign of a breakthrough amid growing risks of a major medical disruption. The Korea Medical Association, the largest doctors' lobby group, plans to stage a large demonstration in western Seoul on Sunday in a show of resistance against the government's plan to add 2,000 more seats to the medical school admission quota
March 2, 2024
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South Korea publicly orders some doctors who walked off the job back to work
South Korea's government late on Friday publicly ordered 13 doctors, at least some of whom have been vocal about a walkout by roughly 9,000 physicians over a health system reform plan, to return to work or face penalties. The public legal notice is the latest sign of the South Korean government's continued hardline stance toward trainee doctors participating in the walkout or criticizing the reform plan, after local police raided officials of a doctor's association on Friday, a pu
March 2, 2024
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Fishing boat capsizes off Jeju; 1 dead, 2 missing
SEOGWIPO -- A fishing boat with 10 crew members on board capsized off the southern island of Jeju on Friday, leaving one of them dead and two others missing, the Coast Guard said. Five South Korean and five Vietnamese were aboard the 33-ton vessel when it overturned in waters about 12 nautical miles off the city of Seogwipo at 7:24 a.m., Coast Guard officials said. Eight crew members -- three South Koreans and five Vietnamese -- were rescued by a nearby fishing boat, but one of them, a South K
March 1, 2024
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S. Korea to update unification vision for 1st time in 30 years
The government of President Yoon Suk Yeol plans to draw up a new vision for unification with North Korea to include the principle of liberal democracy, a presidential official said Friday. It will mark the first revision to the National Community Unification Formula, South Korea's unification policy unveiled in August 1994 under the administration of late President Kim Young-sam. "The National Community Unification Formula, which has served as the official unification plan of our gover
March 1, 2024
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Police raid striking doctors' homes, offices, after deadline passes on return-to-work order
As the Thursday deadline the government set for striking doctors to return to work passed, most residents stayed off work Friday, leading the government to introduce stronger measures. Police raided the offices of the Korean Medical Association in Seoul and Gangwon Province the same day, as doctors affiliated with the organization were accused of violating medical laws regarding the ongoing mass walkout by trainee doctors. The police reportedly seized mobile phones and computers from the homes o
March 1, 2024
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Man jailed for fraud after faking lottery forecast program
A Korean man in his 40s was sentenced to one year in prison for swindling hundreds of millions of won from another man by persuading the victim to invest in a program that the man said aids in winning the lottery, a court said Friday. According to a Daejeon court, the perpetrator met the victim through social media in 2019. The man presented fake receipts that showed he had won the first and second prizes in the lottery through a "lottery number forecast" program he claimed to have dev
March 1, 2024
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Most doctors refuse to end strike on last day of ultimatum
Only 294 of 9,000 striking junior doctors on strike returned to work on Thursday morning, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday. Thursday is the final day of the back-to-work deadline set by the government, with officials warning that the doctors could have their licenses suspended if they fail to heed the ultimatum. The Health Ministry has said the government is prepared to take legal steps beginning March. On Wednesday, the Health Ministry said that its officials had visited the hom
Feb. 29, 2024
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Court rules against ban on doctors revealing sex of unborn child
Parents will now be legally able to find out the sex of their unborn children before 32 weeks of pregnancy in South Korea. The South Korean Constitutional Court on Wednesday found the restriction on revealing the sex of fetuses unconstitutional, nullifying the related law provision immediately. The South Korean Medical Act Article 20 (2) stipulates doctors who reveal an immature fetus’ sex to anyone, including the mother, would have their license suspended face up to two years of impriso
Feb. 29, 2024
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30-year jail term sought for mother, acquaintances who beat infant to death
South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday requested a 30-year prison term for a 29-year-old woman indicted for beating her son to death, with the same punishment sought for her two acquaintances who took part in the abuse. Officials from Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office requested the court to sentence the mother, her 30-year-old male acquaintance and her 27-year-old female acquaintance for the charge of death resulting from child abuse. Such an offense is punishable with five years to life
Feb. 29, 2024
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Watchdog blocks additional parody videos of president
The Korea Communications Standards Commission on Thursday decided to block two parody videos of President Yoon Seuk Yeol, a week after it blocked a viral fake compilation video of the South Korean leader. The KCSC convened a meeting earlier in the day and passed the decision to block two doctored videos of Yoon from a 2022 speech which made it appear as if he was confessing to corruption and incompetence. The decision was based on the Regulations for the Review of Information and Communications,
Feb. 29, 2024