Actor’s excessive airport security sparks probe into human rights violations

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said Friday that it launched an investigation into allegations of excessive security measures involving actor Byeon Woo-seok. The investigation follows a complaint submitted on July 14, accusing the security measures during Byeon’s recent travels of infringing on human rights. The NHRCK will examine whether the airport's security team was complicit in the actions of a private security firm, which included blocking gates and conducting ticket an

Social AffairsJuly 26, 2024

S. Korea to consent to Japan's Sado mines gaining World Heritage status: official

South Korea has given the green light to designate Japan's gold and silver mines on Sado Island -- where an estimated over 1,500 Koreans were forced to work at the end of Japan's colonial rule -- as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Foreign Ministry announced on Friday. Japan's ongoing efforts to have the Sado Island Gold Mines recognized have fueled a dispute with South Korea. The controversy revolves around Japan's deliberate omission of its history regarding the forced mobilization of Koreans

Foreign AffairsJuly 26, 2024

Assembly defers Supreme Court judge appointment amid nepotism accusations

The National Assembly on Friday postponed the adoption of a report on the confirmation hearing results for one Supreme Court justice nominee, putting the brakes on her appointment amidst growing controversy over allegations of nepotism. The decision by the parliamentary special committee to delay the confirmation of Lee Sook-yeon, a Patent Court judge, came after allegations surfaced involving her daughter. There are suspicions that her 26-year-old daughter benefited significantly from unlisted

Social AffairsJuly 26, 2024

Mandating suitors to check litigation e-documents within 1 week is constitutional: court

The Constitutional Court of Korea recently ruled in favor of the legal clause that effectively requires suitors in civil cases to check the e-documents related to their litigation within the week of the information being made available to them. In the ruling, Article 11-4 of the Act on the Use of Electronic Documents in Civil Litigations was unanimously ruled constitutional. The article concerns electronic documents related to the civil cases, which are registered to the court system and made av

Social AffairsJuly 26, 2024

Acting chief of broadcasting regulator resigns ahead of impeachment vote

Lee Sang-in, acting chief of South Korea's state broadcasting regulator, voluntarily stepped down Friday ahead of the National Assembly's planned vote on his impeachment motion. The main opposition Democratic Party, which has the majority of seats in the National Assembly, tabled a motion to impeach Lee, apparently aimed at blocking the Korea Communications Commission from taking control of public broadcaster MBC. President Yoon Suk Yeol accepted Lee's resignation offer, his offic

PoliticsJuly 26, 2024

Man found dead in reservoir, day after drunk driving accident

South Korean police have kicked off an investigation into the death of a man in his 40s whose body was found in a local reservoir Thursday, believing him to be responsible for a drunk driving accident a day earlier. The man's body was found at 2:48 p.m. Thursday floating in the Yongjeong Reservoir in Goesan-gun, North Chungcheong Province. The initial probe showed no signs of foul play and no indications that the deceased took his own life. Surveillance footage of the surrounding area showe

Social AffairsJuly 26, 2024

Actor Yoo Ah-in accused of sexual attack

A 30-year-old man has filed a criminal complaint against actor Yoo Ah-in for sexually attacking him, Seoul police said Friday, with investigators considering the possibility that Yoo had been under the influence of drugs when it occurred. Officials at the Seoul Yongsan Police Station are investigating the imitative rape case involving the 37-year-old actor, with plans to summon him for questioning soon. Imitative rape, stipulated by Article 297-2 of the Criminal Act, refers to rape via non-genit

Social AffairsJuly 26, 2024

Toddlers consuming sugary drinks at higher risk for ADHD: study

Children who consume sweetened beverages before the age of 2 are more likely to develop ADHD later in life, according to a recent study. The incidence rate of the highly prevalent condition was 29.6 per 10,000 persons, while the corresponding figure was 23.8 for those who consumed fewer sugary drinks, according to joint study conducted by pediatrics professors Han Man-yong at CHA Bundang Medical Center and Kim Ju-hee at Kyung Hee University Medical Center. The report defined sweetened beverages

Social AffairsJuly 26, 2024

North Korean trash balloons reaching South Korea more successfully: JCS

The latest batch of trash-carrying balloons sent by North Korea made their way to South Korea more successfully this time, reportedly causing a fire and falling around the country’s most significant political buildings like the presidential office and the National Assembly. The count of North Korean balloons launched Wednesday stood at around 500 as of Thursday morning, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, with about 480 of them falling within South Korea. No balloons we

DefenseJuly 25, 2024

Yoon urges municipalities to embrace foreigners

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Thursday that local governments' cooperation with the state was crucial in encouraging foreign residents to settle here to address the population crisis in South Korea. At a meeting held in Hongseong-gun, South Chungcheong Province, Yoon, who presided over a meeting with heads of the autonomous governments, said the central and local governments should take preemptive actions to support foreign nationals to settle and work in Korean society, as the country faces a gr

PoliticsJuly 25, 2024

Yoon taps economics expert as population planning aide

President Yoon Suk Yeol's office announced Thursday it has established a new senior presidential secretary position dedicated to addressing South Korea's population crisis. Yoon's office also said You Hye-mi, an economics professor at Hanyang University, was appointed as the inaugural senior secretary tasked with tackling South Korea's low birth rate and addressing the nation's demographic challenges. Chung Jin-suk, Yoon's chief of staff, told reporters that You's position will serve as a "

PoliticsJuly 25, 2024

Bill for special probe into Marine's death nixed in Assembly revote

A bill recently vetoed by President Yoon Suk Yeol that would mandate a special counsel investigation into the Defense Ministry's and military's response to a Marine's death, was scrapped at the National Assembly on Thursday amid intensifying bipartisan struggle. The revote had 194 votes in favor to 104 against the bill. Overriding a presidential veto requires a majority of the 300-member body to be present with two-thirds of them in favor. There was one abstention in the revote th

PoliticsJuly 25, 2024

First lady apologized for causing public concern: lawyer

First Lady Kim Keon Hee apologized for causing public concerns as she attended questioning by the prosecution, her lawyer said Thursday. Kim's legal representative, lawyer Choi Ji-woo, said in a YouTube interview that she told the prosecution before the interrogation began on Saturday, adding that she feels sorry for letting the people down as first lady. Amid growing criticism over speculations that the first lady was receiving preferential treatment by being questioned at a venue outside

Social AffairsJuly 25, 2024

Man who let his father die due to financial difficulties to be released on parole

A 25-year-old man currently serving a prison term for patricide will be released next Tuesday on parole, a Daegu-based civic group said Thursday. In a highly publicized case in 2021, the man was convicted after he stopped providing food and medication for his terminally ill father due to financial difficulties. The victim had been bedridden since suffering a brain hemorrhage in September 2020, not being able to eat or relieve himself on his own. But his son, who had been on his mandatory mili

Social AffairsJuly 25, 2024

TOEIC instructor who sold test answers to test-takers sentenced to 3-year jail term

A Seoul court recently sentenced a former hagwon teacher to a three-year jail term for selling TOEIC test answers to multiple test-takers for money. The Seoul Eastern District Court found the defendant surnamed Hong guilty of obstruction of business as stipulated in Article 314 of the Criminal Act. In addition to the jail term, the court also ordered the seizure of 76.6 million won ($55,000) in assets. Investigators found that the 27-year-old defendant had committed the crimes to fund internet

Social AffairsJuly 25, 2024

S. Korea, China shifting from tensions to cooperation: Seoul

The vice ministers of South Korea and China committed on Wednesday to achieving tangible outcomes in their bilateral cooperation and exchanges, which have recently regained momentum, departing from the period of diplomatic chill that persisted until last year, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said Thursday. South Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister, Kim Hong-kyun, met with China's Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ma Zhaoxu, the highest-ranking of the vice ministers, in Seou

Foreign AffairsJuly 25, 2024

Police seek arrest warrant for driver in deadly car crash

The police sought an arrest warrant Wednesday for the driver behind the fatal car crash that killed nine pedestrians near Seoul city hall earlier this month, according to officials on Thursday. On July 1, a sedan crashed into pedestrians waiting for a traffic light at an intersection near Exit No. 7 of Seoul’s City Hall Station in Jung-gu, central Seoul. The car drove in the wrong direction and hit the pedestrians before colliding with two other vehicles. The crash resulted in nine fatalit

Social AffairsJuly 25, 2024

40% of school violence victims felt urge to self-harm: survey

Roughly 4 out of 10 students who were victims of school violence said they had felt the urge to either inflict injury on oneself or commit suicide, a survey by an NGO showed Wednesday. The Blue Tree Foundation, a group dedicated to preventing school violence and help victims, said in a press conference that 3.5 percent of the respondents in their recent survey said they had been subject to violence at school, of which 39.9 percent said they felt the urge to hurt or kill themselves. The foundat

Social AffairsJuly 25, 2024

Day care centers plummet, senior facilities soar amid demographic shift

Day care centers declined by nearly 2,000 in 2023, while facilities for seniors increased by more than 3,000, reflecting Korea’s continued aging society, data showed Thursday. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of day care centers fell by 1,969, from 30,923 in 2022 to 28,954 last year. The overall decrease was mainly driven by declining private and family day care centers. Private day care centers decreased by 840 from 9,726 to 8,886, while family day care centers

Social AffairsJuly 25, 2024

District prosecution chief briefed on first lady's questioning before report to prosecutor general 3hrs later

The chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office was briefed on last week's questioning of first lady Kim Keon Hee more than three hours before he reported it to Prosecutor General Lee One-seok, sources said Thursday. The revelation came after the top prosecutor expressed frustrations that he had been in the dark about Saturday's questioning of Kim over a luxury bag scandal for some 10 hours, and ordered an inspection into what happened. The inspection is expected to focus on

Social AffairsJuly 25, 2024