Foreign children aged 3-5 in Seoul will receive education fee support equivalent to that for South Korean children from March, the city's education office said Monday. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will provide up to 150,000 won ($126) -- 100,000 won for daytime programs and 50,000 won for after-school programs -- per month to foreign children enrolled in public kindergartens. Up to 350,000 won -- 280,000 won for daytime and 70,000 won for after-school programs-- will be given to

INCHEON -- Police said Monday they were looking into a report of a suspected animal abuse attempt using sausage-skewered fishhooks at a park in Incheon popular among dog owners. Police said they received the report of the suspicious fishhooks in the park in Bupyeong Ward of Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul, at 9:45 p.m. Sunday. Authorities said they searched the park but failed to discover the hooks in question. The fishhooks were first made public by a dog owner who discovered them at th

President Moon Jae-in on Monday named a new senior secretary for civil affairs after the previous secretary resigned over ethical issues related to his son. Kim Young-sik, a former secretary for legal affairs under the Moon administration, was appointed to succeed Kim Jin-kook, who stepped down last month after his son was found to have leveraged the father's position on job applications. "(Kim) has a high level of understanding of the Moon Jae-in government's administrative philosophy an

The government has allowed a convicted conscientious objector to replace his military service duty with an alternative service for the first time, a decision suggesting a softening of the government's stance on the issue. Jeong Wook, who was sentenced to a one-year jail term for draft dodging and served nine months before being released on parole, was notified earlier this month of the Military Manpower Administration's decision to accept his application for alternative military service, accord

South Korea's military on Monday reported 22 additional COVID-19 cases, with all of them being breakthrough infections, raising the total caseload among its personnel to 3,633. Of the new cases, 19 are from the Army, two from the Marine Corps and one from the Navy. Currently, 235 military personnel are under treatment. Of the total military caseload, 1,810 are breakthrough cases. (Yonhap)

Popular Korean TV series will return to the stage as musicals to meet the rising demand from fans who long to enjoy their favorite shows in diversified formats. The smash-hit rom-com "Crash Landing On You" (2019) with Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin in starring roles will come back in the form of a musical in September at COEX in southern Seoul. The 16-episode "Crash Landing On You," which aired simultaneously on the South Korean cable channel tvN and Netflix, is about star-crossed

South Korea's daily coronavirus cases fell below 4,000 for the first time in a week Monday, but health authorities remained vigilant over a possible resurgence due to the fast spread of the omicron variant amid partially eased antivirus curbs. The country added 3,859 new COVID-19 infections, including 3,551 local infections, raising the total caseload to 696,032, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The figure marked a fall from 4,193 new cases logged in the pre

The South Korean four-man bobsleigh team led by an Olympic medal-winning pilot had its best performance of the season in the final race before the Beijing Winter Games. Won Yun-jong led his quartet to a 10th place finish at the season-ending International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Sunday (local time), with a combined time of 2:10.28 after two runs. Won, who won a four-man bobsleigh silver at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, had hov

　Shopping on social media such as Facebook, TikTok and WeChat is going to grow three times faster than sales from traditional channels over the next three years, according to a study released by Accenture. 　Social commerce, defined as transactions that take place entirely within the context of a social-media platform, will reach $1.2 trillion by 2025, up from $492 billion in 2021, the consulting company said in the report. The trend is being driven primarily by Gen Z and millennial consumers,

Main opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol is leading his ruling party rival Lee Jae-myung with 40.6 percent public support against Lee's 36.7 percent, a survey showed Monday. Yoon of the People Power Party (PPP) gained 6.5 percentage points from the previous week, while Lee of the Democratic Party lost 3.4 points, according to the Realmeter survey conducted on 3,031 adults from Jan. 9 to 14. Yoon led Lee by 3.9 percentage points, which was outside the margin of error of plus or minu

Of the seven medals that South Korea won in speed skating at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, none was more surprising than the out-of-the-blue silver by Cha Min-kyu in the men's 500m. Sure, he had won an odd medal here and there at other international races, but an Olympic podium finish was completely unexpected. But lost in the hoopla over that silver was just how close Cha came to winning gold. At 34.42 seconds, Cha ended up only 0.01 second back of the gold medalist, Havard Lorentzen

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday, weighed by losses of auto and financial heavyweights. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) declined 13.39 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,908.53 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. The key stock index got off to a weak start, following a two-day losing streak amid concerns about the rising inflationary pressure at home and in the United States. In Seoul, leading carmaker Hyundai Motor lost 1.67 percent, with its smaller affili

South Korea's Air Force said Monday it will resume the operation of its combat aircraft suspended after a pilot died earlier this month following the sudden crash of an F-5E fighter. The armed service said the operation of its warplanes, except for F-5Es and F-35As, will resume in phases, starting at noon. Since the fatal crash last week, the Air Force has run only essential assets, such as reconnaissance planes. The F-5E crashed into a mountain in Hwaseong, some 40 kilometers south of Seoul,