I’m Ryu Ok Hada, a trainee doctor who resigned from the Catholic Medical Center on Feb. 16. Recently, President Yoon Suk Yeol said that the medical community should come up with a unified proposal on an appropriate increase in the annual medical school admissions quota based on scientific and rational grounds. A survey I conducted on 1,581 trainee doctors and medical students between March 29 and April 1 showed that 96 percent of the respondents think that the increase in the medical schoo

A recent survey on married couples in their 20s and 30s have shown that 65.4 percent of them have experienced a severe decline in contentment of their marriage. The survey was conducted on 500 married women last month by a local matchmaking company Duo, to see how many of the young South Korean couples go through "gweontae-gi," which roughly means a period when a couple find each other tiresome. It is similar to the seven-year itch in the Western culture, a belief that happiness in lon

A 33-year-old man who saved a woman suffering from an acute case of epilepsy while driving was commended by the city rescue authorities on Monday. Jeon Ji-hun received a certificate of appreciation from the Ulsan Nambu Fire station for his role in saving a 50-something-year-old driver in Nam-gu, Ulsan, on March 28. At around 10:26 p.m., her car had stopped in the middle of the road, not responding to honking of other cars for a full three minutes. Jeon, who was driving the car behind her, steppe

South Korea will provide $12 million in humanitarian assistance to Sudan and the neighboring countries struggling with a yearlong conflict between rival military factions, the foreign ministry said Tuesday. Choi Jai-chul, South Korean Ambassador to France, announced the plan Monday (local time) during an international humanitarian conference in Paris, as he voiced concerns over the worsening situation in Khartoum. "Our government will continue to join international efforts to assist countri

Kim Jae-shin has been appointed as the sixth secretary-general of the ASEAN-Korea Center. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and South Korea are preparing to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the ASEAN-Korea Center and 35 years of ASEAN-Korea dialogue this year. The year holds special significance for the relationship, as ASEAN-Korea relations are to be upgraded to a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" at the ASEAN-ROK Summit to be held in the second half of this year, the

Senior US officials discussed with Beijing officials a range of regional and global issues, including North Korea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea during their visit to China this week, the State Department said Monday. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and National Security Council Senior Director for China and Taiwan Affairs Sarah Beran met with Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and Yang Tao, director general of the North Ameri

North Korea has the capability to genetically engineer biological military products, an annual US report showed Monday, noting Pyongyang has a "dedicated, national-level offensive" biological weapons program. The State Department issued the report, titled "Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments." It was prepared in consultation with the Department of Defense, Department of Energy and the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Diplomats from South Korea and the United States held a new session of their bilateral dialogue on North Korean human rights in Washington on Monday, as the two sides see a close link between Pyongyang's weapons programs and its rights conditions. Chun Young-hee, director general for the Korean Peninsula peace regime at Seoul's foreign ministry, and Julie Turner, the US special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, led the second session of the dialogue that was relaunched in Nov

President Yoon Suk Yeol held talks with the top US envoy to the United Nations on Monday to discuss issues ranging from tensions in the Middle East to UN sanctions against North Korea, his office said. Yoon's meeting with Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield took place at the presidential office as part of her four-day trip to South Korea that also involved talks with the foreign and defense ministers. The two called for joint efforts to help resolve the Mideast crisis and extend comprehensiv

The top US envoy to the United Nations and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul discussed ways to build a new mechanism for monitoring the enforcement of UN sanctions on North Korea, Cho's office said Monday, after Russia vetoed a resolution meant to renew the monitoring mandate. The meeting between Cho and Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield came amid growing concerns that Moscow's rejection to extend the mandate for the UN Panel of Experts on North Korean sanctions could undermine internation

An unsuccessful candidate in last week's parliamentary elections appeared before police Monday for questioning on charges of receiving political donations through payments via a YouTube broadcast last year. Jang Ye-chan, a former ruling People Power Party member who quit the party and ran as an independent, has been accused of accepting payments through YouTube's Super Chat function during live streaming in August in violation of the Political Funds Act. Viewers sent as little as 2,000

South Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a special travel advisory for Iran, effective as of Monday, in response to the escalating tensions in the Middle East. The special travel advisory is equivalent to a travel alert level 3 within the 4-stage travel alert system, or a red alert, which advises nationals to leave the designated area unless it's an emergency and to postpone or cancel planned trips to the area. While the previous level 3 alert for specific regions of Iran remains unchange

Now 27 years old, 3 survivors reflect on the lives their friends never had, indelible scars that shaped their adulthood, their dreams

An employee of a state-run company who recorded his boss swearing loudly inside the office has been cleared of criminal charges, a local court said Monday. The 35-year-old defendant had been accused of violating the Protection of Communications Secrets Act, which bans anyone from recording or listening to a conversation of other people that was not public. The boss in question claimed that the recording was a private conversation with a specific employee, who was not the defendant. The prosecuti

In two places struck by unprecedented tragedy 10 years ago, people grieve for victims, yearn for truth, safer society