Overseas voting for the April 10 general elections is set to kick off this week and run for the next six days at 220 polling stations across 115 countries, the National Election Commission said Tuesday. A total of 147,989 people are eligible for overseas voting set for Wednesday through Monday, the NEC said. Eligible voters unable to participate in the overseas voting or those wishing to cast their ballots in South Korea can do so on the voting day if they report to regional election commissions

The education ministry opened a hotline on Tuesday to protect medical students wanting to return to classes from peer bullying from other students boycotting classes in protest of the government's increase of the medical school quota. The move came amid reported cases of medical students unwillingly joining the ongoing collective action of boycotting or staying away from classes due to coercion or threats of future disadvantages by protesting students or student groups. Nearly half of the c

South Korea's trade ministry said Tuesday it has agreed with Malaysia to resume their bilateral free trade agreement talks that have been stalled since 2019. Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo and his Malaysian counterpart, Tengku Zafrul Aziz, made the announcement during their meeting in Kuala Lumpur, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The two countries agreed to seek a bilateral FTA in 2019 but related negotiations have been stalled after holding three rounds of talks that

Police are tracking down the writer of a message vowing to kill Rep. Ko Min-jung of the main opposition Democratic Party, officials said Tuesday. The message was posted in an online game chatroom Monday morning, vowing to kill Ko, who is seeking parliamentary reelection in her constituency of Seoul's Gwangjin district, according to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police. Police launched an investigation upon receiving a report on the threat. They plan to trace the writer by locating the IP ad

A major lobby group of community doctors is set to elect a new leader Tuesday, with a prolonged walkout by junior doctors over the increased medical school enrollment quota continuing to disrupt public health services at major hospitals. The Korean Medical Association, which represents some 100,000 community doctors, plans to announce a new chairman later in the day, a move certain to further intensify the standoff with the government. The two candidates are Lim Hyun-taek, head of the Korean Ped

A South Korean internet celebrity has recently been accused of fraud by the bereaved family of a South Korean man who died last year after spending large sums of money in support of the celebrity. The deceased, whose body was found inside his car in May last year, had been a VIP patron of the female's celebrity's online show, spending as much as 50 million won ($37,000) a day in sponsorships. An investigation found that his donations were largely made via borrowing, as he was around 15

Candidates pour out chip pledges, young voters have different concerns

Men and women who have experienced divorce each have differing interpretations of physical intimacy in their new relationship, a joint survey by local matchmaking agencies showed Monday. The companies Only U and Bien-Alle conducted a survey of 516 men and women who wish to get remarried to ask about physical contact with romantic connotations with their new romantic partners. The survey generally showed that female respondents attribute slightly more meaning to physical intimacy than male respon

A South Korean man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for smuggling a large quantity of illegal drugs into the country, a local court said Monday. The defendant in his 30s has been accused of having brought in the drugs, hidden inside bags of snacks, from Hawaii between December 2018 and October 2021. He smuggled a total of 405 pills of ecstasy, 16.35 grams of cocaine and 2.79 kilograms of cannabis. South Korea's Narcotics Control Act bans the possession, transaction or use of what

Pyongyang says Tokyo proposed summit between Kishida, Kim Jong-un

Four cities that have lower-level local autonomy but have populations of over 1 million each may enjoy greater autonomy to set up infrastructure for construction, transportation and education, as the government anticipates a population influx with the advent of new chip industry complexes, according to President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday. A new law, if proposed, will ensure the administrative power of a provincial governor in these cities be transferred to the cities' mayors, President Yoon

Doctors remain steadfast, demand Seoul scrap med school quota hike

A group of Russian nationals received suspended prison sentences for pickpocketing passengers in Seoul's subways late last year, according to a local court. The Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 17 handed down one-year sentences, suspended for two years, to three Russian nationals -- two men in their 40s and a 39-year-old woman. Over a period of nine days in November, the three pickpockets spent an average of five hours a day in Subway Line No. 3 and Line No. 9, where

A South Korean bank's refusal to open an account for a foreign national resident from a designated "high-risk country" is discriminatory, the country's human rights watchdog agency said Monday. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea's recommendation was made in response to a complaint lodged by the Korean spouse of a bank customer whose application to open an account was rejected on the grounds of their nationality. The bank said in August 2022 that because the re

An ophthalmologist in his 40s from Pusan National University Hospital died in his home early Sunday morning, according to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency on Monday. On Sunday at 4:30 a.m., police officials received a call that the doctor was found unconscious in his home. When emergency medical services reached the doctor’s home, he did not have a pulse nor was he breathing, according to police officials. The doctor was immediately taken to the Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital n