While torrential rains were punishing Seoul on Monday night, social media exploded with users sharing images and videos of flash floods swamping roads, subway stations and buses. Here are some of the viral photos and tweets from the chaotic evening. 1) Identity of the “Seocho-dong guru” remains in mystery  A man wearing a suit and using his smartphone while sitting on the roof of his submerged car in Seocho-dong, Gangnam-gu, shocked many on Monday evening. The exa

A subway line running through the north of Seoul was suspended temporarily early Tuesday evening as rain intensified.  The Seoul metropolitan office said nine stops on Line No. 3 from Samsong to Daehwa that travel across Goyang, a city in Gyeonggi Province, had to stop operation for an hour from 5:40 p.m. In northwestern Seoul and other cities in northern Gyeonggi Province, several roads were closed due to flooding starting at around 6 p.m. The downpour, which the weather aut

Park requests China play ‘constructive role’ in leading NK to dialogue, Wang stresses domestic affairs should not be interfered

South Korean parliament’s speaker Kim Jin-pyo will meet with Bill Gates next week to discuss COVID-19, future threats of pandemics and the importance of international cooperation in responding to them. The parliament office on Tuesday said the meeting between the speaker and the Microsoft founder is scheduled to take place on Aug. 16 for about 40 minutes. Following the meeting Gates will deliver an address to the parliament about the role South Korea can play in the preparations for th

South Korea may experience the third rainband in before autumn

Lying low near the Han River, Seoul’s affluent neighborhoods are geologically vulnerable and plans to beef up drainage are moving slow

With the education minister offering her resignation, the controversial plan to lower the school entry age to 5 could be shelved, nearly 10 days after it was first introduced. The Education Ministry on Tuesday apologized for a lack of communication concerning the previous report to the president, which proposed the system reform, saying it caused confusion.　 “It has become realistically difficult to push for the lowering of school entry age,” Vice Education Minister Jang Sang-yoon

Ivory Coast reiterated the country’s commitment to using natural resources, industrialization, developing technology and leaders’ determination to strengthen Ivory Coast-Korea ties at 62nd Independence Day celebrations in South Korea. Ivory Coast was a French colony from 1893 until it achieved independence on Aug. 7, 1960. Saying that Ivory Coast is now a stable country of full economic development with dynamic and stable growth, the country’s Ambassador to Korea Allou Wanyou

Hundreds of thousands of commuters on Tuesday trudged through Seoul’s battered roads and public transit pummeled by record-breaking downpour. According to the Seoul metropolitan office, some of the roads along the Han River that cut across the middle of the capital had to be closed for several hours this morning for safety. “Water still covers roads in many places, and they are just not passable,” a Seoul official told The Korea Herald on Tuesday morning. Most of the roads

Seoul and surrounding areas expected to see up to 300 millimeters of more rain through Thursday

Bolivia recalled martyrs’ sacrifices, introduced the country’s potential and highlighted economic cooperation with South Korea at a celebration of its 197th Independence Day in Seoul Friday. Bolivian Independence Day commemorates the signing of a declaration of independence from Spain on Aug. 6, 1825.  Bolivia was a Spanish colony from 1532-1825. Assessing Bolivia-Korea relations in his remarks, Bolivian Charge d’affaires to South Korea Luis Pablo Sebastian Ossio-Bustil

N. Korea’s Lazarus Group exploited Tornado Cash to launder over $455 million from largest-ever crypto heist

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Tuesday morning visited an apartment complex in Sadang-dong in Seoul to survey the area, after torrential rain hit Seoul and the surrounding areas from late Monday into the next morning. As part of the city’s emergency response, Oh inspected the embankment installed in the Kukdong Apartment complex that collapsed due to a landslide, according to the Seoul city government. There have been no reports of injury as a result of the collapse. Residents living in the

President Yoon Suk-yeol is facing backlash for responding to the heavy rain that pounded Seoul from his apartment on Monday after leaving his office earlier that afternoon. Yoon, who became the country’s first commuting president by refusing to move into Cheong Wa Dae, was working from home as the rainfall ravaged Seoul before he showed up at the national emergency headquarters at around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Tuesday denounced Yoon for fai

A video of a person swimming on flooded roads spread online, drawing fire from internet users as heaviest downpour in 80 years struck throughout Seoul metropolitan region.　 A video titled “Sillim-dong Phelps” -- the title alludes to the US swimming great Michael Phelps -- was posted on online Monday. The six-second-long video showed a person wearing a red swimsuit, purple swimming cap and flippers on a flooded road in Sillim-dong, Seoul. Netizens pointed out that there was a risk o