Marriages between third cousins or closer relatives are prohibited in South Korea, with the ban enforced by nullifying the effects of such unions when they are discovered. However, the ban on consanguineous marriages within the eighth degree of kinship looks set to lose its effectiveness, as a legal article governing the annulment of such unions will expire at the end of this year, with no substitute measures drafted or prepared to date. Of the two Civil Act articles on consanguineous marriage

New neighbors anxious as notorious child rapist moves in

South Koreans' most preferred length for an animated video is between 20 and 29 minutes, a report by a state-run content industry agency showed Wednesday. The Korea Creative Content Agency released the 2024 Animation Industry White Paper, in which they surveyed 3,500 Koreans between the age of 10 and 69 who watched an animated video regularly -- at least once in two to three months -- in the past year. When asked what was their most preferred length of an animation, 33.6 percent of the resp

Forcing or threatening spouse into nonconsensual sex constitutes rape, legal experts say

Roughly half of public educational institutes across South Korea have at least one convicted sex offender living within a 1-kilometer radius, data showed Wednesday. Over half of the day care centers and high schools in the country -- 59 percent and 53 percent, respectively -- have one or more sex offenders living within 1 kilometer, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family data submitted to Rep. Baek Seung-a of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Some 51 percent of ki

A wild boar wrought havoc at a metro station in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province Tuesday afternoon, leaving one person injured and forcing an evacuation, local authorities said Wednesday. The incident began around 4:45 p.m. when the wild boar was first spotted near a local restaurant in Dong-myeon, Yangsan. By 5:10 p.m., it had crossed the street and made its way into Hopo Station on Busan Metro Line 2, officials said. The boar, estimated at 1.5 meters in length and weighing approximately 100

Lottery sales in South Korea rose 7 percent on-year during the first half of this year to reach an all-time high, data showed. Sales of lottery tickets stood at 3.62 trillion won ($2.67 billion) in the January-June period of 2024, compared with 3.38 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from the Finance Ministry. The figure has been on a constant increase, surging 38 percent in four years. Sales came to 2.62 trillion won in the first half of 2020, 2.94 trillion won in the same

In response to pressing demands from national medical schools, the government has decided to allow universities to individually authorize leaves of absence for medical students, reversing its previous stance. The Ministry of Education announced Tuesday afternoon that the government and presidents of 40 medical universities reached a consensus that students return by the 2025 academic year at the latest. In order to pave the way to accelerate the return of students and normalize studies in medica

In response to increasing demands from national medical schools, the government is reportedly reconsidering its stance on granting universities the autonomy to approve medical students' leave of absence requests. This comes as a potential solution to the monthslong standoff over medical school enrollments following protests against the government's plan to expand the medical school quota. Sources within the education sector revealed Tuesday that the presidents of national universities

Webtoon's reflection of misogynistic belief that women exploit men for economic gain sparks gender conflict

A fitness center’s rejection of the annual membership application of a 68-year-old senior citizen is an act of age discrimination, the state human rights commission stated Tuesday. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea announced that it had recommended the fitness center, which was not named, to revise its internal policies that prevent seniors aged 65 and older from obtaining annual gym memberships. The complainant had been using the club for the past 5 years by purchasing one-tim

The Seoul city government will spend 6.7 trillion won ($4.9 billion) from 2025 to 2026 to financially help residents raise children, city officials said Tuesday. The city government said it was expanding an existing childbirth encouragement project launched in February as part of efforts to increase the country's low birth rate. The earlier version of the project took a comprehensive approach to supporting caregivers by providing financial assistance for infertility treatments across all in

Over 60 percent of young Korean job candidates are not actively pursuing careers amid intensified negative sentiments surrounding the job market, data showed Tuesday. Some 60.5 percent of 1,235 Korean university seniors and recent graduates — 748 individuals — identified their job-seeking status as passive or dormant, according to a survey conducted this year by The Federation of Korean Industries. This figure combines three groups: 30.9 percent who described their job hunting as per

The number of heat-related emergency room patients increased by 31.4 percent this year compared to the previous year, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Between May 20 and Sept. 30, 3,704 people were treated for heat-related illnesses in ERs, marking a sharp rise from last year. This year, 34 people reportedly died from heat-related conditions, a 6.3 percent increase from the previous year. The most cases occurred in 2018, with 4,526 patients, making 2024 t

Police said Monday they are intensively cracking down on the sale and wearing of police officer costumes during the Halloween celebrations. The police have been strengthening online monitoring to prevent the indiscriminate distribution and use of fake police uniforms and equipment since last Friday, the Korean National Police Agency said, adding the crackdown continues for two weeks before and after Halloween until Nov. 3. The KNPA said 54 major online retailers and second-hand transaction platf