Thousands of people, including grieving families, gathered Saturday at Seoul Plaza to commemorate the second anniversary of the Itaewon crowd crush, a tragedy that claimed 159 lives -- most of them young adults -- during Halloween celebrations on October 29, 2022. Organized by the 10.29 Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Committee and estimated to have drawn around 5,000 participants, the ceremony began at 6:34 p.m., the exact time of the first emergency call from Itaewon that night, hours befor

KIRA head rejects dialogue unless med school expansion plan dropped, doctors' working conditions improved

More than 1,700 digital sex offenses at schools reported since 2021

Incheon Airport witnessed a heartfelt reunion on Friday afternoon as Darragh Hannan and Jee Won Ha, sisters separated at birth and raised worlds apart, met face-to-face for the first time. The two, adopted as infants—Hannan in the US and Ha in Belgium—recently discovered their full sibling connection through a MyHeritage DNA test, sparking this life-changing encounter. Hannan, adopted in Minnesota shortly after her birth in 1986, grew up in a loving and supportive home. Ha, on the

A 38-year-old civil servant, who died just two months after being hired, was found to have been bullied at the workplace by a superior, according to the findings of a provincial audit Thursday. The North Chungcheong Province audit office concluded that the deceased, identified only by the surname Kim, was subjected to an excessive workload and inappropriate treatment by his immediate superior at the Goesan Country Office. As a result, the provincial office requested the county office to enforce

FT Island's Choi Min-hwan is under police investigation following allegations of soliciting prostitution, Friday. The Gangnam Police Station confirmed on Friday that it has launched an internal investigation into Choi on charges related to the Act on the Punishment of Arrangement of Commercial Sex Acts. The case began after a complaint was filed through the national petition platform. The allegations first came to light when Choi’s ex-wife, Yulhee, a former member of girl group La Bou

What Tyson Nicholas of the Royal Australian Navy experienced in South Sudan in 2015 as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission changed the course of his career and solidified his commitment to advancing gender equality in armed conflicts. In South Sudan, Nicholas witnessed firsthand the ways conflict disproportionately affects women and girls. “It was a moral injury,” he recalls, describing the emotional and ethical burden of seeing widespread sexual violence exploited during

A dispute has emerged surrounding Lim Hyun-taek, chair of South Korea's largest doctors' association, that he had alleged requested to be paid by a member doctor as a settlement for dropping a defamation lawsuit. Local media outlets here reported that Korean Medical Association chief Lim had recently sought to file a defamation suit against the member, who had criticized him online. The member, who is public relations director of the Seoul Medical Association, sent Lim a written lett

A man who defrauded 100 investors of about 20 billion won ($14.4 million) by impersonating an investment adviser for the state-run housing developer and selling apartments in Seoul’s affluent Gangnam area was sentenced to 20 years in prison, slightly reduced, on Friday. The defendant, a man in his 40s identified only by his surname Seo, was sentenced to 20 years and 10 months in April, but the Seoul High Court cut the sentence by 10 months. The court noted that the defendant’s meth

The average pretax annual salary in South Korea came to 41.23 million won ($29,709) last year, with the vast majority of high-paying jobs concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, highlighting the need to solve significant salary disparities between average and top earners, as well as between regions. According to data from the National Tax Service released by Rep. Ahn Do-geol of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Friday, the nation’s total number of salaried workers reach

Some 44.9 percent of the medical residents who resigned en masse to protest the government's medical school admissions hike have been rehired at other medical institutions, a Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed Thursday. Of the 9,163 residents who have walked of the job in the nationwide medical strike, 4,111 have been reemployed as doctors as of Sunday, according to the ministry data submitted to Rep. Kim Yoon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. The data showed that

Police detained a man in his 60s Friday morning after he allegedly smashed a glass door in an apparent attempt to break into the National Assembly’s main building in Seoul. According to Yeongdeungpo Police Station, the man was arrested for alleged intrusion and destruction of property with dangerous objects. The incident occurred at around 5:15 a.m. when the suspect reportedly threw a fire extinguisher at the glass door of the National Assembly. Police identified the suspect as he fled the

A woman who filed around 2,000 false reports, petitions and complaints against the authorities has been arrested, Busan police said, as her case was forwarded to the prosecutors Thursday. According to the Busan Sasang Police Station, the suspect is accused of filing multiple complaints and petitions against 16 officers at the station from February to April. This included false claims of officers physically abusing or harassing her. She reportedly admitted to filing the false claims in the police

Busan police on Thursday presented a certificate of appreciation to a bank employee who prevented a voice phishing scam against an elderly woman. According to the Bukbu Police Station in Busan, the employee of the north Busan branch of Nonghyup Bank received a request from a woman in her 70s to withdraw 8 million won ($5,750) from her account, at around 3:50 p.m. on Oct. 14. She had told the employee that she needed cash to buy home appliances, but the employee grew suspicious and checked to f

Seven national parks across South Korea have been found to absorb approximately 2 million tons of greenhouse gases annually -- equivalent to the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by 147,000 Korean nationals per year. As of 2021, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted annually per citizen is 13.1 tons. According to a report released Thursday by the Korea National Park Service, part of the Ministry of Environment, the parks -- Seoraksan, Odaesan, Taebaeksan, Sobaeksan, Chiaksan, Bukhansan and