Young South Koreans learn the best from computers and the Internet according to a survey of 15 year-olds in 19 countries, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Monday. The OECD, which groups 34 of the world’s most advanced economies, tested the digital literacy of students in 16 member countries as well as Colombia and the Chinese cities of Hong Kong and Macao as part o

Ministry seeks to hold nationwide academic tests onlineThick textbooks weighing on students’ shoulders may disappear in four years. The government seeks to convert all paper textbooks into digital versions by 2015, the Education Ministry said Wednesday.Using smartphones, tablet PCs and smart televisions, school students of all ages will be able to view the content of existing textbooks, ministry o

One person died and several others are assumed injured after a landslide caused by rain that hit the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday.Scores of buildings were inundated by up to 170 millimeters of rain while traffic accidents have been reported in the center of the country. According to Seoul City authorities, a landslide took place near the Choansan Station construction site in Nowon-gu, northern Se

Demographic shift adds urgency to the need for reformThis is the third and last installment of a three-part series looking into problems in Korea’s tertiary education ― Ed. Earlier this month, professors at Sunghwa College received 136,000 won as their salary and a text message that the rest would be wired once the institution collected tuition fees from students. The college, where about 1,200 st

It has been 19 years since Korea joined the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees but the country still has a long way to go in protecting the lives and rights of displaced people seeking shelter, an expert says.According to the Ministry of Justice, the country has received 3,073 applications for refugee status since 2001, when it first received asylum seekers, but so far only 235 have bee

The latest strand of the Korean wave isn’t coming from the usual pop culture, but Chinese parents sending their children to learn Korean. Leading the boom is 10-year-old Liu Ming-feng who took home the gold from the Homtamin Cup Korean Chinese Children’s Broadcasting Culture Festival, in the category for narrating children’s stories in Korean. The seventh contest held by China Radio International

Crossroads near Exit No. 6 busiest part of SeoulFor Oh Byung-kook, a 30-year-old office worker, the area around Gangnam subway station in southern Seoul is always the first consideration for a night out with his friends.“The area is a traffic point with easy access from anywhere in Seoul. It has everything from movie theaters and shops to restaurants and karaoke,” Oh said. “Among other things, I l

Union agrees to end 190-day strike, but hardliners cry foul against accordLabor unionists of Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction’s shipbuilding unit on Monday announced that they would return to their workplaces, ending their 190-day strike against the company’s massive layoff plan. Still, anxiety is suurrounding the back-to-work move as hawkish unionists cry foul against their leadership’s dec

A tree is uprooted on a Seoul street by strong winds on Sunday as Typhoon Meari approaches the nation. (Yonhap News)Thirteen people were reported dead or missing over the weekend due to a heavy downpour that pounded the country. With Typhoon Meari expected to affect the Korean Peninsula through Tuesday, the government advised people to take extra care for their personal safety.According to local p