Isolated young and middle-aged people will be eligible for state welfare services from the second half of this year, the government said Wednesday in unveiling a raft of new welfare policies. Socially isolated people refer to people who are emotionally or physically isolated from the majority of society for at least six months, according to the Welfare Ministry. This includes those who have not worked and have rarely left home. Welfare services, including those for community care and psychologic

Citizens say disaster alert left them baffled, not knowing where to go

Mass murder-suicide of 32 in connection to Odaeyang cult shocks nation in 1987

Pro baseball player Lee Young-ha was acquitted Wednesday of charges of violence against a junior teammate during his high school baseball days. Lee, 25, a pitcher of the Doosan Bears, was indicted without detention last year over allegations that he had beaten a teammate while attending Sunrin Internet High School in Seoul. Judge Chung Geum-young of the Seoul Western District Court found Lee not guilty, citing a lack of evidence to support the charges. The judge determined that the alleged victi

South Korea's new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 20,000 on Wednesday, with health authorities preparing to lift nearly all remaining antivirus curbs. The country reported 24,411 new infections, including 48 imported cases, bringing the total caseload to 31,703,511, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Daily infections had remained below 20,000 for the past six days. Wednesday's tally is higher than the 22,952 cases a week earlier but lower than the 26,128 two w

The South Korean government said Wednesday a disaster alert it issued in Seoul at around 6:30 a.m. was issued in error after North Korea attempted to launch a space satellite. According to an official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea, the North Korea's projectile "flew over the Yellow Sea, and (its trajectory) had nothing to do with the Seoul and the neighboring areas." This came as the Seoul Metropolitan Government issued a disaster alert calling for evacuation of Seou

South Korea's Supreme Court on Tuesday expanded the definition of harassment to include repeated missed calls by an offender meant to intimidate a victim in a landmark ruling. On May 18, the nation's top court remanded the case to the Busan District Court, dismissing the lower court's ruling that refused to recognize the behavior of leaving numerous missed calls as harassment. It was the first Supreme Court ruling to define the nature of such behavior. A rights advocacy group known as the Korean

A murder suspect fleeing from South Korean and Philippines' authorities has been apprehended in the Philippines capital Manila, South Korean police said Tuesday. According to the South Korean police agency, the suspect was spotted at a condo in Manilla on Monday. The suspect is a South Korean male in his 30s who fled to the Philippines after allegedly murdering his wife, a national of the Philippines, earlier this year. Police believe the suspect murdered his wife and disposed of the body a

Over half of foreign subscribers claiming unemployment benefits last year were ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality, data released by a lawmaker showed, despite them accounting for only a third of those paying in to the system. Foreign subscribers of all nationalities were less likely than Koreans to claim, and the disproportionate number of ethnic Korean claimants indicates visa status is one hurdle to accessing benefits. Some 12,107 foreign subscribers received unemployment benefits from th

The Constitutional Court has ruled that a current law, which revokes a daycare center teacher's license if the principal or teacher is punished for emotionally abusing children, does not violate the Constitution. Earlier in June 2017, two daycare center teachers were accused on charges of showing homophobic videos to 18 elementary school students who visited the daycare center for volunteer activities. They claimed that the video was to warn the children of the dangers of homosexuality and

South Korea aims to boost its medical tourism industry as a key driver of future growth, with a target of attracting 700,000 foreign patients annually from 2027. However, challenges such as the language barrier and complex immigration procedures still remain. The Ministry of Health and Welfare set a goal of attracting more foreign patients to undergo medical treatments or get cosmetic surgery in Korea by increasing the number of foreign patients visiting the country by 26 percent each year. A

The scandal surrounding alleged unfair hiring practices in South Korea's National Election Commission is growing. Jeon Hyun-heui, chair of the Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission, told a press briefing Tuesday that it has embarked on an investigation into unfair hiring practices in the election commission, following complaints filed with the civil rights authorities. The investigation will run until the end of June, Jeon said. At least 11 officials at the commission have allegedly r

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday proposed a bill to increase its annual budget by 3.04 trillion won ($2.3 billion) to boost the social safety net, as inflation bites hard on finances of the city's nearly 10 million residents. The plan, submitted to the city council, will bring this year's total budget of South Korea's capital city to 50.3 trillion won. The increased budget will be spent to alleviate the rising cost of living of those marginalized, offset city transportation maintenan

4,124 drug offenders caught in Q1; drug offenders in 20s,30s most common

A woman in her 20s was apprehended Monday on suspicion of murdering another woman, also in her 20s, whom the suspect met online through an app, where she pretended to look for a private tutor for her child. According to the police, the woman is suspected of murdering the victim on Friday in Geumjeong-gu, Busan. The police said they appeared to have met up through an app specialized in matching private tutors with students and parents. According to reports, the app allows users to look for tutors