On Saturday evening, two people of foreign nationality collided with a truck while riding skateboards down Gyeongnidan-gil in Itaewon-dong, Seoul. A video clip recorded by their friend and uploaded online shows the two skateboarding the opposite way down a sloped one-way street marked "no entry," and crashing into a truck approaching from the other side. "Neither the skateboarders nor the truck driver suffered serious injuries," stated police who were called to the scene. &qu

South Korea's first lady Kim Keon Hee pledged on Tuesday to make South Korea a bucket list destination for travelers in the world, stressing a need of offering cultural experiences to visitors. "More of the world's travelers are enjoying the emerging trend of soaking themselves in the mood of being in Korea with Korean foods, cultural elements, artworks and traditional forms of architecture," she said. "I will do my best to make the world's travelers add 'K-Tou

Embassies from five Central Asian countries signed a memorandum of understanding with universities in South Chungcheong Province and the provincial government to attract international students, Sunmoon University said Tuesday. Under the memorandum, the five countries, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan, will dispatch students with Korean language skills to universities in the province. The agreement also covers measures to prevent students from dropping out mid-seme

Two hundred and twenty-five freshmen at Seoul National University took a leave of absence in their first semester, with most of them believed to be preparing to take the college entrance exam again this year. According to data provided by SNU to Rep. Kim Byung-wook of the People Power Party, the number is equivalent to 6.2 percent of all first-year enrollees at the nation’s top university. The number of SNU freshmen taking time off right after enrolling at the university has more than trip

A man accused of physically abusing a disabled woman in her 80s while living at her home against her will is being held for questioning, local police said Tuesday. According to Yangpyeong Police Station, the 65-year-old suspect is believed to have lived with the victim at her home in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, for over 10 years. He pretended to neighbors that he was her husband and told a local community center that he was her nephew when registering his residence at the victim’s hou

South Korea’s human rights commission has voiced the need for multilingual translations for the laws and regulations that pertain to the detention of foreign nationals in the country. In a recommendation issued Monday to the Ministry of Justice, the National Human Rights Commission said the availability of translations of what are called in Korean the “Foreigner Detention Regulations” is a matter that concerns foreign detainees' right to know and beyond that, their human

When 23-year-old Dominick Spina was drafted into the US Army in January 1953 and arrived in South Korea’s Chuncheon as a soldier of the 40th Infantry Division in August that year, his mother was constantly worried about him. So he wrote to her often, hoping to quell her nerves. The Korean Armistice Agreement had just been signed in late July, bringing an end to the hostilities of the 1950-53 Korean War, and Dominick was grateful there was no fighting. In October 1953, he was assigned to th

South Korea’s military and police have launched an investigation into former Air Force soldiers for allegedly sexually harassing and insulting their female superiors. The country’s Air Force said late Monday that six former airmen -- whose identities have been withheld -- who were stationed at the unit’s combat squadron in Wonju, Gangwon Province, are accused of sexually harassing higher-up female officers by posting their names and pictures in documents that were being used fo

South Korea is expected to see higher temperatures and more precipitation than usual this summer, the weather forecaster said Tuesday. Temperatures from June to August are 40 percent likely to be higher than usual or similar to the average year, a Korea Meteorological Administration briefing showed Tuesday, citing climate forecast models provided by 10 weather agencies. During the summer, a possible El Nino could bring more rain to the peninsula than usual. Precipitation tends to increase mainly

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases hit around 21,000 on Tuesday in a steady decline from the previous week, as the country is returning to pre-pandemic normalcy with almost all virus restrictions gone. The country reported 21,385 new infection cases, including 43 imported cases, bringing the total caseload to 31,569,468, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Tuesday's count is a drop from 23,671 a week earlier and 21,674 reported the week before, marking a moderate fall i

A 33-year-old father was arrested Monday for allegedly causing a serious brain injury to his 2-month-old baby by violently shaking him. The Incheon District Court issued an arrest warrant for the man on charges of child abuse, citing concerns that he may attempt to flee. He is suspected of injuring his baby son early this month at their home in Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul. He admitted to shaking the baby hard while holding him in his arms. The infant is currently receiving medical tre

Sin Chang-won, Korea's most famous fugitive, has attempted to take his own life but was not in critical condition, according to the Justice Ministry on Monday. Sin, 56, was found by a correctional officer while attempting to commit suicide in Daejeon Prison at around 8:15 p.m. Sunday. After resuscitation, he was immediately transferred to an unnamed hospital nearby. Sin was admitted to the intensive care unit, but is able to breathe without mechanical assistance, the ministry said. It was S

Prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for Korean actor Yoo Ah-in, whose real name is Uhm Hong-sik, on Monday over allegations of illegal drug use. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said at a press conference on Monday that the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office requested an arrest warrant for the 37-year-old actor. The actor is suspected of using five illegal or prescription drugs for non-medical purposes -- marijuana, cocaine, ketamine, propofol and the insomnia medication zol

The annual Hangang Space-out Competition returned Sunday, with a total of 70 teams showing off their art of zoning out. On Jamsoo Bridge over Seoul's Han River, the participants – some of them dressed in costumes -- turned off their phones and sat with blank expressions, while their heart rates were checked every 15 minutes. Anyone who laughs, talks or dozes off was eliminated. A player dressed in a tuxedo took the first prize after successfully spacing out for 90 minutes. The winner

Guests unveil the signboard of Dondeokjeon during an unveiling ceremony on Monday at Dondeokjeon in Deoksugung Palace in central Seoul on Monday. Originally constructed as an event hall to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Emperor Gojong, Dondeokjeon later served primarily as a reception hall and guesthouse for foreign visitors before it was destroyed by Japan in the 1920s. After five years of reconstruction that began in 2017, the building was finally completed in November, almost a century a