Nearly 3,000 homes have been purchased by minors in the past five years in South Korea, government data showed Thursday. Between 2019 and 2023, the number of home purchases by people under the age of 19 came to 2,964, which amounted to 519.8 billion won ($379.41 million), according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport data submitted to Rep. Ahn Do-geol of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Considering the purchasers' young ages, it appears many of these homes we

An appeals court upheld a two-year and six-month prison term, suspended for four years, for a 48-year-old man convicted of illegally breaking into a woman’s apartment numerous times and installing a spy camera for sexual purposes. On Wednesday, the Gwangju District Court dismissed the prosecution’s appeal against the lower court’s ruling last September, which handed down a suspended sentence for the defendant guilty of home invasion and installing hidden cameras. The appellate

The government said Thursday that a man in his 50s recently died due to delays in providing him with emergency medical care, in yet another case of an urgent care patient being turned down by multiple hospitals due to staff shortages from ongoing medical strikes. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, emergency services in South Gyeongsang Province received a report at around 3:28 a.m. on Sept. 6 that a man living in Yeoncho-myeon in Geoje city was suffering from abdominal pain and v

A Seoul district court on Thursday ruled that Kim Kwang-ho, the former chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, was not guilty of negligence before and during the deadly Halloween crowd crush on Oct. 29, 2022, in Itaewon, central Seoul. According to the Seoul Western District Court, the prosecution had not provided enough evidence that Kim had directly violated his duty of care as the police chief of the Seoul police agency, either on the day of the crowd crush or in the days leading up to

Jung Geun-sik, the newly elected liberal superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, officially took office on Thursday. With his inauguration, the city’s progressive approach to education, which has been in place for the past decade under his predecessor, Cho Hee-yeon, is expected to continue. Jung secured 50.17 percent of the vote in Wednesday's by-election, defeating his conservative rival, Cho Jun-hyuk, by a margin of 4.15 percentage points. His win surpassed the

South Korea saw a continuing rise in "godoksa," or lonely deaths, in 2022 and 2023, respectively, with men in their 60s and 50s accounting for over half of them, according to a government report on Thursday. The Health Ministry defines "lonely death" as those living alone, disconnected from their family, relatives, friends and neighbors, who died alone from suicide, illness or other causes. There were 3,559 and 3,661 lonely death cases in 2022 and 2023, respectively, the mini

A snake nearly 2 meters long was captured outside the Gyeonggi Provincial Government’s northern office in Uijeongbu on Wednesday. At around 11:55 a.m., the fire department received a call reporting a large snake on the road in front of the provincial office. Firefighters arrived at the scene, captured the snake and released it into a nearby forest. The authorities believe the snake came down from a nearby mountain. According to the Gyeonggi Northern Fire and Disaster Headquarters, 6,675

An overwhelming majority of what are deemed "avoidable deaths" in the South Korean Army last year were soldier suicides, Ministry of National Defense data showed Thursday. A total of 44 avoidable deaths -- designated Type 1 deaths -- occurred in 2023, according to the data submitted to Rep. Hwang Hee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Suicides accounted for 41 of them, or 93.2 percent, which was the highest percentage of suicides among Type 1 deaths since the 70.7 percen

Two women at the scene of a minor car accident were killed after being run over by a truck driven by a drunk driver in South Jeolla Province, officials said Thursday, shortly before another similar tragedy by a truck driver occurred in the same region. According to the Jeonnam Fire service, the victims had exited their vehicles on a road in the Yeongam-gun region of the province on Wednesday after their cars collided with each other. The two were discussing matters related to the accident when a

Cabbage prices alert When the weather starts to cool, one particular product becomes critically significant to South Korea’s price monitoring authorities: cabbages. As the main ingredient in the most widely consumed type of kimchi, napa cabbage prices directly influence the cost of living here, with ripple effects felt in far-reaching areas, from school cafeterias to military barracks. Signs of strain are already visible this week with more than a month to go until the nationwide kimch

In the wake of the launch of weight loss drug Wegovy in South Korea, the government said it will crack down on illegal activities surrounding the much sought-after medicine. Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it plans to monitor closely the safety of GLP-1 type drugs like Wegovy, particularly focusing on its side effects and misuse, on Tuesday. The authorities also warned it will crack down on illegal online sales and advertisements. Wegovy, produced by Danish drugmaker Novo Nor

Reports of illegal online gambling in South Korea have nearly tripled over the past four years, according to government data on Wednesday. The figure comes amid growing public concern, especially following comedian Lee Jin-ho’s recent admission to illegal online gambling. According to data by the National Gambling Control Commission submitted to Rep. Min Hyung-bae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, reported cases of illegal online gambling surged by threefold from 13,064 in

In a potential sign of improving work-life balance in Korea, big data reveals that commuters in five office districts in and around Seoul are leaving the workplace 19 minutes earlier than they did five years ago. KB Kookmin Card, the nation’s second-largest card issuer, released the analysis on Wednesday of card usage data collected from January to August each year between 2019 and 2024. The study tracked subway users in Gangnam, Gwanghwamun, Yeouido and Guro in Seoul, and Pangyo in Gyeo

To enhance the nation's digital skills and competitiveness, South Korea is rolling out a new initiative aimed at improving digital capabilities among adults aged 30 and older. The government will invest over 110 billion won ($80 million) to build a comprehensive digital lifelong learning ecosystem, the Ministry of Education announced on Wednesday. The initiative, dubbed the "AI-Digital (AID) 30+ Project," seeks to provide extensive retraining opportunities and digital education to

A car struck a professional runner in his 20s during a national sports competition in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, police said Wednesday. The runner reportedly suffered a broken left shin and is receiving treatment. According to Gimhae Jungbu Police, the incident occurred at 11:34 a.m. Tuesday on a section of the road closed for a half-marathon event at the 2024 Korean National Sports Festival, the largest annual sports competition in the country. The athlete was running in an inner lane o