Experts say it is too early to worry about large disasters, but precautions needed

South Korea's top court has ruled that a shop tenant who couldn't pay the rent during the COVID-19 pandemic should not be evicted, news reports said Wednesday, quoting the court's decision. The ruling by the Supreme Court in a lawsuit filed by the tenant against the landlord confirmed the lower courts' decisions that the landlord could not get rid of tenants behind on their monthly rent, ruling in favor of the plaintiff. The landlord’s appeal to the Supreme Court was di

North Korean attack kills the South's top economic policymakers, but misses main target President Chun Doo-hwan

South Korea's parliament is expected to ratify the Hague Adoption Convention, aimed at ensuring that inter-country adoption only occurs when in the best interests of the child, as early as 2025. The convention, known officially as the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption, developed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law, deals with international adoption, child laundering and child trafficking in an effort to protect t

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that it would develop an AI-based congestion monitoring system to provide better information to passengers about crowd density at each subway station. According to Seoul Metro, the operator of the subway service in Seoul, the new service will help analyze the real-time flow of passengers and crowd levels in subway compartments, improving operational efficiency. Currently, the subway operator monitors crowding and measures the number of passengers

Seoul mayor's controversial idea for boosting birth rates to be put to test

A Korean proficiency exam for Vietnamese job seekers saw the highest number of test takers in 10 years, data showed Wednesday. This year, a total of 23,412 Vietnamese applied for the “EPS-TOPIK (Employment Permit System’s Test of Proficiency in Korean),” more than doubling from 11,600 applicants a year earlier. The 2023 figure was also the highest in a decade, according to the Department of Overseas Labor under Vietnam’s Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. The

Prosecutors raided the state broadcasting regulator, the Korea Communications Commission, on Wednesday as part of a probe into allegations involving its 2019 re-licensing of a regional radio broadcasting firm. The Seoul Northern District Prosecutors Office sent investigators to the commission's office inside the government complex in Gwacheon, just south of Seoul, and the nearby Suwon City Hall to seize documents and other evidence. The license of Gyeonggi Broadcasting, a regional radio bro

South Korea's new daily coronavirus cases hit a three-month high Wednesday amid eased virus restrictions. The country reported 23,521 cases, including 43 imported cases, bringing the total caseload to 31,331,112, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Wednesday's tally marked a growth from the previous day's 21,681 and was more than 3,000 higher than the same day last week. It is also the highest tally since Jan. 28 when the daily caseload stood at 23,591, the KDCA

South Korean government is contemplating lifting the isolation mandate for COVID-19 patients as soon as this month, as part of efforts to transition to pre-pandemic normalcy. The decision will be announced as early as this week, officials said. The mandatory isolation rule was introduced as one of the first preventative measures in January 2020. The move is being considered as the isolation requirement has been lifted in a number of countries. Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Thailand, France

The police is investigating two men who reacted aggressively to a request to move to another place to smoke from a cafe’s terrace in Incheon. Incheon Seobu Police Station on Tuesday said that they received a report of two middle aged men pouring coffee and throwing a cup onto the sidewalk after being told by the cafe’s staff to move elsewhere on Saturday. The men are under fire after the footage of them -- initially uploaded by the owner of the cafe on a self-employed shopkeepers&rsq

Children shave their heads and participate in five precept ceremonies Tuesday before entering a 21-day training experience at the Buddhist Jogyesa Temple in central Seoul. In the ceremonies, the children train as monks by swearing to follow the lessons of Buddha and renouncing themselves of worldly possessions by cutting their hair. The temple headquarters of South Korea’s largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order, holds a religious education camp for children between the ages of 5 and 6 ever

Despite mounting public worries, authorities and experts say there’s little that can be done to moderate social media

A Siberian tiger cub has died from feline panleukopenia at Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province on Thursday, and two other cubs and three mature tigers are being treated for the disease. The cub, named Parang, was born at the zoo and had reached one year old just 10 days ago. Feline panleukopenia is an infectious disease that causes a fatal decrease in white blood cells in cats. The disease has a 50 to 59 percent fatality rate, and is easily transmitted through contact with infected a

Growing concerns over public displays of intolerance in Korea