More than 90 people evacuated Saturday morning as a fire broke out at a public bathhouse in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, according to local media reports. The fire started at 8:07 a.m. from the bathhouse, which uses the second, third and the fourth floor of a six-story building. The fire was put out in around an hour, but smoke billowed into other facilities of the building. Of 92 people who evacuated the scene, three people who inhaled smoke were taken to nearby hospital, including a

An appellate court on Thursday upheld a prison term for a hunter who shot and killed a taxi driver, mistaking the victim for a boar. The 73-year-old professional hunter was sentenced to one year and four months in prison for murder by occupational negligence at an appellate trial in the second criminal appellate division of Seoul Western District Court on Thursday, reducing the sentence by four months from the lower court’s ruling. The shooting took place around 8 p.m. on April 29 during a

Former minister says he will appeal and continue fight against politically motivated prosecution

The government has advised municipalities to stop sending emergency text alerts on the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the respective cities on growing calls that the system is becoming something of "a nuisance," according to reports quoting the Ministry of Safety on Friday. Several local governments, including Seoul, have stopped sending texts, according to the ministry. The number of COVID-19 cases, instead, can be found on the websites for each municipality. Over the last

Capital region plans to raise metro fares by 300 or 400 won, unless Finance Ministry helps make up for losses

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest Friday tally in 31 weeks amid a gradual downtrend as the government has taken steps to support people's return to pre-pandemic normalcy. The country reported 14,961 new cases, including 28 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,228,889, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. It is the lowest daily count for any Friday since July 1 last year when the figure came to 9,514. It was about half the level of

Of 8.9 million doses of illegal drugs confiscated in 2022, nearly all were to be distributed in Korea

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon pleaded with a disability rights advocacy group for an end to rush-hour subway protests, stressing that the yearslong rallies have caused serious disruption to public transportation and Seoul citizens’ daily lives. “Seoul citizens have gone through many inconveniences, so I’d like to ask if the disability rights advocacy group could refrain from disrupting the operation of major lines,” Oh said during a meeting with the group held at the Seoul Metro

Dispute grew on Thursday over the Finance Ministry's budget cut of a state-run hospital, a decision that doctors say undermines years of efforts to strengthen state control of infectious diseases. A group of doctors with the National Medical Center Specialist Council staged an online signature campaign on Tuesday to protest the ministry's decision, addressing fears that the state hospital would not be able to counter the growing threats of viruses if not enough investment is made to

The Seoul metropolitan government’s Hangang Project Headquarters said Thursday that it would help fandoms, organizations and citizens create forests named after celebrities in the Han River Park. Starting this spring, the headquarters plan to build a 10,000 square meter forest dubbed the “Star Forest” in Seoul’s Nanji Hangang Park as it expects a surge in fans’ donations following the increasing popularity of Korean culture. The headquarters said it would actively s

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will launch a special crackdown on “room cafes,” which provide private closed spaces similar to hotel rooms, even to teenagers, officials said Thursday. Municipal officials, police and a civic group will participate in the crackdown from Feb 3 to 13. The facilities called "room cafes" or "multi-rooms," are businesses that provide private spaces, simple snacks, and drinks. They are usually registered as ordinary cafes or general re

A 24-year-old woman was taken into custody by Incheon Police on Thursday on suspicion of neglecting her 2-year-old son at home alone for three days. The child was found dead. Investigation by Incheon Police Station found that the suspect left her home in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, at around 2 p.m. Monday, and returned at 2 a.m. on Thursday. Police took her into custody on suspicion of child abuse, after the suspect herself called the police and said her child was not breathing. The suspect did not st

A South Korean court ruled on Thursday that Apple did not deliberately slow down the performance of its iPhone handsets, dismissing some 9,800 Korean smartphone buyers' lawsuit for 2 billion won ($1.64 million) against the United States electronics giant. "The lawsuit is dismissed," a court judge briefly said, without elaborating as to the reason for the ruling. The ruling also indicated the plaintiffs are responsible for the entirety of attorneys' fees. The ruling comes five years aft

A maximum of 15-year imprisonment will be sought for those convicted of house rental scams, the government said Thursday, as part of efforts to crack down on a growing number of fraud crimes against tenants. The decision was made during a government meeting presided over by Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho as the country is grappling with increasing cases of house rental scams. Many tenants were left unable to recoup their house rental deposits in a series of "jeonse" frauds. Jeonse is t

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest Thursday tally in 31 weeks as the country has seen a gradual downward trend and has taken steps to fully regain pre-pandemic normalcy. The country reported 16,862 new cases, including 45 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,213,928, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. It fell from the previous day's 20,420 new cases and was a marked decline from 35,086 cases a week earlier. Thursday's figure