The following is part of Seoul Subway Stories -- a Korea Herald series exploring subway stations and their surrounding areas across the city. – Ed.   Strolling through the vicinity of Seongsu Station, one can get an idea of what is considered hip in Korea these days: It has to be artsy, independent and youthful, with stories, preferably of heritage and history, to tell. Seongsu-dong’s status as a mecca of hipness in Seoul can be seen through millions of Instagram posts in

The South Korean government says the resurgence of COVID-19 this summer has subsided without leading to a spike in hospital admissions or deaths, despite social distancing rules being phased out. In recent briefings the Ministry of Health and Welfare called the summer resurgence, triggered by omicron’s BA.5 subvariant, “the first large wave of COVID-19 the country has gone through without social distancing.” “South Korea was able to minimize critical and fatal cases in th

Proliferation of drugs sold on social media; experts say rehabilitation must come alongside crackdown

The government and the ruling party are trying to persuade the opposition party on the abolishment and reorganization of the Gender Ministry, arguing that the ministry’s functions will be strengthened following the measures. The ruling People Power Party’s government organization reform bill has caused major ripples over the past few days with the Gender Ministry reorganization. The reform involves abolishing the ministry and dividing its functions between the Ministry of Health and

South Korea begins inoculation using bivalent COVID-19 vaccines from Tuesday, the country's health authorities said on Monday. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Moderna's bivalent COVID-19 vaccine will be used for the first time as a booster in the country. The bivalent COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer will be used after completion of the regulatory process. The bivalent COVID-19 vaccine will be first available for people at high risk and in other vulnerable gr

The number of people in their 20s who died by suicide in Seoul last year increased by 9.3 percent compared to the previous year, exceeding the proportion of those in their 30s and 40s, the data showed Monday. According to data Rep. Chung Woo-taik of the People Power Party received from Seoul Metropolitan City and Seoul Police Agency, a total of 2,034 people took their own lives in Seoul last year. Among them, 655 people, or 32.2 percent, were in their 60s or older, followed by those in their 20s

The government has yet to complete the review for approving abortion pills for sale in South Korea, despite the process having begun last year, sparking the criticism at the related authorities’ lukewarm attitude. The conflict over introducing the abortion pill began since the Constitutional Court’s decision in April 2019, which ruled a ban on abortion unconstitutional. The National Assembly should have revised the related law by the end of 2020, but the discussion has not seen any p

President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating edged up to 32 percent last week, a survey showed Monday, rebounding from a drop blamed on his use of foul language caught on a hot mic during a trip to New York. The Realmeter poll of 2,012 people from Tuesday to Friday showed that Yoon's approval rating rose 0.8 percentage point from a week earlier while his disapproval rating fell 0.2 percentage point to 65.8 percent. The rating had dropped after he was caught on a hot mic making remarks tha

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 10,000 for the first time in 14 weeks Monday amid waning virus infections and fewer tests over the extended weekend. The country reported 8,981 new COVID-19 infections, including 47 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,979,770, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Sunday's count marks the first time daily coronavirus cases fell under 10,000 since the 6,242 tally on July 4. South Korea has seen a gradual dow

The first round of the Seoul Light show, a media facade show organized by the Seoul Design Foundation, ended Sunday, premiering the main show that is slated to kick off in December this year. Seoul Light show is an annual event that features media facade shows at Dongdaemun Design Plaza, utilizing projection mapping and the curved aluminum-panel surface of Zaha Hadid’s architectural work. Since its first edition in 2019, the media show has attracted over 1 million visitors and has become

The main opposition Democratic Party appears to be gearing up to resist the government's move to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, with its chairman voicing concerns for the plans. According to the Democratic Party of Korea on Sunday, party Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung expressed his concern over the reorganization plan, which officially confirmed the abolition of Gender Ministry, at a closed door meeting of the party's supreme council Friday. "The reform plan is h

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 20,000 for the second consecutive day Sunday, as the virus wave has subsided in recent weeks. The country reported 17,654 new COVID-19 infections, including 61 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,970,789, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Sunday's count marks a fall from the previous day's 19,431 and from 23,578 a week earlier. The country has seen a gradual downtrend in new infections after peak

South Korea's new coronavirus cases declined to the lowest tally for a Saturday in three months as the country seeks to return to pre-pandemic normalcy. The country reported 19,431 new COVID-19 infections, including 59 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,953,135, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The figure is the lowest Saturday tally since July 2, when the cases hit 10,708. The latest virus wave, triggered by the spread of a highly contagious omicron varia

The National Institute of Korean Language’s use of slang words on its recent social media post has stirred controversy, questioning whether it is right for the state-run language regulator to use a distorted version of the language. To mark the upcoming Hangeul Day on Sunday, the institute had posted an image to announce its special event on its Twitter account last month. In the posted image, it asked the followers what their views are on using the so-called “Yaminjeongeum.”

South Korea needs to bring in more professional foreign workers to cope with a continuous decline in the working-age population, a think tank said Friday. According to a report published by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, educators, researchers, engineers, artists and highly-skilled workers accounted for a mere 10 percent of last year’s total 406,669 foreign nationals with employment visas. The rest were mostly low-skilled workers in agriculture, construction and