South Korea will raise natural gas prices for civilian use next month amid high international gas prices, the industry ministry said Friday. Starting in October, natural gas prices for households and commercial use will be hiked by 2.7 won ($0.002) per megajoule, the ministry said in a press release. Natural gas prices for households will climb 15.9 percent, with the growth rate for commercial use ranging from 16.4 percent and 17.4 percent. "The hike reflects soaring global natural gas pric

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 30,000 on Friday, as the virus wave has been gradually slowing down in recent weeks. The country reported 28,497 new COVID-19 infections, including 276 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,769,101, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The daily count grew to nearly 40,000 on Tuesday from around the 20,000 level but has since been constantly decreasing. The comparable figure for a week earlier came to 29,097. The

Seoul symposium gathers Asian legislative officials, experts

The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat held the 2022 Korea-China Smart Manufacturing Industry-Academia-Research Forum Thursday to discuss industrial growth in both countries. Figures from universities, research centers and government bodies in Korea and China attended the event held both online and offline in central Seoul. Gao Xiang, the head of the China Science and Technology Exchange Center, opened the event with a congratulatory speech. “Two countries (Korea and China) are geographic

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a seven-year sentence for a former Air Force master sergeant accused of sexually harassing late Air Force Master Sgt. Lee Ye-ram. As in the previous two trials, the Supreme Court concluded that the defendant, identified by the surname Chang, was guilty of sexual harassment, but did not acknowledge the other charges of retaliation and intimidation, confirming the seven-year prison sentence of the high court. Chang was a colleague of the victim, when both we

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 40,000 for the third straight day Thursday as the virus wave has been gradually slowing down. The county reported 30,881 new COVID-19 infections, including 252 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,740,635, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It marks a sharp decline from the previous day's 36,159. The virus wave has been on a decline after a resurgence in July that later peaked above 180,000 cases in mid

A half-naked elderly man stood precariously on a balcony of a high-rise building in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, hoisting a banner with an anti-Japan message. A few meters away, a group of elderly women shouted insults at two dozen people taking part in a rally, locally referred to as "the Wednesday protests," demanding an official apology by Japan for the sexual enslavement of Korean women during World War II. A few others standing nearby claimed the whole thing as a fraud. The women w

About two-thirds of foreign students who dropped out of school have been staying in Korea without a valid visa, according to a report. The report released by independent lawmaker Rep. Min Hyung-bae on Wednesday said that 67.2 percent of students who dropped out of school in Korea were staying without a valid visa as of last year, while a total of 10,335 foreign students dropped out of school in 2021. Min received the data from the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Justice. More students are

As South Korea struggles to reverse a falling fertility rate, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has come up with a new idea: Open up the border to foreign nannies to relieve the child care burden of working parents. “Parenting should be socially respected, and measures are needed to enable mothers and fathers to raise their children together,” he said via Facebook on Tuesday. “The introduction of foreign babysitters is a policy focused on parenting, and it would be good news for those

The new executive chief of the Jogye Order, South Korea's biggest Buddhist sect, took office Wednesday and started his four-year term. Ven. Jinwoo arrived at the compound of Jogye Temple in downtown Seoul and paid tribute at the main Daeungjeon Hall before entering his office. He did not give any comments. He was elected unopposed as the 37th president of the Jogye Order last month, replacing the predecessor Ven. Wonhaeng. The order adopted the new system to pick its chief through a single-

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to around 36,000 on Wednesday, hitting the lowest for a Wednesday count in 12 weeks, as the virus wave has been gradually slowing down. The country reported 36,159 new COVID-19 infections, including 379 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,709,789, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It marked a slight fall from the previous day's 39,425, and the lowest tally for any Wednesday since July 6 when the figure came t

South Korean music producer Don Spike was arrested on Monday for illegal drug use and is currently under investigation on charges of violating the Narcos Control Act, according to Nowon police. Don Spike was arrested at a hotel in Gangnam, southern Seoul, around 8 p.m. on Monday, where police seized 30 grams of methamphetamine. Don Spike tested positive for the drug. The amount of drugs that was found is equivalent to approximately 1,000 doses, considering the average dose of methamphetamine is

Police mugshots not released without consent of the photographed in controversial practice in S. Korea

The Ministry of Employment and Labor to see if Hyundai Department Store is punishable under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act

Police evaluated Sindang Station murder suspect Jeon Joo-hwan to be “at low risk” of posing a threat when the victim sued him for stalking last year, a report showed Tuesday. According to a report released Tuesday by Rep. Lee Sung-man of the Democratic Party of Korea, the police determined that Jeon’s stalking case was a “low threat” based on statements from the victim. The police ran a checklist on the potential risk that Jeon could pose to the victim when she sue