A heat wave warning was issued for all parts of Seoul during the Chuseok holiday Wednesday, marking the latest-ever red alert in September, weather authorities said. Seoul was put under a heat warning, after a heat advisory was upgraded to a heat warning in the southwest 10 a.m., followed by the rest of the capital city at 2 p.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. This was the latest heat warning ever issued in Seoul in September since the introduction of the heat warning sys

The Seoul High Court said recently it upheld a six-year prison term for a 67-year-old North Korean defector for the attempted murder of another defector over a faulty investment opportunity. A defendant was found guilty of attempted murder, after he stabbed the 70-year-old victim nine times and assaulted him with his fist at 11:40 p.m. on Nov. 14. The court turned down his claim of not intending to murder the victim, pointing out that he called the police after the crime and said he had "ju

A man whose conviction for making deepfake pornography of an acquaintance was overturned is now seeking state compensation for his legal fees, local media outlets reported Wednesday. The former university student surnamed Lee recently requested the Seoul High Court to compensate him for his losses from the conviction. Although he did actually make the images, he was cleared by the Supreme Court in April 2024, partly because the relevant legislation was not in place at the time of his actions. Le

Some unmarried South Koreans do not plan on revealing their entire fortune to their soon-to-be spouses, a recent survey by a matchmaking firm showed Tuesday. According to the survey by Gayeon conducted on 250 unmarried men and 250 unmarried women between 25-39 years of age, 15 percent of respondents said they would not disclose 100 percent of their assets. The most popular reason (49.3 percent) was "even spouses need some secrets," followed by "I might need emergency funds only fo

South Korea’s high-end entertainment industry marked 624 billion won ($469 million) in sales with corporate credit cards last year, with over half spent in hostess clubs. The sales, supposedly generated for entertainment in business dealings, increased by 61 billion won from the previous year’s 563 billion won and accounted for 0.4 percent of total corporate credit card expenditure, according to the South Korean National Tax Service data submitted to Rep. Park Seong-hoon of the rulin

In a bid to combat the persistent problem of drunk driving, South Korea is rolling out a new policy that will require repeat offenders to blow into a breathalyzer every time they start their car, authorities told local media on Tuesday. The policy, set to take effect on Oct. 25, applies to anyone caught driving under the influence more than twice in the past five years. Under the mandate, offenders will be responsible for installing the breathalyzer-like device -- referred to as the ignition int

The number of foreign nationals illegally working as delivery workers in South Korea has surged by 50 percent since the Ministry of Justice initiated a crackdown on illegal employment practices in the industry in 2023. According to the Justice Ministry, 171 cases of foreign nationals being illegally employed in food delivery services and parcel services were detected as of July 2024, up from 117 cases detected in the whole of 2023. If this trend continues, the ministry expects numbers to double

Amid the prolonged summer in South Korea, research revealed Wednesday shows that rising temperatures can cause not just heat-related illnesses but also increase the risk of obtaining mental illnesses such as depression. According to joint research conducted by the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul National University and Pusan National University with 219,187 respondents of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s Community Health Survey, for every increase in average annual t

Over the past three years and seven months, more than 4,000 individuals were apprehended for child pornography offenses, including production and distribution, yet only 261 of them were referred to prosecutors while in detention, according to the official data. Data released Wednesday by Rep. Hwang Jung-a of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, based on information from the National Police Agency, highlighted the extent of child exploitation offenses and the relatively low rate of dete

Health Ministry rolls out guidelines exempting emergency medical workers from responsibility for refusal of treatment

Popular internet celebrity accused of ‘siding with’ discredited former K-pop star accused of bullying

The medical community Friday said it will not be participating in any multilateral dialogue with political parties and the government, amid the ongoing standoff against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's plan to hike the medical school admissions quota. Choi Anna, a spokesperson for the Korean Medical Association, said, "We believe that it is premature to participate in the bipartisan consultative body at this point in time since there has been no change in the government's atti

Seoul-bound traffic on major expressways is clogged on Tuesday, the fourth day of the extended Chuseok holiday, with traffic jams expected to be eased the following day, according to the expressway operator. This year's Chuseok, the Korean fall harvest celebration, falls on Tuesday, and the extended holiday runs from Saturday until Wednesday. As of 8 a.m., the estimated travel time from the southwestern city of Mokpo to Seoul was seven hours and 50 minutes, six hours and 30 minutes from the

A Gyeonggi city with high proportion of foreign population bids to host new immigration agency

Smoking accounted for more than 80 percent of in-flight illegal acts reported by South Korea's 10 carriers in the past five years, government data showed Tuesday. In the five years through July this year, 1,509, or 80.8 percent, out of 1,868 illegal acts were related to smoking onboard, according to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Under South Korean law, a fine of up to 10 million won ($7,500) will be imposed once in-flight smoking, including e-cigarettes, is f