President Yoon Suk-yeol called for joint efforts to overcome the economic crisis Wednesday as cargo truckers returned to work following a weeklong strike. "I'm nervous," Yoon said as he arrived for work when a reporter asked him to comment on the strike that ended late Tuesday. "We're walking on thin ice because of the economic crisis caused by high prices and high interest rates around the world, and I think we will all need to cooperate in the interests of everyone,&qu

Suicides among young people, especially women, increased during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, despite a drop overall in South Korea. The number of suicides fell by 604 to 13,195 in 2020 compared to the previous year, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s report published Tuesday. The ministry said preliminary data from 2021 indicated a continued declining trend. The suicide rate per 100,000 people was 25.7 in 2020, far below the 31.7 seen in 2011 -- the high

Survey says mothers take up 70% of child care on weekdays

The South Korean government is expected to shorten the country’s COVID-19 quarantine mandate to five days, according to health officials on Tuesday. A government task force has reportedly been discussing the possibility of lifting the mandatory quarantine, but some experts from the group currently see lifting the mandatory quarantine as still risky. At the moment, it is more likely that the government could shorten the quarantine time or just keep the seven-day quarantine measure for a l

Prosecutors have again acquitted veteran singer Kim Kun-mo of allegations that he sexually assaulted a female hostess at a bar, sources said Tuesday. The Seoul High Prosecutors Office dismissed the woman's appeal and acquitted the 54-year-old singer of rape charges on June 7, they said. Kim, who holds the Guinness World Records title for the bestselling album of all time in South Korea in the 1990s, visited the bar in the posh Gangnam area in southern Seoul in August 2016. The hostess claim

About 6,500 workers with disabilities legally earned less than the minimum wage last year, a report said Tuesday. The report from the Korea Labor and Society Institute found a total of 6,547 workers were excluded from the minimum wage rule as of August 2021. Their average monthly wage was 363,441 won ($282), or 19.9 percent of the minimum wage at that time, the report said. By law, the minimum wage does not apply to employees "with a very limited working capacity due to a mental or physical

South Korean shippers urged striking truckers Tuesday to end their protest and resume negotiations over the disputed freight rate system, stressing that smaller export and import traders could take the brunt of the prolonged cargo disruptions. An industry group representing some 70,000 shippers made the emphatic call as thousands of truckers have walked off the job in protest of a planned expiry of a freight rate system guaranteeing the minimum pay and other subsidies. The strike, now in its eig

South Korea's new coronavirus cases bounced back to nearly 10,000 on Tuesday, while the number of deaths came down to a nine-month low. The country added 9,778 COVID-19 infections, including 41 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,239,056, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Tuesday's case count rose after it dropped to 3,828 on Monday, the lowest since the 3,094 reported on Jan. 11. The increase in the caseload was attributed to the growth in

The National Human Rights Commission on Monday dismissed a petition that claimed spicy foods in school lunches is a human rights violation. “Political Mamas”, a nonprofit civic group which deals with comprehensive social issues related to childcaring, filed a petition in November 2021 demanding spicy menu items on school lunches be corrected. “Elementary schools in Korea provide the same meals to every student, from age 8 to 13. If there is a kindergarten att

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials on Monday asked the prosecution for the indictment of former director of the National Intelligence Service, Park Jie-won, for telling reporters false allegations against then-presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol ahead of the election. The CIO shared its findings with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, which will decide whether to bring formal charges against Park. According to the CIO, Park spoke to five reporte

The police will expand its use of artificial intelligence voice recognition systems when investigating sexual crimes, the Korean National Police Agency said on Monday. The AI voice recognition system will help investigators focus on interviewing victims, as it automatically records the interview. Investigators usually write down a victim statement while interviewing at the same time. The agency plans to introduce the system to 38 police stations, the women and youth related investigation units

Even if an employee reports acts of sexual harassment in the workplace, it rarely leads to appropriate action, according to an analysis by a civic group. Gapjil 119, which campaigns against workplace abuses, indicated that between January 2021 and March 2022, only 129 out of 1,046 cases (12.3 percent) were acknowledged as sexual harassment. Only 7.6 percent (80 cases) of them ended in penalties for those accused of harassment. Some 65.7 percent (687 cases) of reported cases were dropped halfwa

In a country where nearly one-third of all households consist of just one person, products and services tailored to the need of those living alone keep growing their presence in the market. Mobile applications are no exception. Apps are springing up to cater to solo life.  The King of Honjok Studies have shown that people living alone are more likely to experience a lower quality of life, and men living alone more so. The King of Honjok aims to help by providing services that enable

A truckers' walkout continued for the seventh day Monday, deepening logistic disruptions and delays nationwide, as their negotiations with the government for a resolution fell through, officials said. Members of the 22,000-strong Cargo Truckers Solidarity, under the wing of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, have been on a general strike since June 7, demanding the government extend a freight rate system guaranteeing basic wages for truck drivers to cope with surging fuel costs. The

The South Korean coast guard said Sunday that it has seized a Chinese speedboat for suspected illegal fishing in South Korean waters in the Yellow Sea. The five-ton boat carrying two Chinese fishermen is suspected of trying to fish in waters about 35 kilometers west of South Korea's western border island of Socheong at around 8 p.m. on Saturday. The Chinese boat was fleeing to the north of the inter-Korean border before it was caught by a South Korean Navy 500-ton speedboat. The Chinese fish