'South Korea's rise is testament to power of education'

Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday it has added information on foot traffic in major shopping districts to the real-time information service it provides on the most popular areas in the city. The service, accessible at the Seoul Open Plaza website, provides an overview of popular areas in the city with information including the estimated foot traffic, road and weather conditions, empty parking spots, adjacent public transportation routes and rentable bicycles. For example, Seoul Plaza ne

Mapo-gu, a district in Seoul, is set to introduce a house call pet funeral service in collaboration with Petmun, a local pet services firm, district official said Tuesday. This service centers around a specialized vehicle equipped with a smokeless, odorless cremation facility. This vehicle will visit the home of the deceased pet, conduct a funeral service there and transport the pet’s body for cremation. Although the vehicle itself is a moving crematorium, the district plans to set a rul

Overnight temperatures in Seoul stayed above 25 C, marking the season's latest tropical night since meteorological observation began, the state weather agency said Tuesday. The lowest nighttime temperature overnight in the capital city was 25.6 C at 6 a.m., another tropical night that refers to a phenomenon where temperatures do not drop below 25 C until 9 a.m., according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. It marks the season's latest tropical night record in Seoul since recor

South Korea’s electricity demand hit a historic peak in August, driven by the intense summer heat wave. According to the Korea Power Exchange, the nation’s peak power demand averaged 87.8 gigawatts, a 6.1 percent increase from the previous year. This surge in energy consumption was largely attributed to increased air conditioning usage amid the sweltering conditions. The Korea Meteorological Administration reported that August experienced 16 days where temperatures exceeded 33 degr

New Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun visited a western frontline unit Monday in his first on-site inspection after taking office last week, the defense ministry said. Kim checked troop readiness at the 2nd Marine Division's observation post at an undisclosed location after assuming his new role Friday, according to the ministry. "If the enemy undertakes a provocation ... punish them fully and sternly until they are unable to carry out more provocations," Kim was quoted as saying. No

South Korean customs officials confiscated 769 kilograms of illegal drugs being smuggled into the country last year, 18 percent more than the year before, data from state-run bodies showed Monday. The confiscated drugs are reportedly worth about 61.3 billion won ($45.7 million), according to the data compiled by the Incheon International Airport Corp. and the Korea Customs Service, submitted to Rep. Jeon Yong-gi of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea. The amount of drugs seized by auth

South Korea's science and technology university KAIST and New York University signed an agreement in Seoul to introduce a joint degree program in artificial intelligence on Monday. The agreement came after both universities shared a consensus that strengthening capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence and fostering global talent is an essential element that can contribute to the future development of society as a whole, beyond mere technical education, KAIST explained. The two u

The whereabouts of a dismissed Filipino police officer, reportedly the main culprit behind the 2016 killing of a South Korean businessperson in Angeles City, the Philippines, remain unknown as of Monday, nearly two months after a local court sentenced him to life without parole. According to local sources cited by Yonhap News Agency on Monday, the Philippine National Police has been unsuccessful so far in locating Rafael Dumlao, former head of the Philippine National Police’s Anti-illega

In country with highest suicide rate, experts point to people living with pressure stemming from hyper-competitive society, comparison culture on social media

Amid growing concerns of fast-spreading digital sex crimes like deepfake pornography, there has been an increase in the number of social media users falling victim to "cyberflashing," or sending someone unsolicited sexual images or videos. According to an official report released jointly by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Women’s Human Rights Institute of Korea, the number of people seeking help at the institute for cyber harassment increased from 251 individua

Patients from outside Seoul coming into the capital still heavily favor the city's "Big 5" hospitals, government data showed Monday. According to data from the National Health Insurance Service provided by Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, 60 percent of patients from outside Seoul who sought treatment in the capital's large hospitals during the first half of 2024 went to those hospitals, which have suffered from staff shortages for m

With families becoming increasingly diverse in South Korea, support for single-parent households will be expanded, including the introduction of a new budget to increase housing provisions and the amount of the advance payment system for child support. Next year's budget to support single-parent families will be 590.1 billion won ($440 million), an increase of 46 billion won or 8.5 percent from this year's budget, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on Monday. To ea

A backlash from the LGBTQ+ community has been mounting over Gangnam-gu office's decision to take down after four days what it called an "indecent" digital advertisement, which featured same-sex couples facing each other, hugging and kissing. Yang Sun-woo, chair of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival organizing committee, told local media that the decision was based on discrimination against LGBTQ+ members of society. "Many advertisements in Korea depict the affection between dif

The past five days have seen a flurry of trash and debris littering the greater Seoul area again as North Korea resumed its campaign of floating hundreds of trash-carrying balloons over the border into South Korean territory. On Sunday, one of these balloons touched off a fire in a warehouse in the city of Paju, just 28 kilometers north of Seoul, local fire officials reported Monday. The fire reportedly broke out on the rooftop of a single-story pharmaceutical warehouse at around 1:59 p.m on Sun