Parents of players training at the football academy run by the father of South Korean football star Son Heung-min on Thursday dismissed child abuse allegations against him. Son Woong-jung, a former player and director of Son Football Academy, and two of his coaches are under investigation over charges that they had physically and verbally abused a young player. In a joint statement issued Thursday, parents of other players said they had never once heard of or seen any corporal punishment at the

South Korea's national weather agency said Thursday it plans to forecast the weather further into the future, starting with expanding its mid-term forecast from the current 10-day outlook to 14 within this year. The Korea Meteorological Administration said it will review its numerical weather prediction to see if it can provide specific weather data for up to 14 days. The KMA currently has a three-level weather forecast system: the short-term forecast of up to three days predicts the specif

The Seoul Safety Income Project, initiated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, will set an example for South Korea's welfare policy in the future, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Thursday, marking the project's second anniversary. The initiative launched as a pilot project by the city government in 2022, is an income guarantee model that partially compensates the household income gap for families earning less than 85 percent of the median income. A key feature of this initiative is that

Kim Wan-sup, the Environment Minister nominee, is a bureaucrat who served as the second vice minister of the Finance Ministry last year. On nominating Kim, Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk said that Kim has a “better understanding of the Yoon administration’s state philosophy than anyone else.” “The current administration expects Kim will be able to carry out balanced policies, especially given the growing impact of environmental issues on the economy, such as co

A district court on Thursday turned down police's request for an arrest warrant against the driver of the deadly car accident in central Seoul late Monday that killed nine people and left seven injured. Namdaemun Police Station investigating the car crash said Thursday that the Seoul Central District Court dismissed the request to arrest the 68-year-old driver surnamed Cha, citing the low risk for the man not appearing for police questioning. It was also difficult to assert the necessity of

With the shock of Monday night's deadly car crash in central Seoul still fresh, a photo circulating online with two handwritten notes left at the site in yellow circles has sparked anger. As of Thursday, a photo of two handwritten notes some deemed derisive of the deceased has been posted on social media and various online forums. Nine people were killed and four were injured by a speeding sedan near City Hall in central Seoul, with the cause of the crash still under investigation. "

A longtime curator with a career spanning close to two decades at the National Museum of Korea has been tapped to lead the state-run museum with the largest collection in the country. Kim Jae-hong was an NMK curator from 1993 to 2012. He left the museum following a five-month directorship at the Chuncheon National Museum -- one of 13 regional museums under the NMK. Since September 2012, the 59-year-old Kim, who has a Ph.D. in Korean history from Seoul National University, has been a Korean histo

Approximately 2,500 Koreans, mostly elderly people, received more than 365 outpatient treatments a year over the past few years, data showed Thursday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare data, obtained by the minor Rebuilding Korea Party Rep. Kim Sun-min, revealed that the number of patients who made more than 365 outpatient visits a year was 2,561 in 2021, 2,488 in 2022 and 2,448 in 2023. In each of these years, more than half of them were aged 70 or older. In 2023, for example, the highest nu

A man in his 50s is being investigated for arson after he set his hotel room on fire at the Kangwon Land Casino report in Gangwon Province, local police said Thursday. The suspect identified as a Chinese national told police that he set the fire because he was angry after losing a lot of money at the casino, according to the Jeongseon Police Station. He is suspected of starting the fire in his 14th-floor room of the hotel at around 2:31 a.m. on Thursday, and fleeing the scene. Hotel sprinklers e

A round of live ammunition was found inside the carry-on luggage of a Korean Air flight attendant at Incheon Airport earlier this week, leading to an investigation by airport police, officials said Thursday. According to the Incheon International Airport Police Corps, airport officials discovered the 7.62 mm caliber bullet inside a flight attendant's bag during preboarding inspection on 7:30 a.m. en route to Bangkok on Tuesday. Police seized the bullet and had her take the flight as sched

Members of more than 90 patient advocacy groups staged a rally in central Seoul on Thursday, calling for doctors to end the ongoing walkout that has disrupted public health services for nearly five months. The protest, including members from the Korea Alliance of Patients Organization and the Korean Organization for Rare Diseases, came as trainee doctors have left their worksites since late February, causing disruptions in major hospitals, including cancellations and delays in surgeries. "U

A recent online survey conducted by the Korea Meteorological Administration reveals that 90 percent of South Korean nationals agree the country is facing a climate crisis. The survey of 1,706 respondents found that 90.1 percent agree they are experiencing the effects of climate change, with 43.7 percent “strongly agreeing.” When asked which weather phenomena seem the most affected by climate change, 53.8 percent of respondents cited heat waves as their primary concern, followed by

A taxi crashed into a hospital in central Seoul on Wednesday, injuring three pedestrians, police said. The vehicle driven by a man in his 60s plowed into the emergency ward of the National Medical Center in the central district of Jung at 5:15 p.m., leaving three pedestrians injured, one seriously. The other two sustained minor injuries. The taxi also bumped into four other vehicles and damaged parts of the tiled wall of the emergency ward. The driver was almost unscathed and not under the influ

Controversial plan offers state scholarships to public med schools in exchange for service in underserved areas

A former girlfriend of South Korean basketball star Heo Ung was reported to have hired a lawyer in response to him filing complaints against her, accusing Heo of spreading false rumors. Local daily Sports Kyunghyang on Tuesday reported that the woman has hired attorney Noh Jeon-oen to represent her for what she claimed were false claims about her made by Heo. Contrary to what Heo has said, she contends the 30-year-old star never intended to marry her and forced her into two abortions, as well as