68-year-old driver claims sudden unintended acceleration; car experts say negligence likely behind crash

Debate over scrapped government plans to issue limited driving permits to older people resurfaces in light of Monday’s accident

Students of multinational background increase 272% since 2012, Cho says

The South Korean police said Tuesday they had commenced a nationwide clampdown against groups of reckless drivers and motorcyclists across the country, which will continue until Aug. 31. Groups of people riding motorcycles or driving cars aggressively without obeying the traffic law are known locally as pokjujok. Although they are not motorcycle gangs or other organized crime groups, the dangerous driving in itself has sparked concern. In a recent case on June 25 in Cheonan, South Chungcheong

The Jongno-gu district office said Tuesday it would limit tourist access to Bukchon Hanok Village in the evening starting in October, to relieve stress for local residents and protect the historic infrastructure there. Tourist entry to residential areas in the village will be prohibited from 5 p.m. to 10 a.m., aimed at reducing noise and ensuring residents' privacy during these hours. The restricted area, designated as Red Zones, includes Bukchon-ro 11-gil, where residential hanoks are dens

The number of babies born in South Korea marked on-year growth for the first time in 19 months in April, data showed, as the country is struggling to boost its ultralow birth rate. A total of 19,049 babies were born in April 2024, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It was the first time since September 2022 that the figure logged on-year growth. “The growth came as the number of newly married couples rose over the past couple of years

President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered related government agencies to respond swiftly to the deadly car accident that took place late Monday near Seoul city hall. “President Yoon was briefed about the car accident and ordered the minister of interior and safety, and the chief of the National Fire Agency to ‘focus all resources to rescue and treatment of the victims,” Kim Soo-kyung, the president spokesperson said in a written briefing Monday evening. The incident took place at around

A major traffic accident occurred near Seoul's City Hall Station in Jung-gu, Seoul, killing at least nine pedestrians and injuring four others, according to fire authorities. According to the National Fire Agency, a vehicle drove onto the sidewalk at an intersection near Exit 12 of City Hall Station at around 9:26 p.m., hitting pedestrians who were waiting to cross the street. Police arrested a man in his 60s at the scene. The driver is reportedly claiming that the accident was caused by a

Officers at a police station in Gyeonggi Province said Monday it is investigating a teenager on possible violation of the Road Traffic Act, after unlicensed driving by the adolescent led to a collision with four cars. The teenage suspect, whose identity was withheld, took a Hyundai Sonata around 11:10 p.m. Sunday and drove it around Dongan-gu, Anyang, 18 kilometers south of Seoul. He told police that he had done so because he had an argument with his mother. The boy, who did not have a driver&

A local branch of the South Korean police is facing public scrutiny over its alleged coercive investigation of a man who was wrongfully accused of threatening a woman with sexual molestation. The Hwaseong Dongtan Police Station in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province recently posted a notice on its homepage telling the public that internet users have wrongly identified multiple police officers as responsible for the controversial handling of the recent case. But people responded by chastising the police

Monsoon rains to resume nationwide from Tuesday

Amid the growing concerns over sex crimes against minors, South Korea's national police agency announced Monday it has established an international response platform to tackle the spread of online content on the sexual exploitation of children. Dubbed "InaRae," which stands for International Response Against Exploitation, the system allows law enforcement agencies in Korea and other member countries to mutually request the removal and blocking of child sexual exploitation content.

Oh dismisses speculation of 2027 presidential bid

Patient groups to stage massive rally over prolonged medical standoff on Thursday to urge doctors' return

A subway maintenance train caught fire on a rail track between Dogok and Daechi stations in southern Seoul in the wee hours of Monday, but the fire was put out shortly afterward without affecting train services during the morning rush hour. The blaze occurred at 3:42 a.m. from the motorcar train's battery on the southbound track of the No. 3 line, but firefighters extinguished it shortly after arriving at the scene, according to the subway operator. Seoul Metro sent out a message at 5:34 a.