People-pleasing cute acts offer window into role of cute behavior in Korean culture

North Korean state media outlets remained silent on the presumed 40th birthday of their leader Kim Jong-un on Monday. The Korean Central News Agency, Rodong Sinmun, Korean Central Television and Korean Central Broadcasting Station have yet to make any report on Kim's birthday. Kim is known to have been born on Jan. 8, 1984, though the North has not officially confirmed the date. Earlier in the day, state media outlets carried reports on Kim's visit to a newly built chicken factory wh

Strict beauty standards glamorizing stick-thin figures push young Korean females to lose weight, raising risk of health problems: study

Korean Canadian filmmaker and playwright Celine Song’s directorial debut, “Past Lives,” was named Best Picture of 2023 at the National Society of Film Critics Awards. “Past Lives,” a semi-autobiographical romantic drama film about Korean writer Nora (Greta Lee) living in New York who reunites with her childhood sweetheart, Hae-sung (Teo Yoo), after 20 years, won the top prize at the 58th annual awards. Other contenders were “Oppenheimer” and “The Z

A South Korean national was killed in a gun attack in the US territory of Guam on Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday. According to the ministry, a South Korean tourist visiting Guam was taken to a hospital, where he died, after being shot in a robbery. Local media outlets reported the shooting happened at Gun Beach in Tumon at around 8 p.m. Thursday. The victim, assumed to be in his 50s, was promptly taken to a hospital in the area. The beach is located at the northern end of

South Korean All-Star closer Go Woo-suk is now a member of the San Diego Padres. The Padres announced Wednesday that Go has agreed to a two-year contract with a mutual option for a third year in 2026. The Padres did not disclose financial details. Earlier in the day, New York Post columnist Joel Sherman tweeted that Go had signed a two-year deal worth $4.5 million. A major league source confirmed to Yonhap News Agency that the guaranteed amount of Go's contract is indeed $4.5 million over t

S. Korea's average annual temperature was 13.7 C, surpassing previous record of 13.4 C in 2015

A 66-year-old man surnamed Kim is under police investigation on suspicion of attempted murder

From getting a job to wishing for a recovery from the pandemic, five people born in the Year of the Dragon share their hopes for the coming year

Revelers across Asia celebrated the countdown to midnight on New Year's Eve with fireworks and brightly lit signs — offering a hopeful start to 2024 for some, even as the globe's ongoing conflicts raised security concerns and led to muted or even canceled festivities. As the clock struck midnight in Australia, more than 1 million people — a number equivalent to one in five of the city’s residents — watched a 12-minute firework display focused on the Sydney Har

52,000 pieces of suspected child pornography deleted

The year 2023 saw very few ups and an overbearing number of downs, with war, climate threats and social and economic woes posing existential questions. The Korea Herald runs the top 10 news stories of the past year for Korea and the world, with hopes that humanity will prevail to overcome the challenges we continue to face in the new year. [Top 10 News in Korea] Teachers' deaths ignite outrage A series of apparent suicides among teachers since July sparked outrage, exposing the grim reali

Ex-People Power Party leader announces departure as new interim chief seemingly snubs him

  Over 2,600 cases of sexual violence and harassment were reported in public organizations nationwide over the past two years, with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family responding to just over 50 cases for on-site inspection, the ministry's data showed Tuesday. Some 18,000 government offices, institutions and schools recorded 2,620 cases of sexual abuse from July 2021 until June this year, according to data provided by the ministry to Rep. Yangyi Won-young of the main opposition Democ

Palestinians said they felt "no joy" this Christmas as Israel bombed the besieged Palestinian territory on Monday, with no end in sight to the war that Hamas says has claimed more than 20,000 lives. Festivities were effectively scrapped in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, with few worshippers or tourists on the usually packed streets. In the Gaza Strip, the Hamas militant group reported 50 strikes in central areas early on Monday, inc