Maritime authorities confirmed Monday that over 200 times more oil than initially expected leaked into waters off the south coast of Korea in an oil tanker collision, drawing concerns over the potential damage. According to the Yeosu Coast Guard, about 164 tons of oil spewed into the sea after Singapore-registered oil tanker Wu Yi San collided with a bridge while approaching a pier in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, on Friday. This amounts to 164,000 liters of oil. Three pipelines connecting to pe

Additional suspected cases of bird flu were reported over the Lunar New Year holiday despite the government’s continuous all-out quarantine efforts. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, two suspected cases were reported on Sunday in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province and in Eumseong-gun, North Chungcheong Province. The duck farm in Eumseong-gun is 4 kilometers from Jincheon, where the infection was confirmed last Wednesday.Chickens at a farm in Busan were also reported

Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that it will cooperate with Chinese municipalities to improve the air quality here amid public concerns over ultrafine dust coming from the neighboring country. Seoul will sign memorandums of understanding with cities in China to boost cooperation in sharing air quality-related technology and policies. The regions involved include the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang and Tianjin, as well as Shandong province. It will later join hands with Ulaanbaat

Seoul City’s public tourism organization set up a compensation scheme for overcharged foreign tourists as part of efforts to improve the city’s sightseeing conditions, officials said Wednesday. Seoul Tourism Association has started to reimburse up to 300,000 won ($280) to foreign travelers who are ripped off in seven special tourism districts starting this month. These include Myeongdong, Namdaemun, Jongno, Dongdaemun and Itaewon. Once overcharged, tourists must report to the Seoul tourist infor

Education level seems to affect men and women in markedly different fashions when it comes to marriage. Higher education is a big plus for men looking to wed; however, it’s a minus for women seeking Mr. Right, a study said on Wednesday.The Korea Institute for Health and Social Science analyzed several variables that affected marriage between 2001 and 2008, which included educational background, career, work hours and ages. According to the study, men with better educational backgrounds had highe

The government confirmed on Monday that avian influenza was the cause of wild bird deaths in North Jeolla Province, fueling concerns of a nationwide outbreak. On Friday, a large number of Baikal teals were found dead in a reservoir between Gochang-gun and Buan-gun in North Jeolla Province, where bird flu broke out on duck farms last week. “It was verified as H5N8 but whether it is highly pathogenic will be confirmed later in the day,” said the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The

South Korea’s health authorities are speeding up their move to take legal action against tobacco firms to recoup rising health costs from smoking-related diseases. The state-run National Health Insurance Service said Thursday that it would decide whether to file a suit against cigarette companies in its executive board meeting scheduled next Friday. It was reported that most of the board members are likely to approve the tobacco lawsuit. The 14-member board is comprised of the NHIS officials, go

South Korean doctors receive far less in fees for surgeries than other developed countries, a report showed Wednesday. According to a new report by the Korean Medical Association, the average surgery fees paid to Korean doctors in 2012 were the lowest compared to those of eight advanced countries, including the United States, Australia, Switzerland and France. In Korea, patients pay part of their medical costs as they belong to the state-regulated health insurance system. For the remainder of th

One in 6 public servants are open to getting a new job in the private sector in order to get higher pay, a government survey showed Wednesday. In the survey conducted by the Ministry of Security and Public Administration last year, 16.3 percent of 1,053 civil servants said that they were willing to give up their current government posts and go to the private sector. About 90 percent of respondents cited higher pay as their main reason, saying that they expected an average income rise of about 40