Starting July, the government will start charging extra medical fees for those who use the medical services an "excessive" amount. The recent revision of the National Health Insurance Act will kick in on July 1, which means that the current coverage of the state-run health insurance program will be limited to 365 outpatient treatments in a year. Those visiting the hospital more frequently will still be covered by the National Insurance, but will have to pay 90 percent of the medical bi

A violation of military regulation occurred with a recent trainee soldier's death during a training exercise, an Army official told local media Monday. In a meeting with reporters, the unnamed official confirmed that there "had been a situation that was not in accordance with (military) regulation" during the exercise. The official refused to elaborate, saying the case was still under investigation by the police and the military. According to the Army, the trainee soldier died Sat

A 41-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after attacking his mother in the street with a knife, police said Monday. The Incheon District Court on Sunday issued an arrest warrant for the suspect on the ground that he is a flight risk, according to the Incheon Michuhol Police Station. The suspect is believed to have stabbed his mother, who is in her 60s, at around 11:52 a.m. on Thursday, in the streets of Michuhol-gu, Incheon. Police detectives who were passing by in a

A high school student who had gone missing after jumping into a river was found dead Sunday, close to where he had gone missing. According to officials, The boy jumped into the Ganggyeongcheon in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, at around 5:50 p.m., and was swept away. He was found dead three hours later, about 70 meters away from where he had been playing. A boy who had been playing with him told local police that they were "messing around" when they decided to jump into the water.

A recent survey suggested that majority of part-time workers in South Korea are positive about using AI, robot and other machines at work. Part-time job-search website Alba Cheonguk said Thursday that it had conducted a survey on 771 part-timers that showed that 71 percent of the respondents had a positive view of adopting recent technology such as food-serving robots, kiosks at their place of work. The percentage was particularly high among those working in shops that already used such technolo

In a landmark ruling Thursday, the Supreme Court said that marriage can be nullified after divorce under "special circumstances," allowing separated couples to be freed from potential legal complications and obligations entailing matrimony. The Article 815 of the Civil Act states that a marriage is void if the two parties did not both consent, or if it occurs between certain close relatives. But a precedent set in 1984 by South Korea's highest court has made it impossible to annul

In a bid to battle the low fertility rate in South Korea, there are ongoing talks to expand the benefits for childbirth by adjusting the childbirth credit system, which reduces the mandated subscription period of National Pension plans for those who have given birth. There have been demands for changes to the current system in which the government pays for only 30 percent of the increased budget from the various credit systems, with the remaining 70 percent coming out of the National Pension fun

Undoing the damage caused by the recent defacement of the Gyeongbokgung walls has cost 150 million won ($109,000), the government body in charge of preservation of cultural heritage in South Korea said Thursday. The Korea Heritage Service, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, revealed the provisional figures on reversing the damage inflicted by the two cases of vandalism in December of last year. Two teens wrote graffiti on the historic walls on Dec. 16, and a man in his 20s did so

A Seoul Metro operator recently made all passengers exit the train at the wrong station, mistaking it for its final destination, Seoul Metro said Friday. The operator of subway train No. 6221 of Line No.6 stopped at the Sangwolgok Station at around 6:23 p.m. on Wednesday and notified all passengers to vacate the train, according to the main operator of the greater Seoul's transit system. The passengers were told the train was not bound for Sinnae Station in Jungrang-gu, the last station on

A Busan bus driver was recently caught working while under the influence of alcohol, local police said Friday. Passengers of the bus that was operating in Busanjin-gu, Busan suspected that the driver was drunk, based on the strong smell of alcohol, and reported it to the police, according to the Busanjin Police Station. Officers who arrived on the scene stopped the vehicle and tested the driver, who showed blood alcohol content that was high enough to have his driver's license revoked. The

An international student studying in South Korea was caught riding a bicycle in public while naked, allegedly due to stress, local police said Thursday. The 23-year-old, who was only identified as a Chonnam National University student who is from an African country, is under investigation for public indecency, according to the Gwangju Bukbu Police Station. He is accused of taking off all his clothes and riding a bike at around 11:34 a.m. on Wednesday near the dormitory of his school, located in

The body of a woman in her 40s had been found in the waters near the Haeundae Beach in Busan, local coast guard said Thursday. Officials at the Busan Coast Guard said they received a report of what appears to be a person floating in the water at around 8:57 p.m. on Wednesday. Officials found that it was a woman, wearing everyday clothes. Initial inspection of her body showed that she had drowned to death, and that she had no signs of physical trauma. Officials noted that it does not seem likely

The busiest subway station in the Seoul Metro system in terms of daily users was Jamsil Station on Line Nos. 2 and 8, the main operator of the metro system for the nation's capital and parts of the surrounding cities said Thursday. According to the Seoul Metro, 155,229 people used the Jamsil Station between January and April of this year. The state-run company surveyed the ridership for each station, based on the number of people who either entered or exited the system at the said station.

The municipal government of Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, Thursday is investigating an animal abuse case, in which a cat was drowned in what appears to be a deliberate attempt. The Tongyeong station of the Korea Coast Guard received a report at around 8 a.m. Wednesday, of what appeared to be an animal floating around the waters off Misu-dong in Tongyeong. The animal turned out to be a dead cat, whose body was tied to a rope that was bound to rocks beneath the surface. Investigators suspe

A controversy is brewing over allegations that Kang Hyeong-Wook, one of the most well-known dog trainers in South Korea, has been bullying the employees at his company. The rumor surfaced after the recent news that the 38-year-old has decided to cease operation of Bodeum Company Ltd., a training and consulting firm for dogs. Numerous users of the local job-searching platform Job Planet came across negative reviews of the company, which have since been posted online and circulated among the South