D-1: Seoul outlines safety plans for grand fireworks festival

Ahead of the Seoul International Fireworks Festival, anticipated to draw around 1 million spectators this Saturday, both the government and the city of Seoul have announced extensive safety measures to ensure crowd control and public safety. The annual Seoul International Fireworks Festival, hosted by Hanwha Group, will take place over the Han River near Yeouido and Ichon Hangang Park. Marking its 20th edition, the event will feature stunning displays by participants from Korea, the US, and Japa

Oct. 4, 2024

1,430 minors investigated for drug offenses from 2018 to 2023: police

Around 1,430 minors, aged 14 to 18, were investigated by police for drug offenses, including possession, consumption, and distribution, between 2018 and 2023, according to data from the Korean National Police Agency. The report, released by Rep. Kang Min-kuk of the ruling People Power Party on Friday, highlighted the growing concern over youth involvement in drug crimes during this period. By year, the numbers rose each year, from 56 in 2018, to 201 in 2022. This steady increase was followed by

Oct. 4, 2024

35% of S. Koreans view unification 'unnecessary'

Skepticism toward unification with North Korea is rising in South Korea, with the proportions of people who view it as "unnecessary" and those who see it as "impossible" reaching record highs since 2007, when the poll started. According to the survey on the public unification perception, released by the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies from Seoul National University on Wednesday, 35 percent of respondents indicated that unification is either "entirely unnecess

Oct. 3, 2024

Temperatures drop by more than 10 C as fall officially begins

Following nationwide rain Tuesday, South Korea experienced chilly fall weather Wednesday morning, as temperatures dipped by up to 10 degrees Celsius compared to the previous day accompanied by strong winds, said the Korea Meteorological Administration. According to the KMA, the influx of cold air from the northwest and strong winds resulted in Wednesday morning lows 5 C to 10 C lower than the previous day in the central region, comprising the Greater Seoul area -- Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Pro

Oct. 2, 2024

Court rules Itaewon tragedy was 'foreseeable'

A Seoul district court on Monday sentenced the former chief of the Yongsan Police Station to three years in prison without labor in a ruling that held, for the first time, the South Korean public office responsible for the deadly Halloween crowd crush on Oct. 29, 2022 in Itaewon, central Seoul. Delivering the ruling, the Seoul Western District Court said Lee Im-jae, the then-head of Yongsan Police Station, had failed to establish and implement a safety management plan to prevent the possibility

Sept. 30, 2024

Forum on Seoul income initiative to take place on Oct. 7

The Seoul city government will hold an international forum on its Stepping Stone Income welfare initiative at Dongdaemun Design Plaza on Oct. 7, marking the program's third-year run. Under the theme, “Solutions for Alleviating Poverty and Income Disparity,” the city government said its forum would bring together experts in economics, social welfare and sociology to discuss the city’s income support system and its results. The city’s Stepping Stone Income, or Didimdol

Sept. 30, 2024

45% of unregistered foreigners entered Korea on visa waivers: data

Nearly 45 percent of the over 423,000 unregistered foreign nationals living in South Korea had originally entered the country under its visa waiver program and overstayed their permitted period of stay as of the end of 2023, according to data from the Ministry of Justice released Sunday in a report created by Rep. Song Seog-jun of the ruling People Power Party. The data in the report said 16.9 percent of the more than 2.5 million foreign national residents in Korea were unregistered as of the en

Sept. 29, 2024

Malnutrition cases nearly triple in last 5 years

The number of patients suffering from malnutrition in South Korea has increased by nearly three times in the last five years, particularly among low-income households, data showed Tuesday. According to an official report from the National Health Insurance Service delivered to Rep. Jun Jin-sook of the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 63,274 patients received treatment for malnutrition from 2019 to the first half of this year. The number of patients suffering from malnutrition increased signi

Sept. 24, 2024