Seoul City has announced that it will host the 2023 Seoul Pet Festival at the Pyeonghwa Plaza in the World Cup Park on Oct. 8. The festival, the first of its kind in Seoul, will feature a variety of programs, including experiences and lectures. One of the notable events at the festival is the Fashion Run, which starts at 10 a.m. after a warm-up exercise at 9:30 a.m. It is a walking competition where participants, accompanied by their pets, wear matching outfits or accessories and complete a cour

The annual League of Legends World Championship will begin its 41-day run at LoL Park, the stadium for LoL Champions Korea, in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. A total of eight esports teams -- including PSG Talon of Taiwan, GAM Esports of Vietnam, Detonation FocusMe of Japan, Loud of Brazil and more, will compete in a double elimination tournament at the Play-In Stage. Sixteen teams -- two qualifying teams from the Play-In Stage and 14 prequalified teams -- join the Swiss Stage, a noneliminating tou

Expressways across the country remain Sunday, as people across the country head back home on the fourth day of the extended Chuseok holidays. The state-run Korea Expressway Corporation projected the congestion to peak around 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., with the traffic expected to ease between 11 p.m. and midnight. As of 4 p.m., the estimated travel time from the southeastern port city of Busan to Seoul ranged between 5 hours and 19 minutes to 6 hours and 24 minutes, when travelling by non-busses. It is e

South Korean women's badminton team on Sunday defeated China to win the gold medal at the 19th Asian Game, ending nearly three decades of title drought that persisted since 1994. In the team competition finals held at the Binjiang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China, the Koreans shut out their finals opponents 3-0. The champion of the Asian Games is determined in the best of five games series that involves three single matches and two doubles. An Se-young, the No.1 singles player in the Badminton

Police have launched a probe into the suicide death of an elementary school teacher in Uijeongbu, just north of Seoul, for possible harassment by parents, nearly two years after his school reported the death merely as a fall, officials said Sunday. The Uijeongbu Police Station has recently opened a probe into the death of Lee Yeong-seung who taught at Howon Elementary School after a regional education office requested an investigation into three parents on suspicions of infringing his education

The Seoul city government has initiated a financial assistance program for single women interested in egg freezing, garnering significant attention from unmarried women, officials said Sunday. Starting Sept. 1, the Seoul metropolitan government began offering financial aid of up to 2 million won ($1,500) for fertility preservation, in the latest of a series of measures introduced by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon in March to address the city's alarmingly low birthrate of 0.59. "The number of e

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a congratulatory message to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday to mark the 74th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China, state media said. "Over the last 10-odd years, the CPC with you, the general secretary, as its core has made remarkable successes in the cause of the party and state building by uniting and inspiring the entire party and people under the banner of the socialist idea with Chinese characteristics in the new era,&q

South Korea's exports fell for the 12th consecutive month in September but logged the smallest on-year decline so far this year, as global demand for semiconductors has been on the recovery track, the industry ministry said Sunday. Outbound shipments fell 4.4 percent on-year to $54.66 billion last month, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Exports have marked an on-year drop since October last year amid aggressive monetary tightening by the United S

A diverse lineup of music festivals and concerts are set to welcome the fall season. The Jarasum Jazz Festival, the country’s biggest jazz festival which marks its 20th anniversary this year, kicks off on Oct. 6 and runs for four days on Jara Island, Gyeonggi Province. The event invites 19 foreign artists and 22 Korean artists including Birell Lagrene and Ulf Wakenlus, Julian Lage, Shai Maestro Quartet, Youn Sun-nah, Ju Hyun-mi Jazz Project and the Pasquale Grasso Trio. The venue for the f

Semyon Bychkov, a Soviet-born conductor who denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is set to make his Korean debut in October, leading the Czech Philharmonic for an all-Dvorak program. The program -- Dvorak’s "Carnival Overture," Op.92, Piano Concerto in G minor, Op.33, and Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op.70 -- is more of a practical choice as it includes pieces that are being performed during their regular season in Prague, where they will perform Dvorak’s three symphoni

Nestled in the foothills of Seongnam, just southeast of Seoul, the Academy of Korean Studies has researched Korean culture and traditions, and fostered scholars of Korean studies from around the world since 1978. The AKS also supports research by Korean studies academics from overseas, holds international academic seminars and publishes journals in English. But with the recent growth of Korean studies abroad, the time has come to take the academy’s international exchanges to the next lev

South Korean Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu has met with President of Cabo Verde Jose Maria Pereira Neves and asked for the African country's support for its bid to host the 2030 World Expo in the southern city of Busan, his office said Saturday. Bang visited Cabo Verde on Friday (local time) as President Yoon Suk Yeol's special envoy and discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation on agriculture, trade, investment, energy infrastructure and the overall economy, according to the M

South Korea remained in the hunt for a medal in the team event of the women's golf tournament of the Asian Games in China, following the end of the third round on Saturday. South Korea sits in a tie for fourth place with Japan at 20-under through 54 holes at West Lake International Golf Course in Hangzhou. Kim Min-sol, Yoo Hyun-jo and Lim Ji-yoo entered the competition, and Lim missed the 36-hole cut Friday. The two best scores for each country are added to determine the team rankings. With

South Korea will deliver US$5 million worth of fertilizer to support Ukrainian farmers in partnership with the United States' international development agency, officials said Saturday. South Korea's foreign ministry will send fertilizers to support Ukraine's agricultural sector affected by the ongoing war with Russia through the partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to the Seoul government officials. "This generous contribution unde

Assets held by South Korean households in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan areas were some 70 percent larger than those owned by households in the non-metropolitan regions, data showed Saturday. The average per-household assets in Seoul, the western city of Incheon and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province came to 692.46 million won (US$512,554) as of end-March, some 69.2 percent greater than 409.35 million won owned by each non-capital household, according to the data by Statistics Korea pres

Traffic was backing up heavily on many expressways across the country Saturday as people traveled back home on the third day of the extended six-day Chuseok holiday. This year's Chuseok, the Korean fall harvest celebration, fell on Friday, and the holiday runs from Thursday through Tuesday when the country marks National Foundation Day. According to Korea Expressway Corp., major highways, particularly Seoul-bound ones, were jammed with vehicles. As of 2 p.m., the estimated travel time to Se

South Korea won its first gold medal from roller skating at the 19th Asian Games in China on Saturday. Jeong Byeong-hee clocked in 15:39.867 and scored 19 points in the men's 10,000m point-elimination final race at Qiantang Roller Sports Centre in Hangzhou, outpacing Zhang Zhenhai of China by five points. His compatriot Choi In-ho finished third with 11 points. This is South Korea's first gold medal from the roller sport at the Hangzhou Asiad. Earlier in the day, Yu Ga-ram won bronze i

After the qualification stage for the 10-meter air pistol mixed team event ended Saturday morning here in China, South Korean shooter Kim Bo-mi was inconsolable. Kim and her teammate Lee Won-ho had just combined to shoot 574 points out of a maximum 600 in the qualification round, putting them in fourth place. South Korea reached one of two bronze medal matches, while the top two teams, India and China, advanced to the gold medal match. South Korea finished only two points back of China in the qu

The inflation rate for food prices at dining establishments and prices of processed foods has been increasing at a faster pace than the overall inflation rate for consumer goods, a state-led agency’s data showed Saturday. According to Statistics Korea, the inflation rate for food prices at dining establishments in August came to 5.3 percent, while the inflation of consumer prices reached 3.4 percent. Government data also showed that food prices at restaurants have been increasing for 27 st

Jungkook of BTS topped iTunes’ Top Songs charts in 100 different regions with his second solo single “3D,” according to Big Hit Music. The single “3D” featuring Jack Harlow swept iTunes charts in numerous countries, including the US, the UK, Japan, Canada, and Italy, immediately upon its release on Friday. The instrumental and alternate versions of “3D” also reached No. 2 and No. 3 on iTunes’ Top Songs charts in various countries. The music video f