Inspired by the splendor of green hues of the trees as the streetlights shone in the city's avenues during summer nights, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday it has chosen "green aurora" as the city's color for next year. As the municipal government expands its color palette every year to roll out the city's identity for the coming year, officials explained that the new soft-tone color aims to offer comfort and support to citizens fatigued from their everyday

Heavy snow beset Seoul and the surrounding areas for a second consecutive day Thursday, with the total snowfall in the capital marking the third heaviest snowfall on record in the city. At 8 a.m., Seoul’s accumulated snowfall reached 28.6 centimeters at the capital's official measurement site in the Jongno-gu district. This was the most in November since records began in 1907. The heaviest snowfall ever recorded in Seoul was 31 cm on March 24, 1922, followed by 30 cm on Jan. 31, 1969. Unti

A heavy snowstorm forced schools in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province to delay classes or close temporarily, as a crippling snowfall paralyzed much of South Korea on Thursday. The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education announced that it had advised approximately 4,700 schools under its jurisdiction — including kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools — to consider delaying class hours or temporarily closing at their discretion. Some schools, such as Munwon Elem

Heavy snow blanketed South Korea's capital area for the second consecutive day Thursday, with up to 40 centimeters of snowfall seen in parts of Seoul. A heavy snow advisory was in effect in all of Seoul as the accumulated snowfall reached 40.2 cm in Gwanak Ward and 27.1 cm in Seongbuk Ward. On Wednesday, Seoul saw the heaviest November snowfall since modern weather observations began in 1907, with 16.5 cm of snowfall. The record coincided with the first snow of the season in the city. Traffic wa

The Japanese cities of Osaka, Fukuoka and Tokyo emerged as the top destinations for repeat overseas travel among South Koreans, according to data from Triple, a travel platform run by Interpark. These three destinations accounted for over half of all demand for multiple visits, reflecting strong interest in tourism to Japan. Osaka topped the list with 18.6 percent of respondents reporting at least two visits, followed by Fukuoka (16.6 percent), Tokyo (15.2 percent), Bangkok, Thailand (7.9 perc

More than 50 cars crashed into each other on an icy road in Wonju, Gangwon Province, injuring 11 people as record heavy snow hit the country on Wednesday. The crash occurred at 5:49 p.m. on National Route 409, between Manjong and Simpyeong intersections in Wonju, according to the Gangwon Fire Headquarters. The accident began when a Matiz compact car skidded to a stop on a downhill stretch of a highway. The vehicles that followed were unable to stop because the road was icy and collided in a ch

Seoul subway Line No. 2 was delayed over 20 minutes during morning rush hour due to a conductor taking an urgent toilet break on Monday, according to Seoul Metro. The conductor who was driving a train on the outer lane of the circular route had to leave the train urgently to use the toilet in a station at 8:11 a.m. While an engineer watched the train, the conductor ran down the platform and returned in 4 minutes 16 seconds after using the restroom on another floor. However, the 125 trains follow

South Korea in September saw the largest on-year increase in the monthly number of childbirths in nearly 14 years, government data showed Wednesday. According to Statistics Korea, 20,590 babies were born in September, which was 1,884 more than the same month in 2023. The on-year increase was the largest since January 2011 percentage-wise, and the most since March of 2015 in terms of the number of babies born. It was the third straight month in which 20,000 or more babies were born, with 20,601 i

Heavy snow warnings were issued across the country as South Korea -- especially the Greater Seoul area and Gangwon Province -- experienced heavy snowfall nationwide, with more expected overnight. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, more than 20 centimeters of snow covered parts of Seoul as of 7 a.m., Wednesday morning. Normally, a warning is issued by the KMA when snowfall is expected to reach above 20 cm within 24 hours. The last time a snowfall warning was issued by the KMA

Several stories of police officers stepping up to provide urgently needed medical attention have been reported across the country this week. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Tuesday that a quick-thinking police officer saved a woman suffering from hypoglycemia by buying candy for her. In a video posted on the SMPA's official YouTube page, the woman can be seen falling to the floor in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul on Nov. 18, shaking and unable to communicate. A police officer from the Seoul

Two student organizations hosted a peace forum and concert at Imjingak, a site near the Demilitarized Zone, the buffer zone between South and North Korea, to commemorate the Korean War and honor its veterans. The groups -- the Mind Shelter Project and Past for Present -- organized the "Youth International Peace Forum and Concert" in the lead-up to UN Veterans International Memorial Day on Nov. 11, building on their inaugural event from last year. The program, themed, "Unforgetting

A joint South Korean-Chinese fraud ring that swindled of 12.2 billion won ($8.73 million) from more than 80 victims in a romance scam has been caught, police said Tuesday. The Busan Metropolitan Police arrested 12 suspects, including a Korean leader in his 20s and a Chinese leader in his 30s, on charges including conspiracy to defraud. Eight additional suspects were charged without detention. According to police, the group recruited South Korean accomplices in their 20s and 30s and flew them to

One in three students in Jeju Province is either overweight or obese, giving the island the highest student obesity rate among regions in South Korea, data shows. Approximately 33.4 percent of students enrolled in Jeju’s elementary, middle and high schools had a body mass index over 23, the threshold for an overweight classification in South Korea, according to an analysis of student health data from 2022 led by the Education Ministry. This was the highest rate nationwide, compared to th

The South Korean government will ease visa requirements for skilled workers, and partially lift hiring limits for foreign national workers in the construction industry, according to the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday. Under what it has dubbed its “New Immigration Policy,” industries can propose bringing in foreign workers for specific needs, with requests assessed by government ministries and a committee of experts deciding on adjustments like workforce quotas. Changes will be made

Citizens will be able to issue a mobile ID card, allowing them to conveniently verify their identity using their smartphones without the need for a physical card. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that starting Dec. 27, citizens aged 17 or older who already hold a national ID card can apply for a mobile resident registration card, a digital initiative for the first time in 56 years since the system was in place. Citizens will have two options to apply for a mobile ID card. The fi

The owner of a training facility for pet dogs is being investigated following accusations of repeated animal abuse believed to have occurred at his facility, local police said recently. Officials at Yangju Police Station in Gyeonggi Province said a man in his 30s, surnamed Lee, is under investigation for animal abuse allegedly conducted by him and employees at a "dog kindergarten" run by Lee. Dog kindergartens are a type of training facility that offer socialization training for pet do

An umbrella group of local polling companies on Wednesday recommended the government to ban the use of automated response systems in polling for major elections. In a press release, the Korea Research Association said the National Election Commission should no longer use the ARS in opinion polls, saying the system is no longer a scientific method of polling. "There recently have been controversies related to allegations about the opinion polls (of elections) supposedly being rigged, and the

More than half of the participants at the matchmaking program organized by the Seoul city government were paired up, officials said Wednesday. Among the 100 unmarried men and women who participated in the event Saturday on Sebitseom, a floating island on the Han River, 27 couples emerged, achieving a 54 percent matching rate. Picked from a competitive pool with a 33-to-1 applicant success ratio, the 100 attendees took part in a variety of activities, including relationship coaching, yacht rides

Donning red bandanas, launching hunger strikes, raising banners and posters in chants by the crowd in the streets or holding candlelight vigils have long been go-to options for those advocating for change. But South Korea has noticed a slight change in how protests work: they now use funeral wreaths wrapped with sharp words to draw attention to their cause. The term "funeral wreath protest" first appeared in news reports in 2006, when residents who opposed the development of a lake p

Son Joo-eun, CEO of Korea's top online private education company, Megastudy, is facing a backlash for inappropriate remarks during a recent lecture to high school students in Daegu. Speaking to approximately 500 first- and second-year students from a high school in the southern city on Nov. 22, Son called for affirmative action for teenage mothers in college admissions. He called it a “special admissions policy allowing adolescent girls who gave birth to have strong advantages in th