As much as "samgyeopsal," the quintessential Korean pork belly cut, translates to three-layered meat, its deliciousness hinges on the perfect balance of fat and meat. This balance delivers a satisfyingly chewy texture bursting with juicy, meaty flavor. In online forums in South Korea now, a heated debate is underway over just how much fat is too much in fat-rich samgyeopsal, as people share their experiences of being served cuts they deem “overly fatty” at restaurants. Th

More than 590 resident doctors who left their hospitals in protest of the government’s medical school quota expansion have returned, the Health Ministry said Friday, without providing the names of the hospitals, citing the possibility of future disadvantages from the medical circle. Currently, a little more than 590 out of 9,900 resident doctors, or six percent of the total, have returned to their training hospitals as of Thursday, the ministry explained. Second Vice Health Minister Park M

The Federal Reserve emphasized Wednesday that inflation has remained stubbornly high in recent months and said it does not plan to cut interest rates until it has “greater confidence” that price increases are slowing sustainably to its 2 percent target. The Fed issued its decision in a statement after its latest meeting, at which it kept its key rate at a two-decade high of roughly 5.3 percent. Several hotter-than-expected reports on prices and economic growth have recently undercut

Former US President Donald Trump has criticized South Korea's contribution to US Forces expenses, claiming they were "free of charge," and scrutinized the Biden administration's defense cost-sharing talks with South Korea. "I want South Korea to treat us properly," Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election in November, said during his interview with Time magazine released Tuesday. Trump reiterated his long-standing personal belief

JERUSALEM -- Hopes rose Monday for a long sought-after cease-fire and hostage release deal after almost seven months of war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. Washington's top diplomat said he was "hopeful" Hamas would accept the offer, which his British counterpart said could see the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners. After meeting in Cairo, the Hamas delegation left Egypt and returned to Qatar "to discuss the ideas and the proposal ... and we are keen to respond as qu

In their first meeting ever after President Yoon Suk Yeol seized power in 2022, main opposition party leader Lee Jae-myung on Monday told the conservative president that his two years in office has been a "time of dominance and ruling with the absence of politics." Ahead of their first official one-on-one meeting held Monday afternoon behind doors, Lee kicked off the event by thanking Yoon for setting up the meeting and expressed hope that it would become a cornerstone to present "

Kakao Games has decided to scrap using English names among its employees, becoming the first Kakao affiliate to backtrack on the IT front-runner’s attempt to make a more bottom-up working environment with open communication. Kakao Games CEO Han Sang-woo, whose English name is Michael, announced the decision in a meeting with employees on April 17, noting that there had been confusion as its workers had to use English names inside the company but went by their Korean names for external comm

Analysts say that while the recent feud between Hybe Entertainment and its sublabel Ador could result in short-term fluctuations in Hybe's stock prices, any long-term effects on Hybe's performance will be limited due to Ador's limited contribution to Hybe's overall performance. On Friday, shares of Hybe started at 206,000 won ($149) per share, a 11.7 percent drop compared to when the main bourse, Kospi, opened Monday, when they were 233,500 won per share, before the Hybe-Ador

The number of calls made by stalking victims to the state-run women's counseling hotline jumped more than three-fold over the past three years, government data showed. A total of 9,017 cases of over-the-phone counseling were provided by the 1366 emergency counseling service, according to a joint report by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the ministry-affiliated Women's Human Rights Institute of Korea. The figure has increased exponentially, having recorded 2,710 in 2021. The emerge

As South Korea grapples with a shrinking population, it is increasingly turning to foreign workers to fill crucial roles. Today, labor from overeseas is concentrated in low-paying unskilled jobs, but in the future, many will be hired to perform highly skilled work, according to Kim Young-Jung, president of the Korea Employment Information Service. Highly skilled jobs may include engineers, scientists, teachers, managers and IT professionals, he said. “Korea is getting more and more in need

The South Korean government on Tuesday expressed regret over the visit of a Japanese minister and more than 90 lawmakers to pay respect at the Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates those who died in service to Japan over several wars, including war criminals from the World War II period. "The government urges responsible leaders of Japan to squarely face history, and demonstrate through action their humble reflection and sincere remorse for Japan's past," Foreign Ministry spokespers

South Korea spotted several short-range ballistic missiles fired from North Korea toward the sea west of the Korean Peninsula on Monday. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a release that the missiles, the launch point of which is believed to be around Pyongyang, flew for more than 300 kilometers before landing in the sea at 3:01 p.m. The JCS said the missiles were “immediately detected, tracked and monitored” as they were launched and that the related information was &ld

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s new chief of staff, Rep. Chung Jin-suk, is a former journalist from a family with a political legacy. His appointment as presidential chief of staff follows his defeat in the April 10 election for the National Assembly against the rival Democratic Party of Korea candidate and former lawmaker Park Soo-hyun. Chung is the president’s third chief of staff and the first with experience in the Assembly. His two predecessors, Lee Kwan-sup and Kim Dae-ki, were bot

Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong, during his visit to the United States, projected the volatility of the won-dollar exchange rate would ease if the Middle East tension did not escalate further. The won-dollar exchange rate has been fluctuating heavily over the past few weeks, influenced by the strong demand for the greenback, with the anticipation that the US Federal Reserve will continue its aggressive monetary tightening due to the hotter-than-expected inflation readings. The strong safe

President Yoon Suk Yeol has invited main opposition leader Lee Jae-myung to their first one-on-one meeting through a brief phone call, the presidential office said Friday. In a surprise 5-minute phone call between the two, Yoon asked Lee to meet him next week at Yongsan, where the presidential office is located, an official at the presidential office told reporters. In his first phone call to Lee, Yoon added that he hoped to frequently meet from now on to discuss national affairs “over tea

Iran fired air defense batteries early Friday morning after reports of explosions near the city of Isfahan, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. It remained unclear if the country was under attack. However, tensions remain high in the wider Middle East after Iran’s unprecedented missile-and-drone attack on Israel. One government official suggested sites may have been targeted by drones. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. IRNA said the defenses fi

PARIS -- Climate change caused by carbon dioxide emissions already in the atmosphere will shrink global gross domestic product in 2050 by about $38 trillion, or almost a fifth, no matter how aggressively humanity cuts carbon pollution, researchers said Wednesday. But slashing greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible remains crucial to avoid even more devastating economic impacts after midcentury, they reported in the journal Nature. Economic fallout from climate change, the study shows, c

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned Tuesday that persistently elevated inflation will likely delay any Fed interest rate cuts until later this year, opening the door to a period of higher-for-longer rates. “Recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence" that inflation is coming fully under control and "instead indicate that it’s likely to take longer than expected to achieve that confidence,” Powell said during a panel discussion at the Wilson Cen

A series of memorial events were held across the country Tuesday, the 10th anniversary of the Sewol ferry tragedy, in remembrance of the 304 lives lost in Korea's worst maritime disaster. At a ceremony held at the Hwarang Public Garden in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon vowed to remember the 304 victims forever. Kim also lamented that no senior officials were held accountable for the failed disaster response. "Another tragedy followed this tragedy. It is

ANSAN, Gyeonggi Province -- On April 16, 2014, 325 students and 14 teachers from Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province were aboard the Sewol ferry heading to Jeju Island for a field trip. Cho Mun-jeong was one of the students on the trip and was hoping to enjoy a brief reprieve from preparing for college entrance exams. After a loud "bang" echoed through the ferry, an announcement was made over the intercom, urging passengers not to move and to wait patiently for rescue. But C