The Namyeong-dong "anti-communism investigation office" has long been haunted by the memory of police brutality against pro-democracy activists that took place there in the 1970s and '80s, but the notorious venue has recently been repurposed as a museum and memorial hall dedicated to democracy and human rights. The National Museum of Democracy and Human Rights opens on June 10, marking 38 years since the June 10 Democratic Uprising of 1987 that finally toppled Chun Doo-hwan's military junta. The

South Korean authorities are investigating a suspect in connection with serial dog abandonment, after 19 discarded dogs were discovered in Gangnam, southern Seoul, last month, local media reported Wednesday. Between April 5 and April 7, residents of Daechi-dong and Yeoksam-dong in Gangnam discovered the dogs scattered in their neighborhoods — in streets, alleys and parking lots. All the animals appeared to have been severely neglected, with overgrown, matted fur and signs of poor hygiene. None o

A YouTuber with a visual impairment was recently subjected to discrimination for her guide dog, as a restaurant owner in Busan seated her away from other customers and refused to move her despite her repeated complaints. Heo Woo-ryeong, who lost her sight at 14, posted a video of her Busan trip on Sunday titled, "Everything in Busan was great in Busan, except... I hope it won't happen again." She was visiting a sashimi eatery next to Gwangalli Beach, where she and her camera crew were shown to a

The father and brother of Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min received suspension from coaching by sports authorities of Gangwon Province, after the pair and another coach from the father's youth academy was convicted for child abuse by local court. The Gangwon Football Association recently confirmed a three-month suspension on Son Woong-jung, the father of the Tottenham star and director of SON Football Academy, and a fellow coach of the institution. This was based on the investigation by t

Following unusual temperature fluctuations in winter, several regions across South Korea, including the greater Seoul area, experienced potentially record-breaking morning temperatures on Wednesday, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. In Seoul, the lowest temperature of the day was recorded at 23 degrees Celsius at around 5:53 a.m. If this figure holds as the day's minimum, it would mark the highest daily low for May since temperature records began in October 1907. The current

An increasing number of foreign nationals are required to join South Korea’s state-run health insurance program between 2020 and 2024, reflecting the growing population of longer-term foreign residents. The number of Koreans who are signed up, however, is decreasing due to the country’s record-low birth rate. According to data from the National Health Insurance Service submitted to Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party, 59,662 Vietnamese and 56,425 Chinese nationals were newly added to the Na

As South Korea suffers from record-low birth rates, population decline and aging, regional governments across the country are playing matchmakers for young people who have become increasingly more reluctant to tie the knot. Now, stepped-up efforts include covering dating costs and potentially even subsidizing part of the wedding fees for matched couples. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Monday the new season of its matchmaking program to get singles into romantic relationships, set to

Cha Cheol-nam, the man arrested for double homicide and non-fatal attacks on two others, told reporters Monday that he killed the victims because they had not paid back money owed to him for over a decade. "There were financial dealings (with the victims). They borrowed money from me and didn't pay it back for 12 years," he said while being taken to the Siheung Police Station Monday evening, adding that it was "sad" that people died. Cha was captured in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province at around 7:24

Around 230,000 foreign nationals worked in Korea's construction sector in 2024, with over 80 percent of them being Chinese nationals of Korean ethnicity, according to a report released Tuesday by a government-affiliated labor group. The Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association reported that in 2024, 229,541 foreign nationals were employed in the construction industry, accounting for 14.7 percent of all workers in the sector. Among workers whose nationalities were verified, 83.7 percent were e

Seoul police on Monday said they have requested an arrest warrant for the reporter of an internet news website who posted misinformation about Chinese spies purportedly confessing to mass-scale election rigging in Korea. The post, uploaded on online platform Sky Daily, which is notorious for making false claims with far-right political inclinations, falsely claimed that 99 Chinese spies had been arrested at the National Election Commission by the Martial Law Command during then-President Yoon Su

Kim Seong-jin, the 32-year-old man accused of killing one person and injuring another at a supermarket last month, is believed to be a psychopath based on preliminary testing by the police, officials said Monday. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency conducted the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised on Kim last month, and officials said in a media briefing that the analysis points towards psychopathy. They also said that Kim's crime can be described as an "abnormal motive crime," defined by Korean

Myeong Jae-wan, the 48-year-old elementary school teacher accused of murdering a 1st-grader at school, has been officially dismissed by the education authorities, a local media outlet reported Monday. According to the Korean-language daily Herald Business, the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education confirmed Myeong's dismissal, the highest level of disciplinary action for government employees, at a disciplinary committee meeting on May 8. She purportedly did not challenge the decision. Myeong

Seoul police said Monday two suspects have been identified as having posted online death threats against Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea. Another 217 individuals are currently under investigation for potentially unlawful activities related to the upcoming June 3 election, they added. Park Hyun-soo, the acting chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said in a regular media briefing that three cases related to murder threats against Lee have been r

A controversy has emerged in South Korea over whether police adequately protected the rights of a woman accused of attempting to blackmail soccer star Son Heung-min over a pregnancy, after she appeared before the media without the usual measures of identity concealment typically granted to criminal suspects. Scenes of the female suspect being escorted to a court hearing on her arrest warrant on Saturday, flanked by two police officers, her wrists wrapped in clothing to conceal handcuffs, and wea

The Seoul Administrative Court upheld the disqualification of a student athlete who was denied admission to a university in 2024 after wearing a swim cap bearing the emblem of one's high school during the practical entrance examination. The applicant, a water polo player, challenged the decision, arguing that the university’s admission guidelines ban only names or school affiliations on swimsuits — not on swim caps. However, the court ruled that the swim cap could reasonably be interpreted as pa