Hundreds of minors have been registered as business representatives in South Korea annually, including children too young to attend elementary school, health insurance data showed Monday. An annual average of 382 minors were registered as business representatives from 2021 to 2025, according to National Health Insurance Service data obtained by Rep. Moon Jin-seok of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Of them, 21 reported annual pay exceeding 100 million won ($72,200). “The fact that a child b

Michael Blunck, an former actor and wakeboarder, rode a jet ski into the Hangang River to rescue a middle school student after hearing screams near Seoul’s World Cup Bridge. The rescue took place at around 7:40 a.m. on Sept. 14, according to an SBS report aired Sunday. Blunck, who is from the US, said he was walking around his riverside office when he heard screaming outside. “I came out, and I saw just a head in the water. And it looked like he was trying to swim,” he told SBS. Blunck immediate

Traffic crashes occurring between midnight and 6 a.m. during the Chuseok holiday period have produced more than four deaths per 100 crashes, about four times the rate during the busy afternoon hours, data showed Monday. A total of 11,510 traffic accidents occurred during the Chuseok holidays from 2021 to 2025, killing 181 people and injuring 18,903, according to Korea Road Traffic Authority data released by Rep. Hwang Hee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. The period from midnight to 6 a.m

Traffic from Seoul to other regions during the Chuseok holidays will likely peak Thursday morning, with return traffic highest Friday afternoon, according to analysis by state-run organizations. An average of 6.05 million cars a day will use the expressways nationwide during the holidays, according to the Korea Transport Institute and the Korea Expressway Corporation. The daily average is estimated to rise 11.8 percent compared to last year's 5.41 million cars, and 6.84 million cars will be on t

Some 25.9 percent of young Korean men appear to lean far-right politically, a recent study indicated, showing a potentially severe ideological divide by gender and generation. Published in the Korean Journal of Sociology, the study used data from a Hankook Research survey commissioned by Sisa IN last year and the 2025 Korean General Social Survey to categorize 2,000 participants by their apparent political orientation. Scholars used their responses to welfare, economic and medical policies to di

A shark sighting in Busan on Friday has local authorities on alert, but residents are flocking to the port to catch a glimpse of the animal rarely seen on the city's coastline. Photos and videos of people lined up near the waterway at Busan North Port Waterfront Park have been circulating on social media since the shark — over 3 meters long — was first spotted at 8:57 a.m. on Friday and again at 1.05: p.m. on Saturday. Several videos showed what is thought to be a copper shark swimming near the

South Korean teens have more suicidal thoughts in high school than they did in middle school, with such tendencies peaking in the second year, a recent case study showed Sunday. Second-year high school students on average scored 1.58 out of 4 in terms of having suicidal thoughts, in the study published by the National Youth Police Institute. This was higher than the 1.56 for first years or 1.57 for the third and final year of the high school. The research tracked down 2,590 teens throughout six

A tragedy struck at the site of a flea market in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, Saturday, as a small truck killed two volunteer workers and injured five others. The victims were preparing for the event at a neighborhood park, when the vehicle ran them over at around 11:18 a.m. The two people who died were a woman in her 40s and her son, who was in middle school. The five injured include a woman in her 20s who sustained fractures on both her legs. Police are conducting interviews of the driver and e

In Korea, a mobile number does more than keep you connected. It is often used to verify identity when accessing banking apps, delivery platforms, government websites and other online services. Short-term visitors can usually manage with international roaming, a travel eSIM, a prepaid SIM card or pocket Wi-Fi. You can also sign up for KakaoTalk with a mobile number issued outside Korea. Those staying longer, however, often need a Korean mobile line registered in their own name. Having a local num

More than 20 million South Koreans — roughly four in 10 people — were prescribed controlled drugs in 2024, a parliamentary research body said Thursday, calling for tighter monitoring of medicines with a risk of misuse or dependence. A report by the National Assembly Research Service showed that about 20.01 million patients received such medications in 2024. Some 1.93 billion doses were dispensed through approximately 100 million prescriptions. The category, referred to under Korean law as medica

South Korean prosecutors have asked police to reinvestigate the death of a woman who received an incompatible blood transfusion at a Seoul hospital in 2024, after police closed the case without charges last month. The Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office asked the Seongbuk Police Station to conduct further inquiries, saying additional facts needed to be established before the case could be concluded. Police plan to reopen the investigation. The woman, in her 50s, was taken to the emergenc

South Korea aims to introduce medication abortion for pregnancies of up to nine weeks by the end of March 2027, beginning with a two-year period in which doctors would prescribe and dispense the drugs at major hospitals, the government said Wednesday. If the necessary safeguards are subsequently established, the system would switch to doctors issuing prescriptions and independent pharmacies dispensing the medication. Prime Minister Han Seong-sook announced the phased plan at a government policy

Seoul city buses will operate normally on Wednesday after labor and management reached a last-minute agreement on a 3.2 percent wage increase, averting a strike that had been scheduled to begin at 4 a.m. The Seoul Metropolitan Government also lifted emergency transportation measures prepared in anticipation of the walkout. Representatives of Seoul’s bus companies and unionized drivers reached the agreement at 1:50 a.m. Wednesday after nearly 12 hours of negotiations at the Seoul Regional Labor R

Police twice closed preliminary inquiries into the 2019 death of a 3-year-old girl without opening a criminal investigation. Her body was covered in bruises, capsaicin was found in her blood, and a forensic report said abuse could not be ruled out. Details of the police response were contained in a 2019 Seoul Seongbuk Police Station report cited by Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday. The 44-month-old girl died on June 28, 2019. The National Forensic Service found that a head injury played a major rol

South Korea will update its national plan for responding to space hazards every five years, halving the previous interval as growing satellite traffic and changes in solar activity create rapidly evolving risks. The revised Space Development Promotion Act was promulgated and took effect Tuesday, according to the Korea AeroSpace Administration. The law previously required the government to draw up its Basic Plan for Preparation Against Space Hazards every 10 years. The revised five-year cycle wil