The Education Ministry has selected 33 private universities and colleges for a five-year initiative worth 600 billion won ($450 million) to strengthen their competitiveness in specialized fields, including semiconductors, physical artificial intelligence and aviation. The ministry announced Monday that 16 four-year universities and 17 junior colleges had been selected for the newly launched initiative, which will provide financial support from 2026 through 2030. The program is designed to help p

Behind each university’s global ambitions are choices about what to preserve, what to develop and where to go next. In “World Class,” The Korea Herald interviews leaders of Korean universities about the strengths they are cultivating and the futures they envision. — Ed. When John Frankl first arrived at Yonsei University as an American exchange student in the late 1980s, he found a far more insular institution than the globally oriented university he knows today. Nearly four decades later, the f

The leader of a controversial religious group and his organization were ordered to pay a sum of 370 million won ($276,000) in damages to three female followers whom the leader sexually assaulted. The Daejeon District Court ruled that Jeong Myeong-seok, the 81-year-old founder and leader of the Christian Gospel Mission, commonly known as JMS, and the religious organization must jointly pay 250 million won plus interest to a Hong Kong national identified as Maple. Some 80 million won plus interest

The number of elementary, middle and high schools in South Korea has increased by 180 over the past six years, data showed Thursday, sparking concerns that the public education funds are not being used efficiently amid continued decline in the student population. According to a report by the Chosun Ilbo citing data from the Korean Educational Development Institute, the country's student population fell by 510,000, or 9.5 percent, from 5.35 million in 2020 to 4.84 million in 2026. During the same

Twelve foreign nationals died at immigration detention facilities across South Korea from 2015 to 2025, government data showed Thursday, raising concerns over possibly inadequate access to medical care at facilities holding foreigners awaiting deportation. According to data obtained from the Justice Ministry by Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kim Han-kyu, seven of the 12 deaths were recorded between 2015 and 2023, including two at the Hwaseong Immigration Detention Center, two at the Cheongju Imm

Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kim Moon-soo tapped his AI-powered glasses and asked them to solve an English question from Korea’s college entrance exam during a parliamentary audit Wednesday. After a brief pause, he told fellow lawmakers and Education Ministry officials that the device had returned choice No. 3. Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said officials were preparing guidance to identify smart glasses ahead of the College Scholastic Ability Test, or Suneung, but deploying radio-frequency

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was acquitted on appeal Wednesday of illegally receiving free polling results from political broker Myung Tae-kyun, overturning his conviction and two-year prison sentence. The Seoul High Court also acquitted Myung of violating the Political Funds Act, citing an absence of evidence that he and the former presidential couple agreed to the provision of free polls. “There is no evidence whatsoever that there was a meeting of minds among Yoon, his wife and Myung regard

South Korea plans to waive proof-of-funds requirements for international students who meet Korean-language standards and introduce a visa pathway for gap-year study, the Justice Ministry said Wednesday. The package also includes simpler rules for part-time work and new pathways for graduates to find jobs and settle in Korea. The number of international students residing in Korea rose from around 200,000 in 2022 to more than 300,000 last year, reaching about 350,000 as of August, according to min

Columbia University tops the overseas university list for South Korea’s business dynasties, with Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin and his son Shin Yoo-yeol among the 22 chaebol family members who studied there. A survey released Wednesday by corporate research firm CEOScore also found that nearly 94 percent of fourth- and fifth-generation members of conglomerate-owning families had studied abroad. The survey examined the educational backgrounds of 350 members of the controlling families behind

Early admissions applications to South Korea’s four science and technology institutes surpassed 30,000 for the first time, apparently driven by the launch of new artificial intelligence-related majors and growing student interest in semiconductor programs, according to Jongro Hagwon, a major college entrance exam prep academy. The academy said Monday that a record number of students applied to the country’s four science and technology institutes — the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Tech

South Korean police are investigating a brawl that is believed to have involved some 10 foreign nationals at a park in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, late Saturday night, authorities said Monday. The Pyeongtaek Police Station said it received a report at around 11:30 p.m. Saturday that “a group of foreigners were engaged in a brawl.” Video footage taken by a nearby member of Korea Citizens on Patrol, a neighborhood watch group voluntarily organized by local residents, shows several people surrou

South Korea’s U-23 men’s soccer team returned home Sunday with a fourth consecutive Asian Games gold medal, but the celebrations were quickly overshadowed by backlash over players’ remarks about the military service exemptions that came with their victory. Team captain Lee Gi-hyuk, a 26-year-old defender for K League 1 club Gangwon FC, apologized for his controversial comment about avoiding the mandatory service upon arriving at Incheon Airport on Sunday. The team defeated Japan 1-0 in the Asian

Behind each university’s global ambitions are choices about what to preserve, what to develop and where to go next. In “World Class,” The Korea Herald interviews leaders of Korean universities about the strengths they are cultivating and the futures they envision. — Ed. Sookmyung Women’s University is betting that the next stage of Hallyu, or the Korean Wave, will not be another hit song or streaming drama, but a field of study. When the university launched its Hallyu International College in Ma

Fifty-nine guests and employees were hospitalized Thursday after chlorine gas spread through the Grand Josun Jeju hotel on Jeju Island, causing nausea, dizziness and other symptoms. The Jeju Fire Safety Headquarters received an emergency call at around 10:40 a.m. reporting that “all floors of the hotel smelled like bleach.” Firefighters arrived at around 10:53 a.m. and evacuated all 85 guests staying at the five-star hotel in the Jungmun Tourist Complex in Seogwipo. Authorities set up a temporar

A South Korean court has overturned an immigration office’s decision to block a full review of an African man’s asylum claim based on persecution over his sexual orientation, finding insufficient grounds to reject it at the preliminary screening stage, according to local daily Kyunghyang Shinmun. The Incheon District Court ruled in favor of the man on Sept. 22. He had sued the head of the Incheon Airport Immigration Office after authorities declined to refer his application for a formal refugee