The barbershop has been slowly fading into a place of the past, only rarely shown on TV as a symbol of the bygone era. But there are signs of it being reborn into a hip place for Korean men.(Shot and edited by Park Ju-young / The Korea Herald)The revival of the barbershop is being driven by a set of carefully redefined features and services reserved for male clients. One factor is a pressure-free interaction atmosphere between customers and barbers. “Older barbers in our parents’ time even knew

A man estimated to be in his 60s died after being hit by a Mugunghwa train traveling from Busan to Seoul inside a tunnel in Dong-gu, Daejeon, on Thursday at 10:26 a.m.  (123RF)Due to the accident, the train service was delayed for 40 minutes.While seeking to identify the man’s body, police are investigating the railroad engineer to obtain a more detailed account.By Ahn Sang-yool (koolsangon@heraldcorp.com)

A recent poll showed that people with office jobs in Korea spend over an average 1.5 million won ($1,400) every year on cash gifts for special occasions.Monthly expenses on cash gifts was 129,000 won on average, coming to 1.55 million won per year, according to the research conducted by JobKorea on 819 office workers.Male respondents spent 142,000 won a month, 20,000 won more than female respondents at 122,000 won. Meanwhile, the average expense for married office workers at 141,000 won exceeded

Tongyeong Korea Coast Guard on Wednesday booked three men without detention for scuba diving at night without safety gear.They are accused of scuba diving without wearing life jackets near a breakwater and a dock in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, from 11:30 p.m. to 11:50 p.m. Tuesday.(Yonhap)Scuba diving is prohibited from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before dawn, according to the South Korean underwater activity law.The suspects reportedly scuba dived with a dive light. Police are i

To combat the fine and yellow dust sweeping the country, it is advised to wear a mask from and above KF80.Seoul Research Institute of Public Health and Environment conducted dust collection efficiency tests, which evaluates the level of fine dust prevention, on 39 prevention masks and 11 regular masks from February to May in 2017 to test out the efficacy of masks. It announced Wednesday that prevention masks KF80 blocks 86.1 percent of fine dust on average while KF94 blocks 95.7 percent and KF99

Seoul City is set to host the fifth Korean “space-out” competition on April 22 along the Han River.The event seeks to find those who can stay zoned out for the longest time. According to the organizers, the competition aims to highlight the value of doing nothing as opposed to busy city life. It promotes a stress-free life without overloading on information and electronic devices.The fourth edition of the competition was held in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, last year. Similar events have also been held a

Korean actor Lee Joon will continue his military duty as a public service worker.Lee’s agency Prain TPC said Friday, “Lee Joon was transferred to reservist status as of March 23. He will resume his military duty as a public service worker.”Enlisted in October 2017, Lee Joon has been undergoing medical treatments due to panic disorder that he has suffered since prior to joining the army. However, as his conditions did not improve, he was examinated in the military and was ruled ineligible to serv

(K-MOOC website)The Ministry of Education announced Thursday that it will widen the scope of its Korean Massive Open Online Course service to provide up to 500 free lectures.K-MOOC is a free web-based course service that offers lectures from universities via e-learning technology. It provided 140 courses from domestic leading universities in 2016 and aims to nearly triple that number to 500 in 2018.K-MOOC has doubled in the number of students participating with interactive learning opportunities

Some South Korean office workers have raised concerns over outdoor activities related to the workplace amid the fine dust sweeping the country.As the weather grows warmer, outdoor corporate activities are becoming more common. Some workers are required to take part in such outdoor events despite health concerns linked to fine dust. (Yonhap)An employee at a public enterprise told a local media outlet that he had to go fishing with his boss on Sunday even though there was an “unhealthy” level of f

Visiting the United Arab Emirates with President Moon Jae-in, South Korean first lady Kim Jung-sook gave out CDs signed by Korean boy band BTS to students learning Korean at the King Sejong Institute in Abu Dhabi.The first lady met with students from King Sejong Institute at a “souq,” or traditional market, where the students had prepared a cup of freshly brewed coffee for her.When Kim asked how they could speak Korean so well, a student answered, “Female Arab students especially like the langua

Mobile weather apps are gaining popularity in South Korea, as people need more detailed information about the fine dust situation. One of the popular mobile weather apps is Wongi Weather, according to digital marketing firm NHN AD. The app has been downloaded over 1.45 million times, topping the weather category.Wongi Weather is popular among smartphone users in their 40s and 50s due to its user-friendly and simple design.  (NHN AD)Trailing behind in the rankings are the K Weather and MiseMise a

The Cheongju Sangdang Police Station on Saturday booked an after-school instructor for alleged sexual harassment at a high school. Police launched a probe after a female student said on March 8 that she had been sexually harassed by the teacher. (123rf)“The teacher placed his head on my lap and forced me to clean his ears. I could not say anything because I had to enroll in a college with music,” she wrote on Facebook. The instructor had also called students over to his room during a camp, she s

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has announced countermeasures against “lonely death,” as the number of people dying alone and not being discovered until significantly later has surged from 285 in 2013 to 366 in 2017 in the capital. Over 2 million single-person and two-person households account for 54 percent of all households in Korea.　 (123RF)The city believes the best way to prevent lonely death is by establishing social relationships. In November last year, an elderly person with dementia w

A clutch of mobile quiz apps are gaining popularity in Korea, with users joining real-time contests on their smartphones to win money.With a growing number of Koreans are going mobile to solve quiz questions on their phones, four quiz game apps were released in February alone.(JAM Live Facebook)One of the most popular quiz apps is JAM Live, developed by Snow, known for its popular photo-editing app. Each quiz session, which consists of a series of 12 multiple-choice questions, begins at 12:30 p.

Ewha Womans University announced Monday a test of a new grading system in which professors are entitled to choose how to grade students over the coming year.The new system aims to allow professors to evaluate students more appropriately in regards to the characteristics of the classes, according to the university.Professors may choose between new absolute evaluation and relative evaluation systems, or a blend of the two. (123RF)In the new relative evaluation method, the number of students who ca

A statue of the Black Panther superhero in Busan, erected by The Walt Disney Co. to commemorate portions of the “Black Panther” being filmed in Busan, has been toppled, in an apparent act of vandalism.The statue in the Jung-gu area was damaged at some point between Friday night and early morning Saturday, according to the Korean Film Council. It was found on the ground with its ankle broken from the pedestal when a passer-by spotted it. Disney had installed two Black Panther statues in Busan, on

A woman is under investigation for allegedly tricking her neighbor into believing that liquid lye, an alkaline solution used for washing or cleaning, was a type of jelly.The Gwangju Seobu Police Station booked the suspect for negligence resulting in injury on Friday. The suspect reportedly deceived the victim at a local mill in Hwajeong-dong, Gwangju, saying that the lye was a type of Korean jelly called “muk.” (123RF)Believing it was jelly that had not yet solidified, the victim tasted the lye,

A university research team has identified a protein produced by immune system that plays a key role in asthma attacks, opening up new possibilities for treatment research.The team led by professor Chung Doo-hyun at Department of Biomedical Sciences at Seoul National University found that XCL1 protein, produced by immune cells called natural killer T cells, engages with dendritic cells that contribute to the induction of allergic asthma. (123RF)If the lungs are exposed to external substances such

Anseong Police Station said Tuesday that it gave an award to a female high school student who helped out in arresting a man for public indecency.The student saw a man exposing himself near the bathroom at Wildlife Park in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, and reported him to police on March 7 at 6:30 p.m. (Yonhap)He had already run away when police arrived, but a picture of the man taken by the student let police identify who he was. Police arrested him in 15 minutes after matching his appearance with

A neuropsychiatrist who publically diagnosed Korean actor Yoo Ah-in with hypomania via social media is likely to be expelled from the Korean NeuroPsychiatric Association.The association has been taking actions to investigate the doctor and mete out discipline since February, starting with establishing an ethics committee. The disciplinary decision could be made as early as next week.Although still in the disciplinary procedure stages, neuropsychiatrist Kim Hyun-chul is likely to be expelled from