For Kim Ju-ho, a student of Korean music at Seoul National University, language takes two forms -- one expressed through his vocal cords and the other through kkwaenggwari. “(Kkwaenggwari music) is another language for projecting myself,” Kim said, describing his relationship with the instrument. Kkwaenggwari is a traditional percussion instrument made of brass that is beaten with a wooden mallet. The instrument is known for its distinctive metallic clang that is used to set the rhyt

A woman has been taken into custody on suspicion of murdering her two newborn children, Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police revealed Wednesday. According to the police, a woman in her 30s was taken into custody in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, after the bodies of two babies were found in her fridge. The children were born in November 2018, and November 2019, but were killed immediately and their bodies stored in the fridge, according to reports. The suspect is said to have told the police that she kill

A man in his 40s has been apprehended for murdering his neighbor, Suwon Nambu Police Station said Monday. According to the police, the man killed his next door neighbor and then reported the incident to the police saying “(I) killed my next door neighbor over noise issues.” The police found the suspect at the scene of the crime. He had collapsed near the victim’s body with self-inflicted wounds. The wounds sustained by the suspect are not thought to be life threatening. Accordi

A Busan court on Thursday reduced the sentence for a man charged with killing his father on the day of his mother’s funeral, citing petitions from his family and for showing remorse. The Busan High Court on Thursday reduced the 56-year old man’s sentence to 27 years in prison from the previous 30-year imprisonment. The court cited petitions from the man’s sister, wife and son pleading for leniency, and the man showing remorse for his crime during the appeal. The 56-year old man

There will be "no major difficulties” in lifting the rule to wear face masks on public transportation in the country, and a decision is likely after Wednesday, Jung Ki-suck, chief of the country’s COVID-19 response team said Monday. Speaking at a briefing Monday, Jung said that the matter of changing the mask mandate for public transportation into an “advisory” had been brought to the advisory board, and that most of the experts on the board agreed with the idea. &ld

A man in his 50s has been indicted under detention on charges of damaging private and and public property. According to the Busan prosecutors’ office, the man used a hammer to damage windows and doors at a police outpost in Busan on Feb. 28. The suspect is reported to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time, and cited discord with the local police for his actions. The suspect, who has a history of causing public disturbance under the influence of alcohol, is also reported to h

South Korea’s disease control authorities are considering lifting the mask mandate on public transport. The mask mandate, introduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19, has mostly been lifted here, with the exception of on public transportation and at high-risk facilities such as hospitals. The central disease control team has been discussing the possibility of lifting the public transport mask mandate with experts, according to government officials. The final decision will be made after th

A woman and two men have been arrested and put on trial for forcing a woman into prostitution for three years, the Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office said Wednesday. Another suspect has been indicted without detention. According to the prosecution, the victim was beaten, tortured and forced into prostitution by the three suspects from October 2019 to September 2022. The suspects forced the victim to carry out prostitution on about 2,500 occasions, and took the proceeds amounting to 500 mil

Three Vietnamese nationals have been fined for neutering a cat without anesthesia, filming the process and posting the video online. According to reports, one of the individuals neutered a male cat without anesthesia while the other two looked on in January last year at one of the individuals’ homes in Gwangju. None of the individuals are licensed veterinarians. All three were found guilty of violating the Animal Protection Act, and were fined 2 million won ($1,500), 1 million won and 700,

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria is visiting Korea to attend the "World Bio Summit," which is co-organized by the Korean government and WHO (World Health Organization). Due to geographical distance, Nigeria is not well-known to the Korean public. However, Nigeria has the biggest economy in Africa; with the world’s 6th largest population of 220 million; and abundant natural resources. Nigeria plays the leading role in West Africa and the African Union. It is also an active

On Sept. 13, the Korean drama “Squid Game” won six awards at the 74th Emmy Awards, including those for outstanding lead actor and outstanding directing for a drama series -- the first non-English TV series to do so. “Squid Game” enjoyed explosive popularity internationally, made history, and received high praise at home and abroad. It seemed like an event that deserves to sweep the world at least once. In this sense, we cannot help but recall director Bong Joon-ho&rsq

Now is the time for Korea and China to look back on the past, face the present and talk about the future. Over the past 30 years, Korea-China relations have developed explosively. The establishment of Korea-China diplomatic relations was an important turning point in advancing the new era of prosperity in Northeast Asia. And now both Korea and China have grown into the core countries in the international community. China has grown into a major powerhouse in the international community, and Korea

From May 20-24, international attention shifted to the Indo-Pacific region from Ukraine, where a power struggle between the US and NATO against Russia has been taking place since mid-February. US President Joe Biden attended the “Quad” summit in Japan after visiting Korea in May. It was only 10 days after the inauguration of Korea’s new government headed by President Yoon Suk-yeol. As Biden selected South Korea for his first destination in Asia, he certainly attracted Korea

Now is the time for Korea and China to look back on the past, face the present and talk about the future. Over the past 30 years, Korea-China relations have developed explosively. This week, as we continue the series on the New Korea-China relations, the second topic covers economy and trade, following the social and cultural dimensions. This week’s discussion invites two experts from home and abroad. Senior research fellow Yang Pyoung-seob at Korea Institute for International Economic Pol

  The prominent idol group BTS is something we cannot be unfamiliar with. They are a different type from a number of previous Korean idols and have become a global sensation. So many people around the world were fascinated by BTS dances and read into the messages of social reform in their lyrics. BTS was understood as the ultimate peak of K-pop and we saw the possibility of the Korean Wave being able to stand proudly in the mainstream of global culture. BTS is recognized as the spearhead o

Wednesday marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and China. Both Seoul and Beijing opened a new era by establishing a good, neighborly friendship based on the principle of reciprocal equality and peaceful coexistence and by signing a joint statement supporting “One China” and “Peaceful Unification of the Korean Peninsula” in Beijing. The establishment of Korea-China diplomatic relations was meaningful in terms of history an

During a speech at Victory Day celebrations on July 27, the North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol, mentioning his name for the first time since his inauguration. Amid the dark days of inter-Korean relations due to Kim Jong-un’s strong criticism toward the current South Korean government, domestic political debate is still heated over the forced repatriation of two North Koreans who claimed to have killed 16 fellow sailors in 2019. Regardless of the le

India is expected to grow to have the world’s greatest population, overtaking China. Its economy also has a huge role in the United States’ Silicon Valley, as India produces numerous advanced IT human resources. And its low-key but powerful influence can also bee see in Indian diplomacy. India’s biggest antagonist is China. The Indo-China border dispute is appalling. In 2018, there was a military confrontation for more than 70 days in the Doklam region of the Himalayas, in wh

The NATO summit at the end of June signaled a shift in global security. The summit identified Russia as a direct threat and China as a systemic challenge. The results of the NATO summit indicate where the United States’ policy objectives stand. The US’ new strategy in the Asia-Pacific region is the Indo-Pacific strategy, and its strategy in Europe is NATO’s eastward expansion. The US is aiming to build a connection between the Indo-Pacific and NATO. We can see that the US e