HWACHEON, Gangwon Province -- The practice of farming bears for their bile is being phased out, but hundreds of bears remain in cages with an uncertain future. For the bears at bile farms, a three-square-meter cage is their entire world. Even for those rescued from a life of bile extraction -- done through syringes or catheters attached to their gallbladders -- their living conditions are not much better. That is the situation for 13 bears at a bear bile farm in the mountain ridges of Hwacheon i

More than 600 people remain displaced due to Typhoon Hinnamnor, as authorities struggle to deal with the aftermath of the typhoon in the southern regions of the country. According to the Central Disaster Safety Relief Headquarters, 5,242 people have been displaced with 613 yet to return home as of Thursday. A total of 8,370 houses were flooded, most of them concentrated in North Gyeongsang Province, an area hit hard by the tropical storm. Some 1,566 cases of public infrastructure damage were r

Seoul Mapo Police Station has printed out a leaflet to help foreigners who experience crimes in Korea. The leaflet under the title "Promoting the Protection and Support System for Crime Victims" was created to help foreign residents and visitors here. According to the station, many foreign citizens are unaware about the state support they can receive when they are victims of crimes. The leaflet is in English, French and Vietnamese, based on the population of foreign students and visit

With schools returning to normalcy, more students are experiencing school violence, a survey from the Education Ministry showed. The Ministry of Education announced the results of a survey on school violence conducted by local education offices across Korea on Tuesday. The North Jeolla Province Education Office was not included, as it decided to run an individual survey. Some 3.21 million out of 3.87 million students participated in the survey, marking an 82.9 percent response rate. The survey

More women are employed, but the gender pay gap in Korea remains wide, a study by the Gender Ministry showed Tuesday. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family released the results of a study under the title “Life of Men and Women through Statistics.” Though the Gender Ministry had conducted the study every year since 1997 under the title of “Women's Lives through Statistics,” it changed the name this year, including an index on double-income families and cyber sexual a

Korea is bracing for typhoon Hinnamnor, which is expected to be one of the strongest typhoons to hit the country. It is a “super strong” typhoon, the highest in Korea's four-tier system, with an atmospheric pressure of 920 hectopascals at its center and a maximum wind speed of 54 meters per second. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Korea's Jeju Island and southern regions are expected to come under influence of Hinnamnor starting Monday. The typhoon is expected t

The Ministry of Education took a step back as the dispute over history textbook guidelines deepened, saying the plan has not been finalized yet. The Education Ministry released new guidelines for high school history textbooks on Tuesday. In the new guidelines, phrases such as "southward invasion (by North Korea)" and “liberal democracy" were left out. The phrases touch on some sensitive disputes in the country’s modern history. The revision of history textbooks was l

A recent study showed the number of students from multicultural families has been increasing for 10 consecutive years, the Education Ministry said Tuesday. According to the study conducted by the Ministry of Education and the Korean Educational Development Institute shared Tuesday, the number of students from multicultural families increased by 5.4 percentage point, from 160,058 in 2021 to 168,645 this year. The number has been on a steady increase since the study was first conducted in 2012.

A Seoul court on Friday took the side of Lee Jun-seok, the disgraced former leader of the ruling People Power Party, halting the party from moving forward with an interim leadership. The Seoul Southern District Court granted part of an injunction request filed by Lee, ordering a temporary suspension of duties for the party’s interim chair Rep. Joo Ho-young. “If Joo, who has been appointed as the party’s interim chair through a vote, holds a party convention to elect a new p

Korea’s recent wave of COVID-19 cases appears to be waning, the local health authorities said Friday. On Friday, Korea saw 101,140 new case of COVID-19 and 575 patients were reported to be in serious condition. The daily death toll stood at 81. “This is the lowest number of daily confirmed cases for a Friday in four weeks,” Kim Seong-ho, an official from the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said at a briefing held Friday. “We, however, cannot b

South Korea will continue to require those entering the country to provide negative results of COVID-19 tests taken before entering the country. According to the central disaster response team, the measure will remain in place as the daily caseload remains high. The country currently requires travelers entering the country – both Korean and foreign nationals – to take a PCR test within 48 hours prior to arrival or a rapid antigen test within 24 hours prior to arrival. The Kore

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will hold a meeting Friday to discuss measures for supporting the victims of stalking crimes. After the enactment of the Act on the Punishment of Stalking Crimes, more simply known as the anti-stalking law, the Gender Ministry has been working on expanding support for the victims of stalking crimes. The ministry plans to provide an emergency temporary accommodation for victims of stalking crimes using state rental housings, allowing victims to be

The award ceremony for the 51st Korea Herald English Speech Contest was held at the Australian Embassy in the Republic of Korea in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, on Tuesday. The Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Catherine Raper, Vice-Chair of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea Jo Billing, The Korea Herald CEO Choi Jin-young, The Korea Herald Vice President Shin Yong-bae and more were in attendance. “I believe we could have the next generation of Korean leaders right

The Korean government will maintain its ban on in-person visits to nursing homes and long-term care hospitals during the upcoming Chuseok holidays, as the nation marks its first Korean Thanksgiving without social distancing in three years. “The ban on in-person visits to nursing homes and long-term care hospitals will be maintained in a precaution against COVID-19 transmission for the elderly,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said at a meeting at the governmental complex in Sejong, We

The government and ruling People Power Party will push to introduce a new subsidy for job seekers and increase support for low-income groups in next year’s budget, the ruling party said Wednesday. The ruling party and the government also agreed to include budget for planning storm drains in urban areas in light of recent rains, to direct more funds into supporting disabled people. The budget plans agreed on by the party and government will be put to a Cabinet meeting and then to the

Amid the ongoing pandemic, schools in Seoul are to continue normal operations, with the local education office promising to strengthen support for students’ mental health. “All schools will run under ‘normalcy attendance’ scheme in the second semester, operating face-to-face classes,” Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon said at a press briefing at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on Tuesday. “If the spread of COVID-19 worsens, however, schools can auton

Following the plan to nurture 150,000 skilled workers in the semiconductor industry over the next 10 years, the Korean government aims to nurture 1 million skilled workers for the digital industry within the next five years. The Ministry of Education announced on Monday that in cooperation with other ministries, it will train 1 million skilled workers for the digital industry by 2026, by doubling the number of information technology curriculum hours for elementary and secondary schools and re

The presidential office on Thursday announced plans to add a senior secretary position to the secretariat in a move apparently aimed at strengthening the office‘s policy coordination capabilities. 　 “As there has been problems of communication with civil affairs and policy agendas, there needs to be a post that helps the presidential office, Cabinet and people to communicate with each other,” President Yoon Suk-yeol’s Chief of Staff Kim Dae-ki said during a press brief

The Ministry of Education will lift restrictions on universities’ student quotas as part of its drive to nurture more semiconductor talent. The move, aimed at encouraging universities to open or expand related departments from 2024, is part of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s plans to add 150,000 people to the country’s semiconductor industry workforce over the course of 10 years. On Wednesday, the ministry announced it will give advance notice of an enforcement decree tha

Kookmin University’s faculty association is holding a vote on a proposal to reassess some academic papers written by first lady Kim Keon-hee, despite the university having earlier cleared her of allegations of plagiarism after a monthslong probe. The faculty association at Kookmin University, a Seoul-based university where Kim did her Ph.D. program, has decided to survey professors asking them whether it should reassess the four papers written by Kim. The online survey will continue unti