For many Koreans, the name Min Byoung-chul rings a bell. In the 1980s, his “Practical English” book series introduced learners to “wanna” and “gonna” instead of “want to” and “going to," which were taught in local textbooks. An educational TV show bearing his name attracted millions of people who aspired to learn “real” English as spoken by Americans. Over the past some 15 years, the man who was once a household name in Korea

A recently hired civil servant in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, killed himself after handling a complaint from a resident, officials said Wednesday. Local police are investigating the case of the 31-year-old victim, whose name was withheld. The person worked as a grade 9 civil servant at an administrative welfare center, the lowest grade in the smallest unit of the municipal government. The rookie staff member had only recently completed six months of probation. He was found dead at around noon on Tu

In 1977, a little over two decades after the war that hardened the division of the peninsula ended, South Korea celebrated an economic milestone with much fanfare: $10 billion in yearly export volume. It had been just a year since the country had stopped receiving US aid worth a colossal $12.6 billion from 1946 through 1976, which helped rebuild most modern infrastructure there had been before the war. “Our achievement of $10 billion in exports has a bigger meaning than just its size in

Seven South Korean lawmakers, 25 diplomats and 15 envoys from 40 different countries as well as a Seoul-based civic group have joined forces to launch a pro-diversity campaign, calling for the equal treatment of multicultural families and diverse ethnic groups here, officials said on March 28. According to the Sunfull Foundation, which has been campaigning against online hate speech and cyber bullying and is now leading a movement called, “Respect for Multicultural Families and All Ethnic

The beauty and ecological value of Korean gardens will be featured in Paris in 2025 in a major exhibition with an estimated cost of 15 billion won ($11.5 million), the Korean-French duo in charge of the project told The Korea Herald. Park Jung-wook and Regis Juvigny, co-presidents of K-Garden Association, said in Seoul last week that they are currently in the process of bringing their plan of showcasing the best aspects of Korean gardens in the Luxembourg Gardens in the heart of Paris. “Ja

In episode 15 of Netflix's "The Glory," the shaman character, who is involved in the antagonist Park Yeon-jin's shady family business, suddenly drops dead in the middle of performing a ritual, leaving viewers bewildered by the sudden plot twist involving a supernatural scene. Shamanism may appear out of place in a modern-day revenge thriller, but superstitions and shamanistic practices are not far removed from the daily lives of many Koreans, even in their tech-savvy and fast

A look at the recent-year admissions data of Korean medical schools has revealed two disturbing trends: Applicants try year after year to get into the program and those who succeed are mostly from Seoul and major cities. Three out of 4 students admitted into medical schools across the country in the past four years had taken entrance exams multiple times before they succeeded, an analysis by the office of Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kang Deuk-gu of 5,144 students enrolled showed. Repeat taker

March 23 is "National Puppy Day," which was started in 2006 by dog lovers in the US to honor the cute furry animals that bring joy and happiness to humans. Here, The Korea Herald looks at the lives of five different kinds of pups in South Korea. 1. Pet dogs The daily lives of puppies in loving and caring homes in Korea revolve around one important routine – walking with their owners. As many Koreans live in apartments, which often lack outdoor space, regular walks are crucial f

A dynamic, cutthroat society that never rests -- that has been South Korea until now. Changes have taken place in this Asian country in recent decades at speeds no other nation could follow: from poverty to prosperity, from the ruins of colonial occupation and civil war to becoming a rising cultural superpower on the international stage. But at the same breakneck pace, Korea is leading the world into a future where the majority live past 90 years old and fewer people are working to keep the econ

Ondoni Ssem was previously just another popular fitness instructor on YouTube. But her online identity changed overnight when she uploaded a video late last month. In the video, she revealed herself to be the sole survivor of an infamous familicide that happened in Seoul’s satellite city of Yongin in 2017, in which her stepbrother killed her father, stepmother and younger brother. With her confession, the YouTuber with over 200,000 subscribers joined a growing group of individuals who are

Mastering a foreign language requires a long-term commitment that can take years. Without the promise of it becoming a valuable asset to your professional or personal life, it can be difficult to stay committed. What are the rewards for attaining fluency in Korean? Will the time and energy learners put into learning the language pay off in some way other than being able to watch K-dramas without subtitles? To explore the benefits of learning Korean further, The Korea Herald spoke to four non-Kor

Delivery riders helped police catch a drunk driver who fled after hitting a parked truck, officials said Friday. The Changwon Seobu Police Station said the 40-year-old male driver was suspected of crashing into a truck while changing lanes near the city’s northeastern district of Uichang-gu at 11:28 p.m. on Wednesday. The driver had been on the run in his vehicle after some officers began chasing him upon receiving a report of suspected drunk driving. Following the hit-and-run, instead of

A Seoul court on Monday ruled against a local hospital which mandated a recovering alcoholic to clean its facility as part of its rehabilitation program. The Seoul Administrative Court said the hospital’s policy was tantamount to a violation of patients’ rights in terms of human dignity and access to care. Court documents showed that the hospital in question mandated its in-patients to engaging in manual labor including cleaning, laundry and meal distribution, as part of its recovery

Two Korean Americans and one Korean national died over the weekend after being swept up in an avalanche on a mountain in Washington state, US, officials said Thursday. The three climbers, who were part of a six-person group, were attempting to climb a 2,650-meter peak in Washington’s Cascade Mountains on Sunday when the avalanche was “triggered,” the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release shared via Twitter. According to sheriff’s office, the victims

Over 8,000 child day care centers in South Korea closed over the past four years, weighed down by declining births, government data showed. Some 21 percent, or 8,248, of all day care centers across the nation disappeared from end-2018 to the end of last year, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Sunday. The total number of day care centers, which typically admit children aged 6 and under, stood at 30,923 as of Dec. 31, compared with 39,171 at end-2018. Separate data showed that the

With the introduction of bullet trains in the mid-2000s, the usage of intercity charter buses began to decline rapidly in South Korea. Several bus terminals across the country have gone out of business since. The Seoul Express Bus Terminal is an exception. The terminal, which opened in 1981 in what is now one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Seoul, still teems with visitors. The terminal itself is a testament to Seoul’s rapid economic growth. Starting as a bus terminal in the middl

인공지능 (AI) 챗봇 챗GPT가 국내외 불문 높은 인기를 끌고 있으나 한국에 대한 기본적인 정보에서조차 오답이나 오류가 많아 우려의 목소리가 나오고 있다. 특히 윤석열 대통령과 더불어민주당 이재명 대표를 구분하지 못하는 등 한국인의 이름을 쉽게 헷갈려 했다. 전문가들은 이 같은 결과가 한국에 대해 영어로 쓰여진 정보가 한글 로마자 표기법 (스펠링)면에서 일관성이 부족하고, 일부 부정확한 정보를 포함하고 있는데 기인한다고 보았다. 코리아헤럴드는 챗GPT에 다수의 한국인에 관해 영어로 물어봤다. 우선, 윤석열 대통령에 관한 질문을 한 결과, 챗GPT는 “전 경기도지사 (the Governor of Gyeonggi Province)"로 더불어민주당 소속 (affiliated with the Democratic Party of Korea)”라고 답변했다. 이재명 대표와 혼동한 것이다. 조국 전 법무부 장관의 배우자 정경심 전 동양대 교수에 대한 질문에는 삼성

Artificial intelligence-powered chatbot ChatGPT is all the rage, with the potential to change the way many people work. But for those hoping to get quick answers about Korea from the AI platform, it is not to be trusted, at least for now. As of Thursday, the bot developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI gives error-ridden answers to some basic questions about Korea, starting from the profile of Korea’s current President, Yoon Suk Yeol. For the question, “Who is President Yoon Suk Yeol?&rd

Among those considering coming to Korea for language study, two university-run language institutes have long been considered the best options. Associated with and located on the main campuses of Yonsei University and Sogang University, they take pride in providing the “most immersive learning experience.” Here’s a closer look at the archrival language institutes, whose competition for reputation has brought about benefits to not just learners but the field of Korean language

Jeon Joo-yeon’s path to becoming the first South Korean to win the World Barista Championship is a typical “passion leads to success” story. In 2008, then a social welfare major at a local college, she started a part-time job at a big coffee shop in her hometown of Busan. At first, she did not even touch coffee cups. She was part of the shop’s online sales team. Slowly but naturally, she gravitated toward making coffee. In 2009, she made up her mind to become a barista.