Typhoon Tembin slammed into Korea on Thursday, dumping heavy rains on southern and western regions, leaving at least two dead and three injured. Nearly 50 people were forced to evacuate their homes. Though smaller and less powerful than Typhoon Bolaven, which skirted the Korean Peninsula three days ago, Tembin wreaked havoc on the country as it passed through South Jeolla Province, quickly moving northeast-bound.One person was killed and another was injured when a giant steel structure collapsed

It is well known that obesity has a significant detrimental effect on human health. It has also been known that obese people are more likely to develop diseases. Conditions that have been found to be associated with obesity include diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, coronary artery disease and artherosclerosis. Other conditions include cancers such as colorectal cancer and endometrial cancer, as well as joint problems. Recent studies have shown that obese women are more likely to d

Another typhoon is heading toward Korea, just as the nation recover, from one of the strongest storms it has seen in decades. Typhoon Tembin, the 14th typhoon this year, is expected to make landfall in Korea as early as Thursday, dumping heavy rains, the Korea Meteorological Administration said. It is expected to take almost the same route across the Korean Peninsula as Typhoon Bolaven, which pounded the country’s southern and western parts on Monday and Tuesday, leaving at least 25 dead or miss

A North Korean defector who arrived in Jeju Island by air from China, has turned herself in, the police said Sunday.The defector, surnamed Kim, 41, arrived at Jeju International Airport at 2:30 on Sunday from Bejing. Kim passed through immigration with a fake Chinese passport. After failing to get a visa to come to the South, she reportedly chose to come to Jeju, which has not required a visa from Chinese travelers since 2008.An organization that supports North Korean defectors is said to have h

A group of students at a private educational institute have been infected with tuberculosis, and health authorities are investigating the possible spread of the disease. The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Monday that six students at a cram school for college entrance in Mokdong, western Seoul, had been infected with TB, and that 14 others with latent TB are undergoing further tests. The health authority has isolated the 20 patients and expanded the testing to other stu

The first test-launch of Hongsangeo, an anti-submarine light torpedo, failed last month, a Navy official said on Thursday. The military had poured more than 100 billion won ($88 million) into its development.The trial was conducted on July 25 in the sea off Pohang City, southeastern Korea. It was launched from the 7,600-ton Sejong the Great-class Aegis destroyer but missed the target located 60 meters under the sea. The Navy lost the track of the weapon. “Failure in trials is not rare before roc

A woman in her 50s fatally stabbed a 78-year-old fellow tenant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Friday morning, adding to public jitters after a series of incidents involving knife-wielding attackers. Police said that the women had a quarrel before the younger woman attacked the older one in an alley at around 9:20 a.m. The two, both surnamed Kim, lived alone as tenants in the same house.“She was not conscious and did not breathe. We tried to resuscitate her, but to no avail,” a hospital official

MOSCOW (AP) ― Environmental activists warned Tuesday that drilling for oil in the Russian Arctic could have disastrous consequences because of a lack of technology and infrastructure to deal with a possible spill in a remote region with massive icebergs and heavy storms.Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund unveiled a report assessing the risks of an oil spill in the Pechora Sea in Russia’s Arctic, where state-owned Gazprom has installed a huge drilling platform and is pioneering sea drilling i

Environmental experts, public officers and civic activists from home and abroad will gather on Jeju Island next month to pool ideas for the environmental preservation of the De-Militarized Zone, a strip of land along the border between South and North Korea that has turned into a wildlife haven. Organized by the Ministry of Environment and the Gyeonggi Research Institute, a workshop on the DMZ will be held on Sept. 7. The ministry said it will try to reflect ideas presented at the session in its

In the summer, the warm weather allows the rapid growth of bacteria contamination in food, causing food poisoning and bacterial diarrhea. Children who consume foods contaminated with bacteria develop nausea, severe abdominal pain and diarrhea after 3-24 hours. They can also experience headaches or fever. Food poisoning often occurs in group catering, such as restaurants, parties, summer camps and kindergarten meals. Foods such as meats, fish, seafood, ham, salad, cream, eggs and milk often are a

LOS ANGELES ― Lapsed musical instrumentalists (and their disappointed parents): Take heart! The child that gets even a few years of formal musical training before quitting those weekly lessons continues to show evidence that his or her brain has been changed in ways that improve mental function, says a new study.The latest research found that even years after they stopped practicing, young adults who had taken as little as two or three years of instrumental music training in their elementary or

Namyangju City, a satellite city northeast of Seoul, illegally released wastewater into the Han River, a water source for 25 million people, a government environmental office said Tuesday.The city has discharged up to 10,000 tons of untreated water a day since at least late 2005 into a tributary of the river, according to the Han River Basin Environmental Office, a subsidiary office of the Ministry of Environment.“The city has released sewage into the river on quite a regular basis for years,” s

Dwight International School Seoul opens on Monday in Sangam, western Seoul, with the aim of improving living conditions for foreign residents and attracting more foreign investment, the city government said.The campus of the Dwight School, a New York-based private school, will be the fourth international campus of the institute following three others in Vancouver, Beijing and London.The Seoul campus will offer courses for students in kindergarten through high school.“The opening of Dwight Intern

PITTSBURGH (AP) ― The amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen dramatically to its lowest level in 20 years, and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power plant operators to switch from dirtier-burning coal.Many of the world’s leading climate scientists didn’t see the drop coming, in large part because it happened as a result of market forces rather than direct government action against carbon

Following are excerpts from the interview with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. ― Ed.Korea Herald: You have promised to make Seoul a city which is “human-centric and vibrant with creativity and innovation.” What efforts have been made for this vision? Park Won-soon: The world is moving that way. If the 19th and 20th centuries were eras of development and growth, now the quality of life and gross national happiness (GNH), instead of gross national product (GNP), are at the center. In that regard, meani

Ovarian cancer accounts for 4.2 percent of all cancers in women and has the highest incidence rate among all genitourinary cancers in women following cervical cancer in Korea. There is growing concern about ovarian cancer as its incidence rate is on the rise every year with approximately 1,400 newly-diagnosed patients annually, whereas the incidence rate of cervical cancer is gradually decreasing.The ovaries are small organs located in the female pelvis which are found in pairs on either side of

As public concerns grew over the safety of tap water after the algae advisory in the capital’s Han River was issued, the Seoul city government said Friday that their latest test showed the water posed no threat to health.The city released the results of its test conducted Wednesday at five water intake facilities along the river including Gangbuk, Amsa and Pungnap, which found no signs of toxic material.The city had tested for microcystin, nodularin and anatoxin a.Another test in the Paldang Dam

The Seoul City government on Thursday issued its first algae advisory in four years after two consecutive tests on the Han River showed excessive concentration of the blue-green microorganisms. The affected area is a tributary running from the Gangdong Bridge to the Jamsil Bridge, in the eastern part of the capital’s river. This is the sixth algal alert issued in the city since 2000. The announcement confirmed that the algal blooms have now been spreading through the upper and lower parts of the

WASHINGTON ― Against the drumbeat of bad news on obesity and diabetes among children, researchers have uncovered a cause for cautious optimism: a steady and significant improvement in the cholesterol profiles of American kids over the last 20 years.The proportion of young people ages 6 to 19 with high total cholesterol dropped 28 percent between the two time periods sampled in the report, from 11.3 percent in 1988-94 down to 8.1 percent in 2007-10, the new study found.At the same time, the avera

Blood vessels are literally the vessels through which our blood flows. There are essential substances such as nutrients and oxygen in the blood, and the vessels function as a carrier of these substances throughout the body. Therefore, it is easy to understand that the blood has to flow smoothly for a healthy life. Blood vessels can be narrowed or obstructed due to many reasons including aging, disease, diet and smoking. If so, the body sends an SOS signal and in severe cases, the person’s life i