South Korea's human rights commission has ruled that low-income older people should receive more pension benefits, as Korea's rate of elderly poverty is the world's worst. In its official recommendation issued Friday to the health and labor ministers, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea stated there is an urgent need to protect the human rights of older people by launching immediate measures to reduce elderly poverty. As of this year, older people in Korea in the bottom

The country's top court on Thursday acquitted Kim Seok-kyun, former chief of the Korea Coast Guard, and nine other top officers, of involuntary manslaughter due to professional negligence in the 2014 sinking of the Sewol ferry, which left 304 passengers dead or missing, and 142 injured. The Supreme Court found Kim, who was head of the Coast Guard when the 6,825-ton Sewol ferry sank in waters off the country's southwestern coast on the morning of April 16, 2014, not guilty of involuntar

The pressure to attend corporate evening gatherings has diminished in recent years, especially while social-distancing measures to contain COVID-19 were in place, but drinking remains a source of stress for many Korean workers. As the year-end holiday season approaches, Lee Ha-seong, a 31-year-old Seoul-based economic news reporter, has a worry on his mind, saying that he doesn't drink well. For Lee, the most challenging part of life as a journalist in Korea is not the reporting but the dri

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced on Tuesday that South Korea would participate in the World Health Organization-organized program to monitor antimicrobial use from this year. The WHO's Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System and the Global Antimicrobial Use Surveillance System aims to protect the public from bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotic overuse can lead to resistance in bacteria, causing the drugs to become less effective, as we

Nearly 80 percent of the top earners in South Korea reside in the Seoul metropolitan area, data showed Monday, highlighting the concentration of good job opportunities in this region. According to tax agency data released by Rep. Kim Hoi-jae of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the number of the top 1 percent of earners in the country was 199,591. Their average annual income was 317 million won ($234,500) in 2021. Among those, 77.1 percent of them, said they work in Greater Seoul, w

In a surprising move that underscores the growing importance of naval defense, Naval Operations Commander Vice Adm. Kim Myung-soo has been named the new chairperson of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Ministry of National Defense announced Sunday. Kim was promoted to four-star general in the military personnel reshuffle to replace incumbent JCS Chairperson Gen. Kim Seung-kyum, according to the ministry. The appointment marks a significant shift from the traditionally Army-dominated role a

Amid a shortage of physicians and the second-lowest doctor-to-population ratio among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, South Korean doctors have seen a substantial increase in their income, making them some of the highest earners in the medical field across surveyed OECD nations. The Korean government plans to address the country's doctor shortage by increasing medical school enrollment quotas, a move prompted primarily by a market structure that limits

Halloween partygoers wearing police costumes could face criminal punishment, police warned Thursday, saying that it could be seen as impersonating an officer. The National Police Agency added that an intensive crackdown on individuals wearing or selling police costumes would occur from this weekend until Nov. 5. “We will monitor whether police uniforms are sold online and crack down on any transactions found. We will also regulate those selling equipment of police under the counter,”

Korean women live longer than men on average, but women suffer from more diseases in their lifetimes than men, data showed Wednesday. According to data released by the Korea National Institute of Health, Korean women had a life expectancy of 86.6 years, while men had a life expectancy of 80.6 years, as of last year. As long as records have been kept practically anywhere, women have lived longer than men. Also, for almost every major cause of death, men are more likely to die sooner than women, t

Halloween marketing has all but disappeared in South Korea after last year’s crowd crush disaster that occurred in a small alley in Itaewon, central Seoul. Most large retailers have canceled or minimized their Halloween events, and those that are continuing to sell Halloween goods face a mixed reaction. According to retail industry insiders, the industry is minimizing sales of Halloween-themed products this year, with the event still seen as associated with last year's tragedy that le

Bereaved families and surviving victims of last year’s deadly crowd crush in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul say they have been left to deal with their pain on their own, as governmental resources were either unavailable or insufficient. Among the 159 people who died after overcrowding reached catastrophic levels in Itaewon on Oct. 29, 2022, was Choi Joung-joo’s daughter Yu-jin. “My wife wanted to get therapy after our daughter passed, so she made a call to our district offic

On a Saturday night in October, dozens of people were lined up outside the Waikiki Beach Pub in the narrow alley behind the Hamilton Hotel, in Itaewon, Seoul. “We should have arrived before 8:30 p.m.," one said. "There are always lines around 8:30 p.m. these days during the weekend. I heard that we need to wait more than 30 minutes to enter." It was not the only packed bar on Itaewon World Food Street, the center of Itaewon nightlife. Most bars along the street were full of

The South Korean government is bracing for potential backlash from doctors as it seeks to unveil a plan that would increase the medical school enrollment quota to address doctor shortages. The government has decided to expand the number of placements for medical school, and President Yoon Suk Yeol is set to announce details including the specific figure on Thursday, according to multiple government officials. The government initially reviewed a plan to increase the medical school enrollment quot

Some 40,000 people took their own lives over the three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the suicide rate increasing among the younger generation, data showed Wednesday. A total of 39,453 people died from suicide from 2020 to 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Rep. Baek Jong-hean of the ruling People Power Party said in a release. The release highlighted that the number of deaths by suicide was higher than the 3

South Korea’s human rights commission on Tuesday called for the Korean government to abolish the death penalty now that the Ministry of Justice has also raised the possibility of introducing life imprisonment without parole. Song Doo-hwan, chair of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, urged the Korean people and the government to formally repeal capital punishment, in a statement issued on Tuesday to mark the 21st annual World Day Against the Death Penalty. Korea is already among

The number of unmarried women opting to freeze their eggs for future use has skyrocketed over the past seven years, as the median age for first marriages has continued to rise, data released Monday showed. The number of egg-freezing procedures for unmarried women has witnessed a huge increase in recent years, according to data from CHA Medical Group, a health care provider with a network of major medical facilities across the country. In 2022, there were 1,004 such procedures at CHA, a significa

The number of apprehended drug-related offenders surged to a historical high of 12,700 this year, driven by crimes among teenagers and those over 60, police statistics showed Friday. According to National Police Agency data on drug-related crimes, a total of 12,700 drug-related offenders were apprehended as of August this year. Although this figure was only compiled from January to August this year, it exceeds the number of apprehended drug-related offenders, 12,387, counted for all of last year

Only one-third of graduates from overseas medical schools have obtained medical licenses in Korea, despite these institutions gaining recognition as an alternative path to becoming a doctor without entering more competitive domestic medical schools. Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, on Thursday presented the latest data on medical school graduates who completed their education between 2005

Culture Minister nominee Yu In-chon said Tuesday that public figures should be careful when speaking out publicly, when asked about his thoughts on a social media post by a singer concerning Japan's discharge of contaminated water. “Although anyone is free to express their opinions, when it comes to celebrities or public figures who have social influence, they should be careful when they publicly speak about something because it comes along with responsibility," he said in a writ

Patients will have to pay up to 50 percent in additional charges when they go to hospitals or pharmacies during the Chuseok holiday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Wednesday. The higher rates are applicable beginning on Sept. 28 and run over the Chuseok holiday period and through Oct. 3. Additional charges ranging from 30 percent to 50 percent are applied in accordance with relevant government regulations, which require people to pay more while using medical facilities, including hospit