BUSAN -- As some 140 people of different ethnic backgrounds handed out hand sanitizer and greeted passersby at the entrance to Gwangalli Beach in the port city of Busan, many laid curious eyes on the signs they were holding. The signs read, “Black Lives Matter.” On a busy Saturday afternoon, expats here, mostly from English-speaking countries, and South Koreans gathered at the beach clad in black to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality a

BUSAN -- With the arrival of summer holiday season, beaches are getting crowded in South Korea despite growing fears of a second wave of COVID-19 infections, causing a headache to health authorities in their efforts to contain the spread of the virus. 　 On Saturday afternoon the country’s most-visited beach, at Busan’s Haeundae, was brimming with early vacationers enjoying the sun. 　 Families, friends and couples sunbathed in groups, eating food on the beach and playing in the wat

The majority of South Koreans perceive that the society is discriminative and human rights violations are serious, though they believe their own human rights are largely being respected, a survey showed Friday. A combined 69.1 percent of respondents think the degree of discrimination is serious -- “very serious” at 13.7 percent and “somewhat serious” at 55.4 percent -- while 29.2 percent answered “not serious” and 1.6 percent “not serious at all,&rdquo

Nkuka Lulendo and his family stepped on South Korean soil after a long, grueling 10 months of being trapped inside Incheon International Airport’s transit zone in October last year. But it was only the beginning of their journey to win refugee status. “Our hopes and dreams today are that we want the government to acknowledge us and give us refugee status,” Lulendo said in French during an interview with The Korea Herald. “We want a good education for our children, we a

Immigration detention centers in South Korea, where foreign nationals are held till deportation, have nearly reached their full capacity, with international flights rarely available amid the coronavirus pandemic. 　 As of May 18, the number of foreigners being held at three detention centers across the country surged by 85.1 percent -- from 389 in March to 720 in May, according to data from the Justice Ministry, released at the request of nongovernmental organization Friends of Asia. 　 The fac

An international online forum on the future of education amid the rise of distance learning in the post-coronavirus era will be held Wednesday, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said Monday. Organized by KAIST’s Global Strategy Institute, the forum will take place between 9 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at a conference hall at KAIST’s main campus in Daejeon, to be livestreamed on the YouTube channels of the school and state-funded broadcaster Korea TV. Some 15 global l

The US Embassy in Seoul said Tuesday that the Black Lives Matter banner draped on the facade of its building in Seoul had been removed to “avoid misperception” amid reports about President Donald Trump’s displeasure over the display. The embassy hung the banner on the front of its building Saturday in what was seen as a rare show of open support for the Black Lives Matter movement, with the US Embassy earlier tweeting a message in support of the anti-racism campaign across th

Three in 10 abusers of older people were sons of the victims, with emotional abuse being the most common form of abuse reported, government data showed Monday. Some 31.2 percent of elderly abusers nationwide were sons, followed by spouses (30.3 percent) and care home workers (18.5 percent), according to data released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The number of elderly abuse cases reported from 34 elderly care facilities across the country stood at 16,071 last year, up 3.8 percent fr

South Korea is seeing a surge in the number of elderly patients infected with COVID-19, as small-scale, sporadic outbreaks continue to be reported in the densely populated Grater Seoul area. 　 Korea reported 34 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the 24 hours prior on Sunday, with most cases linked to Seoul-based health product retailer Richway, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  　 Four in 10 new cases in the past week were among the aged, who are more

Seoul’s two elite middle schools may lose their autonomy next year, as the city’s education office decided Wednesday to cancel their licenses. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced the decision to revoke licenses of Daewon International Middle School and Younghoon International Middle School, saying they stratify schools, deepen inequality and promote private education. The decision is not final, as it is subject to the approval of the Education Ministry, which wi

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought forward much-needed revolution in education. Ready or not, the schools have moved online, opening a new space for both education equality and inequality, said Seoul’s education chief Cho Hee-yeon. “In online learning, there is more room for educational inequality to worsen, but at the same time, there exist opportunities to enhance personalized learning,” Cho, superintendence of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, said in an interview

Universal basic income is emerging as a hot button issue in South Korea’s political arena as the country seeks to curb the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea of handing out cash to boost individual income regardless of wealth or employment status has largely been considered radical, with many on both sides of the aisle dismissing it as an unrealistic, populist policy. But it now appears to be gaining momentum in the political realm amid the COVID-19 crisis as public

Starting Monday, all Seoul residents, with or without respiratory symptoms, can get tested for the novel coronavirus free of charge. 　 The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced it is stepping up its campaign to stop the “silent” spread of the deadly pathogen in the capital region, home to about 10 million people. 　 Previously, asymptomatic persons wishing to receive a COVID-19 diagnostic test on their own had to pay about 160,000 won ($133) if their test results came back negati

South Korea reported 57 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday, amid rising fears over the virus’s spread in the densely populated Greater Seoul area, as 1.35 million more students were set to return to school Monday. 　 Of the new cases, 53 were domestic cases, 52 of which were registered in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province -- home to nearly half of the country’s population. The other four cases were imported from overseas, two of them being detected at the airport, accord

South Korea’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic serves as a model for the whole world, renowned American anthropologist Jared Diamond said Thursday, calling on countries to benchmark a successful model and work together to fight the global problem.  “Korea has potentially enormous importance for the world as a model. Other countries can look at what Korea has done and Seoul has done and can learn how you have been dealing successfully with your crisis, whereas many other coun

Prosecutors on Thursday sought an arrest warrant for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong as part of an investigation into the merger in 2015 of two key affiliates of the conglomerate. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office filed for warrants to arrest Lee, widely perceived as the de facto chief of the Samsung Group, and two former top executives, Choi Gee-sung and Kim Jong-joong, from the group’s now-disbanded control tower, the Future Strategy Office. A court

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Wednesday the capital city will implement policies in four sectors, ranging from buildings to public transport, to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 while promoting the green industry and generating jobs. Stressing that the COVID-19 pandemic offers the last chance to go carbon-free, Park said tackling the climate crisis is the direction humanity must take for the future. “The way of running a city should transition to a carbon-free system, and we should p

미국 백인 경찰의 과잉 단속 과정에서 사망한 비무장 흑인 남성 조지 플로이드 사건에 대한 항의 시위가 전 세계로 번지는 가운데 한국에서도 오는 6일 온라인 추모집회가 열릴 예정이다. 국내에 거주하는 외국인들이 주도하는 이번 집회는 코로나19에 따른 한국정부의 생활 속 거리두기 방침에 따라 온라인으로 열릴 예정이다.  참가자들은 한글과 영어로 “흑인의 목숨은 소중하다”가 적힌 티셔츠를 입고, “숨을 쉴 수 없다”라고 적힌 마스크를 쓰고 본인 사진을 찍어 6일 정오에 각자의 SNS에 공유할 것이라고 집회 주최 측은 밝혔다. 이번 집회를 공동으로 주도하는 멜리사 와킨스(39)는 플로이드가 불필요한 공권력에 희생되고, 백인 인종차별주의자들에게 폭행 당하고, 그러한 폭력의 결과로 사망한 첫 흑인 미국인이 아니라며 “그의 죽음이 마지막이어야만 한다”고 코리아헤럴드에 말했다. 와킨스는 “미국 시

A solidarity demonstration over the death of an unarmed black man in police custody in the US will take place online in South Korea on Saturday, as protests condemning police brutality and racism spread worldwide. Black communities and their supporters in Korea are to take to social media on Saturday at noon, demanding justice for George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American who died on May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.  The par

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on Tuesday suggested the creation of an intercity organization to better respond to infectious diseases such as COVID-19, during an online meeting with mayors of 42 international cities. Putting forward the “Seoul Statement,” Park called for the creation of a network of municipal governments, tentatively named “Cities Alliance Against Pandemic,” which would help facilitate rapid, transparent information-sharing and exchanges of goods and peopl