A white ant species found in downtown Seoul has been identified as an "exotic species" that feeds on dry wood and causes significant damage to wooden structures around the world, South Korea's Ministry of Environment said Friday. The ministry weighed in after an online post on Wednesday claimed that a rare white ant species had been discovered at a residence in Seoul. The National Institute of Biological Resources and the National Institute of Ecology was unable to confirm the ant

Lee Ki-young, 32, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a taxi driver and his ex-girlfriend in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, last year. The Goyang branch of the Uijeongbu District Court, northwest of Seoul, on Friday also ordered Lee to wear a GPS-equipped electronic monitoring anklet for 30 years. The court said in its ruling that Lee had “meticulously planned the murder and subsequent crimes” and “continued with the planned murder without any hesitation and gained

The 15th International Congress on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, the 43rd Korean College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting & 17th International Symposium kicked off Wednesday evening, shedding light on how greater social awareness and new drugs can end the “war” against lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease. This year’s event is held under the theme, “Stairway to the End of the War" to prepare the ground for putting an end to the disease. The first edition

New drugs and greater social awareness would help bring about an end to the "war" against lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease, according to lupus specialists speaking at a press conference Wednesday held at Coex, southern Seoul, ahead of Lupus & KCR 2023. The 15th International Congress on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and The 43rd Korean College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting & 17th International Symposium are being held concurrently at Coex from Wednesday through Sa

The bereaved families of the Itaewon disaster in October last year marked the 200th day of the tragedy on Tuesday, holding a rally at the memorial in front of Seoul City Hall. Despite the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s request to the bereaved families to voluntarily remove the memorial altar, they have refused to comply, demanding the truth about the deadly incident. The mother of the late actor Lee Ji-han, who died at the age of 24 on the night of the Halloween festival, said she would f

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that the city government will expand the pool of beneficiaries for a new program designed to support multi-child families by lowering the bar for “multi-child” family from the current three to two children. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said the new child benefit scheme would beef up support for families with more than one child, explaining that it would alleviate the economic burden of households and improve child care services. To encourage m

The National Human Rights Commission issued a recommendation to a prison warden to come up with new measures to respond to an LGBTQ prisoner’s request to be given an individual cell. Dismissing the request violates human rights of pursuing happiness, the commission said. The commission refused to provide details on the prisoner's gender or the way in which they were LGBTQ, citing confidentiality. According to the human rights watchdog, the inmate asked for an individual cell in 2021,

A man in his 30s was sentenced to seven years in prison for beating his mother to death because she refused to allow him to move out, according to legal professionals and media reports Sunday. The man assaulted his mother in January after she refused her son’s request to move out of the house. The mother reportedly suffered severe bodily injuries, sustaining broken ribs and a ruptured left kidney. She was sent to a nearby hospital and treated herself in emergency care, but later died from

A majority of Korean teachers said they wouldn’t choose to teach if they had the choice, as job satisfaction for the profession hit an all-time low, a survey showed Sunday. Some 80 percent of 6,751 teachers at kindergarten, elementary, middle and high schools and university said in the poll they wouldn’t be teachers if they were born again, according to the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations. When asked if they were satisfied with pursuing a career in teaching, only

A coalition of doctors, nursing assistants and other medical professionals is poised to go on a daylong nationwide general strike this week, as the medical sector remains split over the Nursing Act, which was passed in the National Assembly last month, where the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea holds the majority. The coalition of 13 medical associations including the Korea Medical Association (KMA) and the Korean Licensed Practical Nurses Association said they would go on a one-day nat

South Korean men in the top income bracket are likelier to be tying the knot, data showed Sunday, suggesting that income inequality could be a major factor in exacerbating marriage and childbearing rates. According to data released by the Korea Labor Institute analyzing labor and fertility trends, men with higher economic status were less likely to be unmarried and childless than low-income men. The finding came to light in research conducted from 2017 to 2019, which excluded variables related t

Excitement at going back to normal life and a sense of relief was what Lee Ji-eun felt when she heard the news on Thursday morning that South Korea will lift nearly all COVID-19 restrictions, three years and four months after the country recorded its first case. “It gives me a complicated feeling that the pandemic that struck us so hard is fading. Many hospitals have already eliminated beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients, so it is unlikely that there will be any major changes in our work a

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that it would develop an AI-based congestion monitoring system to provide better information to passengers about crowd density at each subway station. According to Seoul Metro, the operator of the subway service in Seoul, the new service will help analyze the real-time flow of passengers and crowd levels in subway compartments, improving operational efficiency. Currently, the subway operator monitors crowding and measures the number of passengers

The port city of Incheon will house the headquarters for a new state-run agency to provide consolidated administrative support to some 7.5 million people of the South Korean diaspora across the globe. Another office for handling citizen complaints will be set up in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun, the Foreign Ministry said Monday. Incheon, which has been vying for the host title since last year, in its bid, touted its convenient and easy access to Incheon Airport, the main point of entry or departure

Scores of flights were grounded at Jeju International Airport for two straight days due to strong winds and heavy rain, turning Children's Day into one of gloom and frustration. According to the Jeju Island branch of the Korean Airports Corp., 183 domestic flights to and from Jeju airport -- 92 departures and 91 arrivals -- had been canceled as of 8 a.m. A total of 488 domestic flights -- 238 arrivals and 235 departures -- and 15 international flights -- seven arrivals and eight departures

With less than two days until a summit between the leaders of South Korea and Japan on Sunday, civic activists across the country took to the streets to stage protests, demanding a formal apology from Tokyo on Thursday. In the late morning, a group of students from 12 colleges in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province was the first to hold rallies over Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Seoul. Jang Ji-won, a 19-year-old student majoring in law at Sookmyung Women’s University, was

The Seoul Metropolitan Government kicked off its annual tourist event, “Seoul Festa 2023,” on Sunday, with a star-studded K-pop concert making its way back to pre-pandemic normalcy. The city embarked on the eight-day festival with an opening concert at the Olympic Main Stadium in Jamsil Sports Complex, southern Seoul, attended by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and some 40,000 attendees. In his opening remarks, Oh expressed hopes that visitors will be able to enjoy Seoul’s “style&

Six soldiers stationed in a division in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, were caught smuggling illegal narcotics into the army, according to local media and the South Korean military. The military said late Wednesday that the soldiers are currently under internal investigation for allegedly sneaking cannabis into the garrison through a parcel and smoking the banned substance inside the military base. One is facing a police investigation following his discharge from the military after the incident.

진행자: 박준희, Beth Eunhee Hong 1. BTS' Suga dominates Japan's Oricon charts with solo album 'D-Day 기사 요약: BTS 슈가, 첫 공식 솔로 음반 "D-DAY"로 전 세계 음악 차트 석권하다 [1] BTS' Suga has taken over the Japanese music charts with his latest solo album "D-Day." *Take over: 장악하다 [2] Dropped under his alias Agust D, "D-Day" and its tracks landed in the top tiers of Japan's Oricon charts. *Drop: 떨어트리다, 발매하다 *Land: 안착하다 *Top tier: 일류 [3] The album soared to No. 1 of Or

The Korean Council for University Education said Wednesday that 21 universities in South Korea will consider school violence records in their regular admission processes for the 2025 school year. The colleges include Seoul National University, the country’s top-ranked university, Korea University, Hanyang University, Konkuk University, Korea University Sejong Campus, Kookmin University and the University of Seoul. The decision comes after the government announced strengthened policies agai