As many school-age children spend more time consuming digital media like short-form video content, there are worries that a rapid rise in technology is producing a decline in children’s literacy rates. Young children can still read, but may have difficulty fully understanding the context, which will gradually hinder skill acquisition in learning processes and their English ability. “100 Classics,” an English education service brand for children and teenagers, has drawn young pa

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in depression disorder among men in their 30s and 40s, especially those with a lower education level or an unmarried status, data showed Tuesday. A report on adult mental health analyzed by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency based on a Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey said groups are considered at risk when the odds ratio, or relationship between a variable and the likelihood of an event occurring, is higher tha

A two-story redbrick house surrounded by trees in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, looks like any of the other ordinary suburban homes in the neighborhood. But residents in the house have a special purpose in common -- to put themselves on a path to recovery from drug addiction. The 165-square-meter house is the Gyeonggi branch of the Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Center, a private halfway house agency for recovery from drug addiction that aims to help drug users kick the habit without medical assi

An elementary school teacher has been convicted of child abuse for publicly humiliating students, according to local experts and news reports Monday. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the teacher to six months in prison and two years of probation for violating the child abuse punishment act. The court also ordered the teacher to attend a 40-hour lecture on child abuse prevention and mandated a two-year restriction on employment at any child-related institutions. From August until Novemb

South Korea reported its first case of infection from Naegleria fowleri, commonly referred to as “brain-eating amoeba,” health authorities said Monday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency confirmed that a Korean national in his 50s had died after returning from Thailand. The man came back to Korea on Dec. 10 after a four-month stint there. He was admitted to a hospital the next day and died Wednesday last week. The KDCA said it had conducted genetic tests on three types o

After three years of pandemic-related setbacks, the traditional bell-ringing ceremony is returning as an offline event on Saturday night at Bosingak in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, to ring in the new year. Amid growing anxiety over public safety at high-density events following the Itaewon crowd crush, the city said it would deploy 1,000 safety personnel. The roads in the Bosingak area will be fully controlled from Saturday, 9 p.m. until 1 a.m. the next day. More than 100,000 people are expected to

Amy Lee, a former TV entertainer who goes by her first name, has been sentenced to three years in prison, according to legal professionals and news reports Sunday. The Supreme Court ruled for a three-year imprisonment for Lee for violating the Narcotics Control Act, they said. Lee, who holds US citizenship, pleaded not guilty during the trial, saying she committed the crime “involuntarily” because of an accomplice surnamed Oh, although her innocence claim was rejected. She was on tri

The December edition of the Seoul Light show, a media facade show organized by the Seoul Design Foundation, kicked off on Dec. 17, welcoming visitors and tourists to enjoy large-scale light-emitting diode video displays woven into the exterior surface of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Seoul Light is an annual event that features media facade shows at the famed DDP in central Seoul, utilizing projection mapping and the curved aluminum-panel surface of the architectural building. The show comes in t

The Korea Herald is running a series of feature stories and interviews on the evolution and rise of drug crimes, insufficient support systems and young addicts’ stories in South Korea. This is the first installment. -- Ed. Kim lived a pleasure-seeking life when he got into the nightlife scene in Seoul's Hongdae area in 2017. At the age of 20, he took methamphetamine, ecstasy, ketamine and GHB, to name a few -- all of which are illegal in Korea. Kim, who wished to be known only by his famil

Amid fears over a spike in COVID-19 cases in the winter, reinfections due to waning immunity are rising, and the detection rate for the omicron subvariant BN.1 surpassed 20 percent. Wednesday’s total confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 88,172, including 69 cases from overseas, bringing the total to 28,390,646, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. South Korea added 59 more deaths from COVID-19 as of Wednesday midnight, bringing the total to 31,549. The number of critic

President Yoon Suk-yeol named Jee Young-mee, CEO of Institut Pasteur Korea, to lead the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the presidential office said Friday. Jee replaces incumbent chief Peck Kyong-ran, who offered to resign earlier in the day. The newly tapped commissioner of the public health agency is a veteran of infectious diseases with more than 20 years of experience in health and research institutions. Jee received her M.D. from Seoul National University’s College of Me

Heavy-hearted tears fell down the faces of some 150 bereaved families of the Itaewon tragedy Friday morning as a 49th-day memorial service was given for the souls of the deceased at Jogye Temple in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. Under Buddhist belief, the deceased's spirit leaves the human world after lingering 49 days after death. At the main Daeungjeon Hall within the compound of Jogye Temple, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, South Korea’s largest Buddhism sect, expressed condolences

While the season’s freezing temperatures gripped South Korea on Wednesday morning, a group of disabled protesters on wheelchairs staged their rush-hour subway protests at around 8 a.m. -- once again paralyzing train operations at Samgakji Station on Seoul’s subway Line No. 4. The 15 protesters are from Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, Korea’s largest disability rights group. Protesters usually stand in front of subway doors to stop people from entering and exiting,

Worries of a possible resurgence of COVID-19 this winter is weighing on the South Korean government, as officials mull whether it should lift the indoor mask mandate as early as January next year. Monday’s total confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 25,667, including 63 cases from overseas, bringing the total to 27,754,149, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The tally is also the highest for a Monday in more than three months since it reached 36,917 on Sept. 12. South

As the answers to this year’s Suneung, or the college scholastic ability test, are set to be released Friday, competition for college entrance is expected to heat up. But local education experts on Thursday said that the scores for Suneung don’t carry much weight now since universities weigh the scores differently in their college admissions. “Universities differ in terms of how much they take Suneung into account when it comes to college entry, so students and parents need to

As a rapid rise in drug-related offences is catching South Korea off guard, eyes are on the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s final decision to abolish or formalize an official organization overseeing narcotics-related matters in the country. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is currently putting the final touches on transitioning a temporary narcotics division to an official organization called the Deputy Director General for Narcotics Safety Planning, with the aim of making it a m

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and first lady Kim Keon-hee met with Vietnam's President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Tuesday, asking the Vietnamese president to look into Korean citizens’ visa issues in the Southeast Asian country. The first lady called for the Vietnamese president’s “keen interest” in Koreans’ visa-related issues during Phuc’s visit to Cheong Wa Dae, saying she saw news reports about how Korean travelers or nationals dwelling in Vietnam hav

Namyang Dairy Products’ founder’s grandson was arrested for illegal drug use and the supply of drugs, according to legal professionals and news reports Friday. On Nov. 15 Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office arrested and charged the grandson, identified only by his family name Hong, with possession of marijuana and chronic drug administration under the country’s Narcotics Control Act, they said. The grandson, 40, is also suspected of distributing marijuana to his cl

Seoul subway services returned to normal as unionized workers at the state-run Seoul Transportation and Korea Railroad reached a last-minute deal early Friday, officials said. The labor union of the main operator of the Seoul Metro Lines No. 1, 3, 4 and Korail agreed to the complete withdrawal of the walkout on Thursday after hours-long labor-management negotiations took place at Korail’s Seoul office. The two sides shook hands over higher wages and better working conditions, steering clea

Since weeks ago when Kim Jong-un revealed his 10-year-old daughter Kim Ju-ae to the world openly for the first time, her fashion style has proven to be an instant hit in North Korea, and her styling seems to be sending young North Koreans abuzz. The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, published pictures of North Korean women in white and pink padding jackets similar to that previously worn by Kim’s daughter when they inspected the launch of an intercontinen