Students with a history of bullying or school violence will have their records reflected in the regular college admissions process starting in 2024, and the current bullying record retention period of two years will be extended to four years after graduation, the government said Wednesday. School violence records will be submitted to colleges “voluntarily” in the admissions process for the 2025 school year, but will be reflected on a “mandatory” basis for admissions in 20

Choi Si-won of K-pop boy band Super Junior has been appointed as an honorary ambassador for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Indonesia. During the appointment ceremony held at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Monday, Foreign Minister Park Jin said the appointment was made in hopes that the two countries’ relationship would grow closer. “Taking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties this year as an opportunity, (Korea) will further strengthen coope

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 sixth installment. -- Ed. Free drinks were offered last week on the streets of Daechi-dong, a district in Seoul's Gangnam lined with thousands of after-school cram schools and known as South Korea's private education mecca. The drinks, introduced as a brain-boosting drink for concentr

A man in his 40s was arrested by police Friday morning on charges of using and possessing methamphetamine after being reported by a YouTuber. The man is reported to have texted a woman on an anonymous chatting app proposing they have sex and take methamphetamine together, but the woman was a trap set by the YouTuber, who specializes in tracking downs. The YouTuber told police at around 2:30 a.m. that he saw a man in possession of drugs in Seoul’s Mia-dong, Gangbuk-gu. Police were immediate

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Thursday urged leaders of local governments to go all out in support of Busan’s bid to host the World Expo 2030. During a regional cooperation council meeting held in the afternoon, the president said that hosting the global event is a task for the whole country, calling on central and local governments to work as “one team.” “The (Busan) Expo will be an international event where we can share our development experiences with the int

The delegation dispatched by the Bureau International des Expositions kicked off its second day in Busan by receiving a third presentation about Busan’s Expo bid from the bidding committee for the international exhibition. The presentation was delivered by professor Jin Yang-kyo of Hongik University’s Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Development about the venue and by Shin Jae-hyun, the new ambassador for international relations for Busan, about the city’s forecast of

Students with a history of bullying will have their records reflected in the regular college admissions process, while the government considers extending the bullying record retention period so that any history of bullying will follow perpetrators as they apply for jobs after college. During a consultation meeting led by the ruling People Power Party and the government on Wednesday to combat the growing cases of school violence across the nation, Rep. Park Dae-chul, head of the National Assembly

The delegation dispatched by the Bureau International des Expositions arrived at Busan and was met with warm greetings from approximately 5,000 people on Tuesday morning as it began its on-site inspection of the southeastern port city amid its candidacy to host the 2030 World Expo. The eight-member team led by Patrick Specht, president of the BIE Administration and Budget Committee, kicked off its four-day stay in Busan by attending a welcome event at Busan Station. Upon arrival, multicultural f

A high school student was arrested by police in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday for brandishing a box cutter at an elementary student. The Pyeongtaek Police said Tuesday that the offender, whose name and age have not been disclosed, is facing attempted murder charges for allegedly stabbing the victim’s neck with a box cutter. The arrest came a day after a report was filed to the police that a man ran away after jabbing a young student who was eating cup noodles at an apartment co

The main suspect in a Gangnam murder case had previously been involved in a criminal case with the victim involving cryptocurrency, according to legal professionals and reports released Monday. The suspect, a 35-year-old only identified by his surname Lee, had reportedly been investigated by police for trying to seize a third party’s cryptocurrency assets in February 2021. Lee was sent to the prosecution on charges of extortion, while the third party was dismissed for a minor misdemeanor o

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 fifth installment. -- Ed.   When reading news reports on Chun Woo-won, the grandson of former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan, and his claims of drug use by several NYU Stern School of Business graduates, Kim Haram, a 21-year-old in New York felt a sense of relief. Kim said Chun was exp

A large forest fire broke out on the slopes of Inwangsan, a mountain in central Seoul, on Sunday. According to authorities, the blaze began at approximately 11:53 a.m. and quickly spread to the northern side of the mountain, burning an area approximately the size of 30 football fields. No deaths or casualties had been reported as of 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. The National Fire Agency deployed 15 helicopters, 93 rescue vehicles and 580 personnel to extinguish the fire and said it had contained 70 to 80

Early exposure to screens may negatively affects a child’s social development, research showed Thursday. A research team led by Kim Sung-koo, a professor at Hallym University’s Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, showed that 95.8 percent of toddlers under the age of 2 who experience developmental delays spent more time using technological gadgets than those who didn't display such delays. The findings were based on a study between 2013 and 2019 of 197 children, 96 o

Sejong University’s College of Hospitality and Tourism Management ranked 46th in the annual World University Rankings by Subject in 2023, as released by QS Quacquarelli Symonds on Thursday. It is also the No. 1 hotel management university in South Korea, maintaining the top spot among domestic peers for three consecutive years. Established in 2004, the London-based ranking system aims to help students identify leading universities in a particular subject around the globe. Universities are

The soaring popularity of South Korean pop culture has fueled a boom in Korean language learning using songs and dramas in recent years. With the help of the media and internet, foreign learners are putting their best foot forward to get a better grasp of Korean colloquial expressions, new words and slang used by younger Koreans. Some learners also improve their linguistic knowledge by taking Korean language classes. Teachers often find introductory Korean courses easier to teach, but they often

South Korean prosecutors said Friday that they would seek the extradition of Do Kwon, the wanted co-founder of Terraform Labs, via the Ministry of Justice, hours after he was arrested in Montenegro. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office said it would initiate a repatriation request to the Montenegrin authorities to transfer him to Korea. Kwon was arrested at Podgorica Airport on Thursday before boarding a flight. His identity was confirmed through a fingerprint comparison. Kwon&r

The mystery of what happened to the bribes taken by late President Chun Doo-hwan have re-entered the spotlight after his grandson, Chun Woo-won, an accountant based in New York, made headlines last week by alleging that his family was living off the illicit funds. Chun was an Army general who seized power in a coup and led Korea as a dictator from 1980 to 1988. He was responsible for authorizing a massacre of demonstrators during the Gwangju Democratic Uprising before making himself president. Y

A father was booked by police on Monday for possessing and using controlled drugs in the presence of his newborn baby. The Women’s and Juvenile Affairs bureau under Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Tuesday that it had booked the man, only identified by his surname Jung, for breaching the Child Welfare Act, stating that abuse of drugs can cause emotional child abuse to an infant. According to a complaint filed to the police last week by his family, Jung, who owns a home appliance impor

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Tuesday introduced blueprints to build a floating pool and marina facilities on the banks of the Han River in Ichon, central Seoul. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said during his trip to Denmark on Sunday that the swimming complex was inspired by the Harbor Bath, an open-air floating public swimming pool in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Seoul city authorities explained that Copenhagen’s floating public pool had played a noticeable role in transforming the ind

As a growing number of South Korean women are tying the knot in their early 40s, the number of middle-aged first-time brides has outstripped brides in their 20s for two consecutive years, government data showed Monday. According to data from Statistics Korea, there were 10,949 marriages among women aged between 40 to 44 last year, outpacing the 10,113 marriages by women aged between 20 to 24. The number of early 40-something first-time brides surpassed brides in their early 20s for the first tim