The award ceremony for the 53rd Korea Herald English Speech Contest was held on Thursday at the Australian Embassy in Seoul on Friday. This year's contest, themed "My dream, Earth and the 10th Anniversary of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement," focused on the environment and economy. A total of 34 winners were recognized for their outstanding speeches. In attendance were Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Jeff Robinson, Deputy Head of Mission Martin Walker, Heral

More emergency departments are suspending nighttime operations or providing services during the upcoming Chuseok holiday due to severe workforce shortages, despite efforts to recruit additional staff and the deployment of military physicians to mitigate disruptions. Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, notified patients that it would only admit patients needing around-the-clock cardiopulmonary resuscitation or those in severe conditions from 7 a.m. every Thursday to 7 a.m. the

Last month, 33-year-old office worker Kim A-young experienced a nightmare when a first responder refused to take her to the emergency room despite her severe stomach pain. "I was informed that ERs at university hospitals wouldn't accept patients with stomach pain, which was later diagnosed as acute appendicitis," she said. "I was taken to a nearby community hospital but couldn't have the surgery immediately. Although the doctor indicated that my case was severe, I had to

South Korea will raise medical service fees for essential procedures and surgeries and reduce large hospitals' dependence on junior doctors as part of a medical reform package introduced amid a prolonged medical confrontation between the government and doctors over the quota expansion of medical schools. Noh Yun-hong, who chairs the presidential special committee on medical reform, said Friday that the government would push forward in creating "physician-centered hospitals" nationwide

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will hold an event on Saturday to celebrate the third anniversary of its free online lecture platform for students here and unveil the program's new identity, officials said Friday. Dubbed "Seoul Learn," the program, launched in August 2021, offers free online lectures to underprivileged students to bridge the achievement gap among students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It has also provided high-quality education without students hav

Unionized hospital workers pulled out from their planned strike Thursday after reaching an agreement on pay raises and better working conditions with hospitals, withdrawing from a decision that could have caused potential chaos at understaffed hospitals already suffering from junior doctors' collective walkouts in February. The Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union -- which has some 30,000 nurses, caregivers and other medical workers as members -- said Thursday that health care work

Seven months into South Korea's medical sector standoff, fatigue and backlogs of patients are hammering emergency departments nationwide as emergency medicine physicians are reeling from the mass walkout of medical interns and residents in February, with some deciding to leave their jobs for good. Seven out of 14 ER doctors at Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, have tendered their resignations, putting the emergency unit under immense pressure as it grapples with personne

Amid a prolonged medical standoff, concerns are again looming large as more than 22,000 unionized hospital workers plan to strike beginning Thursday if the ongoing arbitration by the labor relations committee fails to reach an agreement on a pay raise and the normalization of hospital operations. The planned walkout comes after 91 percent of the Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union -- which has some 30,000 nurses, caregivers and other medical workers at 61 hospitals as members -- vote

A Seoul court has ordered a local hospital to pay 423 million won ($319,993) to the family of a US national who died from a pulmonary embolism shortly after a hip replacement surgery in 2019, legal sources said Monday. The Seoul Central District Court recently delivered the ruling nearly five years after the bereaved family filed a damages suit against the hospital for negligence that resulted in death. The incident happened in August 2019 when the man, who was a 59-year-old American civilian em

Funerals for the victims of Thursday‘s Bucheon hotel fire were held on Sunday, but the controversy surrounding the tragedy has intensified while authorities have been searching to identify the circumstances that led to seven deaths and a dozen other injuries. Amid the ongoing efforts to determine the exact cause of the fire, a debate about the inflatable rescue mattress used by firefighters erupted, as two of the seven people died attempting to jump onto it. Soon after the blaze broke out,

Suga of BTS not showing up for his first round of police questioning Thursday reignited debates over whether high-profile figures are unfairly targeted by being made to face the media on the photo line when they are under investigation. The star of the mega-hit K-pop group faces accusations of driving an electric scooter under the influence earlier this month. Reports initially indicated that he would appear for questioning at Yongsan Police Station for the first time on Thursday, drawing dozens

South Korea's health system, which for years worked to shield the nation from the deadly threat of COVID-19, finds itself under renewed pressure from a virus resurgence amid the prolonged standoff between medical professionals and the government, putting its capacity to the test. The virus is likely to peak later this month at a time when the country's health care has for six months been stretched beyond its capacity, after intern and resident doctors resigned en masse in mid-February

Starting Wednesday, South Korean health authorities will classify mpox as an infectious disease subject to border screening and require passengers flying from eight African nations with mpox symptoms to report to officials, health authorities here said Tuesday afternoon. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the decision comes after the World Health Organization declared mpox a "public health emergency of international concern" last week. Under the strengthened surveilla

Women with depression between the ages of 40 and 60 are twice as likely to develop young-onset dementia, largely driven by declining estrogen levels and female sex hormones as they experience menopause, a recent study showed Tuesday. Young-onset dementia is when a person develops any form of dementia before the age of 65. The likelihood of developing dementia at an early stage was 2.5 to 2.7 times higher for women in their middle adulthood diagnosed with depression when compared to their peers w

A 30-something graduate student at KAIST, South Korea's top science-specialized university, was recently arrested by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office for distributing and using drugs within a social fraternity he created in 2021 which included members from 13 other elite universities. Three other university students were also apprehended, and two others were indicted without physical detention for breaching the Narcotics Control Act. Eight other students who took drugs b

COVID-19 cases have been trending upward since the summer wave arrived in South Korea, with more people admitted to hospitals for treatment compared to previous weeks and health authorities seeing an increase in COVID-19 levels in wastewater. Despite growing concerns about COVID-19's summer spread, health care experts and authorities said Monday that an increase in virus cases should not be a cause for fear. Instead, they noted that taking precautions could minimize the potential spread of

South Korea is seeing a pronounced rise in the levels of COVID-19 in wastewater as the number of confirmed cases continues to swell throughout this month and is expected to peak in late August, health authorities said Sunday. The surge in wastewater virus concentrations -- one of the key gauges to track and estimate community spread -- has more than quadrupled from late April to early August. Amid the ongoing summer COVID-19 wave, the average concentration of the virus at local sewage plants s

The recent surge in COVID-19 infections is stoking concerns of hidden, unchecked community spread, intensified by reduced data collection from Korean government agencies and a decline in testing rates. Health authorities are reporting a steady rise in cases since the beginning of July as part of a summertime wave that is expected to peak later this month. That peak would coincide with the end of the vacation season and the return of students to schools. The number of patients hospitalized with

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has been recognized at the Manhae Grand Prize Ceremony for his role in fostering peace and stability in the African nation following the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the Rwanda Embassy in Seoul said Wednesday. The president received the Peace Award at the 28th Manhae Grand Prize Ceremony on Monday for his contributions to the African nation's post-genocide recovery, as well as his efforts in promoting forgiveness, reconciliation and nation-building over ret

The Health Ministry said Tuesday that medical service fees for complex but essential surgeries, often undervalued despite their high skill and resource demands, will be raised possibly starting early next year. This initiative seeks to correct the long-standing pay disparities in a country where compensation for cosmetic procedures at private clinics is often higher than critical, lifesaving surgeries. The discussion took place during the medical reform committee meeting earlier in the day, whic