The number of foreign nationals booked for drug offenses in South Korea has risen 140 percent in two years, despite an overall decrease on the foreign crime rate here, police data showed. According to Rep. Kang Ki-yoon of the People Power Party, National Police Agency data, based on the number of bookings, shows a gradual increase in crimes committed by foreign nationals, coming to 36,069 in 2017, 34,832 in 2018, 39,249 in 2019 and 39,140 in 2020. The increase has been slower than the overal

A conflict over landfills has arisen with Incheon refusing to receive garbage from Seoul and Gyeonggi Province beginning in 2025. Experts say Seoul and Gyeonggi Province should look to reducing garbage to better persuade Incheon. Sudokwon Landfill in Incheon has been taking waste from the metropolitan area since 1992. The first and second parts of the landfills were used between 1992 and 2018. The initial phase of the third part, or 3-1 landfill, is being used between 2018 and 2025 by Seoul, I

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s idea of using self-test kits as part of a “Seoul-type social distancing” is facing opposition from medical experts, the ruling party and the central government, who question their effectiveness. On Monday, Oh proposed a plan to allow customers to enter restaurants, bars and karaoke late at night after conducting self-tests using kits. This could help ease restrictions on business hours, allowing nightlife entertainment businesses to remain open until

New Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, whose main pledge was to stabilize the city’s housing market, faces a difficult task of winning support from a ruling party-led government and lawmakers, on top of having to curb soaring property prices that have risen in anticipation of promised policy easing. Oh’s real estate policy focuses on revitalizing private-led development and urban redevelopment with various deregulation policies. Through this, he aims to provide 360,000 housing units in five

Oh Se-hoon, the new mayor of Seoul, who returned to the post Thursday 10 years after stepping down, has vowed to take care of citizens suffering as a result of the prolonged pandemic and to push for deregulation to increase the supply of housing. After arriving at Seoul City Hall on Thursday at 8:50 a.m., Oh met with reporters and expressed his feelings about his first day of work, saying that as mayor he would take care of Seoul citizens suffering the effects of the novel coronavirus outbreak

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea suffered an election debacle Thursday in the Seoul and Busan mayoral race regarded by many as a litmus test for next year's presidential electionon.  Oh Se-hoon, a former mayor and the sole candidate from the main opposition People Power Party, won the by-election for Seoul mayor by a landslide. Oh of the main opposition People Power Party defeated his rival from the DP, Park Young-sun, 57.5 percent to 39 percent to claim the Seoul mayor

While politicians make real estate development in Seoul their top priority, environmental campaigners say the next mayor must pay more attention to climate and environmental issues for the sake of future generations.　 “The direction we’ve been running so far has been to create added value by building more properties, roads and cars. I think it is time that we can turn around a little,” said Kim Dong-eon, eco-city team leader at the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement,

Oh Se-hoon, a former mayor and the sole candidate from the main opposition People Power Party, won the by-election for Seoul mayor by a landslide. Oh won the race, taking 57.5 percent of the votes, compared to former SMEs minister Park Young-sun's 38.18 percent.  Exits poll results showed that Oh received 59 percent of the votes while Park Young-sun, former minister of SMEs and startups and the sole candidate from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, received 37.7 percent of the votes i

Amid growing anti-China sentiment in South Korea, people are calling for the withdrawal of the construction of a tourist-focused Chinatown in Gangwon province. As of Monday, more than 410,000 people signed up to a petition against the construction of the tourist site on the website of presidential Blue House. This reflects growing anti-China sentiment in the nation as China attempts to rewrite history through its northeastern project -- to make all history within the Chinese border into Chinese

With the number of new COVID-19 cases hovering in the 400s and 500s for weeks, the authorities have toughened basic quarantine rules, warning there will be zero tolerance for violations. As of midnight, the number of new COVID-19 cases increased by 473 to 105,752, the government’s central response team said Monday. Although the number dropped by 70 from the previous day’s 543, it is hard to say that the spread has slowed down because fewer COVID-19 tests are carried out on weekends

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug began his nine-day visit to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to strengthen economic ties with the three emerging Central Asian nations, the National Assembly said Thursday. During the visit, Park will discuss cooperation in areas such as health care, energy, information and communications technology, public administration, agriculture and textiles. On Wednesday, Park visited Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, to hold talks with National Assem

As the April 7 by-election to choose Seoul’s next mayor approaches, a fierce battle is ongoing between the ruling and main opposition parties. At the same time, 10 minor parties and independent candidates are appealing to voters by talking about gender equality, LGBTQ rights, basic income and the environment. The 10 candidates, whose combined approval rating is less than 5 percent, are getting voters’ attention with issues that major candidates haven’t paid much attention to.

Amid a growing shortage of migrant workers in South Korea, reported cases of sexual violence, assault and overdue wages among foreign workers have continued to emerge as they accuse their employers for exploiting their vulnerable status. Police said on Monday it is investigating a case of sexual assault after receiving a complaint that a Cambodian worker was sexually assaulted by a farm owner. The complaint, filed by a migrant worker rights protection civic group, alleges that the farm owne

With the April 7 by-election to choose Seoul’s next mayor just around the corner, the election campaigns are becoming marred by mudslinging and personal insults between candidates, which may lead to political distrust and apathy among voters. About a week to go before the election, both the ruling and opposition parties appear to be focusing more on raising personal negative issues about rival candidates than discussion of policies and pledges. Although there are several candidates, the

The South Korean government and National Assembly are looking to ease regulations on employing foreign nationals and for immigration in the face of labor shortages brought on by the prolonged pandemic. On Friday, a bill to revise the act on the employment of foreign workers, which was proposed by Rep. Lee Jong-bae of the main opposition People Power Party, passed the plenary session of the National Assembly. The main focus of the bill is to increase the number of industries that can hire for

On Sunday afternoon, a refill station called Almang Market in Mangwon-dong, Seoul, was busy with consumers seeking plastic-free alternatives. A refill station is a shop where customers take their own containers to buy goods without packaging. Almang Market, which opened in June, sells a variety of refillable products, such as shampoo, cosmetics and detergent. Customers purchase them by weight. As well as refillable liquid products, there are also products like unpacked body and dish soap t

Two weeks before the April 7 by-election to choose Seoul’s next mayor, Oh Se-hoon, a former mayor and the sole candidate from the opposition bloc, is far ahead of Park Young-sun, former minister of SMEs and startups and the sole candidate from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, a poll showed Wednesday. According to a Realmeter survey of 1,042 Seoulites aged 18 or older on March 22 and 23, Oh gained 48.9 percent support and Park stood at 29.2 percent support of respondents in the two-w

A photo of a white Maltese mix with a hopeless look on his face was posted on an animal adoption platform, Pawinhand, early this month. The message read, “Please take a look at this puppy whose deadline is over.” This means a monthlong period to find a new owner was over and he would soon be euthanized. The white dog was abandoned in a village this past winter with some dog supplies, according to local residents, and was rescued by an animal shelter after wandering the village fo

The Seoul city government on Friday withdrew an order requiring mandatory coronavirus testing for all foreign workers after facing criticism from foreigners, medical workers and the human rights commission. The Seoul Metropolitan Government released a statement on Friday afternoon, saying, “We changed the administrative order issued on March 17 after the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters requested the withdrawal of the order.” “We changed from the man

National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug held a videoconference with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday to discuss pending issues such as the South Korea-US alliance and North Korea’s nuclear weapons. During the meeting Park said that “the Korea-US alliance is a starting point and a crucial point of reference for Korea’s diplomacy and security and, as the US’ most successful alliance, serves as a bedrock for peace and stability in the region.” He went on t